by Sandi Lynn
“What?” I looked at her.
“Oh my God, don’t tell me you thought he was hot.” She laughed.
I picked up my coffee cup and took a sip from it.
“He was cute. You can’t deny that,” I spoke.
“Doesn’t matter. He was rude and the type of person who thinks they own the world. I can’t stand people like him.”
Chapter 2
Carter
Shaking my head, I walked out of Starbucks and headed back to the office. “Immature idiots,” I mumbled to myself. I arrived at the office and told Breanna, my secretary, that I didn’t want to be disturbed. Today was already a shit show and I was going to explode if anyone else pissed me off.
“No phone calls and no disturbances, Breanna,” I scowled as I walked past her desk.
“Sure, Mr. Grayson.”
Slamming my office door, I took a seat behind my desk and brought up the projections on my computer for the shopping center I wanted to acquire. As I was in deep concentration going over numbers, my cell phone rang. It was Nora.
“Nora, I can’t talk right now.”
“I just wanted to let you know I fired that ratchet bitch of a nurse you hired,” she tiredly spoke.
“For fuck sake. Why?”
“Because I didn’t like her attitude. So, you’re going to have to find someone else.”
I sighed into the phone.
“She’s the third nurse in a month you fired. You can’t keep doing this!”
“Then find me someone with a personality and I won’t have to.”
“Is Sadie still there?” I asked.
“Yes. She said she’d stay until you got home,” she replied.
“Fine. I’ll call the agency right now and set up some interviews. I have to go. I’m very busy.”
“Carter, wait. I want to interview them with you. Conduct the interviews at the house. I need to get a feel for these people before you hire them. This is the end of my life and I refuse to spend it with an uncaring monster nurse!”
I took in a deep breath to calm myself.
“Fine. Now I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
As I threw my phone across my desk, my friend and vice president, Ross, walked in.
“Someone sure as hell pissed you off.” He smiled as he took a seat across from me.
“Now is not a good time, Ross.”
“Breanna warned me you were in a mood and didn’t want to be disturbed, but this can’t wait.” He threw a file across my desk. “Cecil Campbell upped the price of the Long Island property.”
I opened the file and looked at it.
“That son of a bitch. We’ve been working on this deal for the past six months. The property isn’t even worth this much. What the hell is he thinking?”
“I can guarantee that his gambling debt increased,” Ross spoke.
“Get Lucas on it right away and stall Cecil. Tell him I’m thinking about it and I’ll have an answer for him next week.”
“Okay. What was that phone call about?”
I sighed as I leaned back in my chair.
“Nora fired another nurse.”
“Again?” Ross cocked his head.
“Yep. As much as I love my sister, she’s really pissing me the fuck off. I don’t have time to deal with this shit.”
“I might be able to help you out,” he spoke.
“How?”
“My cousin, Reggie, hired a hospice nurse for his father-in-law who lived with him and Samantha, and he just recently passed away. From what Reggie said, this nurse was a godsend. She was amazing and took very good care of him right up until the end. And if you knew his father-in-law, he was a bastard. I can call him and get her number if you want. It might save you some trouble.”
“I guess. What does it hurt? Nora wants to be in on the interview since I seem to make piss poor choices in hiring nurses for her.”
He gave me a small smile before walking out of my office.
“I’ll go call him now.”
“Thanks, Ross.”
“No problem, man.”
About thirty minutes later, as I was leaving the office, Ross stopped me in the hallway.
“You leaving already?” he asked.
“Yeah. I need to get home to Nora.”
“I have that number for you. Reggie said you won’t be disappointed.” He handed me a white piece of paper.
I unfolded it and stared at the women’s name and number.
“Thanks, Ross. I’ll give her a call.”
“You’re welcome. I hope it works out.” He patted me on the back.
I climbed into the back of the Bentley and told Juan to take me home. Pulling out my phone, I dialed the number on the piece of paper.
“Hello,” a soft voice answered.
“Hello. Is this Zoey Benson?”
“Yes. Who’s this?” she asked.
“My name is Carter Grayson and I received your number from a friend of mine. I understand you’re a hospice nurse?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m hoping you’re available for an interview. My sister is in need of a hospice care nurse and you were highly recommended.”
“When would you like to schedule the interview?” she asked.
“As soon as possible. Actually, if you’re available, let’s say about an hour.”
“It depends, Mr. Grayson, what’s your address?”
“212 Fifth Avenue, Apt. 21A.”
“That’s perfect. I’m already in the city, so I can meet you in an hour.”
Her words caught me off guard. Didn’t she live in New York?
“I’ll see you then.” I ended the call.
She sounded young. Too young, in fact. Maybe she was just one of those women who sounded differently on the phone. As soon as Juan dropped me off in front of my building, I climbed out and was greeted at the door by Joseph, the doorman.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Grayson.” He nodded as he held the door open for me.
