Page 12 of Jack Frost, CEO

By the end of his spiel, my jaw has hit my desk. “How could you possibly know all this?”

What has been going on in my business?

“Analysts! They know everything, and they’re a bunch of horrible gossips! You should go down to the canteen sometimes. Well, maybe not you. Everyone would recognize you, and the tea would dry up.” Eaton pushes his glasses up his nose again, a surefire sign he’s excited.

“Get out of my office. I have work to do.”

Eaton grins and straightens up from his chair.

Before he reaches the other side of the room, I call out, “Can we try to limit the napkin notes?” I wave the flimsy material at him, and he chuckles before he opens the door to leave.

“Maisie, my lovely! How are you today? I wanted to ask…” he says but he shuts the door on the rest of his statement.

I stand from my desk, stride over, and wrench it open again. I see Eaton leaning casually against Maisie’s desk while she smiles up at him. “Eaton! Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

He laughs before winking at Maisie and strolling toward the elevator.

“That was rude.” Maisie laughs.

“He wet the bed until he was ten,” I grumble.

“Oh, well. That’s good to know. So, you’ve known each other a long time, then?”

“You could say that. We had very similar upbringings that led to us crossing paths over the years. While I attended Oxford, he went to school here in the States.”

Maisie grimaces at the mention of uni, but I continue speaking anyway.

“When I decided to start my company, I knew there was no one else I would want to go into business with. Eaton graduated at the top of his class and was already making waves in the business world. He’s truly brilliant. A little crazy but brilliant. He convinced me to move the company here, and the rest is history.”

“It must be nice to have a friend like that in your life. Someone you can count on.” Maisie answers the phone, and I hear the shrieking from where I stand. “Ma’am. Ma’am. Please, ma’am, I—” she says.

I reach out, pry the phone from her hand, and hang it up. “You never, ever have to put up with this. Ever.”

Maisie laughs, and I find myself smiling in return. Her joy is infectious. Except during my dressing down for speaking out of turn to Antony, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her anything but happy. It’s refreshing. I look at her closely. Her hair is curled around her shoulders and back. She looks rested, and signs of a sack lunch disappeared after the first day. I find myself inordinately pleased with the fact that she’s thriving here.

Maisie lifts a challenging brow. “Maybe you should be more careful who you date because that was Regina.”

I grimace. “Still?”

“Still,” she repeats.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.” I head back to my office and shut my door. Maisie doesn’t need to hear what is about to happen. So far, she’s only known Jack Foster, a friend of her uncle and a pretty easygoing boss. But I’ve heard the rumors, and they’re true. She doesn’t need to meet Jack Frost, the man about to set a few things straight with a former lover who’s overstepping.

Chapter 11

Maisie

My days at Foster Inc are peaceful, and I enjoy it. For two months, I’ve worked long hours, but they are broken up by lunch with Stella, who was assigned as team lead on several new projects and recently seems to have caught the eye of one Eaton Masters, CFO.

That’s where we are right now. Enjoying a quiet lunch. At least we were… until Stella decides to drop a bomb on me. “When will you admit that Jack Frost wants you to thaw his frozen heart?”

I nearly choke on my chips. “Stella! He wants no such thing!” I can feel my face heating as a blush streams across my cheeks. Curse my pale skin.

“Puh-lease. Everyone knows it but you, girl. He stares at you like you’re his favorite meal, and he’s on death row. You joke and banter. And I swear I heard him laughing when you told him that joke about the kangaroo and the dingo the other day. I’ve been working here for four years and never even knew the man could smile. His door was never open. He only took an interest in the company’s bottom line. Since you started, his door is always open, he’s upgraded the canteen with your favorite foods, and he’s approved a more generous holiday package because you once spent forty-five minutes going on about everything you love about Christmas. You both constantly prank each other—girl, he buys you whatever you request for the office.”

“Stella. You’re nuts. I’m leaving in a month. We’ve just spent a lot of time together and developed a friendship. That’s all.”

“Mhmmm. I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you if you believe a single thing that’s come out of your own mouth, Maisie Mitchell.”

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