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Chapter 1
What am I going to do? I’d already quit my old job at Richards and was meeting with the Vice President of Marketing at my new one, Barker and Perez. I was so excited; I hadn’t paid attention to the name of the man who would train me and be my boss, J. Camden Lawson.
It didn’t occur to me that it was JC. Yes, that JC, the one who had beaten me out for the director’s position at my first job. The same one who always topped me in high school and broke off our engagement four months before we were to be married.
I sat in his large office, staring at the placard with his name perched on the front of his cherry wood desk. I reached out and ran my fingers over the gold lettering of his name. I was so engrossed in what I was doing; I didn’t hear JC enter the room. Behind me, he snorted, and I turned to see his rakish good looks.
He’s still gorgeous, with his square jaw, cleft chin, and perpetually stubbled face. I found it hard to keep in mind that this was the man who seemed to win out over me every time. JC was the last person I wanted to be my boss! It was because he still made me moist between my legs. I shifted in my seat and watched him cross the few feet to his desk, as graceful as ever.
JC fixed on me with his steel-gray eyes, the intensity of his stare made me shiver and I had to avert my gaze to my lap as I loudly exhaled. He chuckled and opened the folder which had my name, Alexa Stanford, written across the tab on the top.
“I guess I don’t have to go over your credentials, Lexi, now do I?” JC said.
“No, you should be well aware of my qualifications, and my name is Alexa.”
“It wasn’t when we were together.”
I sighed. “JC, that was a long time ago.”
“It was, and it’s Camden now.”
I started to laugh hard. He had always been JC. Jonathan Camden Lawson, IV. It sounded so pretentious, and he knew it. I think that’s why he preferred to be called by his initials for as long as I had known him.
JC scowled. “Are you quite finished? I’m not sure we’ll be able to work together. You know our history and all.”
I gaped at him. “You’re going to fire me because YOU broke off our engagement?”
“I broke it off for a good reason. Neither of us was ready for that level of commitment.” JC’s mouth set in a hard line as he narrowed his eyes.
“Most people would remain together to work it out, but you broke it off and broke my heart in the process,” I said as I shifted in the black leather chair. It creaked with my movement.
I watched as JC ran his hand through his thick mahogany brown hair. It made me remember how I loved to tug and pull on it while he had his head between my legs. I wondered if it was as soft as I remembered. I loved to run my fingers through the thick strands as he held me in his arms. My chest tightened, and a lump formed in my throat. JC knew so much about me, how to boost my confidence with a single look from across the room or a stroke of his pinkie across the back of my hand. I shook the memory away, not wanting to give him any credit for making me feel good.
“It was a long time ago. I’ve moved on, and from what I heard, so have you,” JC said.
I knew JC was referring to my recent engagement. He must have spoken to a few of our mutual acquaintances or read the announcement my mother insisted Noah, and I have in the New York Times. I had moved on, but often when Noah and I made love, JC’s face would pop into my mind. The things my former fiancé could do to my body and the mind-blowing orgasms he gave me were hard to forget.
It wasn’t because Noah was inattentive in bed, because he wasn’t. His brand of making love was very different from JC’s. However, Noah Wilton was stable and loving. There was no worry that he would cheat on me the way there was with JC.
“Yes, I have. How is your wife?” I asked.
JC’s face tightened. “Brianna is spending plenty of my money in the Bahamas right now. She went on a girl’s trip. I’m on my own for a few days. Maybe you could spare some time, and we could have lunch.”
Once again, I needed to avert my eyes from his gaze because of the dreamy look on his face. Immediately my stomach tightened. “Why?”
JC stared at me, now stone-faced. I could see the muscle in his jaw clenching. “To decide if we can work together without our past interfering.”
“JC…”
“Camden!” He said with his eyebrows knitted.
“Camden. I can put aside our past if you can. This is a job, a job that I’ve long deserved.”
I knew I shouldn’t antagonize JC, but I couldn’t resist.
“You do deserve it, and I’ll admit, you did deserve the director’s job at Carver and Carver, but they gave it to me.”
“I’d say that several rounds of golf helped seal the deal.”
