The CEO – Adrian
THE CEO
ADRIAN
“Mariah?” I called her into my office later that evening. “Mariah?”
“No need to yell.” She appeared in my doorway. “I’m at your beck and call as always. How was your palm reading today?”
“It ended far too soon,” I said. “I need you to do two important things for me.”
“Okay…”
“Come over here and look at this, please.” I pointed out the window. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”
“That your obsession with Slow Burn Books is never-ending?”
Just my obsession with Summer.
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “Look at their sign. This is the second week in a row they haven’t left the heart flames burning overnight.”
“Maybe the bulbs went out.”
“They burn fine in the daytime,” I said. “They’ve started turning them off during closing time.”
“Most businesses do that to save money.”
“I don’t.”
She sucked her lips into her mouth, as if whatever she was about to say was inappropriate.
“It only costs an extra fifty dollars on the light bill a month,” I said. “There’s no way they can’t afford that, right?”
“Why do you even care?” She shrugged. “You’re winning—as usual, and the team planned for six months of aggression. Slow Burn might not make it past four from the looks of things.”
“Can you tell them to ease back on the plan?”
“The worst of it is already done,” she said. “You having regrets?”
Millions of them… “I don’t know. Whoever went against me and poached the authors on her signing list needs to be reprimanded.”
“That was literally your first idea from months ago…”
Oh. “Still, I told everyone to stop after week three.”
“What was the second favor, sir?”
“I’m about to email you a list of romantic suspense books.” I remembered Summer’s recommendations. “Can you bring those to me? Along with the top-selling slow burn ones on our shelf?”
“I’m on it.”