editors if she’d like for a career-day opportunity.”
Oh man, he was really pouring it on thick, but he wanted this account. His main goal this year was to get larger advertisers for the magazine. He had a sales team, but for the larger accounts, he liked to take the lead position.
Good thing Mr. Shivers was eating it up. “Sounds great. I’ll let her know. My team and I are going to review everything we talked about today and we’ll be in touch on how we want to proceed.”
Grant hoped it involved a big check but he wasn’t going to say that. “Sounds great. And don’t forget to tell your daughter about that tip I told you in Minecraft.”
Mr. Shivers laughed. “I’ll never see her again. She’ll be playing nonstop.”
“Ah,” Grant said with a wink. “Then I guess you’ll have to play, too.”
“Ugh.” Mr. Shivers clapped him on the shoulder. “You take care and I’ll be in touch.”
Once Mr. Shivers and his team left, Grant collapsed into his chair and rubbed his forehead, a headache from all the caffeine beginning to form.
Marley, the newly appointed assistant editor at Gamers, sank down into the chair beside him, the leather creaking as she crossed her legs. “I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
“Do what?” he mumbled. “Do we have any Advil?”
Marley ignored him. “Charm the pants off people, that’s what. My God, that man was putty in your hands. You’re like a whole club of good ol’ boys all on your own.”
She produced a set of pills from the purse at her side and set them in front of him, then slid a glass of water beside them. “There ya go.”
“Why do you think Austin always made me be the face of the company?”
Marley snorted, surely thinking of her antisocial boyfriend in a meeting like the one they’d just had. “That wouldn’t have gone well.”
Grant grunted as he swallowed the pills along with the whole glass of water. He’d slept like shit since that night in the club. And had trouble concentrating. He was actually pretty damn proud of himself for pulling off that meeting, even if he still had to wait to hear if they decided to advertise with Gamers.
Marley tentatively touched his arm. “You okay?”
He sighed. “Just tired. Lot on my mind.”
“Anything I can do?”
He smiled at her. “Nah, I’ll live.”
She stood up and gathered her papers and purse. “I’m heading back to work then. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thanks for sitting in on the meeting to make sure I didn’t go off the rails.”
Marley laughed. “Anytime.”
He watched her leave and knew he should probably get out of the conference room and back to his office. But man, he needed a moment.
He’d prepared for this meeting in advance because big advertisers were a key to growing the magazine. And thank God he’d been prepared because this weekend had been a head trip. He couldn’t forget the feel of Chloe’s hands and skin and fuck, was he ever going to be able to think normally again?
And on top of his memories of what happened, he was anticipating what he hoped would happen next. He’d slipped Chloe his address and a date and time on a slip of paper, asking her to come to his house this weekend. He assumed she’d come in a role again, and he’d spend all week tossing and turning thinking about it.
He had never realized how much it turned him on to play games. Or maybe it was just because it was Chloe, but either way, he didn’t want it to end anytime soon.
Of course, he needed to keep this from Ethan. Chloe clearly understood this was something they had to keep secret. Grant hated not telling his friend, especially in light of all he’d gone through, but this wasn’t about Ethan. This was about Grant and Chloe and fulfilling each other’s needs in some crazy way.
That couldn’t be wrong, could it?
Grant stood up and stretched, his back cracking. He’d need to do some extra time on the treadmill this week so he could tire himself out. Maybe that was the only way he could sleep. Because he sure as hell wanted to be rested for whatever was in store for him this weekend.
Chapter Eight
The floor was clean, the tables dusted, and a candle currently burned, filling the house with the scent of—Grant checked the label—lilac blossoms. He sniffed. Kind of strong but it was better than smelling the soup he’d burned. He’d