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Sarah and I say our goodnights and walk to our rooms. I quickly change into my pajamas and slide in the bed. I plug my phone in and set my alarm for work tomorrow. As I turn over in the bed, I hear my phone chime with a text coming through. I roll over and grab it to see who it’s from. I smile when I see the quote appear.
Unknown:“You know you are in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” -Dr. Seuss. Goodnight, beautiful.
Knowing this is Miles, I smile as I read the message over and over. He truly is sweet and charming. I adore that he loves books and authors as much as I do.
Lizzie:Goodnight, Miles. Xo
?I put my phone back on my nightstand and turn over to go to sleep with a smile on my face and thoughts of that beautiful man running through my mind.
Chapter 9
Miles
It’s Monday morning, and I am up and ready to go. I can’t keep the smile off my face as I work out and dress for work. There is a definite pep in my step today. I keep going over the details of our date Saturday night, and it couldn’t have been more perfect if I tried. She was absolutely stunning, and I feel so relaxed and genuinely happy with her. I feel like I have known Lizzie my whole life and everything just seems easy and natural with her. She is real and not pretentious. I feel like a horny teenager with my first crush, like I need to doodle her name on a notepad. I am eager to get to work so I can go over my schedule for the week with my assistant. I want to know the next time I can see her. I need to see her, desperately. I spoke to her a bit yesterday with some texts, but she was busy working, so I wasn’t able to get the fill of her that I needed.
I walk into Knight Publishing Company through the front doors. I smile and nod to the secretary behind the welcome desk. She smiles brightly and blushes. I hurry over to the elevators, while gesturinghellosto all my employees as they make a way for me to come through, like the parting of the seas. Some return the notion, and some look at me quizzically. Hmm, I know I don’t have the best reputation for being approachable, especially at work. I suppose that’s why I am getting these odd reactions to my apparent happiness. I make a mental note to do a better job of getting to know my employees, or at least be nicer. I guess I’ve been sostressed since my father’s passing because I knew that they all depended on me to keep this ship afloat. I haven’t been the best leader, as far as manners go. Once inside the elevator, I hit the button for the twentieth floor. We own the entire building, and every floor is a different department within the company. The twentieth floor is for the executive offices, mine and Sebastian’s. With a deep breath, I lean against the elevator as I ride to the top. I take in the modern finishes that I incorporated after I became CEO. Marble flooring and gold sconces adorn the walls. Hanging on the back wall is a black and white abstract painting by a local artist.
I went to the opening of the art gallery and couldn’t help but buy his whole collection. I’m not sure why, but they all seemed to speak to me. I smile when I think about them getting delivered. Sebastian looked at me like I had grown two heads. He said he could have made the same paintings with his eyes closed. I just scoffed and told my assistant to have our interior designer incorporate them throughout the building.
The door to the elevator opens, and I straighten up and walk out toward my office. I say a quick hello to Elaine, the floor receptionist. She smiles and gives me a seductive finger wave in return. I pass Elijah’s desk, and he jumps up with his iPad in his hands to accompany me to my office. I hold up a hand to stop him. “Elijah, could you bring me a coffee, please? I didn’t have a chance to get one,” I say, and he simply nods, puts the iPad down, and runs across the floor to the coffee bar. I sigh and continue until I’m in the comfort of my office. I place my laptop case on the side of my desk and unbutton my suit jacket as I take a seat at my desk. My office is painted in a light gray that accentuates the white leather couch on the other side of the room. A plush rug is spread before it, above which is a glass cocktail table. My framed degrees hang behind my desk along with various awards the company has received over the years. To the right of my desk is a wet bar for when I pull late nights. It’s stocked with my favorite Macallan whiskey.
I’m in my office for only a minute before I’m interrupted by Sebastian, who just swings the door open and drops onto the white leather chair in front of my desk. He’s looking at me with a smug smile on his face, one that I want to punch off him. I haven’t really spoken to him since I dropped him by his place after the club.
“Hey bro,” he starts, “something going on that I need to know about?” he asks, as he studies my face. This makes me chuckle, which makes his eyebrows shoot up.
“I’m just in a good mood. It’s a beautiful Monday, don’t you think?” I reply with a grin.
