Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“Even though I’m stepping in because of my father being a total asshole?”
“Especially so. You want the job. You deserve the job. And frankly, the women of your company deserve someone who will stand up and say that shit stops here.”
My eyes met hers, and I knew instantly that she was right. I’d let my intense hatred of my father cloud my judgment. I could do good here. I could be different from my father. I could maybe even save the Sinclair name.
“You’re right,” I said.
“Of course I am.”
“I’ll take the job.”
“Duh,” she said with a laugh as she pulled me to my feet and threw her arms around me. “You’ll do great.”
She was perfection in my arms. All I wanted was to put aside the divide we’d agreed upon. I wanted to live here in this moment. But I knew that wasn’t possible.
I couldn’t take over my father’s company in the wake of a potential scandal with a twenty-year-old at my side.
I’d look just like him to the board.
Just like my father in every way.
Even though I was nothing fucking like him.
And the worst of it was that I could never let her know that my thoughts went there. That I wanted her to be at my side through all of it. We’d drawn the line in the sand. It was better that we kept it exactly where it was.
14
Chase
October
“Did you hear me, Chase?” Ashleigh asked.
I glanced up at my sister over the edge of my computer screen. I’d zoned out again with her diatribe. I’d taken a bigger role in the company, stepped right into my father’s shoes, and gained my sister as an unwanted accomplice.
“Ash, I really don’t want to deal with this right now.”
She rolled her eyes. “These are important topics. We need to be on board.”
“Just handle it,” I snarled.
Ashleigh jerked to her feet. “I never thought you’d be worse than Dad.”
“Go talk to him then.” I gestured down the hall.
“He’s busy,” she whined.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s been a long day. It’s Halloween. We shouldn’t even still be here. Don’t you have a party to attend or something?”
“Obviously. We’re both supposed to be at that charity ball in two hours. Tell me you didn’t forget.”
I’d forgotten.
“Of course not.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sending you the invite again. What are you dressing as? You have to be in costume.”
“I was just going to wear a suit.”
She sighed heavily through her nose. “I did not sign up for being your personal assistant. I’ll have something sent to your house as well.”
“You’re not my assistant.”
“Whatever,” she said dismissively. She snapped her iPad case over the screen. “It’s already done.”
I waved her off as my phone dinged. A smile spread on my lips when I saw the text from Harley, which included a picture of her pointing at a plethora of alcohol.
Think I can go twenty one for twenty one tonight?
“God, who is she?” Ashleigh asked.
My head snapped up. “Who is who?”
“The girl you’re always messaging. I’m not stupid. I can tell you’re seeing someone.”
“I’m not seeing someone.”
Ashleigh leaned her hot-pink-clad hip against my desk. “Brother of mine, do I look like an idiot?”
“Do you want an honest answer?”
She huffed. “You’re always secretly smiling at your phone.”
“I am not.”
“Fine,” she said, holding her hands up. “I give up. Have your secret girlfriend. I don’t need to know.”
I rolled my eyes. “You have needed to know every detail of everyone’s lives since you were born.”
“Then, tell me!” she gasped. “Is it my friend Bee?”
I blinked at her. “Good-bye, Ashleigh. I’ll see you at the party later.”
She sighed heavily. “You’re no fun.”
I waited for her to leave before responding to Harley’s message.
Try not to die of alcohol poisoning.
Don’t spoil my fun, Sinclair.
Birthdays aren’t as much fun at the hospital.
It’s my 21st. I’m allowed to go OTT.
I shook my head at the picture she’d sent of her with a bottle of tequila tipped to her mouth with the words got salt? under it.
She was going to be the death of me.
All those months earlier, Harley was the only person I’d let near me about my parents’ divorce. Things had changed with us. I knew how I felt, but also that we couldn’t be together, not when things were so precarious in my new position. But I couldn’t stay away again.
So, we’d begun texting. She’d been in Seattle all summer, and in some ways, it was easier to message her, knowing she was thousands of miles away and I couldn’t rush straight to her. She’d come back at the end of August for school, and I’d managed to maintain distance. Though our texts were becoming more and more frequent.
Make sure you have a DD.
What do you think you are?
I laughed. Yeah, sure. I could imagine me showing up at a college party for her twenty-first birthday. This was what I’d meant from the beginning. Our lives were too different.