Chapter 1
Ashley Parker stood and stretched, glancing around the office to check if anyone was watching, but they all seemed intent on their computer screens. If she didn’t roll her neck and shake out her shoulders every once in a while, her back would be killing her by closing time.
The hourly ritual had earned her the nickname Rocky from some of her more obnoxious coworkers. So what if she looked like a boxer warming up for a fight? In a department full of men, she was already half-way there.
“Nice, Balboa. Want me to rub the knots out?”
Ashley turned to glare at Flynn, the slimiest guy in her office. “How are you not fired yet?”
He grinned, showing off his gleaming, overly white, straight teeth. “Because everyone loves me. Except you, of course. Don’t worry, I’ll wear down your defenses eventually.”
“You are the last thing I need, and I’ve dated enough men like you to know it.”
Flynn threw his hands up in surrender. “I just wanna be friends, Ash. Don’t get all man-eater on me.” He glanced towards the boss’s office, but the door was closed.
Ashley marched over to Flynn’s desk and peered at his screen. “Are you done writing the article about sharing the road with cyclists?” From the look of it, he only had the first two paragraphs.
“I’m working on it. Go bother Chase. He’s not done with his article either.”
“Almost done,” Chase called out from behind his screen.
So he’d been listening. Ashley inwardly cringed. She was supposed to be ignoring Flynn’s teasing. Chase had even coached her on how to respond. Flynn had a way of sucking people into stupid arguments and then making it look like they started it.
She walked over to Chase’s desk and pulled up a chair next to him. Until someone finished, she wouldn’t have anything else to edit. It always made her nervous. She worked full time at stretching out a typesetting job that should only take a few hours a day. To make up for it, she made sure to change out the water cooler jug, make the coffee, and when necessary, prod along her coworkers. She also ran extra errands for her boss whenever he asked, and though he had to know how little she had to do, he didn’t seem to care.
“Are you really almost done?” she whispered.
Chase nodded, his brown eyes finally leaving his computer screen to meet hers for half a second. Chase Reynolds put one-hundred percent into everything he did. He was as stalwart as they came. Which was why, when her ex-fiancé, Reid, had turned abusive, she’d asked Chase to start walking her to her car every night. And he’d done it ever since, no questions asked. His girlfriend was one lucky girl.
Ashley should find someone like Chase someday, when she was ready to open her heart again. But she wouldn’t do that until she figured out why she’d always chosen the wrong guys in the past, even if it meant spending the next ten years alone.
She studied Chase while he worked. If it wasn’t for his ugly button-up shirt, carefully tucked in, and slacks that were slightly high-water, he’d be gorgeous. She wanted to run a hand through his too-neat hair, messing up his careful part. He had a killer smile, though he rarely showed it off. Annnd stop. Loneliness was pushing her imagination to places it would have never gone before. Seriously, being single was not that bad.
Their boss, Mr. Davidson, came out of his office and glanced over at her empty desk. She stood so he could see her.
“Ashley, can you check the company Facebook page and respond to anyone who comments? Yolanda is stuck in a meeting upstairs.”
“Of course.”
Yes! Something to do. Their typesetting department shared a floor with billing, customer service, marketing, and public relations, and their responsibilities often bled over into one another, though Ashley’s main responsibility was the quarterly magazine. She wasn’t sure anyone actually readAutoBest Cares, but work was work.
She logged in as a company representative and browsed through the AutoBest Facebook page. Yeesh. Yolanda had created a post about the importance of seat belts, quoting an article about how men are less likely to wear seatbelts and more likely to die in crashes. The comment section had turned into a gender war. Diffusing this might take a while.
***
The scent of vanilla lingered behind, and Chase closed his eyes for a second. He was under no delusions about how Ashley felt about him, but that didn’t mean he was any closer to conquering his crush on her.
He’d immediately noticed her that first day when he should have been hyper-focused on training. She was the only customer service employee who smiled while chatting with irate callers, sometimes tossing her long brown hair over one shoulder and stretching her arms as high as they would go. She was always stretching. Except for the constant sitting, the high-stress job didn’t seem to bother her at all, and she didn’t mind helping wherever she was needed. She’d sensed when he was having trouble and appeared at his side, pointing out where he needed to click to find the information that never seemed to be where they said it would be. Eventually, he figured it out and his customer satisfaction numbers went up. They were both promoted and moved to the new typesetting department together, along with Flynn.
Flynn was an idiot. Still trying the same smarmy tactics to get Ashley’s attention, to no avail. Hadn’t he noticed the changes in her? She hadn’t been the same since breaking off her engagement more than a year ago. She didn’t have that spring in her step she’d once had. She didn’t smile and laugh as much. Even her clothing was more subdued. It didn’t take a genius to realize she was more cautious now, maybe even a little bitter. And Chase hated that. He hated that someone had stolen her joy.
Mr. Davidson popped his head out of his office again. “Chase. Come see me for a moment.”
Chase saved his last changes and turned off his screen before heading for Mr. Davidson’s office. Some of the higher-ups called Mr. Davidson by his first name, Clarence, but he’d introduced himself as Mr. Davidson to their team back when they started, and none of them had ever attempted to change it.
Mr. Davidson went to sit behind his enormous messy desk and motioned for Chase to shut the door.
“Chase, what I’m about to tell you cannot leave this office. You can’t tell anyone, no matter how much you’re tempted to. I’d deny it came from me and then I couldn’t give you a glowing reference at your next job.”
