Prologue
Melanie
I twistedthe wedding band on my left hand with my thumb. It was a nervous tick that I picked up ever since Wade got the ring on my finger years ago. It was comforting to know it was there but I had to move it until it felt just right resting against my finger.
“I see no reason why you wouldn’t be the perfect fit for Arlene’s assistant,” Margaret, the owner of Moran PR, said as she sat across from me.
I knew I was going to get the job before I walked into the building today. Max said it was just a formality to meet Margaret and it was why I didn’t mind the almost two-hour drive to Helen to do the interview.
I had been in the business for over five years now, starting straight out of high school, focusing on online classes to get my degree, and then I jumped into the first job I could get into. The second I could get out of New York and follow my brother Max to Atlanta, I did. It was one of the best decisions I had ever made. The second best decision was marrying my husband, Wade. The third was working as a personal assistant for a local chef since I moved down here. My life revolved around working and when I got the chance to finally go home at the end of the day, it was time with Wade. Even though as the years went by, while living in the same state as my brother, I managed to only see him every few weeks. It was far less than what I had ever been expecting.
I smiled at Margaret, taking her comment as a compliment that I would be a perfect fit for her friend out in California. I wouldn’t be moving there for a couple more months for my husband’s new job, but Max wanted me to have a plan before getting there. He always took care of me in every aspect of life.
“I’m looking forward to it. I hear she’s one of the most sought-after Interior Designers on the West Coast.”
I’d done my research on Arlene before coming to the interview and to say I wasn’t impressed would be a lie. Arlene was in almost every celebrity household in California, not to mention homes in Oregon and Washington state, too. She was a name that everyone knew and I was lucky enough to be interviewing for the position. Her last Personal Assistant decided to retire and now Arlene was looking for someone who could help her with not just work, but her everyday life. Arlene was not like anyone else I had ever assisted but I was up for the challenge.
Margaret scoffed and waved a hand through the air, dismissing my comment. “Don’t let her fool you. She may have a big name, but in reality she’s just a softy with a hard shell.”
She looked down at the papers Arlene sent over for me to fill out and then snapped her head back up to me. She pointed a finger at me with a serious look on her face.
“If you ever tell her I told you that, I’ll deny everything.”
I let out a laugh at Margaret’s threat.
“My lips are sealed.” I made a motion to lock my lips together and throw away the key.
“All that is left to sign is the NDA and your salary.” Margaret pushed the papers on the desk toward me, the NDA sitting on top. I picked up the pen next to me, scribbling my name across the paper without hesitation and then flipped to the second page. We hadn’t talked about salary yet, but when I saw the number on the paper, I almost fainted in my seat.
“This can’t be right,” I baulked at the sheet in front of me and then looked up to meet Margaret’s gaze.
“It most certainly is. I wouldn’t let her go any lower, and I kew that if it was any higher, you probably would have freaked out even more.”
“I’ve never seen this many zeros before.”
“Just take it as a thank you for wanting to step in. As much as Arlene is popular for her work, very few people want to actually workforher. Remember, hard shell, soft inside.” Margaret let out a little laugh and I followed with a hesitant nervous laugh. Kind of like the one that I used when my husband catches me sneaking into the kitchen at midnight.
I looked over the numbers one more time before signing on the line below where Arlene had already placed her signature. It was even more evident to me that this was a sealed deal now. Arlene wanted me and for some reason she saw something in me. I wasn’t going to let her, or my brother down since he was the one who had made all of this come to life.
“Ma,” a thud of the door behind me broke the silence in the room.
I turned around to see that the door had been thrown open hard enough to have hit the wall by a man who stood in the door frame. His hands were fumbling the skinny tie around his neck that complimented his three-piece black suit. He was trying to loosen the tie but from the look of concentration on his face, it wasn’t working in his favor. I shifted in my small chair, facing my attention toward the man who had captivated me instantly. He was like a walking disaster.
“Will this do for the dinner?”
The man finally looked up from his hands that he’d been staring at but instead of his eyes going to Margaret behind me, they landed on mine. His eyes narrowed as they trained in on my body, raking over every inch of me as I sat there in front of his mother. The blue flecks in his black eyes sparkled as they came back up to meet mine. My face heated in an involuntary blush and a smirk formed across his lips. His hands left his tie and he placed them in his pocket, leaning up against the door frame, which only made him look bigger. A piece of his shagged hair fell across his forehead but he didn’t move to get it out of the way.
I hated it.
As much as my body wanted to give away because of how much he was affecting me in this moment, I hated the way he thought he had me with just one look. It was an act I had seen from many men over the years when going out with friends. It was why I was so attracted to Wade when he first asked me out.
He didn’t expect that I would fall all over him.
“Jack.” Margaret's snap caused me to jump in my seat and in that movement, Jack stepped away from the doorframe and toward me.
His hands were out of his pocket and almost like they were trying to reach out to me. The arrogance I had seen before wasn’t as visible but that didn’t mean it was gone. When he was only standing a few feet away from me, that smirk came back. Most likely because he could tell that the blush on my face hadn’t gone completely away. I may have hated the arrogance that exuded from him but there was a flash of something else that held my attention.
“What have I told you about barging into my office when I’m with a client?”
