I exhale a long breath.
I grab both pillows and prop them against the bedrest before leaning against them. With my arms crossed over my chest, I stare at the body rising and lowering with each breath.
Thank you, Liz, for being so hung over, you couldn’t make it to work and Étienne called me to take over your shift.
When I whirled around and spotted Kaz at Grazie Mille, I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. The humiliation of coming face to face with a man who’s accomplished so much in his life was too much to handle. The last time I saw him, I talked big, certain my business success was a guaranteed outcome. I thought bumping into the gorgeous man with the intense blue eyes six days ago when I was at my lowest was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. Turns out I was wrong. Without him, I would’ve either had to remain in a crappy, smelly basement apartment where a pervert was watching my every move or I would’ve ended up homeless.
Now, my ex-boyfriend’s ex-stepdad is my roommate and soon-to-be new boss.
The last twenty-four hours of my life read like the plot of a novel.
What kind of unexpected adventures will the next chapters bring?
Sleep envelopes me in her arms, and I drift away.
Chapter 16
I’m going to hell
Kazimir
Ibring up my phone to eye level with Erik’s. “I’m going to do it,” I say, concluding the retelling of the conversation I had with my publicist.
He blinks.
“Oh, now you have nothing to say? You’ve been breaking my balls for months on this, Erik.”
“True, but you’re a stubborn motherfucker. You shut that idea down every time I brought it up.”
He has a good point.
“I can’t believe you sleeping on an armchair all night would bring about this kind of epiphany,” he says.
It was never my intention to fall asleep on that armchair. I’m surprised my back isn’t hurting. “Things happen for a reason. You can either leverage the unexpected or let the opportunity slip through your fingers.”
“And God knows Kazimir Lindstro¨m would never let an opportunity slip through his fingers… especially when the prize is so tempting.”
“If you’re talking about the fact that now I have the ammunition I need to pursue my goal of acquiring that Montanacraft brewery, but who’s been keeping me at arm’s length, then yes.”
“We both know that’s not what I’m talking about. When it comes to your merger and acquisition goals, aren’t you counting your chickens before they hatch?”
“I just need the owner to crack open the door so I can slip in my big toe. But first, I need to lay down the foundation for him to roll out the red carpet.”
“In other words, an image makeover that will bust open those doors.”
“It’s good as done,” I say.
“Supreme confidence on and off the ice.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe there was a point in time you were shitting bricks because you didn’t think you could take on the management of your own companies when your former CEO moved to Australia. Look at you now.”
“Don’t be fooled, buddy. I still shit bricks every day. I just don’t tell you about it.”
He chuckles. “So, you’re stepping out in a big way at Saturday’s Active Kids fundraising gala?”
“Alina said if I’m going to do this, I might as well?—”
A figure with her arms crossed over her chest enters the kitchen.
My eyes bounce up to the fresh-faced blonde and my heart stops as my thoughts evaporate.
