Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“I don’t want a meeting with Her Majesty. Just Bob Goode.”
“So what’s the issue? Did you bang his wife or something?”
Why would her mind turn to sex as the source of the problem? Had she thought about me naked like I’d fantasized about her?
“He’s an idiot. Thinks he doesn’t need my advice.”
“Surely not.” She mocked shock and horror and I had to admit, I was slightly amused.
“Can you believe it?”
She smiled, warm like a crackling fire in winter and just as inviting.
I shook my head. “Anyway, I don’t want to give him advice. I can admit defeat on that front. I want to buy one of his magazines.”
“Wow,” Sofia said. “That’s exciting. So you wouldn’t just be turning it around and giving it back. You want it for keeps?”
“Sort of.” I didn’t know why I was discussing this with her. She couldn’t help. Talking to her was a waste of time when I should be thinking up creative ways of getting Goode to take a meeting.
“Maybe buy it through an offshore company so he doesn’t know it’s you?” she said.
I glanced up and she met my gaze with wary interest. It was a good idea in theory, but in practice, I was trying to persuade him to let me buy one of his assets that wasn’t for sale. Duping him might raise his hackles and set me back rather than make things better.
“It wouldn’t work,” I said. “I need him to come willingly. Stupid as it sounds, people don’t do business with people they don’t like. And if I ambush him . . . it’s game over.”
“Okay. Well, let me think about it. I’m sure we can come up with a plan.”
Sofia didn’t need to come up with a plan. I did. “Don’t worry about it. You should leave.” Hopefully she’d go straight home and not stop off at the bar. I wasn’t sure I’d muster up my self-restraint by the time I left the office. Though I knew it would be bad for me—and her—I still couldn’t guarantee I’d pass up the chance to be the guy who sat next to her tonight, enjoying her smart mouth, flushed cheeks, and the curve of her arse.
She paused, shifting her weight from foot to foot. I was her boss. How long would she defy me? How long would my self-control last? Eventually she sighed and closed the door on her way out.
Fourteen
Sofia
Buried deep in research about a company Andrew asked me to report on, I physically jumped at the gentle tap on the office door. Before I could answer, it creaked open and a lady with a silver-gray bob stuck her head around the door.
“Sofia?” She grinned at me.
I stood and opened the door wide. “Yes, can I help you?”
“I’m Joanna.”
We shook hands and she glanced over her shoulder. “Hang on a minute.” She hunched up her shoulders like we were in the midst of a big conspiracy, her bright smile never dimming.
She scurried away and came back holding a small cake, frosted white with “Happy Birthday” in purple icing. “I put it in the fridge while I was catching up with Douglas. How is he?” she asked, nodding at Andrew’s door.
Was this Andrew’s mom?
I glanced at the clock affixed to the back wall and smiled. “He’s fine. Did you want to—”
Before I had a chance to finish my sentence, Andrew swung open his door, ignored me completely, and almost smiled when he saw who was waiting for him.
“Joanna.” His tone was entirely neutral, which was as close to “warm” as I was ever likely to hear in the office. But at least the address told me Joanna wasn’t his mother.
“Andrew!” She beamed at him. “Happy birthday!”
It was his birthday?
He swept his hand into his office, inviting Joanna inside. Who was this woman who could come by unannounced and solicit such a welcome? I would have expected any unannounced guests would be seen off with a bazooka or at the very least, a cricket bat.
“What shall I tell anyone who—”
He closed the door before I had a chance to finish my sentence.
Jesus, he could be a prick.
My curiosity was more than piqued. I couldn’t make out anything other than a mumble of voices behind Andrew’s closed door, hard as I tried to listen in. Who was this woman? A family friend? But he didn’t do personal in the office. Who would dare bring him a birthday cake?
I stepped a little closer. Still couldn’t make out what they were saying. I glanced over my shoulder, just to make sure the door to my office was closed, and pressed my ear against the door. All I had managed to make out was Joanna’s laugh when a sharp knock at the outer door made me jump eleven feet in the air.
“Douglas,” I said, pulling my sleeve over my hand to rub at a nonexistent mark on the door jamb to Andrew’s office. “Perfect,” I said, as if removing a mark was all I’d been doing, and I hadn’t been eavesdropping at all.