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In the distance, a woman climbs into a taxi, the shine of her dark hair catching the sun. She’s in profile and stops me cold.
Turn around. Turn around.
The taxi pulls away with my eyes fixed on the back window, desperate for the woman in the cab to turn around so I can see her face. She disappears around the corner without a backward glance. It couldn’t have been Poppy.
I’m going crazy.
Jogging across the road, I enter the McKenzie building and head straight for the reception desk where Sian smiles, flashing her pearly whites.
"Morning, Jaxon," she greets, shoving her chest out.
The first time she did this, I was caught off guard and allowed myself to become distracted. I wasn't interested, just surprised.
"The woman who just left, who did she meet with?" I question and watch her smile slip, and her lips become tight. I've made a mistake, and unless I lay on the charm, she isn't going to tell me anything. So, leaning further over the desk, I whisper, "I'd appreciate the information, Sian."
“Enough to have a drink with me?”
“Yes,” I say quickly. Probably a mistake, but anything right now to find out who that woman was.
Sian stays silent, and I can see her brain ticking over before a smile splits her face. "She didn't want to see anyone. Came in off the street and asked if I could call her a cab.” She shrugs. “I helped a girl out.” A breath away, she asks, “What about that drink after work?”
Disappointment settles in the pit of my stomach because I thought it had been Poppy. I’d desperately wanted it to have been. I see the sexy Professor everywhere, when in fact, she isn’t there.
“After work, Jaxon?” Sian interrupts my thoughts, and I blink, wondering what the hell she's going on about. "You agreed to have drinks with me if I told you what that woman wanted…So, drink after work. I'll be waiting," she whispers, not giving me a chance to contradict her.
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Fuck!
Hearing the swish of an elevator, I take the opportunity to escape up to the fifty-sixth floor where our head office is. My own doesn’t have a private bathroom, but my cousin, Michael, has one. I’m more than willing to share it with him.
I grin, getting off the elevator and walk straight into Alexander, another cousin, and new father. He winces when he sees my sweaty self. "Why are you punishing yourself?" He backs away.
“Running isn’t punishment.” I walk with him. “It helps clear my head and sets me up for the day.”
“Whatever,” he mumbles. “I get enough exercise with Rachel.”
“I shudder at the thought.”
“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.” He shoves me with his shoulder.
He doesn't realize I've stopped walking until I whisper, "I wanted to try, but she disappeared."
Alexander turns wearing a frown across his brows. "That's the first time I've heard you admit something is going on with a girl."
Weary, I follow him into his office and drop on his sofa. "We had one amazing night. The following morning, I awoke and found she'd left. Not only me but the State. I'd wanted her for more than a night, Alex. I wanted her to stay."
“Have you tried to find her?”
"I know where she went." I dip my head at the thought of her with someone else. "She was with another man." I lift my gaze to Alexander. "All I want is for her to be happy, and if that isn't with me, then I'll hopefully get over it. I'm just not ready to let her go yet." I groan and lean back against the sofa. "I think I've just agreed to go out for drinks with Sian."
“Who?”
“The girl you hired as a receptionist.”
"Now, I'm confused."
After I explain how that came about, Alexander the asshole laughs. "Wait until I tell Rachel." He coughs and brings himself under control. "She is good at her job."
