Lease on Love - Softcover

Ballard, Falon

 
9780593419915: Lease on Love
Softcover
ISBN 10: 059341991X ISBN 13: 9780593419915
Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

Sadie wasn't looking for love until it landed on her doorstep.

After getting passed over for an overdue—and much-needed—promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night stand. But when an accidental mix-up lands her on the doorstep of Jack Thomas's gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone, it's too bad Sadie is more attracted to the impressive real estate than she is to the man himself.
 
Jack, still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, has learned to find comfort in video games and movie marathons instead of friends. So while he doesn’t know just what to make of the vivaciously verbose Sadie, he’s willing to offer her his spare bedroom while she gets back on her feet. And with the rent unbeatably low, Sadie can finally pursue her floristry side hustle full-time. The two are polar opposites, but as Sadie’s presence begins to turn the brownstone into a home, they both start to realize they may have just made the deal of a lifetime.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Falon Ballard loves to write about love! She also has an undying affection for exclamation points and isn’t ashamed to admit it! When she’s not writing fictional love stories, she’s helping real-life couples celebrate, working as a wedding planner in Southern California. She has a deep appreciation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a Disneyland devotee, and is a reality TV aficionado. If she’s not busy wrangling her seven-year-old, you can probably find her drinking wine and posting a picture on Instagram while simultaneously snarking on Twitter, because multitasking!

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

One


I plug the final numbers into my Get That Promotion, Bitch spreadsheet. Even though I've done enough mental calculations to know the end result will be positive, I still hold my breath, crossing my fingers as I hit enter.

"This could be it. The chance to finally pay off those damn student loans and live comfortably." There's no one else actually in my office, but as usual, I hold a one-sided conversation with the air plant sitting on my desk, housed in a concrete planter dipped in bright pink paint. Neither the plant nor its neon home is finance-firm approved, but it's the only spark of joy in my tiny office.

When I finally force myself to look at the computer screen, my suspicions are confirmed. There it is, beaming through thousands of harmful blue-light rays: A complete budget. A budget based on the salary increase I'm about to earn. A budget allowing me to pay rent on my Kips Bay apartment while also paying off my student loans. In other words, shining down on me in my cramped office in this towering skyscraper is the Holy Grail of millennial life: a chance to be debt-free. I just barely manage to hold back a shriek of joy.

Now all that's left is to actually secure said promotion.

I will get this promotion. And I will walk into that meeting with confidence.

Once I get a little reinforcement. Pushing my chair back and standing, I grab my phone, tapping on the screen and pulling up FaceTime. Our group chat is preset, so I hit call, checking my makeup as I wait for my best friends, Gemma and Harley, to pick up.

Other than a tiny zit brewing under the would-be-pasty-were-it-not-for-bronzer skin of my forehead, my face looks flawless. I touch up my matte pale pink lip anyway and fluff out my light-brown-but highlighted-within-an-inch-of-its-life hair.

Gemma answers first. "Okay, I've got ten minutes until my room is flooded with twelve-year-olds and their post-lunch sweaty hormones. Hit me."

"First, did not need that visual. Second, where's Harley? I only have time to do this once."

"I'm here, I'm here." Harley's face pops up on my screen, and judging by her slightly breathless greeting, she had to duck out of her own office before answering my call. "Are we waiting for Nick?"

"Like he'd step away from his desk for a pep talk." Gemma snorts. "Sadie, stop touching your face."

I glare at her but also heed her advice. "First things first, appearance check." I hold the phone as far away from my body as I can, turning slowly from one side to the other, like I'm a ballerina in a music box. Or a chicken on a spit. I learned very early on what a perfect appearance could do for a woman, and I work hard to maintain mine. Confidence in my above-average looks often helps mask the self-doubt in my brain.

"You look fine." Gemma's not even looking at me, currently scribbling something on her whiteboard instead of bothering to glance my way.

Harley jumps in before I can snap at Gemma. "You look perfect as always, Sadie. You got this."

I push my shoulders back, my non-phone hand clenched in a tight fist, resting on my hip. "I am a strong warrior goddess."

