“You aren’t worried I might go snooping around in your files?” I ask as I boot it up. The machine’s sleek and light. I haven’t touched a laptop this new in years. The last time I had one was four years ago. I dropped it on a concrete sidewalk when one of Roy’s goons ran over a guy who was nice and had flirted with me a few times.
“It isn’t even password protected,” Tolyan says as the screen goes straight to the main desktop. “Obviously, it doesn’t contain anything sensitive.”
I look down at the menu. “At least it has Word.”
He gazes at me. “You know how to use that, right?”
“Yes.” I didn’t go to high school in the Dark Ages.
“Good.”
Something about the way he says it makes me go still. “Do you know how to use it?” There was a hint of…relief in his tone, which seems out of place.
“Of course. I type all the time.”
I open a résumé template. Yay for Microsoft for having one that I can just grab and fill in the blanks. “So. What is it that you do at the foundation?” I ask as I type in my name, email address and phone number.
“I’m an assistant to Elizabeth Pryce-Reed King.”
I look at him blankly. The name sounds pretty grand, and he announces it like it’s someone super important. Unfortunately, it means nothing to me.
He curls his lips a little, his eyes humorless. “She’s the head of the Pryce Family Foundation. Didn’t Mr. Eric with a C mention her while whining about all the injustice he’s been suffering?”
I almost burst out laughing. “No. He generally doesn’t talk admiringly of other people. At least, not when I’m around.”
Tolyan grunts.
“But I’m sure he thinks highly of her,” I say in an attempt to soothe Tolyan, whose expression says he’s been personally ego-punched by the fact that I don’t know who she is.
“He’d better. She’s worth a literal billion of him.”
“You really like her, don’t you?” I pause for a moment, then enter the address for the garage apartment for my contact information. I’m not going to be imposing on Tolyan once Roy’s taken care of. To be honest, I don’t even know exactly what I’m going to do once Tolyan tells me Roy’s out of my life. Maybe I should put going to Disney World on my bucket list. And pay for Tolyan to join me on the trip, to thank him.
Tolyan pours more vodka and drinks it like water.
“Got a crush on her?” I ask conversationally. I’m curious what makes him hold her in such high regard, when he seems not to think very highly of most people. It isn’t that he thinks he’s better than everyone, but people just don’t seem to measure up to his expectations.
He chokes and sputters. His large hand moves roughly over his face. “Me? On Lizochka?”
“Lizochka? Is that what you call Elizabeth Pryce-Reed King?” I never thought this man would sputter, but… I must’ve hit a nerve. He’s glaring at me like I just told him his penis was small.
“Most definitely not,” he says, ignoring my question about the nickname. “She’s a married woman.”
“So? You can still crush on somebody who isn’t available. Unrequited love and all that. There’s something heartbreaking about loving somebody who either doesn’t or can’t love you back.” Of course, since I prefer my world to end happily, I want the love to be requited. Like something happens to make the other person realize how special and wonderful the love that’s being given is.
From the scornful look on Tolyan’s face, he doesn’t seem to agree with my sentiment. “I don’t engage in fruitless effort. Or waste my time. When I set my mind on something, I get it.”
“Even if it’s a married woman?”
“She wouldn’t stay married for long.”
Wow. Confident much? It would appear brash and cocky if he didn’t exude such a firm belief that he could will such a thing into existence. It must be some kind of magic that makes him appear like he can do everything he says he’s going to do. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man with this kind of ironclad faith in himself.
My insides are fluttering a little. Heat courses through me, a warm, languid honey, and my heartbeat picks up.
Oh my God. Am I crushing on Tolyan?
I duck my head and swipe a hand across my chin. At least it’s dry. My face hot, I start typing away faster, Googling exactly what I need to put on the résumé.