Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“No offense, but I don’t ask questions, and I don’t want to take on responsibilities. I want to be a writer, so my goal is to eventually move on from this job.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“God, you have a smart mouth, and if I didn’t think you were such a good person…”
“Thank you for that, Mr. Hernandez.”
“So are you planning on working here today, or are you quitting now?”
“Modeling once doesn’t pay the bills,” I scoffed.
“Sleeping with a billionaire might.” My mouth fell open. Of course I understood that James was wealthy, but I had no idea to what extent.
“He’s a what? I didn’t sleep with…” How was Mr. Hernandez aware of my relationship with James? Was he having me watched?
He pressed his finger in between my neck and my shoulder, right at the edge of my collar bone. “That hickey on your neck suggests otherwise, and you’re telling me that you didn’t know that James Keaton is a billionaire.”
I blushed profusely, unable to hide the embarrassment. I’d been in such a rush to leave after my father’s call that I’d forgotten to check for any marks. “We only met that day. His assistant is my neighbor, and she recommended me.”
“Be careful. His brother is rumored to have hands that don’t know where they belong.”
“I’ve already met that piece of…” I stopped myself from saying too much that I couldn’t take back.
“It’s okay to say he’s a piece of shit. He’s not my brother.” My boss chuckled. It was the first time that we actually got along.
“Excuse the fuck out of you, but what is going on here?” James barked at the door.
Mr. Hernandez smirked until he spotted Elizabeth beside James. “You,” he whispered.
Chapter Nine
James
I called Claude right away. He was on vacation with his wife and the bastard knew how important the shoot was for us, but he also understood that she was mine and how crazy I was about her.
“Hey, how did you like the edits?”
“First, how did Henry get the full video?”
“He wasn’t supposed to have that. I pulled the file and locked it so no one could view it again. Sorry about that.”
“What I’m more concerned about is the ad. Why the fuck was the voiceover a private moment between Ava and me?”
“First, nothing said in that room is private. If you read the contract, you would have seen that for everyone’s safety, there are audio recording devices set up so that once someone enters the room, they go off. I don’t ever want to be accused of any impropriety by any client. One client tried that shit a long time ago, but they weren’t aware that my wife was my assistant—a mistake they learned the hard way. I left the rest of your conversation out of it. Trust me when I say that I wish I could have used more. You two have to be my favorite couple. The images were natural and perfect. I’m sorry if you were offended.”
“No, I just should have read the documents. Normally, I’m more careful.”
“Yes, especially since you provide my security, and you had the audio set up as well.” I had been in such a rush to handle my family’s mistake, I made my own crucial one. Still, Claude had been stand-up about it and only used what he thought was necessary to make the ad shine.
“Don’t ruin your relationship with that woman. She appears to bring out the messy side of you, and that can only be for the best.”
“You’re right, and I sure as hell won’t. Thanks again. Take care.” I ended the call and had to make a very important one to check on Ava’s trip to work. As much as I wanted to stalk and harass her, I decided it was best to give her a little space. Soon, we’d have all our mornings together, so I called her driver.
“How was her dropoff this morning?” I asked Ronald.
“Um…for the most part…good.”
“What do you mean, the most part?”
“Well, she looked like she’d been crying and that she was about to cry again. I managed to get her some breakfast, and that stopped the tears. Apparently she likes the bagel spot you like, sir.”
“That’s a good thing, but she didn’t say why?”
“I didn’t ask. It wasn’t my place, and I have sisters. If you ask why they’re crying, they just cry more. It’s not a good thing.”
“Oh. Thanks for handling it. Did you notice anyone lurking around?”
“No, sir. The street seemed mostly empty.” I nodded as though he could see me. I wanted to crush the person who hurt her. Ava was my world and was everything to me, so her pain was mine. Heaven help my brother if it was him who hurt my woman.
My phone rang, and it was a number I didn’t recognize. Still, I answered it because only clients had this number. “James Keaton.”