“Of course.”
“Absolutely.”
I look them both in their wide, scared eyes, and when I am satisfied they won’t fuck this up by manifesting anything other than my success, I turn back to my computer and dive into the mountain of work I have to do.
The mountain that will get me the editor in chief plaque across the door to my future corner office.
CHAPTER 12
i’ve been such a good boy
Rosie
“You can’t stay here all night.” I jerk back from the intrusion of Jasper’s voice as my AirPod is pulled from my ear.
“I can too.” I snatch my AirPod off him and jam it back in my ear. I am halfway through my slush pile and I’m not giving up yet. With Jessie’s book edits taking up most of my time, I haven’t had the opportunity to comb through as many submissions as I would have liked. This week I decided, what better way to prove myself than to find the nextNew York Timesbest-selling author before anyone else did. If I found the next Jane Austen or Nicholas Sparks, that job would be mine tomorrow. Not that I didn’t have faith in Jessie being a smash hit, but I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket, I know better than that. The problem is, it’s been a week since Chris gave his pep talk and I still haven’t found my Julia Quinn. Instead, it’s just been slush. A few great pieces, though they aren’t really what I’m looking for, but I know it’s in here somewhere. I have clocked up almost sixty hours in the office this week and I’m running on black coffee, Reese’sPuffscereal—the best cereal on planet Earth—and my power pumps. I am ready to drop dead, but I’m not giving up yet.
“Babe, you need a wine, a bath, and at least ten hours of sleep. You look like shit.”
I gasp audibly, snatching my AirPods out and turning to glare at Jasper. “You take that back, I look amazing.”
“You look like you’ve been getting no more than a few hours of sleep a night.”
I narrow my eyes at him but can’t hold back the sneer that would confirm just how accurate he is.
“Garcia, what is wrong with you! You’re going to burn out. What happened to putting your back out for orgasms, not the patriarchy?” I roll my eyes and turn back to the computer, unfortunately glimpsing the desk mirror next to my computer screen.Damn.Jasper was right, I look like hell.
“Ugh, fine.” I close the lid of my laptop and pack up my things, looking around the cubicles as Jasper swings his coat over his shoulders. “Where is Halle?”
“She left a couple hours ago. It was my shift tonight.”
“Your shift?”
“Yeah, to make sure you went home before the lights went out.”
“You are both being ridiculous. I haven’t even been here that late.” I have absolutely eaten dinner at my desk every night this week and followed out the cleaners as the lights were turned off, but they don’t need to know that.
“Want to go grab a drink before you go home? It is Friday.” From the defeat in his tone, he knows my answer before I say it.
“Nah, I think you’re right. I need a bath, maybe a facial, and a large glass of wine.”
“Have the bottle, babe.” He sighs, patting a friendly hand on my shoulder before turning for the elevator. I giggle and fall in line next to him.
When we make it to the entrance, I turn to Jas to see if he wants to share an Uber, but he has a goofy smile on his face as he looks through the front entrance doors.
“What is it?”
“Look who it is.” My eyes follow to where he is pointing.
“What the f?—”
“Hey, Rosebud.” That smooth sound of sweet, sweet sin tingles down my spine, mixed with that crooked smile. Why,God,why did you have to give a man that looks like him a voice like that and a good personality to match. It isn’t fair.
“What are you doing here?” I stop in front of him, crossing my arms, giving him my best bored stare while trying to calm my heart rate, which apparently doesn’t know the difference between the scent of Caleb’s cinnamon and cedar, and the effect of caffeine.
He tilts his head playfully, looking over my shoulder to Jasper, who makes a choking chortle sound in his throat before saying a half-assed goodbye and leaving me to fend for myself. When Jasper is out of earshot, Caleb takes that as his cue and closes the distance between us, keeping his hands in his pockets. I force myself to stand my ground and not be affected by his sexy scent or sickly sweet smile.Orthe depths of his eyes.
“Plans?” His voice is lower than I’d heard before. His eyes search my entire face but there is something different about his energy and I can’t seem to put my finger on what. It’s like he’s on edge, teetering on the cliff, and I bet if I had the energy to provoke him I’d be able to get under his skin without lifting a finger. I am just too damn tired to bother.
