Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I didn’t want him to be cute. I wanted him to be annoying. I wanted him to be cold and demanding and unfeeling, because that made it easier to want to throw something at his head.
When he was like this, holding me tightly on his lap, burying his face in my neck like a needy little brat, it made every single fibre of my resolve waver. He tugged on my feelings like they were strings on a harp.
“Time’s up,” I said, patting his head.
“Thirty more seconds,” Theo murmured.
“Nope.”
“Yes. Please.”
I sighed. “Fine. But you can’t do this again.”
“Yes, yes.” He brushed his lips across my neck.
I slid my hand between his mouth and my skin. “Absolutely not. Don’t even try it. I’m already giving you a mile here.”
“So mean.”
“Such a baby,” I muttered, feeling something firm press into my thigh. “Hey, that better not be what I think it is.”
He hugged me tighter. “What if it is?”
This incorrigible pervert.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve had your extra thirty seconds. Let me go.”
Two knocks sounded at the door, and Theo jerked his head up with a tiny groan, loosening his grip on me. “Deal with that.”
Sure.
Now he let me go.
I slid off his lap and adjusted the waistband of my skirt, tucking my blouse back in properly on my way to the door. “Ms. Walker,” I said, stepping out to the hall and closing the door behind me. “What can I help you with?”
She blinked as if she was shocked to see me. “I need to speak with Mr Black.”
“I’m afraid he’s unavailable. Can I pass a message on for you?”
Anne-Marie pursed her red lips. “No, it’s not urgent.”
“I see,” I replied slowly. “The handover to the Adair Travel temporary management team will be occurring over the next couple of weeks. Please let me know your schedule as soon as possible so that I can arrange a virtual meeting between you. You’ll be reporting to them going forward.”
“I thought Mr Black was the director of Adair Travel.”
“Yes, Mr Black is indeed the Managing Director. However, his position as Vice-President of Black Ink Corporation takes precedence. The team you’ll be reporting to has personally been hand-selected by him.”
Well, mostly.
After I’d sent him a shortlist.
She didn’t need to know that, though.
“If that’s all…” I said after a moment of her staring blankly at me. “Once Mr Black is done with the matter requiring his attention, we’ll be leaving for the day.”
That woke her up. “You are?”
“Yes. He has a meeting we must be present for at two-thirty.” I checked my watch. “If you’ll excuse me…”
When she said nothing, I smiled and ducked back inside the office, quickly pushing the door shut behind me. The second it clicked shut, I let my smile drop and rolled my eyes.
“That’s the most human I’ve ever seen you at work.” Theo grinned at me behind my desk. “And I didn’t know I had a meeting we have to be present at this afternoon.”
“Shh!” I scurried across the room and clamped my hand over his mouth, pressing my finger to my lips. “She’ll hear.”
His eyes twinkled. “Suh wuf duf?”
“What?” I blinked at him then quickly pulled my hand back. “Say that again.”
“So, we don’t?” He grabbed my wrist and kissed my palm. “I was trying to do that.”
“Stop.” I retrieved my wrist from his grasp and stepped back, putting some distance between us. Far enough that this grabby man couldn’t take hold of me again. “And no, there’s no meeting,” I said in a hushed tone. “But she’s been getting on my nerves all morning, and I just had a mildly uncomfortable conversation with Lennon, so I’d rather leave.”
“Ah, I see you’re taking matters into your own hands.” He tapped his fingers against the armrest of his office chair. “And I am aware of that conversation. We’ll discuss how dense you are later at home.”
At home.
“I refuse.” I sniffed, turning away from him and walking back to the sofa. “Now, sir, please finish your work here so we can stick to your schedule.”
Theo stared at me for a moment, then spun his chair back around towards the computer. He clicked the mouse almost aggressively, and I froze when he almost immediately wheeled the chair back and got up.
“What are—”
“I’m done. I logged out of everything. Let’s go.” He walked over to me and held out his hand. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
Um.
The rapture?
How the hell should I know? He was the one who’d come marching over here.
“I was waiting for you to finish your work,” I said slowly. “Are you done?”
“Yes. Let’s go.” He peered down at me with a dark glint in his eye. “We need an impromptu performance evaluation for your observation skills.”
I had no idea what he meant by that, but there was no way it was going to be a good thing for me.