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The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Stepping out, he glanced back at the couple still going at it. He smiled. Enjoy it while you can.
Fuck. Since when had he become such a cynic? Growing up, he’d always believed he could do anything, achieve anything, have anything that he wanted, and then Lori dropped her “I’ve met someone else” bombshell and his entire world collapsed. A wake-up call in realism, one he still hadn’t put behind him, even all these years later. It had dragged his ass into adulthood at lightning pace, made him realize some things were outside of his control no matter how much he willed the opposite.
He entered his apartment and, crossing the open-plan space, he swiped a bottle of Scotch whisky from the drinks cabinet and snagged a glass from the kitchen. Pouring three fingers, he set the bottle on the floor beside his feet and sank into a chair with a view of the city. He downed half the glass, wincing as liquid heat slid down his throat.
During the last thirteen years, he’d never once looked up Lori, the idea too painful, although there had been plenty of occasions where curiosity meant he’d typed her name into Google, then deleted it without pressing return. Yet now, he had an urge to give in to his instincts, to find out what had happened to her.
Fuck. Maybe it was turning thirty-one that had him feeling melancholic. Or maybe it was Brie’s visible relief when he’d turned down her offer of sex that made him yearn for something more. Had their relationship always been like this, so distant and… cold? Was this what his future held, playing second fiddle to her career?
With a heavy sigh, he rose to his feet and took his scotch into his study. He sat behind his desk and opened his laptop, typing into the search bar Lorelei James.
He held his breath.
Lorelei James is the chief executive officer of LJ Consulting, a company specializing in business development.
Below that was a web address. He clicked on the link. Lori’s face filled the screen, her glorious smile and widely spaced intelligent green eyes staring back at him. He drank in her beauty. She’d only improved with age. At eighteen, she’d stolen the hearts of half the boys at their school, but now… men fought wars over women like Lorelei James.
He clicked on the “About” page, scanning the company history. She had stayed in India for a few years, then returned to the US, settling in California where she’d started her company.
So it hadn’t been her in the restaurant.
His shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head. So stupid to feel disappointment over something that wasn’t real. And even if it had been her, so what?
He returned his gaze to the screen, to the familiar face staring back at him. A swirl of desire curled in his abdomen, one he had no right to feel. But the head and the heart were separate beasts, often at odds with each other. His head told him to forget all about Lori, a conversation he’d had with himself countless times over the years.
His heart screamed at him to do the complete opposite.
His head won this round, but the battle for his soul was far from over.
CHAPTER 8
Zane’s office door swung open, and Calum entered with two coffees and a bag of pastries. He dropped the bag on Zane’s desk and took a seat—uninvited.
“Remind me I’m getting too old for dancing until three in the morning next time I make the suggestion. Took me all day yesterday to feel normal, and I’m still feeling rough.” He pushed a coffee across the desk to Zane and tore open the bag of pastries. “How was your Sunday?”
“Quiet.” Zane lifted the lid off the coffee and blew across the top, cooling the hot liquid before he took a tentative sip. “I presume yours involved soaking your feet and bemoaning your advancing years.”
Calum grinned. “You’ll always be older than me, buddy.” He bit into an almond croissant. “Brie looked a bit distracted as we left the restaurant. All okay?”
“Yeah. Demanding client.” Zane reached for a pain au chocolat. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Shoot.”
Zane steepled his fingers, propping his chin on them. He and Calum were close, but this was still an awkward subject to broach without sounding like a perv. “Are things between you and Laurella still…” He wrinkled his nose. “Are they still like they were in the beginning?”
Reaching for a napkin, his friend cleaned pastry crumbs off his fingers. “You mean when we were at each other’s throats all the live long day?”
He chuckled, and so did Zane as he recalled those first few weeks when Laurella had joined Necron. She and Calum had hated each other on sight, and boy, had the rest of the board known it.
“Little bit past that, buddy. I mean after the two of you woke the fuck up and realized you were the perfect match.”
Just like him and Lori. Or so he’d thought. Did two people ever truly know each other?
“You’re asking if we’re still hot for one another?”
“Yeah.” Zane cleared his throat. “You don’t have to answer that. I’m just…” Blowing out a breath, he shook his head and turned his gaze toward the window. Shouldn’t have started this conversation. Some things weren’t up for discussion.
“Zane, what’s wrong?”