"You are a strong warrior goddess," they both chant along with me, Harley mustering much more enthusiasm than Gemma.

The outward confidence seeps inward, drowning out my pesky negative inner thoughts. "I am going to get that promotion and show these motherfuckers who's boss."

"Yeah, I'm not saying that in the middle of my classroom when a kid could walk in any minute. But yes." Gemma plops down at her desk and shoves a chip in her mouth. The loud crunching travels through the phone, making my shoulders tense up.

I drop the mask for a brief second. "Guys."

"Sadie, seriously. You've got this. You've earned that promotion three times over, and it's going to be yours." Harley flashes me a calm smile and a thumbs-up. "You look beautiful, but more important, you know your shit, inside and out." Harley rarely swears, so she must really mean it, and her words give me a much-needed boost.

Gemma moves the phone closer to her face so her eyes dominate my screen. "You got this in the bag, bitch." She lowers her voice on her term of endearment, then anxiously checks to make sure no little ears heard her utter a grown-up word, though lord knows her middle schoolers have heard way worse. And probably said way worse.

"Text us as soon as it's official." Harley gives me a through-the-screen high five.

"You're so buying drinks this weekend." Gemma shoots me a finger gun.

"Love you guys." I blow both a kiss and hang up after their chorus of "I love you too."

Badass-bitch mask firmly in place and bolstered by my friends' confidence in me, I resume my superhero pose, this time tilting my head up and thrusting my chest out for the full effect, both hands firmly planted on my waist. I've never been more thankful to have zero windows in my office.

After sixty seconds of power posing, I peek in the mirror I keep hidden in my desk drawer. I adjust my gray pin-striped pencil skirt and fluff the sleeves of my white silk shirt. "You got this," I tell my reflection before stuffing the mirror back in its hiding space. "I got this," I repeat to my air plant. After one last deep breath, I put on my work face-one slight step up from resting bitch face. A face that says, I know what I'm doing but I'm also totally approachable! A woman-at-work-in-finance face.

My phone dings with a text as I pull open my office door.

Nick: Show those motherfuckers who's boss, baby!

Oh, I plan to.

I full-on strut down the hallway of the high-rise building, making my way toward the conference room.

I am an accounting badass. I make spreadsheets my bitch. I'm going to kick this promotion's ass.

The mantra runs on repeat through my mind as I stride through the open conference room door. Most of the team is already here, lounging in high-backed rolly chairs around a long glass-topped table.

I slip into a seat next to my best work friend, Veronica. Other than Veronica and myself, there's only one other woman in the room, my supervisor and mentor, Margo. She hired me right out of college and has guided me through the ranks of the financial analyst world ever since. I give her a small smile, but she doesn't meet my eyes. Shit. My stomach goes for a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Why won't she look at me? Margo always acknowledges me, even if it's with a simple head nod. This can't be good. Holy fuck.

Any confidence built up by my friends slips right out of me.

No. I'm not going to do that. There could be plenty of reasons Margo doesn't want to look at me. She probably doesn't want to show favoritism. Or spoil the big reveal. I've got this promotion in the bag. I've been working my ass off-I'm talking unpaid overtime, weekends, and holidays-for the past six years, and it's finally about to pay off.

The thought of not living paycheck to paycheck, something I'll be able to do for the first time in my life with the raise accompanying my new job title, almost brings me to tears. But I sure as fuck am not going to blow this promotion by crying in the middle of the conference room.

So I paste on my easygoing-girl smile and clasp my hands together on the table.

The men in the room, a.k.a. the majority of the room, straighten up in their seats when we see our senior partner walking down the hallway. Bill Stevens reminds me of my grandfather, and I know how lucky I am to work with a manager who actually gives a shit about his employees and hasn't ever once hit on me. Just the fact that I think of it as working with him and not for him puts him leagues ahead of every other boss I've ever had, and I've been working since I was fourteen. Bill is joined by a guy in his midthirties whom I've...

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Verlag
Penguin Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2022
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
059341991X
ISBN 13 
9780593419915
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
368
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Penguin Random House Ireland
https://eu-contact.penguin.ie

Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street
Dublin
D02 YH68
Irland

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Softcover