Read Online Oh Stupid Heart by Liza O'Connor - Free Book Online Page A

goodbye to their butlers, Carrie always wished him a wonderful day.
    “Damn it!” He could
not lose Carrie, not even for his company.
    Without doubt, she’d
gone home. “Mars, call my driver and make him do his job. I’m going to New
Jersey and if you have to call a service, fire Sam. Whichever way, I want a car
outside in ten minutes.”
    He hung up and beat
the hell out of a stall door. He would not lose the best thing in his life
because of Coco. He tried Carrie’s home number again.
    “Carrie, I am not
losing you over a misunderstanding! We had an agreement neither of us would
allow their feelings to be hurt until they talked to the other. I am declaring
you in violation of our agreement.”
    He paused, hoping
she’d answer.
    When he spoke again,
he was near tears. “Carrie. What you saw wasn’t real. Just like you are
enduring your new position, I’m enduring Coco’s unwanted affections. We are
doing these things for the company. But if you don’t pick the phone up, I’m
going to fire her right now. If it destroys my company, so be it. Nothing is
more important than you. You have five seconds before I blow our plan apart.
Four. Three. Two…”
    After a bit of
clattering, Carrie’s voice came over the line. “Don’t.”
    The sound of her
voice filled him with relief, but he wasn’t out of the woods. She still hurt or
she would have answered the five hundred messages before this one.
    “Mars said you were
in his office when Coco and I came in. He thought you might have seen her
mauling me with her lips.”
    “I was…I did.”
    “I’m so sorry you saw
that.”
    “I’m more sorry you did it!”
    “I’ve put up with her
sexual advances for our company. But if you want, I’ll tell Coco to leave me
the hell alone. If she walks out, so be it. You are the most important
person in my life, and I never want to hurt you. Tell me what to do. I’ll end
this now if you want.”
    “No. Just come here.”
    He released a deep
breath, grateful for Carrie’s forgiving nature. “I’m leaving the building now.
If I’m lucky, I can get out before the bitch even knows I’m gone.”
    Coco paced before the
elevator, talking to someone on her cell. Trent slipped into the stairwell. No
way would he descend forty-eight flights, but one floor would do. He was
certain she stalked the hall to ensure he didn’t leave without her.
    His trick worked and
he made it to the lobby alone. The guard he liked so much opened the door and
right outside his car awaited. Feeling as life had righted itself, he nodded
and hurried to his limo.
    He talked to Carrie
all through the barely moving New Jersey traffic.
    She had a theory as
to why New Jersey traffic was so much worse than New York’s.
    “Sam knows all the
alternative streets to take in the city. And there are lots of them since the
city is mostly built on a grid system. New Jersey was evidently founded by
anti-grid colonists who preferred to make roads out of deer trails. Thus, it’s
not just Sam who doesn’t get off the main highways during rush hour and drive
the local streets; it’s everyone. The local roads in New Jersey are laid out
like a pan of spaghetti dropped on the floor. There’s no rhyme or reason to
them.”
    “So I shouldn’t order
Sam to get off the Interstate 80 parking lot and take the local roads?”
    “Please, don’t. I may
never see you before I leave for San Francisco if you do.”
    He almost asked her
not to go, but realized they both needed her to be safely away so Coco couldn’t
hurt her any further.
    “I’ll want to talk to
you every day, so figure out the time difference.
    She chuckled. “It’s
three hours earlier.”
    “So we’ll talk when
your classes end.”
    “I’d like that. But right
now, I need to make a phone call.”
    “Is it important?”
    “Yes.”
    He paused hoping
she’d tell him who she needed to talk to, but she didn’t. “I love you,” he
whispered, not wanting Sam to hear him. If his driver knew the