“Hello, Joseph. I’m expecting a woman by the name of Zoey Benson for an interview in about an hour. Just send her up.”
“Ah, I did see the last nurse leave here with her suitcase a few hours ago. Another one bites the dust, eh?”
I heavily sighed. “It seems no one can make Nora happy these days.”
I headed to the elevator and took it up to my penthouse. When the doors opened, I stepped out, set my briefcase down, and headed to the kitchen where Sadie was cooking dinner.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“In her room lying down.”
I headed out of the kitchen and down the hallway to Nora’s room. The door was slightly opened, and when I peeked inside, I saw she was awake.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I stepped inside.
“I’m really tired.” She turned her head and looked at me.
“I have someone coming here in a little under an hour for an interview. She came highly recommended by Ross’s cousin. Do you feel up to it?”
She gave me a small smile as her eyes slowly closed.
“I’m up to it. Just wake me when she gets here.”
“Okay. Get some rest.”
I walked out of her room with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Watching her condition deteriorate was slowly killing me inside. I was already dead and didn’t think that anything else could happen to make me feel the way I felt. The numbness inside me intensified as I was already a lifelong prisoner inside my own body.
I heard the elevator ding, so I headed to the foyer just as the doors opened and stood there in shock, as did the woman standing in the elevator.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I spoke with an irritated tone.
“You’re the man from Starbucks,” she spoke as her eye narrowed at me.
She stepped off the elevator and stood in front of me.
“Zoey Benson.” She extended her long, elegant hand.
“Carter Grayson,” I replied as I looked at her hand and dismissed it.
&
nbsp; She looked at me and lowered her hand to her side.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Twenty-five.” Her brow arched.
“You’re definitely too young, and at that age, I don’t feel you have enough experience.”
“Okay, then. Am I to assume this interview is over?” she asked.
“Carter?” I heard Nora’s voice coming from down the hall. “Is she here?”
Zoey shot me a look, and with a small smile splayed across her face, she pushed past me and walked over to where Nora was sitting in her wheelchair.
Chapter 3
Zoey
“Hi, I’m Zoey Benson.” I reached down with a smile and placed my hand on hers.
“It’s nice to meet you, Zoey. I’m Nora Grayson. Would you mind if we conducted this interview in my bedroom? I need to lie down.”
“No, of course not. Let me help you,” I spoke as I wheeled her into her room.
After helping her out of her chair, I tucked her in and took a seat in the white leather chair that sat next to her bed. Carter Grayson stood in the doorway and watched my every move with a pissed off look on his face. It was the same look he had at Starbuck’s earlier in the day when he walked over to me and Holly.
“Carter, get in here,” Nora spoke. “Don’t be rude.”
He stepped inside the room and took a seat on the edge of Nora’s bed. I couldn’t believe that he was the man from Starbucks. He stared at me and I stared back. His eyes burned through mine as I stared at the aura of darkness that surrounded him.
“I have stage four brain cancer,” Nora spoke. “And my time is coming to an end, so I need someone who is available to live here full-time and work with me.”
I reached over and lightly took hold of her hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you, but I’ve made peace with everything. I guess when your time is up, it’s up. Right?” She gently smiled.
“Nora, that’s enough!” Carter snapped. “How much experience could someone your age really have, Miss Benson?”
“I can assure you, Mr. Grayson, that I have more than enough experience in hospice care.”
“What? Two years’ worth?”
“Three. I can give you references if you don’t believe me,” I spoke.
Nora stared at us and didn’t say a word. It was strange to me that she just lay there, almost as if she was trying to read the both of us.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’d like to hire you, Zoey,” she spoke. “Carter will go over all the details with you and then you can make your decision whether or not you’re interested in taking the job. But I hope you do.” She smiled. “Carter, I need to rest now. Take Zoey out and the two of you can talk.”
“Nora.”
“Carter, please.”
He took in a sharp breath as he got up from the bed and asked me to step out into the hallway.
“We’ll talk in my office,” he spoke rudely as I followed him. “Have a seat.”
“How long does she have?” I asked as I took a seat across from his desk.
“About two months. The tumor had progressed so rapidly that there was nothing the doctors could do. This isn’t her first battle with cancer either. When she was sixteen, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She underwent a round of chemo and went into remission. If you accept the job, you will be paid on a weekly basis. You will be required to move in and you will be responsible for her care 24/7. Still interested?” His brow arched.
“Yes.” I smiled. “I am very interested.”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Miss Benson. I’m not happy about this, and if it were up to me, I wouldn’t hire you. Your lack of experience concerns me. But Nora has fired the last three nurses I’ve hired and she really seems to like you, so you can thank her. I’ll need you to start tomorrow. Will that be a problem?”
“I can start tonight,” I spoke. “I’ll just have to go home and pack some things. I can be back here later.”
“Where is home for you?” he asked as he narrowed his eye. “You mentioned over the phone you were in the city.”
