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Twice, we’d been on the elevator at the same time, and I’d immediately pressed the next floor button and stepped off—catching his heated gaze in the mirror before stepping into safety.
Despite all my best efforts, I still failed. Miserably.
James made it a point to randomly walk around the marketing department in the middle of the day, “just to make sure Miss Kennedy is earning her astronomical paycheck.” He showed up to strategy meetings that he wasn’t invited to—taking a seat in the middle of the room like he owned the place, saying, “I wasn’t sure if you were okay, since you missed my mandatory afternoon meeting—again…Mind if I stay for yours?” (I did mind, and he still stayed.) But by far, the worst thing he did was simply exist.
All it took was one glimpse of him in a designer suit, one glance of his cocky smirk and any resolve I thought I had completely unraveled. The tension between us thickened by the hour, and by the end of each day, it was damn near unbearable.
My emotions swung on a pendulum—back and forth between lust and anger, hurt and confusion, lost love and hope. I couldn’t control them whenever he was around, and I could tell that he felt the same.
At least, I thought he did.
A part of me wanted to ask him if we could start over as friends, but the thought of that hurt too much. And the thought of us continuing like this—whatever ‘this’ was, hurt even more.
I wanted to talk to him like I used to, to know how he became wealthy in such a short amount of time. If he was happy. If he’d ever fallen as hard for someone else like he’d fallen for me.
Still, if his behavior was anything to go by, us being civil wouldn’t be happening any time soon.
“Don’t let him get to you today, Kate. Don’t let him get to you today…”
I repeated the words to myself before stepping out of the town car in front of headquarters. I was hoping my team would blow me away with their updated reports so I could escape earlier.
I typed my password into the new elevator keypad, but the doors didn’t open. I typed it again—slower this time, and the doors remained shut.
What’s going on?
I pulled out my phone and started to call the maintenance manager, but James walked into the lobby. Looking perfect as ever in another dark suit, he strolled toward me, and I felt my nipples hardening under my blouse.
Jesus…
“Something wrong, Miss Kennedy?” he asked.
“It’s nothing the maintenance manager can’t fix.”
“He doesn’t get in for another hour,” he said. “Something I can help you with?”
I bit my tongue, preventing myself from saying something sarcastic. “My new elevator code isn’t working.”
“Hmmm. The new code is your last name and whatever five digits you requested.
“I tried that,” I said, pressing K-e-n-n-e-d-y and 5-5-5-5-5 onto the pad. “Doesn’t work.”
“Oh, I see.” He smiled. “I guess someone made a mistake when putting in your code.” He cleared the pad. “Maybe they put in your married name and your wedding date since that might be an easier thing for you to remember.”
He typed in my ex-husband’s last name, then our fateful wedding date: 2.13.10.
The elevator doors sprung open immediately. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“Not at all.” I stepped onto the elevator, hastily pushing the ‘door close’ button. When I made it to the marketing department’s floor, I noticed it was empty.
I checked my watch to make sure I was seeing things correctly. It was definitely 5:30 a.m, and everyone should’ve been here by now.
Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through my list of contacts and called my new assistant—Summer.
“Good morning, Miss Kennedy!” She was perky as usual. “I know you’re running late, so we already started on the mockups without you. We should be done with the first set within the next hour.”
“Why aren’t you all working on them here at the office?”
“Because Mr. Holmes told us to take the ferry to Bainbridge yesterday. He said he was speaking for you since your email account was messed up or something.”
“Did he now?” I swallowed my anger. “Our first official presentation to the board is this afternoon. I would never tell you all to work some place that’s an hour and a half away.”
“He said as long as we leave from here by two o’clock we’ll make it back in time.”
“Can you please tell everyone to come back to the main campus now?”
“Absolutely, Miss Kennedy. We’re on the way.”
As soon as I ended the call, I let out a pent-up scream. “Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!”
“Hmmm.” The deep sound of James’s voice made me turn around. “That’s a scream I’ve never heard before.” “He moved away from the doorframe and stepped a bit closer. “I much prefer the sound of your other ones.”
