Page 66 of The Reading

Just great.

“Are you done with your break, Zara? Or do you have more shit that you’d like to talk?”

Chapter 1

Zara~

For the first two years of our union, I used to shake and shutter whenever Hudson used that tone with me. The man was brilliant, ruthless, and a formidable opponent in the business world.

Now, not so much.

I turned to face him because I knew that my job was safe. I ran this man’s life, and if he fired me now, he’d be lost without me. Granted, it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to replace me, but I was counting on him not wanting to deal with that inconvenience enough to keep me around.

“I wasn’t talking shit,” I lied. “I was simply stating an observation of fact.”

“You’re supposed to be working,” he reminded me.

“I’m on break,” I informed him.

“Since when do you take your breaks down here?” he challenged. “You always take your breaks at your desk or in our breakroom.” Yes, he and I had a private breakroom. “You always take your breaks where I can still reach you.”

“Spoiled much?”

“Zara…”

See that?

There was always this little growl when he said my name like that. If I were being completely honest, it turned me on. Nevertheless, he was my boss and not interested. It’d be one thing to risk my job for some mutually explosive sex-because Hudson Royal looked like he’d be a beast in bed-but since he wasn’t interested, that wasn’t an option.

“I needed to stretch my legs,” I lied. “So, I decided to come keep Clinton company.”

Hudson glanced over at Clinton. “Good evening, Clinton. How are you?”

Clinton grinned. “I’m good, Mr. Royal.”

“Do you mind if I take my secretary back?”

“She’s all yours.”

What?

I looked back over at Clinton because I was pretty sure that my soulmate wasn’t supposed to just let some other man take off with me.

“But…but my break’s not over y-”

“It is now,” Hudson snorted, and I just gawked at the man as he grabbed my hand to drag me behind him towards the elevators.

Once we were safely on our way back up to the top floor, I said, “That was totally rude.”

“You should be thanking me Zara,” he retorted. “I was keeping you from making a fool of yourself.”

“What?”

“You were flirting with Clinton,” he said, and I couldn’t believe that he knew what I was doing.

“So?” I huffed, trying to save face. “There’s nothing wrong with a little flirting to break up the monotony.”

“There is if the man is gay, Zara.” Hudson drawled out, side-eyeing me.

---