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And now, an excerpt fromA Girl Gone Crazy! Once you’re done, keep scrolling for an sneak peek at Becca's series,A Girl Gone Crazy. And if that isn’t enough, keep going for a short excerpt from Becca’s next standalone,Hating You, Loving You.
Dedication
Tomyfriendsandfamily. Thank you for everything.
To Daniel. I ran into you at a bookstore and you so graciously shared your 90 year+ life story with me, and how you met your wife in front of the Trevi fountain. You made me promise to never stop believing in love and I hold myself to that promise. Thank you for that moment of your time. It means more than I could ever put into words. This book is for you.
“HALEY!THERE’SNOMORECOFFEE!”
“Haley! Where do you keep the sticky notes?”
“Haley! The printer’s on the fritz again!”
“Haley! Help!”
“Haaaaleeey!”
“I am so sick of hearing my own name!” I muttered irritably as a rough breath shot out of my nose. I struggled to not become overwhelmed by the thousand meaningless tasks and constant demands that always seemed to fall upon my shoulders. Tasks that were not actual parts of my job description. To add to the pressure, the work phone chose that moment to scream.
“Carson Management, Chicago office. This is Haley. How can I help you?” I answered after the second ring. Lisa, the woman from the travel agency, began spitting numbers at me. I forced myself to remain professional even though I wanted to shout and dump the phone into the trash. Grabbing a nearby notepad instead, I jotted her message down and wished her a good day before disconnecting.
“Fielding calls for Mr. Carson’s disgusting weekend sexcapades again?” Ethan, my work buddy and lifelong best friend, waltzed up to my desk carrying a fresh cup of coffee in his hand.
“Where did you get that?” I pointed towards my favorite mug and watched hungrily as tempting tendrils of steam rose from the surface.
“Since no one in this office can seem to do anything except for you, I helped to relieve some of your burden. I gave Felicia some of my sticky notes, so she’d stop screaming. Oh, and Felix is on his way to fix the printer. I also made the coffee and poured you the first cup. And it’s just how you like it. Heavy on the cream. Heavy on the sugar and light on coffee. I’m just sorry there’s nothing here to fluff your cream. I know how you like your cream fluffed.” Ethan laughed with a wink. He referred to the milk foamer that he bought last year that had earned him the nickname of Master Fluffer by all of his friends. He proudly whipped it out each time that I went over to his house for dinner, followed by hours of gossip and talk.
“I love you so much right now.” I smiled gratefully and accepted the proffered cup. “Has anyone told you that you are an absolutely amazing man and the best friend anyone could ask for?” I added as I took a hearty sip. Closing my eyes, I leaned back in my chair to savor the dark sweetness that promised a boost of caffeine.
“Not in the last five minutes but please, don’t let that stop you.” Ethan laughed again but abruptly stopped as the new, hot young intern from downstairs slowly sauntered by. “Good Christ, how is it possible to be that sexy? Someone’s going to have to throw a bucket of ice water on me if he keeps doing that!” Ethan fanned himself as we watched the intern and his co-worker reach the elevators and wait for the doors to open. The tawny-haired young man shot a glance our way before positioning himself so that his tight, apple-shaped ass was on full display.
“I don’t know but I’m sure that he magically appeared out of a Ralph Lauren ad, or off the Twitter account of that photographer who shoots those hot, nude wounded warriors.”
“Haley, please don’t put any more thoughts into my head. My fantasies are already piling up as it is.” The doors chimed and the intern stepped inside. The doors closed with a quiet ding. Ethan let out a disappointed sigh before returning his attention to me. “Anyway, what’s that?” He pointed to the sticky note in my hand bearing a quick scribble and a series of numbers. “Secret rendezvous?”
“You could say that. It’s a private message for Mr. Carson,” I whispered and held the note so he couldn’t see what I’d written. Ethan let out a soft aah as he quickly caught on.
“You’ve been charged to book another ‘work convention’?” I nodded, disgusted that I’d been reduced to such a level. If I didn’t have bills to pay, I would have quit ages ago. It was no secret that I hated my place here but no matter how much I despised getting out of bed each morning, I needed the paycheck.
Right after college, I’d applied for a series of jobs, absolutely certain that one of them would bite. The enthusiasm of entering the workforce quickly dissipated after I spent over a year of constantly looking only to strike out each time.
“It’s the market,” my father said as he tried hard to lift my spirits and encourage me not to give up. I didn’t quit. Haley O’Brien is not a quitter and so I carried on. Just by chance, Ethan got a job with the marketing firm that shared a floor with a management agent who was in search of a secretary. Thanks to my best friend’s well-timed tip, I’d lucked out, snagged this job, and promised myself that this was just to pay the bills until something better came along. That was eight years ago.
“I’ve set Carson up with dinner reservations that will ‘blow his mind’,” I said as I returned mentally from my brief reverie.
My boss, Alan Carson, was famous for just how little he worked. On top of that, he was supposedly a ‘happily married man’ who had been seeing his mistress for as long as I’d worked for Carson Management. His squeeze’s name was Carissa Frasier. She graduated the same year as my brother Xander. She was twenty-six, beautiful, blonde, and bubbly with big-blue eyes and an even bigger… personality, and she had this job before me. She’s a first-class gold-digger and a not-so-well-kept secret around the office. And despite the rampant gossip, Mrs. Carson had yet to learn of her husband’s blatant infidelity. Most of us felt sorry for the sweet-natured Mrs. Carson who spent her days taking care of her home and raising their three children while remaining wholly ignorant to what a scumbag her husband was. Granted none of us had ever met her, let alone seen her, but her random phone calls to her husband were proof that she existed.
“Where are they going this time?” Ethan scoffed as he shook his head. He loathed the pretty, petite blonde and made no attempts to hide it.
“A conference in Milwaukee by the way of Cancun,” I whispered in reply as I got up from my seat and excused myself to discreetly deliver Mr. Carson’s reservation details for his weekend of carnal debauchery.
I quickly entered Carson’s office. He was on the phone and without bothering to look at him, I deposited the note, placing it face down on the table before him. I was a firm believer in the get in, get out quick mentality. He didn’t like to be bothered and I hated just being in his presence. He made my skin crawl. Upon my return, Ethan was still standing at my desk, but now he had my work phone pressed against his ear, chatting away.
“Yes, Mrs. O’Brien. I would love to attend! Thank you so much for inviting me. That is so considerate. I know, I know. You’re like family too. Yes, it is wonderful news. The dinner’s tonight? Seven o’clock at L’Oceano? I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I’ll make sure to tell her. Thank you, thank you. I’ll let her know. Okay, bye-bye now.”
