Imperfect Match (Elixir Bachelor Billionaires #1)

“It’s impossible,” Mr. Buffay mumbles, wiping away the sweat beads from his forehead.

He’s right to be nervous.

If what the worker said is correct, Charles will not tolerate this. He’ll want Buffay’s head and maybe even mine for picking Buffay Construction for one of the biggest high-stake Hawthorne Holdings projects.

“I should go to the warehouse and talk to the person in charge.” Buffay presses several buttons on his phone, possibly reprimanding his staff in text. “I’ll drop you off first, and then—”

“No, you go. I’ll call Steve, but first I want to gather all the paperwork from the super’s office. If there’s anything in there that can tell us what happened here, I’ll find it out.”

“Are you sure? I don’t like leaving you here, Daisy. It’s not safe.” He grimaces as he looks around.

“Don’t worry. If this place stayed for two days, I’m sure it’ll stay for another ten minutes. I’ll text Steve right now.”

Me: Can you come to this address and pick me up, please?

I show the text to Mr. Buffay.

“We need to figure out what the hell happened here by the end of the day. Believe me, Charles is not looking forward to hearing this, so I’d like us to at least have a plan for how we’re getting back on track.”

The old man cringes. “I understand completely. I’m going to leave now, but you call me when you reach your office so I know you are safe.”

“I will.”

After he leaves, I walk past the brick walls and finally locate a small makeshift office.

The walls in this room are plastered, and there’s a small light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There’s a chair that looks like it was delivered recently, with the untorn plastic still intact. I flop down on it and grab the manila folder on the table.

Everything clearly shows that whoever was put in charge by Mr. Buffay was not doing their job, unless it was to mooch money off their boss.

My gaze lands on my watch, and I realize it’s already been forty minutes.

Where is Steve?

I grab my phone from my purse and realize two things—I never sent the text, and my phone is almost dead. Of course, with everything that happened last night, plugging my phone in to charge was the last thing on my mind.

The moment I hit send, my phone turns off.

Crap.

I grab the charger from my purse and find an electric outlet. Right when I flip a light switch on, a spark hits the bulb, which crashes down to the floor. A squeal leaves my lips when the wall next to the door collapses, and I find myself leaning against the only two walls that are still erect.

17

BONER – A BONE OR A TISSUE?

CHARLES

It’s five in the evening when I step inside the meeting room where the board members and Grandma Irene are waiting for me. I’m about to take a seat when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I look down at an unknown number and slide it back.

“Irene, Charles, thank you for making time on such short notice. But we would all like to fix something,” says Tim Baldwin. He’s one of the oldest board members, and also one of my granddad’s closest friends.

“But before we do that, we have something for you.” He grabs a huge bouquet of purple carnations decorated with paper butterflies. My mind immediately slips to the picture of Daisy’s feet wearing the fuzzy slippers.

Chloe had been hounding me since the day our wedding date was finalized to buy something for my new bride. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I’ve never been able to say no to my sister.

While scouring the internet for some expensive jewelry, I found an advertisement for unorthodox gifts and saw the slippers. The rest was easy.

What I didn’t know was watching her wear them and the hint of her toenails, would affect my mind and body this way. But it’s not just the picture.