Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
I click open the message and scan the text.
“Jules,” I bellow again.
It’s like she’s been standing behind my door this entire time, because she pokes her head in immediately.
“Leo, how can I help?” she says like she’s Mary fucking Poppins.
“What did you do?”
She opens the door a little wider and steps through. “I’m sorry about before. I just had my roommate waiting and I was a little frustrated.”
We’re talking at cross-purposes. “Did you see the email from Louis?” I ask.
“No. Should I have?”
“Have you spoken to him?” I ask.
“About what?”
“The fact that you want his job?”
Her expression looks like she just smelled sour milk. “No. Why would I do that?”
“When’s the last time you spoke to him?” I ask.
“I’ve never spoken to him.”
“But you said you used to work at The Mayfair.”
“I did. But I only saw Louis once in the entire time I worked there. He never came out of his office.”
I sigh. Jules doesn’t strike me as a particularly gifted liar, and she’s never given me a reason not to believe she’s telling the truth. “So him sending me his resignation just now is a total coincidence?”
“He resigned?” Her eyes are usually barely visible beneath her thick-framed glasses, but they widen in shock. “Are you hiring? I’ll do whatever it takes. Hell, I’ll even be your fiancée for the awards ceremony.”
I can’t help but laugh. Jules isn’t my type. Not even for a night, let alone a lifetime. She dresses like she’s ninety, never wears a scrap of makeup and, well, she seems angry a lot of the time.
Jules isn’t going to solve my problems right now. I need to find a new manager for The Mayfair and a solution for the awards ceremony. And based on the seething look in Jules’ eyes right now, I’m going to have to figure it all out myself.
EIGHT
Jules
Leo Hart doesn’t think I’m attractive enough to play his fiancée. I saw it in his eyes when I suggested I take on the role for the awards ceremony. To be fair, I can’t blame him. Leo is a very handsome guy. But the fact is, the man hit on me when I was dressed as Mystique, so I’m not completely abhorrent to him. Maybe Sophia’s right, and I’ve been going a bit hard on the Granny-chic style. I just didn’t have the money to buy a wardrobe full of new suits that screamed “hotel manager” when I got hired on as Leo’s assistant. What I did have was enough money to get Ann Taylored to within an inch of my life at my local Goodwill.
Apparently, Leo doesn’t think his fiancée would wear slightly too-big suits.
Hence, exhibit A: bright red heels as high as the Empire State Building, click-clacking on the pavement each time I take a step. And exhibit B: a dress that would be tight if I was going out to a bar, let alone sitting behind my desk all day. I even got my hair blow-dried after work yesterday as I formulated my plan for a quid pro quo. It hits my waist even with the ends curled. I’m one hundred percent Jules Moore. Myself squared. Because I’ll do whatever it takes to get what I want, including a full-on Pretty Woman transformation.
Today I have to convince Leo Hart to take me to the awards ceremony as his fiancée in return for hiring me as the manager of The Mayfair.
“Excuse me, miss,” the security guard calls as I get to the turnstiles. “Can I check your ID?”
I hold up my lanyard as I walk toward him. I usually wear it around my neck, but I don’t want to spoil the effect.
He looks between me and the picture on my pass. Once, then twice. “Oh, okay, Jules. Didn’t recognize you there for a second.”
I smile at him. It’s the exact kind of reaction I was hoping for. “No problem,” I call, giving him a special toss of my hair before I move through the turnstiles and wait for the elevator.
I hope Leo’s not early again today. I want to get organized. Rehearse the arguments I’m going to put to him just one more time. Go through the questions I have for him. But I also want to get into the office before the bulk of people arrive. I don’t want to deal with people at Hart Developments either asking me why I’m dressed up or awkwardly not asking. I can’t decide which would be worse.
I get off at the fifty-sixth floor and I have to switch on the lights. That’s a good sign. I might get to my desk without anyone but the security guard questioning me. I undo the buttons on my raincoat and head to my desk, which is in Leo’s outer office.
Unfortunately for me, Colin is already in. “Morning, Jules,” he calls, and then turns, smiling. His smile turns to shock when he takes in my change in office attire. “You look… different,” he says, trying to be diplomatic.