Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“All right.” My voice was quiet. I was suddenly feeling very breathless. It was just the way he spoke, like he was making a vow. He didn’t dismiss what I’d asked of him as folly. He truly took my request for nightly check-ins seriously, and it did strange things to my insides.
Still holding my gaze, Jonathan lifted my hand and pressed a chaste kiss to the top of it. I didn’t expect my intake of breath to be quite so loud, but we were alone in my office, and the room was very quiet. That same shift occurred in his eyes, and I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking. He surveyed me slowly, focusing on the gentle curve of my hip and the swell of my breasts before his eyes returned to mine. Tingles danced down my spine, and the heat beneath my skin intensified.
Jonathan let go of my hand, but I could still feel the warmth of his mouth, the soft press of his lips. I had no idea what to say to break the tension, but then he spoke. “Let me take you out to lunch.”
“I can’t.” My voice was far breathier than intended. I walked back around my desk and sat. “I have too much work to catch up on.”
“Then we’ll order in.” He was already sliding his phone from his pocket. “What do you like?”
He wanted to order lunch for us to share in my office? After the intense reaction from him kissing my hand, I wasn’t sure I could handle being in a room with him much longer. I wanted to decline, reiterate that I was too busy for lunch, but he’d come all this way, had apologised like a gentleman. I couldn’t turn him away.
Besides, just because I was likely attracted to Jonathan didn’t mean I had to act on it. Nor did it mean he would ever consider me in that way. He was a suave, debonair businessman. He probably went around kissing hands and being charming all the time. It was second nature to schmooze people. I was hardly the sort of woman he was normally attracted to, given he dated polished, glamorous career women like Lissa. I mean, sure, I had a career, but it was far from glamorous. And I didn’t know what Lissa did for a living, but I got the impression she was driven and ambitious, just like Jonathan.
“Ada, is everything all right? I can decide about the food if you’re not fussy.”
“Yes, I’m okay,” I said, pushing my insecurities to the back of my mind. “Erm, a sandwich, maybe? There’s a nice deli just down the street.”
“What kind of sandwich?” Jonathan asked, already typing on his phone.
Still flustered by my inner dilemma that I was very attracted to him, I replied absentmindedly, “Chicken salad.”
When he finished typing, he set his phone down then glanced at me. “Ben will drive to the deli. He shouldn’t be long. You can work while we wait.”
“You sent your driver to grab us lunch?”
His lips twitched. “Don’t worry. I told him to grab something for himself, too.”
“It’s nice to see you treat your employees well.”
“The competent ones, at least.”
His statement gave me pause. “How do you treat the incompetent ones?”
“I fire them as soon as their inefficiency becomes apparent.”
“Well, that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” I challenged. “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t tolerate mistakes. You fuck up more than twice, and you’re gone. That’s how I’ve managed to run a successful venture all these years.”
I blinked, eyebrows rising. “Wow, I’m glad I don’t work for you, then.”
Something softened in his gaze. “You’d be fine. I have a feeling you’re far from incompetent, Miss Rose.”
The statement hung in the air, and though stated neutrally, it felt oddly like a compliment. Flushed, I turned my attention to the petty cash receipts I was in the middle of tallying. When I glanced at Jonathan again, he was back on his phone, probably firing off intimidating emails to all his poor beleaguered employees. I could only imagine the dread they felt every time they received a message from him or, God forbid, saw his name pop up on their phone when he called.
Okay, now, why the hell did I find that just a little bit sexy? Maybe imperious, domineering men were my type, and I hadn’t known it until right that moment. Well, that didn’t matter because, as already established, I was far from the type of woman Jonathan was interested in. But even if I were, I could never go there with him. Not only was he technically my landlord, he was also Leonora’s son, and there was so much history between his mother and me. We’d been close. It felt a little wrong to go after the son of the woman who’d been married to my father.