Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he says as he stands up and stretches his arms out. “I don’t have one.”
“Why would I be worried about that?” I casually say as I try to keep my eyes on the ocean. That’s pretty much impossible with Ollie giving me a sexy show. Every movement makes his hard glistening body ripple and clench.
He grins at me. “Let’s go for a swim.”
I am getting kind of hot. The sun is sweltering out here and that blue water looks irresistibly refreshing.
He offers his hand.
I swallow hard before taking it. He pulls me out of the chair and we start walking to the water.
“I heard you go to MIT?” I ask, trying to make conversation. “How do you like it?”
“It’s alright, but I can’t wait until I’m finished and can get to work.”
“Are you going to work with your mom?”
He nods. “Oh yeah. I’ve been wanting to work in that lab since I was six years old.”
A giggle bubbles out of me.
He looks at me sideways. “What?”
“I don’t know… I just can’t picture you in a lab coat and safety glasses.”
He doesn’t fit any of the scientist stereotypes. None of them. I can picture him as an athlete or a model or a bodyguard, but I can’t even picture him in a lab. An image of him turning around and knocking over a shelf full of glass vials with his big muscles fills my mind.
“We just met,” he says with a grin. “There’s a lot you’re going to learn about me.”
“Like what?” I can’t help but ask.
“Like I go after what I want,” he says as his grey eyes bore into mine. “No matter if it’s easy or hard. No matter if it’s right or wrong. No matter what anyone thinks.”
I swallow hard, wondering what that could be.
“And you?” he says as we get to the water. I put my feet in the ocean and it’s not nearly as warm as I was hoping it was. “Your dad said you’re already working?”
“Yeah, I graduated in Communications and got a job as a headhunter.”
My stomach drops when I remember what happened on Friday. I was excited to leave on my vacation and went into my boss’ office to say bye. He asked me to come in and close the door.
I should have known that something was up, but I was too excited at the prospect of staying in the Hamptons for the summer that it didn’t register until he was telling me that I was fired.
“But why?” I asked as tears threatened to come pouring out.
He slumped down, looking at me in shock. “Seriously, Rebecca? You’ve been here eight months and haven’t placed one person.”
“I placed that dog!” It was for a commercial. I got my friend’s dog a spot as the family dog in a dog food commercial. It didn’t go well. The cameras freaked him out so much that he bit the mom and peed on the floor, but that was irrelevant. The company still got paid.
“You made the company one hundred and thirty-six dollars for that job,” he says with a heavy sigh. “We’re not in the business of staffing animals for one-off jobs. We’re in the business of staffing high caliber business professionals in fortune five hundred companies.”
I still haven’t told my dad I got fired. I know he’d offer me a job at Global Chem Solutions, but I can’t. I’m still getting used to Debra as my new stepmom, I don’t need to make her my boss as well.
Ollie walks in up to his waist, but I’m hesitating at the shoreline with the water up to my ankles.
“Are you coming?” he asks.
I gulp. I know the fear is irrational, but I’m terrified of sharks. I hate the thought of swimming in the wild and not knowing what creature is lurking around my feet.
“I’m good here,” I say.
“What are you looking at?”
He looks around in confusion. I must have been darting my eyes around the water, looking for a shark fin. I do that so much whenever I’m near the water that I hardly notice I do it anymore.
“I just don’t like…”
“Cold water? Seaweed?”
“Sharks.”
“Oh,” he says with a nod. He doesn’t laugh at me or make fun. He just shrugs and walks back. “Want to go to the pool instead?”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
I’m filled with gratitude as we start walking back, but then the horrible image that I forced out comes raging back with a vengeance. Ew!
“But… our parents…”
He laughs. “I’m sure they’re hidden in some private corner of that giant house where we’ll never find them. If we stick to the pool, we should be safe.”
“Alright,” I say as I grab my towel off the chair. “You better be right about this.”
He looks at me with a grin. “That house is full of dark corners to get lost in with someone special. Lots of private places to do fun, wicked things. No one would ever know.”