Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Shit, I don’t even have a dog!
“I was just asking for the November social media ad figures,” he says. “Do you have them on hand?”
“I do!” I say as I perk up in my seat. Shit! There’s paint all over them. “I mean… I did. My dog… ate them.”
I close my eyes, wishing I was dead.
“I can email you a copy immediately,” I say as I rush to open my email.
“By the end of the day would be fine,” he says. “We’re going to go ahead and conclude the meeting, but before I do, I have an announcement.”
Oh god, what a disaster. I still have that shaky panicky feeling all over as I click back onto Mr. King’s gorgeous face.
“It’s about the Christmas party.”
I sigh, wondering what it would be like to see this beautiful man in person, dressed up in his finest suit in front of a gorgeously lit-up Christmas tree. I’d die…
Apparently, the last two Christmas parties took place over Zoom, so they were quite lame and uneventful. No sneaking off to dark corners with the domineering boss in my future…
“This year, we’re throwing an in-person party,” he says, making my heart stop. “And you’re all expected to be in attendance.”
I gasp as I stare at the screen, wondering if I heard that right. In-person?
“We’ll pay the travel expenses and accommodations for our out-of-town employees, so there’s no excuse. I want to see you all there on December fourteenth.”
My heart is racing as it sinks in. I’ll be meeting him for real this time. In the flesh. Mr. King. And me. Together. In the same room. I can’t!
“That’s very generous of you, Mr. King,” Andrea butts in with a fake smile. God, she’s such a brown noser. “I for one, cannot wait.”
“Great,” he says with a lick of his lips. “I can’t wait to meet each one of you. Miss Campbell?”
Oh shit, he’s talking to me! Why is he talking to me?
“Yes?” I squeak out.
“I trust you’ll be there?”
I swallow hard. “Yup! I’ll be there! Wouldn’t miss it!”
“Good,” he says as those dark eyes bore into me, making my body flush with heat. “I look forward to meeting you in person.”
In person… Oh my god, this is too much…
No more hiding behind my little black square. Not this time.
I’m actually going to have to meet my naughty obsession.
In the flesh.
Oh shit, what the heck am I going to wear?!
CHAPTER TWO
Colleen
* * *
“Why do you have so many pajamas?” Brianna asks with her nose turned up as she goes through my closet. “Don’t you have any going-out clothes?”
I’m sitting on the bed, still freaking out.
“I have a few,” I say defensively. “What about that black dress?”
She pushes all of my neatly hung pajama outfits to the side and grabs the dusty old dress that’s crammed up against the wall.
She gives a look of blah as she holds it up. “This?”
“Yeah. It’s my sexy dress.”
She rolls her eyes as she launches it across the room onto my desk chair. “Explains why you’re still a virgin.”
I sigh as I fall onto the bed, covering my eyes. This is a disaster. I like keeping Mr. Marshall King in my head where he can act out every one of my naughty fantasies.
“How much you got for a new dress?” she asks as she turns away from my closet in disgust.
“A hundred bucks?” I say, not even knowing what’s in my bank account. I try to look in my banking app as infrequently as possible. It’s like Pandora’s box—once I open it, all kinds of feelings rush out—shame, despair, panic, anxiety. Best to keep it tucked away in my phone and in the back of my mind where it’s only a problem for future me.
“You’re not going to get much for that,” she says with a sigh. “Let me see what I have.”
I stay here with my mind swirling as Brianna goes to her place next door.
Maybe I should just call in sick, or say that the bus crashed, or that my imaginary dog died. Yes! That would take care of my other lie too. Killing two lies with one stone, I’m a genius.
I’m making up the story in my head—poor Cheeto choked on a Cheeto and died. I can say “What are the odds of that happening?!” and everyone is going to believe it because who would make up such a ridiculous story?
“You should wear this,” Brianna says as she walks back in holding a sleek red dress.
My mouth drops. “That?!”
She grins as my cheeks heat up. Just looking at it is making me blush.
It’s a dark red dress, low-cut (and I mean, low-cut), a slit up both legs, and spaghetti straps over the shoulders. The back flares out and flows to the ground, which must make it look magical when the woman wearing it walks.