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Now, I am entertained. “Compared to other doctors, I’m easy, you know. If you had to deal with the assholes I worked with over the years, you would have last a week, if that.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “You may be easy to talk to, but your personality is a bit much to take sometimes.”
I flash a devious grin in her direction. “I know you will miss me, Alexa. I shall think of you in inappropriate ways when you’re gone.”
“You’re such a bastard,” she deadpans with a smile on her face. “I think we had enough playtime for today. Your appointment is in the lobby waiting. I already know you will like her. Just try not to scare her off.”
“I hope you’re right about this one,” I tell her, staring at her ass as she walks away. “And you know I can’t promise I won’t scare her away. It’s the ones who can handle me that are keepers in my book.”
“As if you would ever doubt me.” She looks over her shoulder at me and winks. “You will like Chloe.”
Just hearing that name makes me anxious. I dislike her already, and we haven’t even met. There’s no way…not possible. Because, less than a minute later, Alexa returns with…No, this cannot be happening. Not again.
Chloe Fox, the love of my life, walks into my office and toward my desk. Her mouth opens wide when she realizes I am the doctor. I am the man who will be her boss. If she still wants the job after this interview is over. I have no idea why she had left me behind in the first place. Even though I want to know the answer, it terrifies me. And so does Chloe.
Chapter Seven
Chloe
Jackson King is my new boss. Or at least he will be my boss if I decide to take this job. It takes me a few seconds to process the information. Do I want him to be my boss? Can I handle working for him?
Alexa told me I was a shoe-in for the position before we walked into Jackson’s office. Now, I don’t feel so confident about her assumption. Staring around the room, I try to compose myself as his gorgeous secretary makes small talk with him about my resume. His eyes never leave mine, always finding a way back to me, as I do my best to avoid contact.
His secretary goes over my typing speed, ability to multi-task, and answer phones. Basic shit anyone can do. I have little work experience, since being the fiancé of a partner in a law firm did not require much of a skillset other than to show up to events and look cute.
Checking out the office, I wonder how Jackson lost his personality along the way. The walls are a dark shade of gray, an odd choice of color for a doctor’s office. Instead of light filtering through the windows, there’s a film over the panes and black blinds covering most of the wall. The overall vibe of the space is dark, morbid. If I didn’t know better, I would think a vampire lives here. Everything about this room lacks warmth, making me feel unwelcome. It’s as if he wants his patients to be uncomfortable in his office.
While he may be a doctor, nothing about this place makes me want to lie down on his couch and tell him my secrets. In fact, I think a prison would feel homier. The sofa looks hard. I know that much without sitting on it. I’d be willing to bet my back would hurt after an hour of spilling my guts to him.
Jackson was a different person when I knew him. Apparently, he has changed. The man I once knew was loving and passionate about his career. Now, he’s screwing whores in public bathrooms, hitting on his secretary—right in front of me, I might add—and exudes a certain arrogance that annoys me to death. Just hearing how he talks to Alexa makes my stomach turn.
I’m sure he plans to speak to me in the same fashion. If he decides to hire me, this job will not be easy. And I have no choice. I need this job to pay my bills. I lived like a queen with my ex, racked up charges I assumed he would pay off, but when the time had come to pack my shit, he dismissed me, laughed in my face. With his position at his law firm secure, Mike gave me a life I could never afford. Now, I’m stuck paying for that lavish lifestyle.
It’s my fault. I should have known better. As my mom would say, I have champagne dreams with money for a six-pack of Natty Light. My mom would know. She drinks enough of it.
“Dr. King,” Alexa says, interrupting his sexual harassment. She seems so unaffected by how he speaks to her and holds out her hand toward me, motioning me to come forward. “This is Chloe Fox.” Alexa turns to me and says, “Chloe, have a seat. Dr. King will take over from here.”
“Chloe,” he says, staring at me as if I am a piece of meat and ready to sink his teeth into me. He points at the leather chair across from his desk. “Please, sit down. We need to get better acquainted. I feel like I know you already.” He says the last part with a smirk. Cocky bastard.
I want to run. But I won’t. Not when I’m standing face-to-face with the man I ran away from five years ago. The man who had promised me the world and could not deliver. I was falling hard for Jackson before he turned me away, told me our forbidden love would never survive. All he cared about was his career. I have no idea what he cares about now, but it’s certainly not himself.
When I applied for the job, I thought I was working for a big practice, considering it’s a medical group. But the name is misleading. This suite only has one door marked with a doctor’s name, and I am standing in it.
I take a seat across from Jackson, unable to take my eyes off him. He leans back in his chair and stretches above his head, drawing my attention to how tight the black oxford fits his arms and hugs his muscular chest. The last time we saw each other Jackson wore glasses, which he obviously ditched. Good call on that. Now, I can see his blue eyes better. He sucks me in with one look that goes straight between my thighs, killing me without even touching me.
Jackson was always sexy in his own way, but now he oozes sex appeal. Before, his dark hair was longer, messier. Now, it sweeps over his forehead in waves, not a single hair out of place. He’s so manicured and perfect, the complete opposite of the man I once knew. I want to ask him what happened to him over the years, but that seems a bit rude given the circumstances.
Alexa flashes me a quick smile. “Good luck, Chloe. I think you and Dr. King will work well together.”
Is that so? I wish I had as much confidence in her claim as she does. I’m not even sure I can be in the same room as the man. Taking the job would put me in a strange position every day. How would I make it through a workweek without wanting to climb onto his desk and beg him to have his way with me? Jackson always did strange things to me. He just never acted on them.
After Alexa exits the office, Jackson leans forward with his hands folded on his desk. “Small world, huh? I never thought I would see you again.”
Feeling the need to explain myself, I get nervous and mumble. “Let me explain. I…I’m sorry. I don’t really know what to say, Jackson.”
He holds up his hand to silence me. “Shh…that’s enough. We don’t need to go rehashing the past.”
It’s shocking how rude he has become. The man I knew was never this cold and arrogant. Well, he was always somewhat arrogant. All smart guys are to some extent.
