Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 65

By the time Audrina rushed to the station for work, it was nearly 2:00 PM.

As she rode the elevator up, her reflection stared back at her from the mirrored walls. Her makeup was flawless and meticulous, carefully concealing the obvious marks beneath a layer of foundation so no one could spot a flaw.

But her mind was actually buzzing, her reactions feeling a half-beat too slow.

She blamed it all on not getting enough sleep the night before.

Her afternoon schedule was packed.

There was an editorial meeting at three, a pre-recorded broadcast at four, and a live broadcast at eight. She sat at her desk, flipping through the meeting materials over and over without absorbing a single word.

Her mind kept replaying the feeling of his kisses on her skin and the words he had murmured in her ear. She had to admit, she was growing dangerously addicted to his body...

And then there was that sentence—

"I'm meeting a prospect for an arranged marriage this afternoon."

The words tangled chaotically in her ears on a continuous loop.

His blind date had absolutely nothing to do with her, yet somehow, all these thoughts twisted together into a massive, tangled mess.

She tried desperately to rip those chaotic thoughts out of her head, but she couldn't find the loose thread to unravel them.

Her eyes remained glued to the document in front of her, the page unturned for minutes.

"Audrina? Audrina!"

She snapped back to reality.

Claire Corbett was standing in front of her desk, holding a stack of files. "What are you daydreaming about? The editorial meeting is starting. Mr. Ladd is waiting."

"Oh, right." She took the materials, standing up mechanically to head toward the conference room.

The meeting lasted for an hour. Roland Ladd sat at the head of the table, talking endlessly while she only caught fragments of it. She scribbled down half a page of notes, the handwriting so messy even she couldn't decipher it.

When the meeting wrapped up, Roland shot her a look but didn't say anything.

At four o'clock, she stepped into the studio for the pre-recorded segment.

Her mouth moved faster than her brain, and she read out the wrong set of numbers.

She corrected herself instantly, but the mistake was glaringly obvious. The broadcast delay was only a few seconds, far too short to cut away. She cursed herself internally while maintaining her smile and powering through the rest of the segment.

For the final twenty minutes, she kept every nerve pulled tight and didn't make another mistake. But when they went off the air, her earpiece was dead silent. The director didn't give his usual "good job."

She pulled the earpiece out, her palms slick with sweat.

She felt like she was cursed today...

Just as she stepped out of the studio, the young receptionist ran over. "Audrina, Mr. Ladd wants to see you in his office."

She nodded.

The moment she walked in, Roland cut straight to the chase. "What's going on with you? You've been out of it all day! Zoning out during the meeting, fumbling through the pre-record, and reading the wrong numbers on live TV. This wasn't your standard when you first got here."

He tapped his knuckles sharply against the desk.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ladd. I didn't sleep well last night." Audrina kept her head bowed.