Page 11 of Mad Rivals
But this is a hell of a way to start my first day at the office, and maybe with any luck at all, I’ll run into him again.
I guess I’ll be stopping at Starbucks every morning going forward into forever at this exact time just for that potential chance.
I walk back to my dad’s office building with shaky knees as I try to brush off that encounter.
It should be a simple task, but the truth is that I haven’t had a hot guy look in my direction in far,fartoo long. Not that he looked in my direction as anything more than apologetic after bumping into me, but damn…I looked at him with more than just irritation that he bumped into me.
As Clem would say, it’s getting dusty down there, and I need something other than my little magical electronic helper to breathe some life into that territory.
A hot guy like Bradley the grande iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso guy.
It’s been too long. Far too long. So long I’m pretty sure I forgot how to do it.
The truth is, I’ve never been in a serious relationship.
The boys in high school were just that…boys in high school. I lost my virginity my freshman year of college, and it wasn’t really anything to write home about. Not that you’d write home about losing your virginity…
Jeez. This guy really jumbled me up this morning. He called me gorgeous.
Me.
Gorgeous.
I have to shake it off. I have a meeting to get to, and I need to at least act like I know what the hell I’m doing at this bid walk.
I sigh with hearts in my eyes as I step onto the elevator, suck in some deep breaths on the ride up, and meet my dad in his office. He glances at his watch and raises a brow like I’m late, but I’m not.
Well, that stern look pretty much pushes hot Bradley right out of my mind. I need to focus.Pull it together, Van Buren!
He told me to be here at nine, and I have an entire eight minutes to spare. He taught me to arrive early or not to show up at all, and I took that to heart.
I push aside the annoyance I feel. I can’t get worked up every time he glances at his watch and gives me a stern glance. I remind myself that he’s my boss here, not Dad…not that Dad would give me fewer stern glances, to be honest.
He fills me in on what we’re going to be doing at the bid walk. I might be a little rusty, but it’s not my first time. I scribble down some notes to make it look like I’m listening, and then we head down to the car waiting out front for us to take us to the site.
CHAPTER 6: Madden Bradley
You’ll Handle It
I suck down my iced coffee as I think about the woman at the coffee shop. She was so…unassuming. She seemed like she might’ve recognized me, but then she called me by my last name—the name I keep in my app sinceMaddentends to get me recognized more thanBradleydoes.
Madden is a unique name. My parents apparently liked unique names since each of my six younger siblings also have fairly uncommon names. But Bradley? That name has saved me more than once.
I toss the empty cup in the trash as I press the button to call the elevator, and I’m silently berating myself for not getting her number. She just seemed like she was in a hurry to get out of there, and I suppose I was, too.
I’ll allow myself time to think about her later, but for now, I need to focus. And that becomes even more important as I step into my father’s office.
“Madden, I’ll need you to handle this meeting without me. I’ve got structural issues on the Bernhardt site, and I need to make a site visit immediately.” He pushes a tablet across his desk. “I don’t have anyone to spare to send with you. All the information you’ll need is on the tablet. I’m sorry for the shortnotice, but you’ll handle it. You must, as this is your time to show off the Bradley legacy.”
He doesn’t even allow me to respond. No time to brag about all the research I did for this meeting.
Justyou’ll handle it.As if there’s any other option such as menothandling it.
He stands, buttons his suit jacket, and stalks out of his office.
Well, fuck.
I guess I’m up.