“Greenwich, Connecticut.”
“I see. Tomorrow morning will be fine. You won’t need your car because Nora has her own driver on standby. You can pack your things tonight and I will send my driver, Juan, to pick you up around nine a.m. And by the way, your maturity level needs some heightening. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior you displayed in Starbuck’s in my home and around my sister. Do you understand?”
I sat there in shock at the way he spoke to me. Who the hell did he think he was? Unfortunately, he was going to be my boss and I had no choice but to put up with his mean and disrespectful attitude towards me. Plus, Nora needed me and I wasn’t going to let her down in her final stage of life. I would make sure she had the best possible care I could give her.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” he asked.
“It’s nothing. Are we finished here?” I asked as I stood up from my chair.
“Yes.”
I walked to the door and placed my hand on the knob. As I started to open it, I turned and looked at him.
“Laughter is good for the soul, Mr. Grayson. You should try it some time.”
I walked out of his office and peeked in on Nora before leaving.
“Hi.” She smiled as I stepped inside. “I hope my brother wasn’t too much of an asshole.”
“He was, but I’ve accepted the job anyway and I will be back in the morning. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?” I placed my hand on her arm.
“I’m fine. Thank you. Thank you for taking the job.”
“You’re welcome. Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I pushed the elevator button and waited for the doors to open.
“I thought you already left,” Carter spoke.
“I wanted to make sure Nora didn’t need anything.”
“Your job starts tomorrow, Miss Benson,” he growled.
“Don’t worry about it, Mr. Grayson. I won’t charge you for checking in on your sister tonight.”
The doors opened and I stepped inside and pushed the button to the lobby. As I stood there, Carter Grayson stood on the other side, staring at me with his hands tucked into his pants pockets as the doors slowly closed.
Carter
Fuck if she wasn’t beautiful. I noticed it in Starbucks and I noticed it even more tonight. She stood five feet six inches tall with a lean body that you could tell she took very good care of. Her wavy blonde hair fell over her shoulders and her bright blue eyes reminded me of the ocean on a crystal clear day. They were full of light, like the way the sun reflects off the water. Her lips were perfectly shaped and the corners of her mouth had a slight curve, giving off the illusion that she was always smiling, even when she wasn’t. She had an attitude and I didn’t think she knew exactly to whom she was speaking. I’d give her one chance, and if she fucked up, she’d be out.
I went to check on Nora, and as soon as I lightly pushed open the door, her eyes opened.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. Do you need anything?”
“No. I’m fine. I like her, Carter.”
“Who?”
“Zoey. There’s something about her that makes me feel not so afraid. I felt it the moment I met her.”
“You just like her because she’s young.”
“No. You’re wrong. I can’t explain it. Did you feel it too?”
“No. I didn’t, and to be honest, I don’t like her. I think she has an attitude and a smart mouth, not to mention her extreme lack of experience.”
She let out a light laugh.
“Good, we need someone like that around here, and as for her experience, she has enough as far as I’m concerned.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and glared at her.
“Oh come on, Carter.”
“She’s all yours, Nora, but don’t expect me to be nice or go out of my way to accommodate h
er.”
“Would it kill you for once to be nice?”
“Tell me where being nice has gotten me?” I got up from the bed and walked towards the door. “If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be in my office.”
Chapter 4
Zoey
I climbed into my car where Holly was sitting in the passenger’s seat with her earphones in.
“Hey, how did it go?”
“I got the job.” I smiled. “But you’re never going to believe who I’m working for.”
“Who?” she asked with a perplexed look on her face.
“You’re just not going to believe it.” I shook my head as I pulled out of the parking space and headed home.
“Zoe, come on. Spit it out.”
“Remember the man from Starbucks earlier today? The rude but sexy one?”
“Yeah.” She extended the word slowly.
“It’s him. Well, I’m taking care of his sister.”
“Shut the fuck up? You are not!” she exclaimed.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes, Holly, I am. His name is Carter Grayson and his sister is Nora.”
Immediately, her fingers began viciously typing on her phone.
“Shit,” she spoke.
“What?” I glanced over at her.
“He’s like a thirty-year-old billionaire. He’s the CEO of Carter Enterprises and this article calls him a real estate genius and mogul. So, I guess this guy could pretty much own the world.” She laughed.
“Guess so. But even though he has everything he could possibly want, there’s something going on with him.”
“You know what they say: Money can’t buy happiness.” She smirked.
“He’s just so dark. To be honest, I’ve never experienced anyone like this before.”
“It doesn’t matter, Zoe. You’re hired to take care of his sister, not him.”
“I know.” I sighed.
I dropped Holly off at home, and when I walked through the door of my house, both my dads were sitting on the couch.
“Hey, sweetie.” John smiled. “How was your day?”
I walked over and gave them each a kiss on their cheek.
“It was eventful. That’s for sure.”