Think Outside the Boss - Olivia Hayle Page 0,30
a little shake. “Your son asked me to guard his elephant.”
“Freddie…” His voice is frustrated, and so, so close. I have to open my eyes to peek.
He’s only inches away, and watching me with a tiny furrow in his brow. I focus on his eyes. “It’s okay,” I murmur. “I just have to focus on not panicking.”
“That’s right.” He’s quiet for a beat, but then he tugs off a leather glove and pries one of my hands off the elephant. I grip his fingers tight and close my eyes again. His skin is warm and slightly rough against mine, my hand disappearing inside his completely. “It’s only two laps.”
“Two?”
“It’ll be okay. Just breathe, okay?”
“I’m breathing.” I lean my head back against the seat and tighten my grip on his hand. “Breathing is the only thing I can do right now.”
“Then let’s just focus on that,” he murmurs, but I don’t do what I’m told. I focus on his hand and his voice, too. It’s deep and calming, like crushed velvet poured into a dark cup of espresso.
“Talk to me?”
“All right. So… elephants are your favorite animal. I can now chalk that up to the list of things I know about you.”
“Must be a rather short list,” I murmur.
“Not that short. I’ve made several observations.”
Despite myself, my lips tug. “I’m sure I don’t want to hear them all.”
“Well, not all of them are fit for polite conversation. Doesn’t mean they don’t still make the list. It’s a mental one. Don’t worry.”
“I won’t.”
“I’d say the view is amazing, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to open your eyes right now.”
I screw them shut tighter. “I’m pretending we’re on the ground.”
“Keep pretending.”
My hair lifts in the breeze and I lean into him, as if I can hide from the height. If it’s windy, we must be at the very top.
Don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it.
I hear the rustle of another glove being removed, and then my hand is held in both of his. The sensation anchors me. “You’re okay,” he says. “I’ve got you.”
A deep breath in. A deep breath out.
My fingers tighten around his. “Thank you. This is… mildly humiliating.”
“It’s not. Besides, you wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for me.”
“That doesn’t make it less embarrassing,” I murmur. If anything, it makes it more so. Not only does he know how much I detest heights, but he also knows I braved them in order to spend more time with him. I should’ve just sent him another email with the words I can’t stop thinking about you and be done with it.
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
I give a tiny shake of my head. “Never mind.”
His thumb moves over the back of my hand in a small, tight circle. “Joshua took to you quickly,” he says. “I was… surprised.”
A thousand questions I want to ask, and the only thing I can focus on is keeping my cool. “Oh?”
“Yes.” A snort. “He doesn’t understand what I do for a living, and I wonder if today will only confuse him more.”
My lips tug. “Well, venture capitalism is a difficult concept to explain to a kid.”
“It is.” His voice darkens, close by my ear. “It wasn’t one of your guesses, either, when you tried to think of what I worked with.”
The memory of the Gilded Room washes over me, of us sitting just like this, me draped over him on a couch in a dark alcove.
My stomach tightens. “I wasn’t imaginative enough.”
“Or venture capitalist didn’t sound sexy enough.”
I swallow, my eyes still shut. “No, it’s sexy.”
Complete silence.
Damn it. I open an eye, only to see him regarding me with a raised eyebrow. The darkness in his eyes swirls with humor. “So you weren’t disappointed I wasn’t a mafia boss, then?”
“Honestly… I was disappointed when I found out you were the CEO of Exciteur.”
His mouth opens. “You were?”
“Yes,” I murmur. “Because it meant we could never meet at a Gilded Room party again.”
His dark eyes bore into mine, quiet for a long time. I don’t see the landscape moving behind him. I barely register the hitch in the carriage when we finally return from our second lap, stopping at the bottom.
I’ve said too much.
But then he murmurs something that slides across my skin like silk, his hands letting mine go. “So was I, Freddie.”
11
Freddie
The Thanksgiving Family Day had gone off without a hitch. Luke, William and I had pulled it off, and even if