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“Huh?”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I forced a smile. If the world was truly this small and her Ezekiel wasmyEzekiel…
Shit, this is already going terribly wrong. He wasn’t my anything.
“You said his name is Ezekiel?” I asked, hopeful there wasn’t a chance it was the same Ezekiel.
“Yes. Ezekiel Omari. He’s been a godsend with all of this. He’s just as passionate about building up the Crescent Ridge and Crescent Manor areas. He’s been the driving force behind the initiative to make change.”
And there it was. The world truly was this small.
I swallowed back my unease and smiled. “Perfect. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Samiya searched my face and her brows drew in. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit stressed.”
Once more I forced a smile. “This is a huge opportunity. I’mverystressed. I want to make sure I represent you well and also deliver on the promises you’ve made to the community.”
“Girl…” She waved me off. “I’m not worried about that. You’re more than qualified. Honestly, more qualified than me. This is something I believe in but you’ve done the work. Your credentials are astounding. I hired you because you’re the right person for this undertaking. Now let's finish up here. Enough business for now.”
After obtaining my Master's in Community Development I’d worked part-time for a nonprofit community leadership program where most of my time was spent behind a desk answering phones and filing paperwork.
It helped, but my degrees and fluffed affiliations with charities Dre’thon donated money to at my insistence was enough to get me the interview. I managed to make what little experience I had look great on my resume. I was qualified but my last four years had been spent living a lavish lifestyle and traveling the world.
Not much philanthropy, but I intended to change that. I needed to do something that mattered and this did. But doing this, with a man who’d changed my world and I never expected to see again, was going to be a challenge.
My stomach was in knots, but I relaxed enough to make it through the rest of our lunch. However, that didn’t mean I had the faintest clue how I would survive working alongside a man who had totally ruined my belief in finding happiness with my equal. Who could come after him to even get close to the happiness he had delivered in one night.
No one.
* * *
I walked into Omari Towers with my shoulders back and chin high. I could do this. It was one night and he likely wouldn’t remember me. If he did, I hoped he was professional enough to see beyond that one night so we could remain cordial enough to do something meaningful and amazing.
“Welcome to Omari Towers, how may I help you?”
“Hi, I’m here to see Ezekiel Omari.”
The woman at reception smiled pleasantly but the way she gave me a onceover and tapped her nails on the desk had me on guard.
“Your name please?”
“Jhorie Abraham. He should be expecting me. I’m with Black Women Bosses.”
She smiled deeply. “Yes, Samiya reached out to him. Right through that door, the office is at the end of the hallway. I’ll call back to let him know you’re on your way.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded and lifted the phone to answer an incoming call.
A few seconds later the glass door clicked, notifying me I had access to the back. I moved past reception and pulled the door open, exhaling a cleansing breath as I moved into the hallway then made my way to the end where Ezekiel Omari was etched onto a smoked glass door. I took a minute before I stepped inside but the minute I did, my world shifted.
Ezekiel was seated behind his desk looking superior. This man was so strikingly beautiful in all his brooding, gruff, and sexy chocolate physique, intense eyes, and perfect features. Everything about him screamed forbidden which made him that much more tempting.
Even the way his brows pinched when his eyes landed on me and did a sinfully slow prowl over my entire body was sexy. I swore I felt his gaze physically touch me the same way his lips, tongue, and hands had touched methatnight. Then the fantasy was disrupted when he spoke.
“I have no idea what you told Elizabeth to finesse your way back here but there are only two reasons you would show up here to ambush me. The first being that you want to alter the agreement we made to share one night and walk away. The second would be to announce you’re pregnant with ouroopsbaby. You might possibly like to see if you can somehow strong arm your way into a come up. Let me be clear. I will not be fucking you again nor will I be offering you money or a settlement as a way to convince you not to have this fictional child you might be here to present me with. I say fictional because I am certain I couldn’t have gotten you pregnant. I was more than careful. Although mistakes happen, one did not happen that night. Now, please choose your next statement very carefully.”
