Taylor grabs the blonde’s hand, pulling her to the hall to get their clothes off the floor. “I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I have needs and you’ve been too busy…”
“We both work the same grueling hours, or at least I thought we did.” I sneer at him, “Forget I exist.” I slam the door in his face, cutting off his garbage excuses. I can’t listen to this shit. I’m going to have to burn my couch. After pulling out my phone, I send a message to the group chat.
Alexandra: Come over. Bring a lighter and two bottles of wine!
Ashlyn: What happened?
Alexandra: Taylor fucked some blonde bitch on my couch, so we have to get rid of it…now!
Ashlyn: Fuck! I’ll be right there!
Jaz: I’ll get the wine!
CHAPTER 2
James
Ryder comes barrelingthrough my office door, not bothering to knock, as usual. “You won’t believe who wants a meeting.”
“Yeah, sure. Come on in. I’m not busy.” I lean away from the contract I’ve been drafting for the last hour and give my younger cousin my full attention.
He doesn’t acknowledge I’ve spoken as he continues, too caught up in his excitement. “The CEO of Kemp Global! Can you believe it? Kemp never reaches out to anyone and they haven’t used an advertising firm since they started up three years ago and grew into an overnight success. If we can land them as clients, it will be huge for our reach.” He stops pacing, and collapses into the chair across from me, running his hands through his short blond hair. He’s right. Kemp Global started with wine and spirits, exploding with the younger generation. The amount of social media coverage they get for free isinsane. If we put our logo with theirs, it would be a huge boost for our visibility with our other clients. Not to mention the amount we charge for a year of services for a company that big.
I steeple my hands together, pressing them to my chin. “When’s the meeting?”
The smirk crossing his face makes me regret my question. “Tonight. Club X. The CEO is young and known to be a wild card, so we have to play this right. You’re going to have to pretend you like to go out on the weekends and party. You know, so he believes you actually like his product.”
I feel my eyebrows touch my hair line. “Ryder, I’m thirty years old and ready to settle down. I don’t like to go out and party. You couldn’t get him to come here? Where it’s quiet, and we can get him to sign a contract?”
“Right, but no one has to know that our leader is a grandpa. And no. I tried, but he insists the company in charge of his marketing has to understand his demographic. Thus, we go to Club X, where every young person parties on the weekends.” He rolls his eyes, grabs the stapler off my desk, and throws it in the air just to catch it and do it again. I swear this kid can’t sit still.
I say kid, but we’re the same age. Even our other cousin, Alester, is only a few months older. Our moms were as close as you could get. After mine passed away when I was five, my two aunts made sure to keep me close and be my bonus moms as best they could. The three of us have been equally as inseparable since we wereyoung. Living in the same neighborhood meant we could just rotate houses for dinner every night. Especially when it was just me and Dad. Aunt Alice and Aunt Andrea wanted to keep an eye on us. For Mom. Then Dad got sick when I was in high school, and in the first year of college everything went downhill fast.
With everything I’ve been through, it feels like we are in completely different times of our lives. Ryder goes out almost every night and brings women home every chance he can get–never the same one twice–and never in his bed, only the spare room or the woman’s house if he can get away with it. Honestly, even when I was like him, I wasn’t as bad as he is. With everything that happened with my dad and then my disaster of an engagement almost five years ago now, I’m over all the drama. I enjoy a quiet life besides having Ryder around.
“Helllllloooo, James!” Ryder waves his hand in my face.
I sigh. “Yes. Fine, we can go, but I’m not staying late. I’ll greet him, introduce the company, and then you can take over while I go home.”And relax in my quiet empty apartment.
I caved and got a penthouse in a new development with top-of-the-line appliances and marble countertops throughout, mostly because Alester insisted that the CEO of a company and someone with my bank account shouldn’t live in a regular apartment. Even though that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I wouldn’t compromise on location, though. I needed it to be close to the office, evenwith Thomas driving me where I need to go. I’d rather not waste time on commuting.
Ryder and Alester are in the same building a floor down, each with half the floor, so we can ensure our privacy. Alester also installed top-of-the-line security cameras and transformed one of his spare rooms into a giant surveillance station. There are so many monitors in there it looks like a news station.
“Alester can draft the documents for Kemp to sign there,” I tell Ryder. “We don’t want a repeat of the last time you took out a client only to let it all burn to the ground before you went home.” Why Kemp’s CEO, Patrick, has to have a meeting in a loud club still doesn’t make sense to me, but we built our company on making everything easier for the client. So, if he wants the club, we go to the club.
Ryder cringes and holds his hands up in surrender. “It’s not my fault his girl wanted me! She was grown and chose to take a dip on the wild side without asking her boyfriend if he was okay with an open relationship.”
I scoff and shake my head. “It wasn’t an open relationship. That’s the problem. We don’t need to lose this client before we even sign. So, get him to sign before you do anything stupid.” I wave him away. “I’ll fill in Alester. You go get whatever work it is you actually do here. I need to check on the property before I meet you at the club.”
Ryder chuckles, sets my stapler back in its place, andheads out of my office towards the lounge.Idiot.Does he ever work?
I send a few emails before logging off and stuffing documents in my briefcase to work on in the car. I text Thomas to be ready in five. He’s the best investment I’ve made going into this company. I can continue to work during the commute, to meetings, or while traveling around town, and he gets a nice salary for his family. I hate wasting time on anything in my life. Time is short, and I can’t afford to use it wistfully on work or personal life. I wish I had found out earlier about my ex fiancé Rebecca and all of her schemes, but I guess that’s how you learn life lessons.
By the time I hit the lobby, Thomas has the SUV idling at the curb and my door propped open. He’s the easiest person in the company to work with. He keeps his past to himself, being a retired Army vet, but he’s always on time and never questions what I need. I nod to him as I slide into the back seat. “Thomas, how’s lining up the piano lessons for Jessica? She just turned twelve, right?”
Thomas shuts the door and makes his way to the driver’s side before answering. “She starts next week and is overjoyed with the piano you gifted her.” His eyes shine in the rearview mirror, and I have to look down at my paperwork.
“It was nothing. What about Annie? She wanted to start some sort of self-defense class? Did she figure out which one?” I ask, leaning back in my seat when Thomaspulls onto the main road. His eyes stay glued ahead of him.
