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One
The technology department was a big, open bullpen-style seating area with Jayson Cooper in the mix with his brethren. Gia, who’d worked in tech for years, had recently had a title update. She’d taken over as chief marketing officer after she and Jayson divorced. Her office was still on this floor, off to the side, with windows so she could look out on all of them.
Jayson didn’t used to mind her being nearby.
Now, though, he minded.
It was closing in on a year and a half since their divorce. Moving on was difficult when the woman you were to move on from was directly in your line of vision day after day.
He was being looked after by a woman who’d refused to let him look after her during their entire marriage. What good was a husband whose wife refused to let him care for her?
No good, that’s what.
He and Gia worked well together for their sakes as much as the sakes of their coworkers. They gave each other crap—the good-natured kind—at work and made sure to always end the day on a positive note. It’d been working... for a while.
He thought he knew how to protect and love a woman, but when it came to Gia Knox-Cooper, he’d been at sea. She was independent and headstrong and rarely if ever met him halfway. He’d known that about her going into their marriage but had expected things to change after the “I dos.” Each of them had only grown further apart. Which was why their divorce had been a blessing. He understood now that were better separate.
Taylor Thompson, soon to be Taylor Knox as she was the fiancée of Royce Knox, swept into the department and past Jayson’s desk.
“Coop, can you pop into Gia’s office with me for a second?”
“Sure thing.” He rose and followed Taylor, who was dressed smartly in a no-nonsense black dress, her dark blond hair pinned at the back of her head. She was second in charge as COO of the company, professional and spunky and exactly what Gia’s oldest, most rigid brother had needed in his life. She’d sprung a pregnancy announcement on Royce last year, and now those two were to be wed. With better results, Jayson hoped, than his marriage to Gia.
Anyway, their wedding ceremony would likely include their daughter, born right after Addison and Brannon Knox’s wedding six months ago. Or, as Jayson liked to think of it, the night when he nearly lost his damn mind and slept with his ex-wife.
In her office, Gia was leaning back in her leather executive chair, her long dark hair spilling over her petite shoulders. Her red dress one that would make Jessica Rabbit weep with envy.
Gia was petite, curvy and hiding a beautiful body beneath that frock. It was a body he’d brought to the pinnacle of euphoria time and time again. If physical compatibility equaled a successful marriage, they’d still be together.
Taylor slapped two cream-colored notecards onto the desk and two pens on top of them. “Fill these out. Each of you.”
Gia and Jayson exchanged glances before Gia picked up one of the cards to examine it more closely. “It’s filled out, Tay.”
“So’s mine,” Jayson said, picking up the other card. His name was right there. Jayson Cooper and beneath it, the box “attending” was marked with an X.
Taylor snatched the card from him and pointed at the blank area beneath it. “This reads ‘Plus-one, yes or no’ and there is a line there for a name for the seating chart.”
Taylor handed the card back to him. “Yes,” she said and then snapped her gaze to Gia. “Or no. This isn’t twenty questions. It’s one. I don’t care what the answer is, but I need a final headcount for the caterer.”
He narrowed his eyes at Gia and she mimicked his reaction.
“I’m a yes,” she answered cheerily, marking the box with a flourish. “But as my date’s a celebrity, he’d rather not have the catering staff know his name.” She handed over the card, her smile forced, Jayson guessed, for his benefit.
“Really?” Taylor asked, proving this was news to her. “We’ll talk later. What about you, Coop?”
“Same situation,” he answered, marking the yes box. “Ironically.”
Gia crinkled her nose, but he kept his gaze trained on Taylor.
“There. Now was that so hard?” Taylor offered a saccharine-sweet smile and then spun on one heel and left the office.
“Holy Bridezilla,” Gia said once she was gone. “She’s my best friend and I love her, but yikes.” Then she looked at him. “I didn’t know you had a date.”
“I didn’t know you had a date, either.” Going for casual, he tucked his hands in his pockets and waited.
Silence invaded for a few uncomfortable seconds while she examined her fingernails.
“Well, I didn’t want to attend my other brother’s wedding and have a repeat of what happened at Bran’s.” She then fidgeted with a pen. “That was a mistake.”
