Page 67 of By His Rule

They offer the kind of vacations that a girl like me can only dream of.

Kian’s personality aside, this job sure does have its benefits.

“This is crazy,” I breathe, lifting my drink to my lips and taking a big sip. I might have had one real cocktail when we first arrived, but I switched after that. I need to keep a clear head for tomorrow. Kian will be able to see if I turn up unfocused, and he’ll never let me forget it.

“Yeah, but awesome. It’s so much better than the job you applied for.”

“That I applied for?” I ask, lifting a brow.

“Semantics. It was the right thing to do. I felt it in my waters.”

“No, that was a baby kicking your bladder,” I tease.

“Well, whatever it was, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

“Hmm…we’ll see.”

“It’s going to work out. Now all you need is a man,” she says wiggling her eyebrow.

“I do not need a man, T. No freaking way. They’re too much trouble.”

“I’m not talking for keeps, I’m talking for fun. You need to let your hair down. Get under another to get over the asshole.”

“I’m okay.”

“Oh, come on. You know some of your old fuck buddies would be down. Ryder,” she says holding up one finger. “Harry. Jake.”

I cringe. “You make me sound like a whore.”

“Hell, no. Just a woman who knows what she wants and enjoys herself while getting it.”

“Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I’m good.”

Tatum shakes her head. “You’d feel better for it.”

With my best friend’s words ringing in my ears, I let myself into my apartment alone a little over an hour later with a smile on my face.

I needed those few hours with my people.

But as fun as that was, there is a spreadsheet taunting me from my laptop.

Setting myself up on the kitchen island, I lift the lid I slammed down in irritation earlier and prepare to figure out what the hell he did.

What I really want to do is ctrl+alt+z to just get rid of it all. But…the asshole knows what he’s doing and that formula he put in did exactly what I was failing to make happen.

Once I understand his thought process and have written it all down, I finally do what I was burning to do the second he took control of my computer and delete it all.

It’s a small victory in the grand scheme of things, but still, watching his formulae disappear gives me great satisfaction.

“Right, you can do this, Lorelei. You are going to walk in there tomorrow morning and blow his socks off with this spreadsheet.”

I work long after the sun has set, and I get through more cups of coffee than anyone should ever drink this late at night in order to complete it. But finally, I think I get it working as I want it to, and I sit back with a smile playing on my lips.

“Eat your heart out, Kian Callahan,” I mutter, double-checking that I’ve hit save before switching to my emails.

Honestly, I’m not expecting to find any. No one knows I exist yet, and I cleared down everything Kian had forwarded to me earlier in the afternoon. Surely, he hasn’t?—

“Motherfucker. Couldn’t even give me a night without you, could you?”

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