AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He scoffed. “Don’t thank god. Thank Bennett. He’s the one who found her.”
I dropped my hands and rolled my eyes. “Shut up. What do you have for me?”
Handing me the documents, he dropped into the chair across from me and pulled his feet up onto my desk. I shot him a dirty look that he ignored before flipping through the paperwork.
“Are you working this weekend?”
Not bothering to look up from the paperwork, I replied. “What do you think?”
“I think you work too much and need to take a break. When was the last time you got laid?”
Making an irritated noise, I signed the document before moving onto the next. “I don’t have time for dating.”
“No one said anything about you dating. You need to clear the pipes every once in a while, brother.”
“You offering?”
He snickered. “You couldn’t handle me. But I am offering to take you out and be your wingman. The ladies will come flocking as long as I’m around.”
“They want you, not me. Grouchy CEO isn’t exactly a selling point.”
He bobbed his head, completely relaxed and smiling. I would kill to live life as easily as he does. He was flawless at his job and yet he had time to date and relax and even take vacations. I’d be jealous if I had any time to be. At this point, I barely had time to sleep and it was never restful because I was constantly thinking about work to the point where it infiltrated my dreams.
“I admit, I’m a little too good looking to be a proper wingman. We’ll bring Bennett. Shy giant and grumpy CEO can work together fine.”
I smirked, shaking my head. “You’re such an ass.”
No matter how jealous I was about his lifestyle, I needed Luka around as much as I needed Bennett. They both kept me sane while I tried to conquer this business and keep it going. Bennett always made sure I was eating enough and Luka made me laugh even when shit hit the fan. I wouldn’t have made it this far without them.
I spent the rest of the night working. It went a lot smoother than it has in weeks thanks to Julie’s organization skills. She left all the files in folders on her desk, plainly labeled, so they were easy to go through. I actually managed to get home before midnight by some kind of miracle and didn’t wake up with a stress headache thinking about everything that needed to get done.
It didn’t last, though. I couldn’t ask my employees to work weekends, especially someone who hadn’t technically started yet. By Monday, I was stressing hard and my head throbbed painfully. I had to call Bennett for a ride because my head hurt too much for me to concentrate on the road.
When he shot me a concerned look through the rearview for the fourth time, I shook my head.
“I’m fine, Bennett. I just didn’t sleep well.”
“You’ve been getting headaches a lot. Have you thought about going to the doctor?”
That wasn’t going to happen. I knew what they’d say. I work too much and need to slow down. Something that I couldn’t do because I ran a company, and they needed me to handle things so we could continue to grow and create the products people needed to get better. We weren’t one of the leading medical technology companies in the country for nothing. And we were looking to expand worldwide soon. I needed to work, and I didn’t have time to slow down.
When I didn’t answer, he sighed heavily. “At least close your eyes until we get there. Consider it a payment for me dragging my ass all the way out here to pick you up.”
I snorted and put up my hands. “Alright, alright. You win. I’ll close my eyes. But if I find out you took the long way so I can rest longer, I’m going to fire you.”
He smirked at me through the mirror. He knew I was lying. There was nothing either he or Luka could do that’d make me go that far. I was really lucky that neither of them ever took advantage of that fact.
Luckily, he did as I asked and went straight there. There was some traffic, and I managed to nod off a little until we pulled up out front. Running my fingers through my hair, I forced my tired brain to wake up and put my CEO mask back on as I stepped out of the car.
I often arrived early to the office, wanting to get a jump start on my day, but with the wait for Bennett to come get me, I was running behind. When I stepped off the elevator, I figured I’d hear my phone ringing from my office, but the floor was blissfully quiet. It only took a quick glance to figure out why.
Julie was already here, working quietly at her desk. She glanced up at my approach and beamed at me, a pocketful of sunshine so early in the morning.
“Good morning, Mr Andrews. I hope you had a nice weekend.”
I forced myself to smile, nodding at her. “It was fine. You’re here early.”
She pursed her lips. “My dad always said if you aren’t early, you’re late. Besides, I like having a few minutes to get organized for the day. You’ve received a phone call already, and I left the message on your desk. You have a short meeting in your office in ten minutes, then a few phone calls scheduled before lunch. Can I get you some coffee?”
