Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Do rich people make regular science fair projects?”
“Sure. We just use really expensive vinegar and really expensive baking soda.”
We both chuckle. And a chuckle is almost a laugh. It means we’re getting there.
My heart flutters when Mont looks the tiniest bit like a not-so-well-used mop. Even if he literally were a well-used mop, he’d probably be the hottest one in the building.
“I made that donation to the rat rescue. I looked it up after you sent me the link. You’re right. They look like they do good work. And the rats are pretty cute.”
“They’re adorable.” I try to show I’m grateful for it, or at least that my friends will be, but it’s hard not to show anything else. As in, the way his soft voice and the amber flecks in his eyes that seem to be able to turn on and off with his emotions just about plow me over. “I think the only thing more adorable than a pet rat is an opossum, and they’re pretty much just large, hissing rats with pouches.”
“Opossums are awesome.”
“That’s the rhyme, and it’s there for a reason. They’re awesome indeed.” I fumble awkwardly for something else to say. I’m me, and awkwardness doesn’t last for long before I just go with raw honesty. “Are you going to be okay?”
“You mean, am I going to pick myself up from this and get on with it? Sure. I hope so. My mom won’t be annoyed with me forever, and I don’t think she’ll go back to planning dates for me, at least not at the rate she was before. Maybe one or two here or there, and I might have to give her those, but I’ll figure the rest out.”
“Do you have time to figure it out if you’re always working?”
He sighs and rubs a hand on the back of his neck. I wonder if he’s been bent over his work at this desk for hours, and it hurts, or if it’s just a stress mechanism. Either way, I’d like his hand to be my hand right now. Both my hands would be better. I could give him one hell of a massage. My va-jay lets out a two-fisted cheer. She’d like to give one hell of a massage.
So inappropriate. Holy fuckles.
“I’ve been thinking more about that. I don’t know what I want to do because my life has been all about work. It’s been about trying to fill the huge shoes that came before me and being worthy of my family name and legacy. Yes, that dreaded word. Legacy. Maybe the right thing to do is work smarter, as you said, and not so hard that I don’t have time for anything else. I can put other people in place to oversee the running of the companies I have, and for the large part, that’s what I’ve done. I wouldn’t be able to function on any level otherwise, but I could do more. I could keep doing it. I could do it until I literally have nothing to do except check in every now and then.”
Leave here? Is that what he’s going to do?
My heart races, and it feels like it’s just been thrown into a thorny patch.
I don’t know why I expected him to stay. When someone buys a company on a whim as part of a sort of revenge scheme, it doesn’t mean they’re going to remain.
Also, if he sort of did this in an indirect way for me, I don’t have a great track record with holding onto men.
Now it’s my whole body being thrown into that thorny patch and shoved around in them like the sausage in a sausage roll, for good measure.
It’s not like Mont is even on my level. We are totally different people with different lives. Mont is so freaking minted, and I’m just a rusty old coin. God, even Gen and her family lead different lives than I do. But not in a bad way. Just vastly not the same.
Genevieve. We’ve hung out a few times, but after the fake date disaster, I haven’t been the bestie I’ve always been. And she’s given me space too. I’ve been so worried about my job, the charade I had to participate in, and this whole company that I briefed her over calls and texts about what was going on, but I’ve been pretty AWOL. We need to hang out. I need to be a better friend. I need to also pick up the pieces and get my shit together.
I do know what I want out of life. I’ve always known. Good friends, my family, a career I’m passionate about, and love…when the time is right.
“Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked. I can see you clearly don’t want to.”
I draw a blank as I come crashing back into the moment. “What?” Shaking myself like I’ve just been a thousand miles away is rude, so I just stand still and snap all my attention back to Mont. “I’m sorry. I got caught up thinking about what you were saying and about my own stuff. I wasn’t trying to ignore you, and I wasn’t trying to space out.”