Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81581 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81581 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“In two months, I have to go to Hong Kong for business,” Gray says, his finger tracing softly up and down my bare stomach in the dark.
“I’m jealous,” I tease and smile.
“I want you to come with me,” he tells me with a chuckle. “You’re the VP, after all.”
I stiffen. “I won’t be working for you then. I only have one week left.”
His hand stops moving and I’m glad I can’t see his expression. “But I thought…”
“That just because we’re seeing each other right now that I’d give up my prior commitments?”
He pulls away and flips on the lamp. When he turns back, his nostrils flare with anger. “I promoted you. I assumed you were staying.”
The money is way better than what Sean is offering.
And I’d be doing what I know.
But I’d be spending every waking moment with Gray’s undivided attention on me. What happens when this blazing flame of his flickers out? Will I be cast aside and forgotten again? If so, and I chose to stay at Maxwell, I’d have passed up an opportunity for a career change.
“Gray,” I start but am interrupted when he jerks out of the bed.
“I need to make a phone call,” he growls before slamming the bedroom door.
I sit up and bring the sheet up over my bare breast. He did not take that well at all. Butterflies take flight in my belly as my nerves threaten to consume me. I snag my phone from the end table and text Sean.
Me: Everything still a go?
Despite it being close to midnight, he responds.
Sean: I thought you’d changed your mind. You know, after all that happened. Then you never responded. Is everything okay?
My mind has been distracted the past week, but I didn’t think I’d ignored any of his messages.
Me: Everything is fine. Looking forward to starting up soon.
He responds back immediately.
Sean: Oh good! I’m counting down. If you want to drop by one day on your lunch, I’ll show you where your office will be. We can have lunch in my office.
Me: I’ll let you know a day I’m free. Talk soon.
I try not to watch the clock but seconds turn into minutes and then minutes turn into hours. Gray hasn’t returned. I’m just drifting off when I hear the lamp being turned off and the bed sinking down with his weight. He curls his massive body around mine and hugs me to him. I feel like we’ve just had our first fight. It’s not hard to see his point. He’s promoted me and fired several employees because of how they treated me. We’re sleeping together and spend every waking moment with one another. I can see how he’d assume I was staying.
But…
I can’t risk everything on a week’s worth of his attention.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs against my ear, his thumb running circles around my belly button.
When I pretend to be asleep, he relaxes and kisses me softly on my head. Tears well in my eyes because Vaughn was never affectionate like this. It makes me feel guilty for even comparing him to my psycho ex.
His breathing evens out. As warm as he feels curled up against me, I think we need space. I’m losing sight of myself by getting swept up in him. I can’t go through what I went through with Vaughn again. I’m not mentally capable.
Tomorrow I’m going to try and untangle myself from Grayson Maxwell.
Until then, I’ll stay warm in his arms for one more night.
“Congratulations,” a lady named Deb chirps when she passes by my desk. “What an achievement.”
I smile until she walks off. What the hell is everyone congratulating me for? She’s at least the fifth person to do so today. I thought my promotion was old news. My eyes skip over to Gray’s door, but it’s closed. After the weirdness of Saturday at the resort, he brought me home Sunday where he dropped me off. I didn’t invite him inside to stay. The drive home was polite but mostly quiet. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, but he was careful not to say anything to spook me further.
And, boy, am I spooked.
I’ve made one horrible decision after the other since I put my notice in.
My phone buzzes and I’m surprised to see it’s Gwen.
Gwen: Hey girl! We should do lunch one day. I wanted to apologize in person for how I behaved last week.
When I think of Gwen and Gray’s mom’s house, I shudder. She was a nice woman but she was definitely a little spacey. I was glad when Gray told me he’d arranged for her to go to an assisted living home. It was Gwen who went with her and got it all set up, but he’s the one who found the top of the line facility and shelled out the money for it. Once she’s settled, he said he’s going to pay some people to come in and go through the house. He’d confided in me that he hoped he could get Gwen to clean up her mess too but he was only dealing with one problem at a time.