Page 10 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession
Well, good luck to him. Some men like them prickly. Like succulent, enticing… cacti.
I doubt there were any feelings on Bonnie’s part for her date. She seemed bored with him and more interested in chatting with her friends.
Why that made me inordinately pleased is not something I care to explore.
Something else I don’t want to reflect on is how much I think about her, considering she’s the polar opposite of the women I’m usually attracted to.
I’ve never had any inclination to question my taste in women. Much to my brother Grant’s irritation, I can’t help my preference for tall, easy-going, curvy blondes.
These days however, all I seem to be able to think about is that sassy mouth with perfect pillowy lips, eyes the color of dark chocolate, and those silky smooth thighs.
But most of the time, my mind is busy trying to work out the contradiction that is Bonnie Russo.
I shake off thoughts of her, annoyed at myself for losing myself in them again, and run faster, enjoying the smooth glide of the treadmill.
I deliberately shift my thoughts to mentally ticking off all the hundred million things that still need doing to get Dreadlite, our latest product, ready for launch.
I continue for another half hour until the treadmill screen lights up with an incoming call. It’s Jordan. I connect the call to my wireless earbuds.
“Hey, man,” I huff, slowing into a jog.
“Ethan, still at the office? I called your home phone, and you didn’t pick up.”
I usually leave my personal phone at home. “Yeah, I’m just about finishing.”
“Hey, you’re working too late, man. Since Grant left for Vegas, you hardly go home on time anymore.”
Grant is my baby brother, and Jordan is right. I love him to pieces and would do anything for him.
Before he left for Vegas, he lived on my estate. If Grant was at home right now, there’s no way I’d still be here at this time. Because the little shit always found a reason to drag me back. I stopped bothering to work late when he was around.
My dad also lives on my estate, but we can go days without seeing each other because of my work hours. He lives with Ingrid, his girlfriend of five years and the first woman he’s had a long-term relationship with since my mother walked out on us twenty-two years ago.
I was eight, Grant only four.
No, it’s not just Grant’s absence that’s making me work late. For all his concerns, Jordan is the main reason my workload is becoming unmanageable.
“I know, it’s just crunch time on Dreadlite. It’ll pass.” I say.
“How are we doing with our deadlines, anyway?”
Great that you ask.“Things are looking tidy from my end. That question is for you and Mike.”
“I know. I’m moving at a slug’s pace man. It’s been horrendous with the morning sickness. Sabrina is something else now; she’s…so fucking—“ he pauses, and I hear a voice in the background. ”—sweet. And lovely.”
“Sabrina just entered the room, didn’t she?”
“You bet.”It’s Ethan,I hear him say. “She says hi.”
“Say hi back. So, what’s next week looking like? Mike’s checked in already, and he’ll finish the negotiation this Friday.”
“Yeah, next week is impossible. I have to be in Seattle for a meeting.”
A grunt of frustration is my only response. I can’t understand how or why he juggles his time between two companies.
Jordan doubles as the CEO of his family business, Apex Energy, something he’d sworn never to do when we startedAcercraft. But with Sabrina coming back into his life, he had no choice but to stage a hostile takeover of the business in order to protect Sabrina from his powerful, scheming father.
What Jordan refuses to acknowledge is that he can’t function effectively in both roles.