Page 2 of Illicit Education
Just in time for the door to swing open to allow that tall, dark-haired Adonis to stroll out. I should have been embarrassed but I didn’t have time to feel anything but dread, and thankfully, he barely acknowledged my presence as I hurried past him–
Until I knocked against his arm in the process of rushing inside.
I looked back at him over my shoulder with wide eyes that I hoped conveyed a hint of apology, but instead of a sympathetic smile, hesmirked.
Then he made a little grunt of amusement as I hauled myself inside and closed the door.
Rude. Like he’d never had a close call before?Give me a break.
Even arrogant–beautiful–bastards pooped.
I slipped the lock into place, then scanned the room for a purse hook, hanging my bag on the soap dispenser instead, then raced to lay out a seat cover in time.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I dabbed at the sweat on my brow, then glanced at my watch. I still had a few minutes to make it upstairs for my first day. I’d wanted to beearly, noton-time, but arriving on schedule wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to a person–I’d just narrowly avoidedthe worst thing that could happen to a personby making it to the toilet in time.
After I washed my hands, I used the dampness on my palms to smooth my windblown baby hairs back into my ponytail so it didn’t look like I’d just raced three blocks on foot to spare myself from a full-on Maya Rudolph inBridesmaidsshitting-in-the-middle-of-the-street scenario.
When I exited the restroom, the tall, dark, and sexy smirker was nowhere to be found, and no one waited in line for the bathroom that I just ruined for the foreseeable future.
I strolled back into the lobby, pausing to admire the colossal tree erected in the center. I hadn’t been able to appreciate it before because, well, you know… I was in a bit of a hurry.
As if it was the living, breathing nucleus of Reed Tower, the tree stretched up through the center of the first three floors, with the second, third, and fourth floor balconies wrapping around the open center of the building. From the ceiling above the fourth floor, hanging down around the leaves and branches of the massive tree and suspended by nearly invisible wires, were fluffy white clouds and books hanging open like birds. Woven inside the trunk and wrapping around the tree was a play structure, and on the right side of the tree, mirroring the coffee shop on the left, was a gargantuan library–the biggest in all of Manhattan, I’d learned while researching for this internship.
Reed Tower was home to Reed Enterprises, which was really just an umbrella corporation of multiple companies, from media to marketing to, well… I didn’t even know. Rich people had their hands in everything, didn’t they? But only one aspect of Reed Enterprises was of importance to me, and it was at the top, taking up at least five of the top floors of Reed Tower.
Reed Publishing.
The romance imprint alone was home to more than two-dozen of the leading names in the romance industry.
And I, Rylan Blake, was about to start my internship on the seventy-third floor at Reed Romance. A life changing opportunity and one I didn’t intend to waste–or be late for, even though my guts tried to steer me off course.
But I won that round.
Falling in line with a horde of other people waiting for a ride up to their respective offices, I shuffled forward when doors opened to an empty elevator. Like me, everyone stepped inside and made themselves smaller to accommodate the other passengers.
All but one of them. I bumped into his side as the sea of people carried me forward, then looked up to apologize–
Quickly changing my mind instead. No thank you.
Of courseit had to be the smirking jerk with the earbud. Our paths had crossed three times in the span of ten minutes; didn’t he have somewhere to be?
He stood in the center of the elevator, staring straight ahead, completely unaffected as the sea of people spread around him, settling into whatever space he didn't take up.
Ugh. I knew I didn’t like him. Forget the fact that he was gorgeous and smelled absolutelydivine; he was obviously the proud owner of an overinflated ego.
I’d met plenty of him at Vassar.
His name was probably Chad or Brad or…Trust Fund Thad.
Whatever his name was, I pointedly ignored him even as I was forced to stand directly beside him.
Chapter Two
Cabot
The familiar voice of Winston Rombauer had the grating rumble of gravel circling a cement truck drum–and only grew worse with age. My father’s oldest friend–or enemy, depending on the day–seemed to have only one thing on his mind today, and our phone call was a serious test in composure. As I feigned interest in his tedious recitation of my many wrongs, I fought to keep my eyes off the woman standing beside me. Too many people had entered the elevator at once, so I’d been unable to see which button she pushed. In order to figure out where she was headed within my building, I’d have to be patient.
I’d skipped the private elevator in lieu of learning more about the dark-haired woman, and already I regretted the decision. Reed Tower was ancient, and the slow ascent of its employee elevators showcased that age quite tremendously. The ride to the top floor would take ages at this snail’s pace, and I was a man with much too little time in the day.