Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“You charmed my brother and now he’s one hundred percent Team Harper. He hasn’t stopped talking about you. I’m pretty sure he’s stalking you on your socials. So I’ve been told about a hundred times that I’m an idiot and should beg your forgiveness. Which I tried to do via sugar cookie.”
He’s so much easier to ignore when he’s not charming. “Ordering cookies is begging?”
“When you’ve got the sweet tooth I do it feels like it sometimes.” He looms over me, and that’s not easy because I’m not exactly a short girl. “Harper, I was irritated that day. I admit I did something foolish. I promised a friend of mine I would hire him the next time I found a show for us. That’s entirely my fault, and that particular day I was feeling guilty about it. Lenny has been a friend for a long time. He was something of a mentor growing up.”
“You knew a construction guy growing up? I kind of thought you were one of those Upper East Siders who lived in a private school bubble.”
“It’s good to know I’m not the only one who can stereotype.”
I take this with a shrug. He’s not wrong. He heard construction and thought big burly man. “So no bubble?”
“On the contrary. There was definitely a bubble, just not the way you think.”
“Jeremiah mentioned you learned to cook at a young age.” I can’t help but think about what his brother told me. He didn’t go into details, but I can fill some in. “I was surprised by that.”
Reid chuckles, though it’s not an entirely amused sound. “My brother’s been talking.” He looks around and snags two glasses of champagne as one of the servers walks by. “All right, we’re doing this, we’ll do it right.”
I’m surprised when he takes me by the elbow and starts to lead me toward the balcony overlooking the back gardens. I explain because this place has multiple balconies—one of which the wedding party stood on and waved at the crowd that filled the palace grounds mere hours before. But now it’s night and the balcony is quiet, silvery moonlight coating the marble and making the whole place feel…romantic.
Danger. There should be a bunch of red flags unfurling right now. “We’re doing something?”
He lets the French doors close behind us and we’re alone, the glitter and sounds of the band fading into the background. “Yes, I’m going to tell you things about my upbringing that I’m not proud of, and you might find some sympathy for me since the cookies didn’t work.”
Did he think they were magical cookies? “I forgive you. There. Now we don’t have to do whatever this is. We don’t have to know each other to work together.”
A brow rises over his eyes. “But wouldn’t it be more fun? Come on, Harper. Give me a chance. If it helps, you should know I have educated myself on your business, and I even went into one of the apartment buildings your company built. It’s solid work that will give families homes for years. It’s good work, and I don’t mean that in a design fashion. You build places people need.”
Yep. I wish he’d stayed elitist. “Fine.”
“Excellent. Like I said I looked into you. Your company is family owned? I can’t figure out if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re awfully young to have a whole family’s financial success on your shoulders.”
“Well, according to my mother, it was never supposed to happen at all.” Bitterness wells inside me. “My father wanted a son. He got me and nothing else. I sometimes think he pretended I was a boy, but then Mom recently pointed out that he intended to train whoever I married to run the company. Unfortunately, he died before I could lure the true heir into matrimony, and he left me the majority of the stock and all the bills. So if you’re trying to figure out if it’s good or bad, it mostly sucks.”
Reid winces. “I’m sorry to hear that. I was considering the fact that it might be nice to be so important to those around you. I’m being naïve, aren’t I? In my head, I was viewing it as everyone looks up to you because you run the company.”
He does not understand my life. “More like everyone comes to me with their hands out. My cousin thinks he should be the one at the helm, and he’s dragged my mother into it. She thinks as long as I’m working I won’t ever fulfill my purpose as a woman.”
“Let me guess. Grandchildren.”
I nod. “Is your mother the same?”
“Oh, my mother left when I was six. I barely remember her as anything more than a walking ball of perfume and anxiety. My brother was an infant. He doesn’t remember her at all.”