Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Very funny,” Brooke replied, rolling her eyes.
I had to work hard with Brooke to help her pass some of her classes, but I had faith that college would be easier. In college you didn’t have to take a bunch of random math and science classes if they weren’t in your major, and those were Brooke’s weakest points. I’d always been good at numbers, and I loved chemistry once I realized how important it could be to cooking.
“Oh, Jake!” Brooke waved him over.
I grabbed Andy by the arm and asked him to take a selfie with me. I felt bad for him, and I was only glad about Jake because of how happy he made Brooke. My poor brother was pining away for years and Brooke had no idea—and I knew how that felt. It sucked.
But hopefully, for me at least, tonight would change all of that.
After my selfie with my brother, I spotted Michael over by the food table. Okay, this was as good of a chance as any. I’d said hi to everyone, done my duty. Now I could set my plan into motion.
I could practically feel his fingers thrusting inside me already and I shivered as I walked up to him. “Hey, Michael,” I said, giving him my sultriest smile.
Michael kissed me on the cheek and my whole body got warm. “Congratulations,” he told me. “I know you’ve probably heard this from everyone else but graduating is an achievement. You should be proud of yourself.”
“Are you proud of me?” I asked. I wanted to tell him there were so many other ways he could be proud of me - for keeping quiet, for sucking his cock - and that I could keep being a good girl, just for him.
Or a naughty girl, if he wanted.
Michael just grinned at me. God he was handsome. He could’ve had his own cooking show on TV if he’d wanted, with rugged good looks like that. Then his eyes slid over to right over my shoulder, and I smelled - ah, my dad’s distinctive Old Spice cologne.
Call it a result of enjoying cooking, but I was really good at telling who was who by their smell. Not to mention, my mom had never been able to get across to my dad the truth that he wears too much of that damn cologne.
“Robert!” Michael grinned at my father. I could feel my own smile fading, just a little. “You must be so proud of her.”
Well, fuck, I couldn’t very well flirt with Michael - or anyone - in front of my dad. I made an excuse and slipped away, but I kept an eye on Michael all throughout the rest of the party.
When he slipped into his office, I knew I had my chance.
I walked up, putting an extra little sway into my hips to help get myself into the mood. I was fond of these heels, and I thought they looked great with the dress, silver to match my eye shadow.
I got right to the door of his office - thankfully it was in a small hallway where the bathrooms were, so nobody could really see me - and was just about to open it, my hand on the doorknob and everything, when I heard what he was saying.
Oh man. That sounded rough.
“I don’t even care, okay? I don’t care. You can have whatever you want. I just want this over with.”
Okay, I knew it was wrong, but I pressed my ear to the door. I wanted to know what was going on, if Michael was okay.
I heard him sigh. He sounded just… wrecked. Exhausted. “Just keep your damn hands off the restaurant. That’s the only place I’m standing firm.”
There was a pause as the person on the other end of the line spoke. Then Michael said, with so much bitterness in his voice it didn’t even sound like him, “well, what else could I possibly want to hold onto? I poured my love into this restaurant and it stayed true to me, unlike you. I suppose I should be thanking you for showing me what a lie love is.”
The person on the other end started to say something, but Michael cut them off. “You don’t get to say that. Not when you spent months fucking my employee behind my back. My fucking protégé, I mean, Jesus Christ, you just had to pick the person I trusted most besides you, it’s the ultimate sick joke, you know that, right?”
Michael sighed, and I realized who he must have been talking to: his ex-wife. Virginia.
Fuck.
Well, I couldn’t go in there and seduce him now. Not when he was hurting like this. It would be, well… he wouldn’t be in the right headspace and honestly, I’d feel almost like I was taking advantage of him. He must be vulnerable in that state of mind, and I didn’t want him to fuck me because he was bitter and upset. I wanted him to be with me because he actually saw me as someone he could be with. Someone whom he was genuinely attracted to, someone he could fucking have feelings for just the way I had feelings for him.