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At least I’ve lightened his mood. “Go home,” I tell him. “I don’t want to see you again until you’ve had at least eight hours.”
Still laughing, Noah gets up to leave. “You should sleep too. She obviously wore you out. You look exhausted. Sweet dreams, Ace.”
“Fuck off.”
More laughter as he shuts the door behind him.
With Noah gone, I pour myself another whiskey.
Alone in my office, I check a few emails, looking through the ones Noah cc’d me on. He and Colton have handled everything as well as they possibly could have. I’m grateful. And we still have time.
I’ve made a point of not being the kind of boss my father was. He was king of his kingdom, with total control. When I set up Invested Enterprises, I knew that delegating would be a major part of my strategy.
And it’s worked. It’s why IE has grown so quickly.
My father kept people in line through fear and manipulation and by scrutinizing their work so thoroughly that presenting new ideas to him was enough to send employees home sick with PTSD. There wasn’t much that was ever good enough for him. If it was, he gave his minions—and his four sons—a pat on the back before taking all the credit.
I’m glad to say I am not my father. I go out of my way to recruit people who are at least as smart as I am. The company can only continue to thrive if the people around me are at the top of their game. I want experts and industry-leading pioneers working with me, helping make the vision I have for the company a reality. It’s their vision too. They all bust their asses. And they’re rewarded for it. We value loyalty. We compensate innovation. Honesty and integrity are things we seek out in the people we hire.
Which is why the thought of one of them going behind my back is so fucking infuriating.
Even so, I feel surprisingly calm. I’ll be methodical and I’ll deal with whatever I need to deal with.
Tomorrow.
For now, I allow myself to drift back to my obsession with the goddess I spent the night with. Did I dream her?
I pull her little note out of my wallet. Ace, Thanks for an amazing night xx Tex
Damn it, Tex.
I scour once again through the list of women who work for the companies in Dallas that were at the conference, diving deeper into my research.
I finally exhaust every single possibility.
Okay, then: Houston.
Her Texan twang was real. And strong. Which makes me think she still lives in Texas.
So, I start going through the four companies from Houston who had representatives at the conference.
I glance at the clock and it’s one a.m.
Fuck. I’ve been poring over this shit for hours.
It must be…8 p.m. in Hawaii. And midnight in Texas.
Where are you, baby girl?
She’s like a drug that was so damned good it turned me into an addict from my very first taste.
My head is swimming with flashbacks.
Of the way she looked when she kissed the head of my cock. Licking.
How she gasped when I pushed inside her for the first time—and fuck, it was her very first time.
I wish she’d told me that.
