“Isn’t making coffee task number one for an assistant?” I asked. “You can’t go easy on me justb—”
“Hey,” a deep voice filled the doorway, and I looked up to see a tall, brown-haired man wearing glasses. I gasped and released the coffee cup like it was a hot potato.
“Oh shit!” Jace exclaimed.
Chapter Twelve
Kayden
Jace jumped out ofhis chair like someone had lit it on fire, cursing and shaking out his pants as the woman standing next to him looked between us in shock. If the whole scene hadn’t been so chaotic I might have been tempted to make a joke about Jace needing fresh pants every time I showed up to his office but the flustered woman in front of him prevented me from opening my mouth.
“I’m so sorry, Jace,” the woman said. My heart started racing. I knew that voice. I’d heard that voice in my dreams for more than four years. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay, Liv. Really.” Jace gripped her shoulder, seemingly trying to get her to make eye contact with him, but her eyes were glued to the floor and her long, brown hair blocked her profile from view.
I took a step closer to them, desperately needing to see her face. “Olivia?” I asked. She lifted her head to look at me, her eyes full of tears.
I froze as I laid eyes on her. Seeing her in this office was just as breathtaking as when I’d seen Jace standing here a few weeks ago.
What the hell is with this place?
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, looking at Jace again. “I’ll get paper towels.” She sprinted out of the room, leaving me with the task of processing that Jace’s new assistant was Olivia.
MyOlivia.
Okay, definitelynotmine, since we only spent one night together.But one night with her had been enough to make me face so many of my fears. I thought about her far more than I’d thought about any other hookup before or after her—until recently. I looked up at the other person who filled my mind constantly.
“It’s her first day,” Jace said, as if that explained why he was covered in hot coffee. He sat down, still brushing his hands over his lap as he looked at me curiously. Olivia came running back into the office and I stepped to the side to let her get to Jace, wondering if he could see the truth on my face. He usually read me easily.
“Here,” Olivia said, taking a wad of paper towel and pressing it to Jace’s lap. She dabbed at him, and he inhaled sharply as his entire body stiffened at her attention on such a sensitive area. She must have realized her mistake in trying to help, because she jumped back, blushing. “I’m sorry, I should let you.”
Jace gently but firmly grabbed her wrist, and she made eye contact with him. “Liv, it was an accident and I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding sheepishly and looking like she was about to burst into tears. I suspected that had more to do with the shock of seeing me standing here than her fear of Jace’s ire. Still, we’d left things on a positive note, so her reaction didn’t entirely make sense either.
Jace didn’t seem upset, but he was looking at her with an abundance of concern in his eyes, and a little bit of that intensity I was used to seeing directed at me.
My stomach dropped.
They’re not two people who just met today.
Jealousy stirred in the pit of my stomach as Jace released her wrist and cleaned up the rest of the mess in his lap as best as he could.Am I jealous of him or her? Shit. Both. I am definitely jealous of them both. Who are they to each other?
Olivia took the coffee-filled paper towels from Jace and turned to leave but in my own state of fluster, I stepped in front of her, unintentionally blocking the door. She froze and gently peered up at me.It’s definitely her.The same heart-shaped face. Big, intoxicating brown eyes. The nose ring that provided just enough edge to her appearance to tell you how fiercely independent she really was.This is the Olivia I remember. The woman I thought I’d never see again.
She took in a shaky breath. “I hope you have a good meeting,” she said, looking me in the eyes, silently asking me to move, and clearly not willing to acknowledge our history.
I stepped to the side to let her pass, and she shut the door behind her.
As shocked as I was to find Olivia here in the office of the man I was hooking up with, I also couldn’t fathom why she was so flustered upon seeing me. We’d spent one night together and we’d both been on the same page that nothing more would come of it. There’d been an intense connection but if anything, that made me happy to see her again.
I was grateful for the privacy of Jace’s office because if I’d been able to see into the office space, I wouldn’t have been able to stop looking at Olivia, trying to figure out why she was acting like she’d seen a ghost.
I sat down in one of the chairs opposite Jace and pulled the strap of my messenger bag over my head. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, suddenly looking at me like he’d never seen me before. His weirdness was even more concerning than hers.
I scooted forward in an attempt to get back to normal. “I printed the floorplans in case you prefer to look at them that way, so you can mark them up. Or I can pull up the digital files.”
