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He laughed. “You’re assuming I want you to work for me.”
“When your HR head made the offer, that’s exactly what I assumed.”
“You’d be wrong,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t want you to work for me.”
That made zero sense. “Then why offer the job? Why show up at my work?”
“I don’t want you to work for me, but I would like to take you to dinner,” he said with a soft smile.
I threw my head back and laughed. I was sure it was a joke. When I stopped laughing long enough to see his expression, I realized he wasn’t laughing. “No. Absolutely not. That’s a hard no.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. It’s just dinner.”
“I have to go,” I said.
“I guess I’ll see you next week,” he replied.
I stared at him and tried to get a better read on what he was up to. It was impossible to know. “Yeah, sure,” I said and turned around to walk away.
I glanced over my shoulder once. He was standing with his hands in his pockets and watching me. He was wearing a suit similar to the one he’d worn for the interview. The pant legs were rolled up a couple inches and his feet were bare. The shirt was untucked with the bottom blowing in the wind. He looked absolutely stunning. There was a smirk on his face.
I walked faster. The man was unsettling. Did he really ask me to dinner? Did he really think that was the best move? Was it a game? Was he purposely trying to rattle me? If he asked me to dinner, did that mean he was single? If he was my man, I would chain him up in the basement. He was too damn hot to be left to roam about freely. Women probably threw themselves at him. If he wasn’t who he was and we didn’t have history, I would have shamelessly flirted with the man.
I could not believe I had seen him again.Againagain. The first time had rocked my world. The second time just left me confused and befuddled.
14
JON
Iwatched her disappear up the stairs off the beach. I couldn’t stop smiling. The universe was really fucking with us both. Twice in the same week after not seeing each other for eight years was pretty wild.
Something was telling us we were supposed to be together. We were supposed to be in each other’s lives.
I didn’t want her in my life. That would be like inviting a cobra into my bed and hoping it didn’t strike at me.
Macy was dangerous. I had learned my lesson after dealing with her the first time. I was not about to make that mistake again. It would probably kill me if I allowed her into my life again. My work was my focus. That was what I was going to stay focused on. My revenge plot was just a side gig. Piling the seminar onto my plate was probably not the smartest move I’d ever made, but it would help my business. I hoped.
I trudged across the sand and started the climb up to my house. I crossed the backyard and quickly rinsed my feet before going inside. The house was my reward for my hard work. It was a prime piece of real estate that I was very proud of. I loved hosting parties. The backyard was designed with entertaining in mind. I loved the view. I loved the space. I loved all of it. The house was the fruit of my labor.
I popped a frozen dinner into the microwave and sat down at the bar with my laptop. I had given keynote speeches at various seminars before. I was going to use some of my older material and tweak it to fit today. I wasn’t necessarily trying to impress anyone. I just wanted to put myself in her orbit. That was my only intention.
The following morning when I walked into the office, the place was buzzing. Mabel was at her desk with a scowl on her face. “I had to rearrange your entire schedule to accommodate that seminar you pulled out of your backside.”
“Sorry,” I said, grinning. “They’ve been asking me. You know that. My schedule isn’t too busy. I figured I would do it now and just get it out of the way.”
“I’ve got the department heads putting together the talking points you used before,” she said. “There isn’t time to come up with anything new.” She handed me a thumb drive. “This has the PowerPoint you used last year.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“Have you hired my replacement?” she asked.
I grinned. “I’m working on it. I’m hoping someone from this seminar will step up to the plate.”
If my plan worked, Macy would be my assistant by the end of next week. Granted, I was going to dump her down the road and I would need another assistant, but I would worry about that then. I could practically taste the revenge. It was just as sweet as the candy bars I loved so much.
The rest of my week was packed. I spent twelve hours a day working on my normal stuff and preparing for the seminar. Through Mabel, I was sending information to Macy. She had somehow become the point person at the college for the seminar. If I was a better man, I might feel a little guilty about piling extra work on her.
But I wasn’t. I was a man hellbent on revenge. Any little thing I did to make her life just a little uncomfortable made me feel better. I had spent the last eight years feeling uncomfortable. I had spent eight years being unable to move on from that night. If she had to organize tables and put together packets for the attendees, so be it.
