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He looks to his windows, then his bare wrist, and finally back at me. “What time is it?”
“Um,” I say, rocking my head back and forth. “I’d say probably about ten until eight.”
“Shit,” he mutters, jumping up from the couch and retucking his loose dress shirt into his pants. I try not to watch, but my eyes are apparently metal and his hands down his pants are a fucking magnet. “I must have fallen asleep going through my notes on the Grant merger.”
I shrug. “It looks that way.”
He scrubs a hand down his face, and in the twilight of his post-sleep haze, he’s the most serious I’ve ever seen him. He glances to the cart in the corner and back to me before stating, “I’m going to need some—”
“Coffee?” I finish for him, holding up the bag like one of the models on the Price is Right.
His chuckle is raspy with sleep, and good God in heaven, I feel it in the very bottom of my belly. “Yeah. I guess you’re on it.”
Stomach still a little queasy, I nod and step around him to the cart to start prepping the pot.
It’s a quick, simple job, but the weight of his eyes on me as I do it makes it feel like I’m commissioning a new space program for NASA.
I finally finish up and turn around to find he’s somehow freshened himself up in a way I’d never be able to after spending the night on my office sofa.
His dark brown hair is perfectly styled, his suit fresh and pressed-looking, and his skin tanned and healthy and refreshed. Altogether, I would never in a million years suspect he put anything less than an hour into his appearance.
I imagine a similar sleep situation with me would result in smudged lipstick, runny eyeliner, and knotted hair, rather than the qualities of a put-together professional.
I step away, and he smiles as the coffee starts to drip into the pot and the aroma fills the air.
“Ah, thank God. I’m going to need a couple of cups to get ready for the day. Thanks for making it, Ruby.”
I shrug. “Just trying to do my job.”
He nods slowly and then turns back to his desk to rifle through it. I wait at the door because it seems like he’s looking for something for me.
He finally shifts stuff around enough to find what he’s searching for and reads through the page quickly while holding up a finger to me.
When he finishes scanning, he drops the file again and says, “There should be a fax coming in this morning. Urgent. It’s an update I need on the third-quarter numbers for HawCom.”
“HawCom…” I taste the name on my lips. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Probably because they’re one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world.”
“Oh.” That makes sense, then.
“And they just so happen to be my father’s company.”
“Seriously?” I question, and then put two and two together before he can answer. “Haw-kins, Haw-Com.”
He winks. “Exactly.”
Not only does Cap make a lot of money, but he also comes from a lot of money?
My urge to pry for more information about him is too strong to ignore.
“Wait…so, if HawCom is your father’s company, does that mean it’s your…”
Instantly, Cap shakes his head. “I have never had any financial stake, nor do I ever want to have any financial stake, in my father’s company, no matter how much he wishes I would. I’m simply just their pro bono legal counsel.”
He’s pro bono legal counsel for his father’s billion-dollar company?
Talk about a conundrum…
Of its own accord, my brow quirks in surprise, and Cap doesn’t miss a beat.
“I might be a so-called trust-fund baby, Ruby, but that doesn’t mean I actually want the trust fund. My net worth has nine zeros because of my hard work. Not my father’s.”
Nine zeros? As in he’s a billionaire?
Holy moly.
I don’t really know what to say to all that. I’m a bit surprised, to be honest. I mean, it’s apparent Cap is driven. Hell, he’s probably the most driven individual I’ve ever come across in my life. But, driven or not, most people would take the fucking trust fund.
He busies himself with something on his desk, and I get the point.
No time for any more chitchat.
“Okay, well,” I respond with a nod. “I’ll bring in the HawCom fax as soon as it comes through.”
He nods in dismissal, and I step out to the front desk with a renewed sense of positivity.
This morning started in a weird place, finding him asleep in his office, but it seems to be turning into the professional environment I’d hoped for. He’s business-oriented and to the point, and I feel like I might actually learn some really great things working here.
I fire up my computer and open up my emails to get started on the day’s tasks, and I do my best to drink half a bottle of water.
