Page 5 of Last on the List
“Jesus, he’s even hotter than I thought!” Dakota’s jaw drops as she stares accusingly at me.
“You think?” My voice is weak as my palms start to sweat. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how good-looking Max is, which is why I’m tryingnotto think about it. He’s about to be my boss.
She turns her phone to reveal a photo of him in a suit crossing his arms in front of the building where I had the interview at. It’s the cover photo of some business magazine. “That dirty-blond scruffy jaw? Come to mama.”
Yeah, okay, there’s no way I can’t not think about him now.
“He had really nice lips too,” I muse, my voice getting weirdly breathy as I think back to the way he kept angrily pursing them every time I said something he didn’t like. They were like perfectly full. Not too big, not too thin. Just…annoyingly kissable. “His daughter is eleven, though. He must have had her young if he’s only thirty-four. Does it say anything about his ex-wife?” I’m dying to see a picture of her, but I can’t tell Dakota that.
Dakota shakes her head. “Not that I can find. He has three brothers though.”
“Shit, there’s more like him?” I feel hot all of a sudden.
“Um…yeah…check it out.” She holds her phone up to me again and there’s a photo of three burly, Brawny man-type dudes and then Max in a perfectly tailored suit.
“What a gene pool,” I deadpan.
“Right!” Dakota confirms and then narrows her eyes at me. “Why were you acting like he’s not hot as fuck before?”
“’Cuz it’s weird.” I look down as my cheeks begin to heat. “And like…perfect, blond model looking dudes with lush, full lips aren’t really my type. He looks like an uptight Ken doll. His arms and legs probably don’t even bend. He told me to call him Mr. Fletcher. Can you believe that?”
Dakota’s brows lift. “That’s kinda hot.”
“I guess it’s better than calling himZaddy, which is what I thought when I first saw him.” I cover my eyes and try not to groan with frustration. It’s almost not fair that the first job I land has to be with a man I couldn’t have even conjured in my dreams.
“What’s a Zaddy?” Dakota asks with a wicked smile on her face. “And why did you say it with your nose wrinkled like that?” She giggles, her shoulders hunching up under her ears.
“’Cuz you gotta say it like that for the full effect.” I inhale and close my eyes before adding, “AZaddyis a hot, intelligent older man who knows how to handle business inside and outside the bedroom. A little dominant. A little naughty. Makes you wet just thinking about him, and you low-key want to have his baby.”
“That’s really specific,” Dakota sputters, and my eyes pop open to see her face contorting with hysterics.
I swallow thickly. “Sorry, I’ve been reading straight smut the past six months, and he checks a lot of Zaddy boxes. Did you know we have a famous erotic romance author who lives in Boulder? Her name is Mercedes Lee Loveletter. You need to read her books.”
“Cozy…focus! You’re calling your new boss Zaddy!” Dakota exclaims and throws a pillow at me, laughing. “You are so screwed!”
“I know!” I say, shoving my face into the pillow to scream. “I basically felt like a pervert during the entire interview. I don’t even know what I said. I think I said…why do more when you can do less?”
“You used your new life philosophy in an interview?” Dakota looks horrified.
My cheeks flame with mortification. “It just stumbled out, okay? I could feel his hot, blue eyes staring at me the whole time I was talking to his daughter.”
“My God…what are you going to do around him all summer?”
“Nothing, obviously,” I snap defensively. “He’s rich, so I’m sure he’ll be busy and gone most of the time. Also, he looks like a guy who only bags size zero hot models who look like you. I bet he took one look at me and was like, she looks more like a cart horse than a racehorse…she’s hired!”
“Shut your fucking face. You’re gorgeous.”
“Trust me, I’m not fishing for compliments!” I argue. “But I’m a nutritional overachiever, and that type isn’t typically a number-one draft pick for rich assholes like him. Do you see anything about a girlfriend online? Maybe he’s taken, which will shut my libido down real quick.”
Dakota does a quick scan. “No obvious girlfriend in any of his Instagram photos. But look at this picture.” She turns her phone to me and shows me a photo of him and Everly at some beach. He’s wearing those tiny floral men’s trunks that hug his muscular thighs.
I snatch the phone out of her hands as my eyes zero in on his abs. “What kind of dad bod bullshit is that?”
“Right? He really does look like a Ken doll. Hopefully a bit more anatomically correct but a total Zaddy body, nonetheless.”
My head snaps up to my best friend. “You just learned that word.”
She shrugs. “I’m a quick study.”
