Page 44 of More than Fiction (Misty Springs #1)

Corbin

“Why the hell did I find out about you hiring Sophia from some random a-hole in accounting? What a horse-shit, egotistical, egocentric thing to do! You told me you didn’t want to hire her, that I was ‘wasting everyone’s time’—now suddenly you do?

Oh, and you brought her to New York to introduce her to other board members?

What is going on in your head, man?” Andi’s charming voice crackled the speaker in my ear.

I was grateful that Sophia was too wrapped up in her own phone conversation to hear Andi’s maniacal rant.

Andi may have been a certified genius and made my life immensely easier by being so overwhelmingly good at her job, but she could be a loose cannon and threw the most horrendous fits. I’d learned it’s best just to let her wear herself out—like a toddler.

“You done?” I asked after Andi’s screaming finally reached its decrescendo.

“Yeah, think so,” she sighed.

“Good. Look, things changed. She came to the gala with a competing offer, which made her more appealing. Simple as that.” I wasn’t proud of convincing Andi that hiring Sophia was due to little more than choking out the competition, but it was the reason that would rouse the least amount of suspicion.

“Who?” Andi asked.

“Norwood Corporation,” I quickly answered, trying to sound indifferent.

“So, real estate? What does that have to do with publishing?”

“Nothing, but regardless, it changed my mind. Can we move on? ”

“Touchy, touchy,” she said.

Like she didn’t just spend the last five minutes screaming every adjective she could conjure up for the words egotistical asshole at me.

“I’ll get with HR tomorrow. They can draw up her official offer. I’m sure it’ll have to go through some approval process since you’re bypassing them completely. ‘HR needs to screen her. We have processes, Andi,” she added in a mocking, deep voice.

“Copy me in the email. I’ll push it through.”

She sighed but then let out a giddy giggle. “I’ll send the papers to her address on her résumé. We’ll get them overnighted. If things move quickly, she’ll have them by Tuesday and can start as soon as Wednesday if she doesn’t have to give notice. We need someone quick. I hope she can start ASAP.”

I swallowed. Two days. How quickly things shifted from trying to convince Andi not to hire her to now expediting the process.

“Great,” I choked out.

“See you in two weeks?” she asked.

After spending an entire week in Misty Springs, I told Andi I needed a break before I returned. Now, watching Sophia as she padded barefoot on my kitchen floor, something was tugging at me.

“Yeah. I dunno, maybe sooner.” I passively avoided a firm answer and hung up. Andi and I never did goodbyes.

I strode over to the window to view the skyline. The Hudson River reflected the early evening sun as it sank behind the towering skyscrapers. The day was quickly fading into night, and though it felt like one of the longest days of my life, it also felt like it was coming to a screeching end.

The time Sophia and I had spent here—this apartment feeling like a sanctuary for the first time—was something I wasn’t ready to let go of yet.

“Corbin?” Sophia asked hesitantly, breaking my thoughts. “It feels a little crazy that I hadn’t brought this up yet—I think I was trying to avoid facing reality. But… how am I going to get back to Misty Springs? And when?”

“We’ll take the jet. I’ll call them and see if we can get out tonight,” I said with a tight smile.

The corporate travel agent didn’t have a flight out tonight, which was music to my ears. Instead, they booked the jet for Monday morning .

Sophia called Cassie to let her know she could still work at the hotel tomorrow afternoon.

I took advantage of her distraction to make my last call of the night.

“Yello,” Sullivan’s carefree voice sounded from the other line.

“Hey, I need you to do something for me,” I spoke in a voice just above a whisper.

“Okay,” Sullivan said, lowering his tone to match mine. “Does it involve espionage? Cause if so, I’m fucking in.”

“No, no, it’s just a bit of a… sensitive topic, so I’m speaking quietly.”

“Where are you?”

“In my apartment,” I answered, then quickly smacked my forehead at my oversight.

“Oh ho ho, with who? Whom is it you are keeping this sensitive topic from?” he asked, his voice animated.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s… just listen.”

I asked him to keep his ear to the ground, check out every back alley source, and find out any news he could learn about something developing in Misty Springs and anything he could dig up on the Norwood family’s recent dealings.

I knew that if the Norwoods were sniffing around, they had to have a reason.

I needed to find out what it was and fast. If they’d already been working the town over for a year—whenever Sophia said Landon and his family moved to Misty Springs—their infested roots likely have already taken hold.

“Roger that, have fun with your no one , Corby,” Sullivan jested before the line went dead.

“Done!” Sophia exclaimed as she plopped down on the couch next to me.

Her gorgeous bare legs stretched out to rest her foot on my coffee table, inching my hoodie up her thigh.

“I ensured everyone knew that I was alive, not kidnapped, not brainwashed, not Landon using a high-pitched voice, and that I would see them all tomorrow.”

“Well done.” I lifted my phone as I tried to multitask, pulling up the reservation app. “Now… I have good news and bad news.”

“Okay, bad news first.” She bounced beside me .

My eyes fell on her wiggling chest. Knowing what she looked like underneath those clothes made me feel like I’d won some sort of cosmic lottery.

“Bad news is, my favorite restaurant is booked for tonight. But my second favorite has one table left for seven p.m.”

“Was that… the bad and good news combined?”

“No. Now ask me what the good news is.” I grinned as I clicked to confirm our reservation.

“Okay. What’s the good news?”

“The good news is, we have two hours to kill, and I know exactly how I want to spend that time. ”

Then, I pounced on her.