Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Despite my bitterness for this chain, I struggled to keep my jaw from gaping as we parked and followed the signs in. I’ve never been in something so fancy in my life. It oozes money, from the gold cornice details to the ornate fixtures in the restrooms. I couldn’t afford to stay here even if I wanted to.
Fuck Henry Wolf.
My stomach sinks as Jeremy appears.
He’s easy enough to spot, his lanky form towering over nearly everyone else. He’s gripping a copy of his résumé in front of him and biting his bottom lip. Sable brown hair that normally settles in every direction is combed and styled with gel. Someone has ironed his white dress shirt. If I know Jeremy at all, he’s nervous and desperate to make a memorable impression.
“I guess that settles it.” I was right, even before Rebel confirmed it. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
While waiting, Jeremy idly scans the crowd.
“Shit!” I duck behind a pillar. Did I move fast enough?
My face burns with indignation. I knew this was a stupid plan the second Skye suggested it and yet I went along with it like a fool—
“Hey, you’re back!” Jeremy’s familiar jovial tone is suddenly within earshot, on the other side of the pillar.
I hold my breath.
“Oh, hey, Jer!” Skye’s nervous laugh carries over the buzz of voices. “Yup, I’m back.”
“I didn’t think you were comin’ today.”
“Yeah … I didn’t think so either but …” She fumbles over her words as she struggles for a response.
“Does Sloane know you’re here?”
“Nope.” She emphasizes the p in the sentence. “No idea. None whatsoever.”
I breathe a sigh of relief even as I roll my eyes. Skye’s always been a terrible liar. But at least Jeremy didn’t see me. Yet. Between him and Cody, my chances of escape are slim.
“I feel so guilty applying here of all places, given how she feels about it, but I need something stable, ya know?”
“Yeah, I get ya.”
“Dave told me he got full time. Him and Teddy both. They moved into an apartment down the street, and they’re starting Monday. I should have applied during the first round. I shouldn’t have waited. I heard Wolf’s benefits for full-time are good.”
Unease slides down my spine as I eavesdrop and Jeremy rambles. I can’t blame him for wanting more. I wish I could be the one to give that to him.
But I need to leave now, before I’m caught.
I make a break for the door.
And freeze.
Ron stands a mere twenty feet ahead and directly in my path, flipping through a pamphlet.
“You son of a …” I grit my teeth as a flurry of anger and disappointment flares. I should have made him pay for his own training.
He leans in to say something to a guy beside him, and my jaw drops. That’s Mick! And Will is beside him! They’re leaving me too? I want to scream.
Shifting from palm to pillar to palm—I swear, Gigi and I watched an I Love Lucy episode just like this once—I rush for another exit at the back of the room, veering to the left.
And run smack-first into AJ.
His eyes widen. “Sloane. Uh … What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” There’s not much left to do but confront him.
“I … uh …” He stalls as he searches for a suitable lie.
“There you are,” a familiar raspy voice purrs.
I spin on my heels. “Ronan?” My attention snags on the way his white dress shirt sits unbuttoned at the collar, showing off a hint of that chiseled collarbone I saw earlier. It’s a far cry from the half-naked jogger who crawled out of the water this morning.
His gaze rakes over my shocked face. “Let’s have that meeting.”
“Meeting?” I echo dumbly.
“The one we scheduled. In my office. Now.”
It finally clicks. He’s offering me a way out of this awkward hole I’ve dug for myself. “Your office. Right.”
The corner of his mouth twitches as if with a private joke. “Follow me.” Gesturing in the opposite direction of AJ and the ballroom of applicants, he takes a few steps and then stalls, waiting.
“Uh … see you next week, Sloane?” AJ calls out.
Apparently not if he’s applying here. I toss a weak wave in his direction as I trail Ronan away. “You are literally everywhere today, aren’t you,” I hiss the moment we’re out of earshot.
“I could say the same about you.” He skims the faces of people around us, as if looking for one in particular. “And you’re welcome.”
“For what?”
“For saving your ass before you got caught spying on your ex.”
My jaw drops. “I wasn’t here to spy on him!”
“Good, because that would have been humiliating.” Ronan swipes a key card that allows us through a set of glass doors and into a large office full of Wolf employees. We quickly veer down a hall.