Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“So I can come back in the middle of the night and murder you. Why else?” he asked.
“Be serious.”
He heaved out a sigh. Fuck, he was tired and his head was thumping. He’d been awake all night. He didn’t need this.
“Aren’t you running late?” he asked.
She let out a tiny noise of horror and he had to grin. Who got this upset about being late? Besides, if she hurried, she’d still get there close to on time. Who went to their job earlier than they needed to?
That was just crazy.
She hurried off down the corridor. He didn’t know why he was following her. It wasn’t like she didn’t walk through the building on her own all the time.
But something inside him said that he had to make sure she was all right. Maybe it was because he’d seen a side of her that he bet few people ever saw. And it roused his protective instincts which wasn’t something he was used to feeling about anyone other than his sister.
So, yeah, this was weird for him too. But he was just going to roll with it because he knew he’d regret it if he didn’t.
And Maxim Malone refused to live with regrets. He’d spent most of his childhood trying to be someone his father would notice, would be proud of. And he’d never managed it.
So screw him and screw the rest of the world.
Maxim was who he was and he wasn’t apologizing for it.
She stopped in front of a door and side-eyed him. Damn, that look was a killer. If he had less self-confidence, he might be hurt by it.
Instead, he grinned.
“This is my apartment.”
“Is it?” he asked.
“Yep. So you can leave now.”
“Can I?”
She groaned, looking up at the ceiling.
“Praying?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“What for?” He leaned against the wall by the door, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Patience.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re kind of lacking in that department.”
“What . . . you . . . I . . . urgh! Are you this annoying with everyone, or is it just me?”
“Never had any complaints.”
“So, just me. Awesome. Look, we got through that . . . and now I’m fine. So you can leave.”
He barked out a laugh. “Is that you saying thank you?”
She threw her hands into the air. “Yes! That’s me saying thank you.”
“Hmm, I think you can do better.”
She pointed a finger at his face. “You’re a pain in the ass. That’s all you’re getting. Take it or leave it.”
“I think I’ll leave it.”
She narrowed her gaze at him as he handed over her basket of stuff. She looked down at it in confusion as if she hadn’t realized he’d been carrying it for her.
He walked backward, away from her as she watched.
“I’ll wait until you’re ready to give me a proper thank you, babe.”
“Urgh! Don’t call me babe! And you shouldn’t hold your breath as I’m never saying thank you!”
A woman with a toddler and baby exited their apartment just as she yelled that.
He grinned as her face went red and then he winked at the woman, who gave him a flustered look back.
With a whistle, he turned and left. Suddenly, the day was looking up.
4
Aston studied the invoices in front of her.
What was she missing?
Things just weren’t adding up. Why were they paying so much for cement mix? And for so much of it? Where the hell was all that cement?
Should she take inventory? But with over thirty building sites throughout the state of Louisiana, that was kind of impossible. Stuff came and went very quickly.
Maybe you should just let this go.
She knew better than to stick her nose into things that weren’t her business.
The last thing she wanted was for anyone to pay her too much attention.
She kept nose to the grindstone and her opinions to herself. But what if she said nothing and this company was ripping her boss off?
Mr. Leeds had always been good to her. He’d given her a job when she was desperate, with next to no references. He’d even given her a pay raise last month. She couldn’t just ignore this.
So even though her head was thumping and her brain was telling her this was a stupid idea, she got up, strode over to his office, knocking on the door.
“Oh, Aston, come in.” He turned from his computer to smile at her.
“Sorry for bothering you, Mr Leeds.”
“Not a bother, dear. What is it?”
“There’s something wrong with the invoice for cement,” she told him.
He frowned. “What is it?”
“Here, see?” She showed him the invoice. “They seem to be overcharging, and see this? It’s a lot of cement. Do we really need this much?”
“Oh, that’s my fault, my dear. I have a new, big project coming up. Very hush-hush, though. Don’t worry about the cost. Just pay it and then I’ll sort it out.”
That was an odd thing to do. She stared at him in confusion.