Page 29 of Reconciling With the Rival

God, I need to get fucking laid.

I grab my phone from where it sits on my desk and dial the one person I know who can help. He answers on the third ring.

“I was about to call you, Birthday Boy,” Liam says over the line.

“Well, we always did have some sort of sixth sense with one another.”

“Happy birthday, dude. Got any fun plans for tonight?”

A smirk catches in my mouth. “Actually, that’s why I called.”

“Are you finally letting me plan a night out for you? Leo Zimmerman is lettingmehave control of a night out? This seems too good to be true.”

“And I’ll even pay for it,” I offer.

I hear him sigh. “God, I’ve missed you, you rich prick.”

“Shut the hell up, Holt. But you better exceed my expectations.”

He only laughs. “Let me worry about that, Leo. I’m sure you’ll be impressed.”

“Good,” I say as Ella comes back to her office.Damn, where was she for twenty minutes?“Listen, I have to go. I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll text you an address in a few.”

“Perfect,” I say as I hang up and continue to check out the portfolios. This company has done some great work. A few things have caught my eye, and I wonder how many of these Ella has worked on. The girl might be a pain in my ass, but she does good work. That has never been up for debate.

I watch as Ella swiftly moves around her office, grabbing a few folders and things before she takes a big deep breath and starts to walk toward my office.

“Is coming over here really so bad you have to take a deeper breath than a blowfish?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “When you greet me like that, then yes, it does.”

“Can I help you with something?”

She sticks her leg out as if she’s balancing herself. Today, she’s wearing long, pleated pants, black to match her heels, with a white blouse. It’s simpler than most of her outfits that seem to be monochrome.

Why are you paying attention to her outfits?

Christ, I need to get fucking laid. If Holt fails me tonight, he’s never in charge of anything ever again.

“Get a notepad. We have a meeting.”

“You sound excited,” I say as I get out of my chair, grabbing a pen and a large notebook. Ella has been making me take notes during meetings. I never have to take too many, since I can remember what most of them are about, but if I don’t, Ella will shout at me. Shethinksshe’s the boss of me, but once these thirty days of shadowing are over, we’ll be on the same level.

“Overjoyed, especially since it’s not with Imogen.” And then, she walks away from me. It doesn't take me too long to catch up to her—my legs are as long as half her body.

We walk through the office, and instead of going into the conference room, we instead head for Brody’s office.

I quite like Brody. He seems like a good guy, but Ella has a problem with him. Well, Ella seems to have a problem with every man in this office besides Adam. They seem closer than she is to most of the men here.

Kind of pisses me the fuck off, but I decide not to dwell on that.

“Leo, Ella, come sit,” Brody says as soon as we get into his office. He’s a project manager now, and maybe one day, if everything works out, I can take his job when he moves up again.

If everything doesn't go to shit, that is.Meaning my dad stays healthy and I can stop worrying about him.

But in my gut, I know the worry will never go away.

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