Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
I grin and decide I like this woman. She’s my height, about five-four, and her brown hair is more chestnut than mahogany, with hints of caramel carefully painted in strategic spots by one heck of a good stylist. She punches the button, and the doors to an elevator on the far right open instantly. “I don’t have your contract with me,” she says as we step into the car, “but I read them over several times, and I assume that’s what you have in the folder sticking out of your purse?”
“Yes. I have them with me, and I have to tell you I’m a contract virgin. I know nothing.”
“Well, good thing I do,” she says with a curve of her lips.
A few minutes later, we’ve exited the building, walked a block, and claimed a table in the corner of the shop, our cups in hand. “Okay,” she says. “Let’s talk about the contract. I’ll be frank, I’m friends with Ethan, and I’m not charging you because I feel like this is a conflict of interest. That said, I’m an honest person and good at what I do. He wrote a contract that is in your favor, and that’s not what he does. He says this deal isn’t personal, but it clearly has a component that is.” There’s a hint of accusation in her tone that has me questioning who she really is to him.
“I didn’t ask him to treat me any way but fairly, and honestly, he wrote that contract when he thought I’d lied to him and he was fairly certain he hated me.”
She bristles, and her spine stiffens. “Lied to him?”
I’ve opened a can of worms I cannot shut. “It’s a long story and a misunderstanding. The point is, I don’t think the contract was personal. I hope it wasn’t. I want it to be fair. Can we go through it line by line?” I pull the folder from my purse.
“Of course,” she says, and that’s exactly what we do. And she’s right. The contract is in my favor. There is no way I can turn this down.
Once I’ve packed the folder away again, I meet her stare and say, “I won’t let him down.”
She studies me a moment, her reply slow but forceful. “I believe you.” She hesitates. “He’s guarded with reason. I haven’t seen him open up to anyone in a very long time.”
“How do you know him so well?”
“I dated his buddy, Nelson, and the three of us became friends. Yes, I’m still friends with Nelson. He’s a good guy. Just not my guy. We all did a few in-and-out investments together. It worked. I admire Ethan.”
“How much?”
She laughs. “Easy now there, girlfriend. I do not want his body. We don’t have that connection. I don’t know why. It’s just not there. In fact, I’ve tried to set him up on dates, and he wants nothing to do with it.”
“Because of Anna?”
Her eyes go wide. “You know about Anna?”
“I met her and Grant at the restaurant this morning, and not by choice. I think Grant had us followed. He’s evil, and she’s in love with Ethan.”
She snorts. “Please. She’s in love with his power, and that woman—”
“Don’t tell me what happened between them,” I say quickly. “It’s his story to tell. I want to know, but I want him to tell me.”
Surprise flickers in her eyes. “That’s honorable of you. And frankly, unexpected.”
“Everything about me and that man is unexpected,” I say, “and I think we all have our stories to tell, and we’d prefer they stay that way.”
“He’s guarded,” she warns. “It won’t be easy to get through to him.”
“I’m not going to push him. I didn’t try to make this happen. We just—it happened.”
She leans in closer. “I know you want him to tell you his story, and I like that you do, but I need to say one thing. She changed him. He’s not the same person he was before her. There’s a wall between him and everyone else. It’s worried me, but today I have hope someone might get through to him. And that someone is you.”
My skin prickles and warms, and my gaze lifts as Ethan strides in our direction, and truly, when our eyes meet, there’s a connection that steals my breath. Harper leans closer and whispers, “Oh yes. That man is so into you.”
As I am him, I think, but the Anna thing is bothering me. For him to withdraw as he did after their breakup, he must have loved her very much. It’s intimidating and confusing, but I remind myself his brother is involved, and that in itself is a betrayal that’s hard to understand. Did they connect when she was still with Ethan? It would explain why he values honesty as he does, not that it’s such a rare thing to value.