Bossman(28)
“I wasn’t asking.”
“No. You didn’t ask. But you were disappointed when I said I had dinner plans.”
“I was not.”
“Looked that way to me.”
“I think your conceitedness clouds your judgment of what you see sometimes.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
“So it wouldn’t stir any feelings inside of you if I told you I was late because I was busy fucking someone?”
My jaw clenched, but I forced a mask onto my face and shrugged. “Not at all. Why would it bother me? You’re my boss, not my boyfriend.”
Surprising me, Chase dropped it and changed the subject. “So how do you like it so far at Parker Industries?”
“I love it, actually. It reminds me a lot of when I first started at Fresh Look. Everyone is so open-minded and in touch with the people who actually use the products. Even though Fresh Look is a smaller company than Parker, it took on investors over the years, and they began to control more and more of how Fresh Look marketed. Eventually, management started to lose sight of who we were marketing to—the board of directors or the women who used the cosmetics.”
Chase nodded like he understood. “There’s definitely a trade-off when you go outside for money. Control isn’t something I ever want to give up again. It would drive me crazy to have to answer to a bunch of suits who didn’t have a clue about what’s important to the women who buy my products. Is that why you left? Because you lost your ability to market the way you believed it needed to be done?”
“I wish I could say it was. But I honestly didn’t realize how restrained I’d felt until this week with Josh and his team.”
Chase stared at me for several seconds. “Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you find it.”
I knew, by the way my body reacted to watching his Adam’s apple bob up and down, that I was in trouble if I didn’t redirect our conversation. I cleared my throat and blinked to disconnect my eyes from his neck.
“So…how was dinner with your sister?”
“She’s very pregnant. All she talked about was hemorrhoids and leaking breasts. I lost my appetite.”
I laughed. “Is this her first?”
“Pretty sure she thinks it’s the world’s first baby being born. I could see the pain in her husband’s eyes as she talked tonight.”
“I’m sure she isn’t that bad.”
“Over dinner, she yelled at him for breathing too loud. Breathing. He also wasn’t allowed to order sushi at the Japanese restaurant we went to because she can’t have it.”
“I can’t tell if you’re making that up or not, considering your propensity for telling random stories.”
“Sadly enough for my brother-in-law, I’m telling the truth.”
“Does your sister live here in the city?”
“Upper East Side. Moved from downtown near her husband’s job last year to be closer to her job at the Guggenheim. Now she can walk to the museum in three minutes, and her husband’s commute is three times as long as it was. So of course, she quit her job as soon as she found out she was pregnant.”#p#分页标题#e#
“You’re being hard on her.”
“She sure as shit makes it easy.” He finished the rest of his beer. “I’m going to grab another one. You ready for a refill?”
“I probably shouldn’t.”
He grinned. “One refill coming right up.”
While he was off getting our drinks, I sat pondering who, exactly, Chase Parker was. I’d never met a man quite like him before. He was someone I couldn’t put my finger on…he didn’t seem to fit into any one box. A businessman who ran a massively successful company—yet he looked more like a rock star with his shaggy hair and frequent five o’clock shadow. Custom-tailored, conservative suits covered a carved body and pierced nipple. He dated buxom blondes and joined strangers for dinner, yet had a standing weekly date with his sister. Even without factoring in what I’d learned tonight from Lindsey, the man was a complex package.
He returned a few minutes later with drinks in hand. “Miss me?”
Yes. “Were you gone?”
“So where is Becker tonight?”
“Bryant. And I’m not sure. We didn’t have plans. I suppose he’s home.”
“Tell me about him?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I’m curious, I guess. I’m wondering what kind of a man you’re interested in.”
You. “What do you want to know?”
“What does he do for a living?”