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I caught a whiff of a light, clean, floral scent that made my dick turn into stone.
She’s killing me, but at least I’ll die pretty fucking happy.
I tore my eyes away from her and turned back to the computer screen.
“Show me what you’re doing?” she requested.
I spent the next few hours torn between happiness and agony.
There was nothing I wanted more than just to be next to her.
But every time she got up to get something, go to the restroom, or just to stretch, my eyes and my dick were drawn to that little leather skirt.
And dammit, she seemed so happy and confident. The real bitch in that was the fact that she’d done it all without me.
However, I had to marvel over the quickness of her brain, and how fast she caught on to the concerns that come with any investment. Her questions came like lightning, and she seemed to absorb everything I said and then build on that knowledge.
“So what’s your final decision?” she asked curiously as we finished up reviewing the information.
“I need to order a couple more reports,” I explained. “But it looks good so far. It will be a challenge. But if I can save jobs for the employees, it might be worth it.”
“Do you think you can save the company if you acquire it?”
“I’m reasonably sure I can, but there’s going to have to be changes company-wide. And sometimes people don’t like change. I figured that out a long time ago.”
“It’s not always a bad thing,” she said thoughtfully.
I heard the intercom beep, and Alice’s voice floated into the room. “I’m going for lunch, Mr. Stone. Can I bring you anything?”
“I’m good,” I told her.
“You really should eat something, sir,” Alice said carefully. “Those antibiotics will make you sick if you don’t.”
“I’m fine, Alice. Go to lunch,” I replied firmly.
I had a few more days on my antibiotics, but the course was almost done.
“Back in an hour,” she said.
“Are you sick, Eli?” Jade asked quietly.
I could hear the concern in her voice, and it was the first time I had a glimpse of the Jade I cared about. “It’s nothing. Are you hungry?”
She stood, put her hand on her shapely hip, and drilled me with a no-nonsense look. “Eli Stone, why are you taking antibiotics? Are you ill?”
“I’m not contagious,” I confessed. “But I had a fight with the flu and pneumonia. The viruses and bacteria won.”
She held out her hand, and I took it because she was so damn fierce that I didn’t even consider refusing.
“I’m taking you to lunch,” she informed me as I got to my feet. “And then you’ll explain why you’re even back in the office if you aren’t fully recovered.”
She grabbed her purse on the way to the door, but tightened her hold on my hand. “What sounds good?” she questioned as we left the office together.
“Nothing,” I said honestly.
“Good. Then soup and sandwiches it is,” she decided.
I grinned as we waited for her vehicle to be brought around by the valet. She’d gotten decidedly bossy, but I kind of liked it. Jade had always been meant to lead instead of be hidden away in the woods somewhere. She’d just never realized that she was fully capable of doing more than one thing, or being good at a whole lot of things.
I’d never doubted it.
“This is me,” she said, pointing toward an arriving vehicle.
“Since when are you driving a BMW?” I asked in surprise. “What happened to the Jeep?”
“I still have it,” she answered as she moved to the driver’s side and handed the valet a tip. “I need it for my survival stuff. But I think it was time to buy a new vehicle. It’s not exactly a Bugatti, but I love it.”
I headed for the passenger’s side. It was a 3 series, so it wasn’t an extravagant spend for her, but the classy black exterior suited her.
“And the butterfly finally escapes from the cocoon, stretches her wings, and flies away,” I muttered as I got into the car.
Jade had indeed broken out of the protective shell she’d lived in, but she wasn’t escaping very far.
If I had my way—which I would—she was flying home to me.
CHAPTER 27
JADE
I’d been in Eli’s office early every single day for the last two weeks.
Maybe I’d planned to try to be businesslike, and for the most part, I’d succeeded. But I’d nearly crumbled that first day when I’d found out that he’d been sick enough to end up in the hospital.
In my heart of hearts, maybe I really wanted to believe that Eli hadn’t called me because he’d been too sick to do so. And the excuse was likely plausible, since he’d personally told me that much of what had happened during his illness was a blur. He’d been on a ton of medication, including pain meds, during his hospitalization.
But then . . . there were those heartbreaking texts. I hadn’t asked about them. Perhaps I honestly didn’t want to know.
For the most part, we talked about business, and that seemed to be enough for him. So I’d just continued to be his makeshift intern, harboring some stupid idea that he hadn’t called me because he’d been physically incapacitated.
Had I looked closely when I’d first seen him in the office, I would have noticed that he had lost some weight, and he hadn’t had the energy he usually did. But I’d been so busy worrying about him finding out that I was a fraud that I hadn’t been really looking at him.
Once I had discovered that he’d been in the hospital, he hadn’t looked so good.
I brought breakfast every morning, and made sure he ate lunch. As the days passed, we frequented better and better restaurants, most of them his eateries, for lunch.
He was fully recovered now, and probably had been for at least a week. But I still found myself looking forward to seeing him every single morning.
Our days were productive, and I’d gotten to the point where I could preview some of the proposals he had stacked up on his desk. If they were definitely duds, I could save him time by pointing out why they weren’t going to work, and I could toss him the ones that were questionable.
All in all, I was learning fast and getting more comfortable in my business suits. Well, maybe I wasn’t literally used to my wardrobe, but I was starting to feel more like a businesswoman.
“Good morning, Alice,” I said happily as I came through the door to the outer offices.
The gray-haired woman smiled. “Good morning, Ms. Sinclair.”
“Cheese omelet with a bagel, cream cheese on the side,” I informed her as I put the boxed breakfast on her desk. “And when are you going to call me Jade?”
Alice and I had struck up a friendship while I’d been working with Eli, but I still hadn’t been able to get her to stop being so formal.
“Probably about the same time that I refer to Mr. Stone by his first name. It’s been years, so stop trying to teach an old woman new tricks,” she advised.
I laughed, and picked up one of the many magazines on her desk. “What’s all this?”
“New magazines,” she answered. “It was the strangest thing. Mr. Stone asked me to change our subscriptions right after your first visit here.”
