Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
As the doors close, I say, “There is no rational thought in me right now.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he answers right before the doors close.
On the way to the lobby, I take my phone out of my pocket and shoot George a quick email, telling him to have Martha email those pictures to me ASAP. Within five minutes, while I’m riding in the back of my driver’s Buick, I have the pictures in hand. All the way to the coffee house, I study the photos, looking through each and every one of them with a sharp eye, and no matter how hard I try, the only conclusion I can come up with is that she’s trying to dick me over.
I just have no fucking clue why.
* * *
There she is, sipping her coffee, looking fresh and beautiful in her bright yellow dress and matching high heels, working diligently on her iPad and computer. For a moment, you would think she actually gave a fuck about my company. Or maybe she isn’t working on Roam, Inc. stuff. Maybe she’s working on Project Mountain.
In six strides, I’m standing in front of her table, staring down at her.
She startles and looks up. A smile spreads across her face, but then is quickly washed away when she notices my expression.
“Rome, is everything okay?”
I don’t fuck around. I take a seat across from her and speak just low enough that we are the only two who can hear our conversation. “Tell me right now if you’ve been fucking me over.”
“What?” She sits back as if I just slapped her across the face.
“Don’t fuck around, Peyton.” Her name feels like a swear word coming out of my mouth. “Just tell me the truth.”
She folds her arms across her chest, becoming defensive immediately. “Excuse me, but first of all, you could greet me like a normal human being and say hello, maybe act like my boyfriend and press a kiss against my cheek, and then in a level tone of voice, you can explain to me why you’re accusing me of, as you so eloquently put it, ‘fucking you over.’”
I drag my hand over my face out of frustration and remove my phone from my pocket. I open the email with all the pictures and flash the screen in her direction.
She takes a minute to look at them and with an impassive face, just stares at me.
“Well . . .” I ask, giving her a chance to explain.
“Well, what? Seems like you’ve already drawn your own conclusion.”
“What kind of conclusion am I supposed to draw? We’ve had a leak in the line. Just this weekend there was a leak, and it just so happens to be the same weekend you were caught with the CEO from Project Mountain.”
There is so much anger raging inside me, that I almost forget we’re in a public area.
When I see past my rage boiling inside and take a look at Peyton, it looks like she’s about to cry.
Cry . . . because she’s been caught?
Without a word, she packs up her things, stuffs them in her bag, stands from the table, not even giving me a second glance before walking out of the coffee shop toward her apartment.
Is she kidding me?
I waste no time in chasing after her.
The relentless people of New York City around us continue on with their day as I snag Peyton by the arm and pull her to the side, out of the way of people walking from point A to point B.
“Let go of me,” she says, tears in her eyes.
“Just admit it,” I reply. “Just fucking tell me so I can move on.”
Taking a deep breath, Peyton finally looks up at me, water filling those eyes I used to love staring into. Right now, all I can see is betrayal. How could I have been such a damn fool?
“You want the truth?”
“Truth would be fucking nice right about now.”
“Fine.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out a file folder and holds it up to me. “This is a rundown on everything Project Mountain has for their women’s line. They called me last week, wanting to meet up and talk about using my services. I thought it would be a great opportunity to scope out the competition. The idiots gave me everything they planned on doing. I spent the entire day yesterday and this morning comparing and contrasting both lines and highlighting sections you need to be concerned about, while offering solutions to combat them. I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to get your hopes up that we might finally have more than just a breakthrough on this. I was planning on giving it to you tonight.” She pushes the file against my chest, forcing me to take it, as my mind starts spiraling in a million directions.