Page 14 of The Forever Rule

“It should be in your inbox.” Again, I had no idea what report he was talking about, becausehedidn’t know what report he was talking about, but I was up to date on what he needed from me, so it would be in his inbox. His team of assistants should have already handled it, but he liked to look grumpy and in charge on the floor. It lent a sense of control that I didn’t understand, but he said it worked.

I had to remind myself I really loved my job when people did what they were supposed to do. Even though it wasn’t my biggest fan right now.

“Good, good. You’re still on for the gala this weekend?”

“I’ll be there. It’s a lovely charity event.”

“Yes, but we have to make sure we don’t let the Cages outshine us. You know them. They always like to walk around like little peacocks, pluming their little feathers.”

I wasn’t even sure that was true, but I did my best to keep a straight face. Because I was about to go on a coffee date with the head peacock.

Oh, God. This was such a bad idea.

“I will do my best to not let them take over.”

“Good. It’s a charity event, and we need to make a stand.”

It was a charity event and that meant we should probably give to charity and raise awareness, but sure, making a stand worked. With that, Mr. Howard stomped off, probably to go growl at someone else, and I looked down at my phone, and realized I had fifteen minutes to get to Taboo. I quickly set everything as idle, nodded at my assistant, and made my way down the high-rise.

I loved living in Denver, I loved the view, the air. I even loved the insane weather that never made any sense. I lived in a suburb like most people who drove into the city, not downtown, but I didn’t even mind the commute. When I had lived on the east side of town, I had been able to take the light rail in, but the west side of town didn’t have everything I needed yet. But they were working on it,so they said.

I let out a deep breath. I spent so much time these days trying to live in my head rather than in the reality of the job I hated. So focusing on the commute and my family meant I didn’t dwell on the day-to-day life that was slowly sucking the life from me.

Everything was fine. I loved this.

I loved my job.

The fact that I kept having to say that worried me, but it was a dream job. I sort of made it up as I went along and excelled in a business that stressed me out—when they powers that be allowed me.

And now I was meeting with my boss’s rival. This was going to go lovely.

But he didn’t know who I was. Unless he googled my number like I should have done this whole time. That seemed like a very big lapse in judgment.

I walked the two blocks toward the center of town, and finally made my way to the main street that I loved. There were little cafés and small businesses everywhere. Nothing looked too commercialized or downtrodden. People seemed to like each other on this particular street. It was always surprising since most of the time people tended to ignore each other.

Taboo had been located here since before I started working, and probably years before that. I loved the coffee and the pastries and needed to come down here for sandwiches more often, but I ate at my desk more than I should.

I looked down at my gray pants and soft pink top, and realized I looked like a business professional, not someone off to get afternoon coffee with a man I didn’t even know.

Except for the fact I knew his name and what he looked like.

This was insane.

“Get over it, Blakely. It’s a cup of coffee,” I muttered to myself before opening the door to walk in.

There could have been tables around or even cute decorations. There could have been a thousand people in there, begging for coffee and pastries, but I didn’t see them.

Instead, I only saw him.

Aston Cage.

All six-foot-something of him in a dark gray suit that fit him to a tee. Clearly bespoke or tailored perfectly for him. His piercing blue eyes caught me in a web, and I couldn’t stop looking at him.

He was built, broad shouldered, but it narrowed down at the waist, so almost like a swimmer’s body. His hair was dark, longer on the top than the sides, and perfectly coiffed as if he spent far too long in the mirror.

Or maybe he just woke up like that. Perfect and amazing.

Somebody bumped into me, and I moved to the side, realizing that I was blocking the door.

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