“Okay, now you are really freaking me out. What is it? What happened?” he asks. I think I’m going to make him sweat it out a bit before I tell him about Elizabeth. His expression right now is priceless, and I am enjoying this.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I state, as I pull out my laptop from the case and place it on my desk, opening it and powering it up.
“I just came in behind you, and Betty from the welcome desk said you were greeting people in the lobby. She was concerned,” he mentions, waiting on me to comment. I look up at him.
“Am I that much of a hard ass that I can’t speak to my employees?” I ask feeling a bit guilty they think of me that way.
“Of course not. You just don’t take bullshit, and maybe you’ve made more than one employee cry for something or other. It’s not a big deal. I just want to know what has the mighty Miles Knight cracking a smile,” he inquires with a chuckle. Before I can answer, Elijah knocks once and lets himself into my office. He places the steaming coffee on my desk as he opens his iPad.
“Thank you, Elijah. We need to go over my schedulefor this week to see if I can rearrange some things,” I tell my assistant without looking at him or my brother. I can see them both looking at each other, silently wondering what the hell is going on with me, which just makes my smile bigger.
“Of course, sir. You have back-to-back meetings this morning with potential investors. I sent the information about them to your email, so you can review it before the meetings. After lunch you have a meeting with the board to go over the quarterly sales. I sent that spreadsheet to you, as well, and highlighted the most important divisions that need to be discussed. That’s it for the day, as far as meetings are concerned, but there are several manuscripts that you need to either approve or deny. I have gone through your emails and flagged the important ones that needing to be addressed today.” He finally pauses to catch a breath.
I lift my eyes from my laptop screen and reply, “Great, thank you for all that work. I am wondering if I have any meetings in the late afternoon or evening this week.” He looks through my calendar, and then replies, “You have a meeting with Charles from HR tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. Then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we will have the new interns here, and they will need to be settled and taken care of.”
I think about this for a moment, then say, “Dennis can take care of the interns and get them settled. I will make a quick presentation about company expectations, and then he can get them squared away. Let him know and clear my afternoons on those days,” I added, as I look back down at my computer and begin typing away. I can feel the eye lasers that are shooting at me right now, and I just smirk. I hardly ever reschedule meetings or make someone else cover them, so this behavior is very unusual for me, and they know it.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Sebastian declares. “I’m not leaving this office until you tell me what’s going on.” He sits back in his seat and crosses his legs. Elijah decides to join inand sits along with him in the other leather chair. I sigh and look at the two men in front of me. I contemplate what exactly I want to say. I tell my brother everything, and I know there will be more questions when Elijah leaves the office, so I keep it vague.
“I met someone, and I am trying to work my schedule so I can see her again, soon,” I answer, matter-of-factly. Sebastian bursts into fits of laughter and slaps his hands on his thighs. Elijah just looks like I told him that Santa was real. I chuckle because they have never seen me in a real relationship, just the casual fling, but I have never cared enough to clear my schedule.
“You’re joking right? I mean you can’t be serious. When would you have met someone?” Sebastian asks after he gets control of his laughter.
I smile as I say, “I’m not joking. I met her twice in one day, then took her on a date the next night.”
“And so, you already want to rearrange your schedule for her?” he asks, incredulously. Sebastian will be the forever bachelor, at this rate. He never sees the same woman twice, which has caused many scandals in the past. He has at least begun to be more discreet about his afterwork affairs after Macie and our mother gave him quite the scolding. It was a pleasure to watch him turn as red as a lobster when our mother spoke to him about his “conquests”.
“Elijah, will you excuse us?” He jumps up from his seat, nodding and makes his way out of my office, closing the door behind him.
I look at Sebastian with a humorless expression. “Her name is Elizabeth. We hit it off almost immediately. She didn’t recognize me, which intrigued me even more. I ran into her again at the club opening, and we danced and talked for hours. Then, I arranged to have the library closed for us so we couldtour and dine there. I know I sound crazy right now, and I feel crazy, believe me. I feel like I have been turned inside out and my world is upside down. She’s everything that I ever thought I wanted and needed in a woman. She is intelligent, compassionate, stunning, and she was interested in me before she knew who I really am. And when I told her, she didn’t act any differently. I can’t get her out of my head, Seb. And I don’t want to. She’s gotten under my skin,” I say honestly, trying to explain these feelings that are in my head. Sebastian looks taken aback and is silent for a minute.
