I hadn’t even begun to drink in the fact that Carter’s penthouse loft had a helipad before my breath being taken away by the sheer size of the apartment itself.
“Carter, this is huge!” I said, looking around the place. There was a piano, a bar, and an entertainment center. That was just what I could see from the main entrance.
“You want to see something else that’s huge?” he asked. I slapped his chest playfully, then moved to check out the rest of the apartment. He didn’t let me, though. He grabbed me by my waist and brought me in for a kiss.
I squealed in surprise. “What’s that for?”
“I know it’s been less than 24 hours since I last saw you, but I feel like so much has happened since then.” He kissed me again. “I found out I had a baby, I found out who the mole was in my company, I had my name dragged through the mud in all the tabloids-”
“Carter,
Carter was still inside me as he began to stroke my hair. “So, you didn’t really tell me if you liked this bedroom.”“I do,” I said.“How would you like to share it with me?” he asked.I figured he would try to get me to move in with him. “Are you sure? That’s kind of a big step.”“So is having a baby,” he said.I thought about it. “I think I want to stay in my own apartment for now.”“Well, I can pay for it for now. That’s not a problem. But I’m going to want you to move in with me by the time the baby is born.”There he was with that patriarchal attitude again. “Or maybe I’ll spend my own money to live the same way I have been living, and you can just buy the baby some gold-plated diapers,” I said. I couldn’t help but overdo the sarcasm a little bit.He shrugged, then moved his hand to my shoulde
Is it possible to die from nervousness? I cleared my throat as I pulled on the collar of my sweater, trying to let some cool air in. Rows of cubicles loomed before me and uncertainty of where I was supposed to go stuck in my throat. The sound of phone chatter and the clacking of keystrokes on keyboards filled the air. My heart was pounding and my palms were coated in sweat, making it hard to hold onto my briefcase. “Hi there!” A woman ten years older than me stepped into my path. Everything about her was round from her face to the adorable polka dotted skirt she wore. She spoke with a soft tone, holding out her hand with a warm smile. “Welcome to Winthrow Financial.” I was surprised to find that I actually felt a bit of relief. The woman's beaming smile and pleasant tone of voice seemed genuine, putting me a little bit at ease. “Hi, I'm...” I began to respond. “Jane.” The woman finished the sentence for me. “You're Jane, right? The ne
Two days and I was comfortable with my job. David started me out with the basic and boring spreadsheets, but I zoomed through them. I found discrepancies in several and had them fixed. It was always only a few dollars here and there, but I knew they would add up. Besides, math was what I was good at. I had an attention to detail that made me a good worker, and an excellent accountant. I didn't let little things slip past me. By day three, I was put to work on more sensitive material. David instructed me to look over one of the stock reports. It was for a fund that Winthrow Financial was heavily invested in. He just asked that I give it a glance and I thought the reason was so that he could find out how competent I was at reading these kind of things. Luckily, I had grown up looking over my father's shoulder as he read the stocks in the newspaper every morning. It wasn't just a spreadsheet full of random numbers and letters to me. No, it was like readi
Carter's secretary showed me to my new office when I arrived the morning. Her name was Cindy and she wasn't particularly friendly. I guess I couldn't blame her, though. I had this feeling that she had probably been trying to get a job like this for most of her career and I just showed up and stole it right in front of her eyes. On the one hand, I felt bad about it. At the same time, I couldn't help but beam with excitement. Still, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that it was all just some kind of fluke. Maybe the stars aligned or something. How was it, that just a few days into my career, I was already sitting in a corner office with a great view? I ran my fingers over the surface of my smooth mahogany desk, which wrapped around me in a half circle. The walls of the office were covered in book shelves. I planned on filling them up with books on stocks, bonds, mathematics and maybe even hide a romance novel or two in there for days when I wasn't busy. This is the
“Tell me about AgCorp and their stock.” Carter sat in his office chair, the giant windows behind him glinting in the early morning sun. He looked like a sun god, or perhaps a financial demi-god sitting there. The sun shone in his dark hair and sparkled in his green eyes. And his suit? His suit looked like it was made personally for him. It probably was, to be honest. He probably had someone in Italy making him handmade personal suites that accented the broadness of his shoulders, his lean waist, and his very perfect ass. Not that I was trying to look. I was trying to stay professional. I was working my butt off looking up stock names and historical prices. I'd learned more in the past month about investing, market strategies, and the current innovations in dozens of markets. I wanted to impress Carter. This was our routine for the past month. Each morning, I came in and greeted Cindy. Then I'd quickly check in with Carter, who was always busy
Monday morning came and I was exhausted. I'd tossed and turned for hours the night before. The clock had mocked me with each passing hour and eventually I just got out of bed. There was nothing I hated more than laying there and trying to sleep. I guessed that my sleeplessness had something to do with a restless mind. My thoughts had been turning ever since the week before when I had had lunch with Maddy. I kept thinking about what she had said, about how she would have done anything to sleep with Carter. It made me wonder if I should have been thinking the same way. I mean if there was ever a chance for me to hook up with a billionaire playboy then this was it. I'd never be this close again. When Carter stepped into my office that morning, I smiled wide but he could see the tiredness in my eyes. “You look exhausted, Jane,” he said, with his usual upbeat energy. “Long weekend?” “No, nothing like that,” I said, before taking a quick sip of my coffee. “
A week later... The look on Carter's face when he stepped into my office that Monday morning was one of shock. “You were right,” he said, before I could even greet him. “About what?” I asked. “That company,” he said, shaking his head. “The biofuel one in Oregon. Turned out, they were using it to launder money. The stock value plummeted in a matter of minutes once the news hit the public. I was able to get some of my investment back, but not all. Still lost a million bucks.” “You're kidding me?” I wasn't sure if I was more shocked at the fact he'd lost a million or that I was actually right about that company. “I'm impressed, Jane,” he said, a smile on his face. “You lost a million dollars and you're smiling?” I asked. “I'm smiling because of what I just learned about you,” he replied. “I don't give a shit about the money. I'll make it back. This incident taught me something very important about y
It was only a random Wednesday night, but for some reason, I felt like celebrating. I grabbed the bottle of Cabernet that my mom had sent me a few weeks before and poured myself a glass. I sat down in my overstuffed couch, kicking my feet up onto the coffee table. Things were really coming together for me. My job was going infinitely better than I could have ever hoped for. My apartment was finally decorated and unpacked. I had made a few friends at work. I had a lot to be grateful for. “Here's to things working out,” I said to myself, holding my glass in the air. Nobody was there to do the cheers with me, but I didn't care. I was far too happy to be brought down by that fact. I let out a long breath, letting myself sink deep into the cushions. My phone rang in my pocket and I pulled it out to see an incoming call from my mom. It was her ritual to call me just about every day and I wondered if she'd ever let me grow up. I answered of course, though.