Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“We really have got to stop meeting this way,” the same voice from downstairs utters in my ear. He’s hard to ignore, especially when he steadies me. This time, my foot gets caught around the leg of the chair.
“Crap. Shit. Sorry, I’m so sorry.” His gaze holds me hostage. The warmth from his palm does nothing to stop the tingles I’m feeling inside. At first, I thought maybe it was in my head. Now, well, it’s clearly not.
“No apology necessary.” He helps resettle the strap on my shoulder, his touch lingering through the heavy fabric.
“Oh, good, you two have met.” Uncle Todd abandons going back to his desk and comes around.
“Sort of. It was nice to kind of meet you. I have to get back downstairs. Getting fired for being late on my first day might not look good.” I look from my uncle to the mystery man and say, “Thanks again,” before scurrying out of the door like the flames of hell are nipping at my heels.
“Who was that?” I hear his voice ask while I’m waiting for what seems like the slowest elevator of all time to finally open its doors.
“That’s Serena. She’ll be training with you next week.”
“Todd.” There’s a hesitation to the other guy’s tone.
“Crew, I know this isn’t your usual deal, and while I’d normally handle this, it’d be a conflict of interest,” Uncle Todd replies.
“You owe me, big time.” I don’t get to hear the rest, since the dinging of the bell alerts me that it’s time to refocus on starting my job. Tell that to the swirling butterflies in the pit of my stomach. My mind is riddled with the thought of working next to the handsome stranger while simultaneously making a fool out of myself. What a way to start a new job.
1
CREW
Present Day
Iwanted to throttle Todd, grab him, and wring his neck until I shook some common sense into him. Then I kept my eyes peeled for the blonde bombshell who’s a hazard to herself. The more I saw of her, the more I wanted to be around her. I’ve also learned that she’s somehow close to Todd, and while he didn’t say to keep my hands off Serena, if looks could kill, I’d have been dead on the spot.
It figures the one time a woman catches my attention, she’s a no-go zone, plus the no fraternization policy C & T Engineering has in place only solidifies the matter. A thought I didn’t think about until I made it back to my office after seeing Serena for a second time that day.
The script flipped. Instead of putting her out of my head, all I did was keep her at the forefront of my brain. I became addicted to the thought of catching a glimpse of her. I even made excuses to get away from my desk. Never before did I get up in the middle of the day to walk around in order to catch a glimpse of a woman. I usually stay in my office, have my assistant order lunch for me, coffee is always on near her desk, and my fridge stays well stocked with other essentials. There’s absolutely no reason for me to take a stroll nearly three times a fucking day, yet here I am, about to do the same damn thing again.
I push away from my desk, concentration gone to shit anyway. Today has been a wash, and the plans I’ve been drawing for Jagged Edge aren’t getting done any time soon.
“Mr. Garrison, Mr. Fletcher is here to see you,” my assistant, Mary, hits the intercom system to tell me Todd is standing on the other side of the door.
“Thanks, Mary, you can send him in,” I reply, my plans of leaving and hunting down Serena dashed completely. It’s for the better. Mentally, I know that, but physically, I can’t get my cock to catch up with my fucking head.
I stand up, move toward the door, and as I’m about to open it for Todd, he’s doing so himself. We don’t usually have meetings as frequently as we have been lately. We’re both the CEOs here at the firm. From there, we have two chief engineers and two operations managers, who then branch off into different areas. The chief deals with structural and mechanical leads, where we have other engineers. The operations managers have project managers and site supervisors. We also have the administration side of things, which I fucking hate dealing with. Todd is usually the one who handles human resources, talent acquisition leads, and admin support.
I’d rather draw up what needs to be done, help the other engineers, and when the occasion occurs, go out to the job site where I can get my fucking hands dirty. While the air conditioning is nice in the hot summer months, it’s also nice when the weather turns cooler and the humidity drops below fifty percent.