Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
That was so fucking dangerous. I should leave. I never should have come to this interview. He wasn’t a fool. He’d surely checked up on me. How much did he know? Was he just playing with me like a cat with a mouse or more appropriately a panther with…whatever they stalk. He was hardly domesticated, which only made him hotter.
“How soon can you start?”
The question startled me. I blinked and had to swallow before I could respond. “I am available in two weeks.”
“No, I want you here on Wednesday.”
My mouth fell open, and I stared at him. That was two days from now. “This Wednesday? You’re hiring me immediately?”
“You want the job, right?”
“I do. However, I need to give notice at my current job.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
“What does that mean?”
He waved off my question. “You said you’d do anything I asked. I’m asking you to be here, ready to work, on Wednesday morning at 8 o’clock.”
“What about an employment contract?”
He smiled. Was he pleased, or was he playing with me? “I’ll have a contract drawn up for you to look over when you arrive on Wednesday.”
“And if there’s something in it that I won’t agree to?”
“You said you’d agree to anything?”
“Mr. Montgomery, I am not—”
“It will be a very proper contract. You will be well compensated for your time, though I will expect you to work long hours, including many weekends. I’ll have you at my beck and call.”
I sank my teeth into my lower lip. Was he serious? Was I going to do this? Was I going to be his beck-and-call boy?
Fuck yes I was.
“I’ll see you Wednesday morning, sir.”
4
MILES
For the first time in ages, my three best friends and I were all free on the same night. I’d agreed to meet them at Vincent’s, even though I wanted to go home, pour myself some superior scotch and go through all the files I hadn’t looked at because I’d been too busy fantasizing about Ben all afternoon. I couldn’t figure out why I’d reacted to him so strongly, but I was mesmerized.
I assumed the infatuation would fade, but for now I was going to have a hard time getting work done when we were both in the office. That meant I’d be facing a lot of late nights working at home alone. Or I could bring Ben home with me.
Maybe then the infatuation would fade faster. I doubted it. There was something about that soft, innocent look in his eyes that made me want to wrap my arms around him and hold him close. Not that I didn’t want to do other, far filthier things, but I did long to protect him, and I was sure he needed it.
My chauffeur dropped me off at the door to Vincent’s. I gave a nod to the bouncer and walked in.
The others were already there when I arrived, seated in the VIP section. They had gotten a decent head start based on the number of glasses I saw around them. By the time I settled into my seat, a server was already there with my drink of choice. I acknowledged them, then turned to face my friends.
“Nobody would doubt you’ve spent the last few months in the Caribbean,” I said to Worth. He was more tan than I’d ever seen him.
“I would still be there now if the board—and my mother—wasn’t pushing for me to show more direct leadership at our company.”
Ford snorted. “How long can you sit in the sun getting sucked off by cabana boys? Surely you get bored after a while.” Ford needed work to focus on just like I did, and as my corporate attorney, I gave him plenty of it.
Worth looked at Ford like he couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. “I don’t understand how you survive closed up in these buildings all day. Going to boring meetings, staring at contracts. It’s all such bullshit.”
“Without someone taking care of that bullshit, you wouldn’t be out there sailing around the Caribbean in your yacht.” Carter reminded him. He was leaned back in the booth, his nearly full drink back on the table. It was clear he was more focused on watching us and our surroundings than drinking. He’d only been out of the SEALs for about six months. For the last few of those, he’d been acting as my security chief. I liked having him there. I’d missed him during the years he was overseas. His brother had seized power of his family empire, but Carter had no need for money. He just needed something to focus on. Worth was the only one of us satisfied to live a life of leisure.
He rolled his eyes at my comment. “Sure, that’s true, but I don’t know why I need to be here looking after the day-to-day nonsense of it all.”