Counting the Days (Counting the Billions 1)

I shook my head, feeling guilty. “Sorry,” I told him. “I was just thinking.”

Austin snorted. “You’re going to go home and work tonight, aren’t you?” he said.

“I might,” I admitted. “I have a few more things I was hoping to get done leading into the weekend.”

Austin shook his head. “I swear you’ve become even more of a workaholic since I moved out of your place and into my apartment,” he said. “I didn’t even think that that was possible.”

I grimaced but didn’t comment on that. It was true, though, I reflected as I came back home that evening. But what else was I supposed to do? Every time I came back to the family estate, this massive mansion I had grown up in, I was forced to confront those waves of loneliness that had been bothering me lately.

I could hear the echo of my footsteps as I walked through the front hall. Even after I toed off my shoes, the padding of my bare feet along the tiles seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness of the place. But it was always like this. The housekeeper and the cook and the gardener I had on staff, they all came during the day, while I was at work. In the evenings, it was just me. I never even brought women back here, because that was the last thing I wanted to deal with.

I paused in the doorway of my office, which had once been my father’s office. I remembered what Austin had said, about how I had become more of a workaholic since he had moved out. I remembered what Abby had said about having her family to lean on in the wake of her parents’ passing.

Slowly, I pulled the door closed, and rather than trying to do more work, I headed upstairs to bed. I stripped down and slipped between the sheets, automatically groping for the remote. I never even watched anything on the TV in the bedroom, but tonight, the silence was deafening.

I put on a random channel and rolled over, trying my best to sleep.

Chapter 12

Abby

MATT HANDED ME A GLASS of wine and then dropped into his favorite armchair, the worn old leather one that had been in this living room since we were kids. He sighed dramatically and took a sip of his wine. “That’s better,” he said, winking at me.

I laughed. Leanne was upstairs putting the kids in bed, and the decibel level had gone down noticeably in their absence. “They’re just excited to see you,” I reminded my brother. He had been out of town for the latter half of the week, and they had been all over each other trying to tell their father everything they had done in his absence. You would have thought he had been gone for months, from the way that they were talking. I thought it was adorable, but I also could tell that he hadn’t slept much during his trip and needed a little peace and quiet.

I understood how he felt. Ever since starting work for McGregor Enterprises, I’d been working myself half to death every day, trying to keep up with Daniel.

Oh, he wasn’t a terrible boss. He didn’t make me work as hard as I did. But there was something about watching him work late into the evenings every day that made me want to push myself as well. I didn’t know what I was trying to prove to him. Really, I should have been doing the opposite: advising him to delegate a little more and head home early every once in a while. Or at least head home before it got fully dark outside.

I had to admit, though, I liked those late evenings together as we pored over different business plans and proposals. Daniel would sometimes order in food, and we would sit there mostly in silence, just reading through the paperwork. It was comfortable. I was getting more used to his presence; it was no longer quite so intimidating.

Of course, the more I knew about him, the more I realized that I actually liked him. He was smart, witty, and more attractive than any guy had any right to be. It wasn’t just that, though. He was a nice guy. I realized it more and more. He cared about his employees, and he cared about the guys that he did business with. He knew them all by name, and he knew about their wives, their kids, and everything else.

I was impressed by it, to be honest. I had read through some of the stuff about him online, even though I knew it was all garbage. And sure enough, all any of the paparazzi seemed to think was that he cared only for himself and only for the next great fuck. That just wasn’t the guy I was working with, though, I was sure of it.

“How’s that new job of yours going, anyway?” Matt asked, as though he could sense the direction that my thoughts had drifted to.

“It’s good,” I told him honestly. “I like the work. It’s challenging, but I think it’s a good position for me. And I’m making some good connections.”

Matt raised an eyebrow at me. “You thinking about quitting already?” he asked.

I laughed and shook my head. “Nah, not just yet,” I told him. “I have a lot more to learn before I quit. I think there’s a lot that I can learn from Daniel. But eventually—well, he’s the CEO, and I’m not about to take over his company, but that’s the position that I want.”

Matt laughed. “I know it is,” he said. But there was something in his eyes as he said it that let me know he was carefully choosing his next words. “I just wonder if it’s such a good idea, you spending so much time with Daniel McGregor.”

I stared at him for a moment. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I finally asked. I couldn’t help how flat my voice became.

Matt held up both hands. “I just did a little reading up on the guy, that’s all. He doesn’t sound like the greatest guy.”

“He’s one of the greatest businessmen of our time,” I said.

Matt gave me a look. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” he said. “Sounds like the guy is quite the player. I’m not sure he’s the best guy for you to be involved with.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not involved with him,” I reminded my brother. “He’s my b

oss, not my boyfriend.”

“I know, I know,” Matt said. “And if he was your boyfriend, we’d be having a totally different conversation. But even as your boss, you have to remember that you’re going to be judged on your relationship with him in the future, when you do go to apply for a job at a different company. He might be one of the brightest businessmen you’ve ever met, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is going to think just about the business side of things when they’re hiring. Especially not when the guy is in the paper every week with a new woman on his arm. Did you see the latest one?”