EMBERMonday morning at work, I kept looking over my shoulder at the shiny bank of metal elevators every time I heard that familiar low ping signaling the arrival of one on our floor. I told myself it was just because the sound was distracting, but it was a little white lie.Okay, more like a white-whale-sized lie, but hey, I enjoyed trying to fool myself. The truth was that I kept checking for Kaden. Early in the morning, I thought I saw a flash of his blonde hair and perfectly chiseled face when the doors opened for a split second, but they closed again almost immediately. As if the rider had pressed the button for the wrong floor.It wasn’t like I was desperate to see him or anything. I wasn’t. I meant it when I said what happened between us couldn’t happen again, but I was curious to see how he was going to treat me now.Would he be flirty Kaden like he had been this weekend? Or would we go back to being colleagues who hardly knew each other? As loathe as I was to admit it, I didn
EmberAn enthusiastic waitress took our orders for cocktails and brick-roasted free-range chicken before hurrying away. Seated on one of the terraces, Gracie and I had the perfect spot for people watching.I loved it, but there was a sadness in Gracie’s expression I didn’t like. “What’s wrong?”She sighed, her eyes lingering on the sidewalk and the orange glow of the sun setting on the river before slowly venturing back to mine. “Do you feel like New York is swallowing you up?”My head jerked back as my brow furrowed. “No, not at all. Do you?”Tilting her head on another small sigh, she nodded. “It’s all just so big and overwhelming, you know? We’re only two among literally millions of people on this island.”“But we’re two awesome people,” I quipped, changing tack when I noticed the sadness was intensifying instead of lessening. “New York won’t swallow us whole. We’re going to dominate this city one day. We’ll be like our generation of the Sex in the City girls.”“There are only two
KADENTuesday morning came sooner than I wanted it to. After my chat with my dad and Boyd yesterday, my day had gone from bad to worse. What should have been an awesome day had gone to shit because of that little stunt they pulled.I ended up being snappy and argumentative, not the best way to treat my team. As a result, I decided to take today to cool off. There was nothing urgent I needed to do, and the emails I needed to respond to I had already gotten done earlier this morning.Taking a day off wasn’t something I did often, so I didn’t feel bad about doing it now. Everyone needed a break from time to time, and my employees certainly didn’t shy away from doing it when they needed to, on my encouragement and insistence. I owed myself the same I gave them.I wasn’t going to face my dad today. No fucking way. I wasn’t in the mood. I needed to regroup after the shit he’d pulled, or I was going to do something I’d end up regretting.Regret wasn’t in my repertoire precisely because I tho
We flagged down a cab and made our way to the hole in the wall burger joint that had been there for twenty-five years. It smelled of grease, onions, and grill in the small, packed dining space.Ryan and I got a table as a couple of other guys left, and we ordered a beer on tap and their daily special burger. After getting caught up on work, I shifted the conversation to Ember.“So, you know your sister’s working for us now, right?” I started, sipping on my lager.Ryan nodded, a smile on his lips. “Yeah. She told me. I’m glad she’s there. I didn’t know she was starting with you, or I would have given you a heads-up about it.”“No worries.” I shrugged like it didn’t mean a thing to me that she was there. “She’s doing really well, Ryan. You should be proud of her.”Surprise flashed in his eyes. “She is? I was wondering if she was going to cut it there. Don’t get me wrong. She’s smart as hell, but I didn’t know if she had it in her to make it at a firm like yours in a town like this.”His
EMBER“Mr. Marx isn’t in the office today,” a perky receptionist on his floor told me snidely. The tone she used made me wonder if there was something more going on between them, but I dismissed the thought.She was probably simply bitchy. Like Gracie pointed out, people here had their default setting set to rude. I smiled, refusing to stoop to her level. “Do you know when he’ll be back? I have some important business to discuss with him.”What I wanted to discuss with him wasn’t business or particularly important, but I was tired of waiting for him to come to me. I needed to figure out if the air needed to be cleared between us, and I was over wondering about it.If he didn’t have the balls to come to me, I would come to him. Or I would try, anyway. Apparently, I had chosen the wrong day to do so.The receptionist, whose name I didn’t know and didn’t care to learn, glared at me. “I’m not his personal assistant, so I don’t know when he’ll be back or where he is. Would you like to leav
EmberHank’s grip was so strong, it nearly strangled my hand, but I wasn’t one of those girls who shook like a limp fish. One of my female professors back at Harvard had impressed upon us ladies the importance of having every bit as strong a handshake as the men who we would inevitably end up working with.I returned his handshake with more confidence than I felt, curling my lips into a smile. “Mr. Marx, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”“I’ve taken the liberty of ordering up lunch for you. I was hoping you would join me.” He motioned toward the seating area with the waiting salads, looking at me expectantly.Like I was going to say no to an invitation to lunch with the biggest boss I had? “I would love to.”“I’m sure you’re wondering why I called for you,” he said once we were settledI nodded, mentally crossing my fingers that this wasn’t all an act and that he wasn’t going to fire me anyway, despite having gotten me lunch first. “The thought has crossed my mind.”Mr. Marx chuckled good
KADENGoing back to work on Wednesday morning, I stopped to pick up two more coffees. It was take two for me trying to talk to Ember. I refused to let anyone stop me from doing it today. Not even my dad was going to stand in my way.When I got to our building, I went to my office first to drop off my stuff and check in with my assistant to let her know I was back. From there, I would go to the training floor to find Ember.Rounding the corner to my office, I was surprised to find Ember already there waiting for me. She stood up from the black leather couches in the executive waiting room when she saw me, smoothing out her skirt.Her very tight, very sexy fucking skirt.My mouth went dry at the sight of those curves, so very clearly displayed in the skirt and a form-fitting jacket.Holy shit. Was it possible for a person to become sexier in two days? It had to be. That was the only thing that could explain how she had gone from sexy to devastating in less than seventy-two hours.“Kaden
KadenI shrugged. “In this case, it’s the truth. Ryan wouldn’t ever have figured it out if I hadn’t told him straight out.”“Well, thank you,” she said. “I owe you one.”“You don’t owe me a thing,” I told her. “I was happy to do it. I just hope things get better between the two of you. He wants it too, you know? He just doesn’t necessarily know how to make it happen.”“We’ll figure it out,” she said confidently, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Okay, well, I should probably get going. Thanks for the talk and for talking to Ryan.” Getting up from her chair, she lifted the coffee. “Thanks for this too. You may just have saved my life with this. I’ve been dying for Joe’s.”A chuckle worked its way out of my mouth. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think? You wouldn’t actually have died.”Her head bounced from side to side as if she was actually considering it. Then she shrugged. “Luckily, we’ll never have to find out. So, thanks for that too.” “Anything else you’d like to thank