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Book: Brief Me, Baby
Chapter 1
Natalie
“Is anyone using this chair?”
The deep rumble sent shivers down my spine, but I didn’t look up from the file my boss had given me during our morning meeting. This case was too important for me to mess up. Being the new kid meant I had to work twice as hard because I needed to make a good impression.
“No,” I mumbled, expecting the owner of the delicious voice to drag it to some other table so he could sit with a group of friends, or his girlfriend, or whatever. What I didn’t expect was to spot a masculine hand out of the corner of my eye as it nudged one of my stacks of papers to the side.
Jerking my head up in surprise, I found myself staring into warm brown eyes. My cheeks filled with heat as I took in the incredibly gorgeous man who’d sat down in the seat across the table from me. He had thick, dark hair that looked like someone had been running their fingers through it. His full lips were stretched into a stunning smile, showing perfectly straight teeth. The scruff on his face went beyond a five o’clock shadow, even though it was early afternoon, but it only enhanced how hot he was.
Taut muscles strained against his French blue dress shirt as he propped his elbows on the surface and leaned towards me, tanned skin visible at the unbuttoned collar. His long legs were stretched out under the table, the tip of one of his brown, leather wingtips less than an inch from my feet. He was, by far, the sexiest man I’d ever seen in my life, and all of his attention was focused on me. It was exhilarating, and I took a deep breath to try to settle my nerves.
I glanced around the bakery, surprised to find most of the surrounding tables empty. I hadn’t made it out of the office for lunch until a little past two, but I expected the bakery to be full since he was sitting in my extra chair. Why else would a drop dead gorgeous guy pick the only table with someone else sitting at it?
My mystery man chuckled at my obvious confusion, drawing my gaze back to his face. His smile had widened and the corners of his eyes were crinkled up with humor. I was so nervous that I couldn’t even describe the feeling in my stomach as butterflies taking flight, it was more like my insides were doing somersaults.
“Umm,”—I glanced around the empty room again, wondering if someone was pulling a prank on me—“Can I help you with something?”
“Sure you can, sweetheart. You can tell me your name.”
He was hot, there was no denying it, and the confidence in his voice made it clear he was well aware of the affect he had on women. I’d been around enough arrogant men in my life to know it was better to steer clear of them. It was why I’d come half-way across the country to take a job outside of my step-father’s sphere of influence. I wanted to make it on my own, without the stigma that would follow me if I let him help me. I’d never truly be taken seriously with everyone assuming I’d been given my career rather than having earned it.
I knew I should nip this, whatever it was, in the bud before it even started, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it.
“Natalie,” I answered softly.
“Natalie,” he repeated, his eyes lazily sliding down my body and back up again before he continued. “I’m Jax.”
Jax.I should have guessed he had a hot guy name. Although, I doubted he’d be any less attractive if his name had been Harold.
The waitress, who’d only been by my table to take my order, then drop off my latte and sandwich, made a beeline towards us as soon as she noticed Jax sitting across from me. The flip of her hair over her shoulder and sway of her hips were clearly for his benefit.
“What can I get you?” she asked breathily, bending forward to give him a clear view of her cleavage.
“Black, dark roast coffee for me,” he told her without looking up. “You want a refill, Natalie?”
Her crestfallen expression made me laugh, considering she’d had the nerve to try to flirt with a guy who very well could have been my boyfriend for all she knew. “No thanks. Just the check please. I need to head back to the office.”
“Then I guess I’ll take mine to go since my reason for staying will be gone.”
The waitress sighed in disappointment and moved away. I waited until she was far enough away not to hear our conversation before asking the obvious question. “How could I be the reason you’d stay when you don’t even know me?”
“My plan was to grab a quick cup of coffee to go, but it flew out the window the second I spotted you sitting here.”
I would have found myself flattered except his answer came way too easily for him. “Why do I get the feeling you’re entirely too smooth for my own good?”
“It comes in handy in my line of work, but I promise I’ll be good to you.”
As a lawyer, I was adept at using words to my advantage, but I had a feeling I was in over my head with this guy. Between his good looks, deep voice, and charisma, I was finding it hard to concentrate on what I wanted to say. “What is your line of work, exactly? Sales? Advertising?”
“Have dinner with me tomorrow, and I’ll tell you.” His mouth said dinner, but his tone and eyes told me he wanted more than just a meal.
“I can’t.” Or, at least, I shouldn’t since I still had boxes to unpack and prep work to do if I was going to be ready for an early morning deposition the next day.
The waitress chose that moment to set his to-go cup of coffee on the table in front of him, along with his check. I couldn’t help but notice her name and phone number in red ink at the bottom. It was another reason not to go out to dinner with him since I had a feeling this kind of thing wasn’t unusual for him.
