Page 3 of Just My Luck

Sofia didn’t even look up, her fingers flying across the keys. “Hypothetically? I’d tell them to pack a lot of sequins, steal a mini-fridge champagne bottle for me, and let me die in peace under this mountain of market research that Leonard dropped on my desk before his three-hour lunch.” She took a deep breath and paused, her hands freezing over the keyboard. Then she blinked, slowly lifting her head. “Wait. Who is going to Vegas?”

“Me,” I beamed, lowering my voice so the rest of the floor wouldn’t hear. I sat on the only clean spot of her desk and crossed my arms over my chest. “Jax just approved it. I’m going as his second-in-command for the Onyx pitch.”

“Oh my god.” Sofia’s eyes went wide, the crushing weight of her workload temporarily forgotten. A massive grin broke across her face. “Nova! Your first time in Vegas! And with Jax? In the city of sin, bad decisions, and extremely high concentrations of mutual pining?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“It is a strictly professional business trip,” I corrected, though my burning cheeks entirely betrayed me. “I am only going to help him secure the account and keep him organized.” I tried to sound dry but the excitement was too much to hide from my best friend.

“Right. Keep telling yourself that while you’re sharing a luxury hotel suite with a man who looks like that in a tailored suit,” she teased, throwing a hand over her heart. “Seriously, go. Win the contract, get out of the friend zone, and live my dreams for me while I double-check Leonard’s math for the third time today.”

“Need any help?” I glanced at the pile of work.

“No, go. Do the pre-Vegas dash on all your clients that I know you’ll need. Color code your wardrobe, or whatever it is a neat freak like you needs to do to feel happy.” She waved me off.

For the rest of the day, I tried very hard to stay focused. I finished most of my work but was thankful I had an almost two-hour flight ahead of me the next day. Plenty of time to tie those loose ends.

The next morning, the reality of my gamble set in. I stopped lying to myself after repacking my bags for a third time. I wasn’t tagging along to win over the Onyx job. I was hijacking Jax’s trip to either win him over and tell him how I’ve felt for years, or settle my heart and move on.

The interior of Jax’s car smelled like leather and the coffee we’d gotten as we headed to the airport. Outside, the early morning Colorado sky was a bruised shade of purple as we merged onto I-70, heading toward Denver International Airport. Sitting in the passenger seat, my tablet resting on my lap, I manually checked off my pre-flight itinerary.

I’d never really taken such a short flight before. Everything my family had done, all those summer or winter vacations we’d gone on, had been overseas. The last time I’d flown this short of a trip was to New York last year for my grandmother’s funeral.

Jax gripped the steering wheel with one hand, while his other arm rested casually on the center console, tapping the top of his coffee cup to some internal musical beat.

“I went through it, by the way,” Jax said, breaking the quiet hum of the engine.

I looked up from my screen. “Went through what?”

“Your binder.” He glanced over at me, a brief, genuine smile flashing on his face before his eyes returned to the road. “Your research on Christian Sterling and the Onyx portfolio. I’ve got to admit, it was impressive. The demographic breakdowns you pulled for their high-roller segment were sharper than the data the corporate agency sent us last month. You dug up things I didn’t even think to look for.”

A warm swell of pride bloomed in my chest. Hearing him praise my work always felt different than a standard compliment from James or anyone else in the office. I wanted to be invaluable to him.

“I told you, I’m a shark. A highly prepared, rule-following shark,” I joked.

“We will agree that in this area, you are,” he said with a chuckle. But then he shifted in his seat, his posture straightening slightly as he brought his executive voice to the table. “But we need to set the ground rules before wheels-up.”

I raised an eyebrow, adjusting my tablet. “Ground rules? For me? The master of rules?”

“Yes, for you,” he said, glancing over at me. The corner of his mouth twitched once. “Onyx is the biggest pitch Gold Standard has taken on in the last five years. When we walk into that boardroom with Christian Sterling, I am the lead executive. I am in charge.”

“I know that,” I said softly, the playful banter dropping away.

“I’m glad you’re coming, and your research just might give us an edge,” he continued, looking over at me seriously. “But the stakes are high. I need you to observe, support the pitch, and manage the materials. This is a massive opportunity for you to learn how these big corporate deals are brokered. Can you handle being the copilot on this one?”

“Copilot is my middle name,” I said smoothly, offering him a crisp nod.

I meant it, too. I respected his position, and I wanted him to shine more than anything. But later, when he pulled the car into the terminal parking, I realized that while I was more than ready to play the perfect junior associate in the boardroom, once the business hours ended and the Vegas lights turned on, all the old rules were officially off the table.

Chapter 2

Jax

How in the hell was I going to focus during this trip?

I sat back in the first-class seat, swirling the ice in my scotch while the steady drone of the airplane engine filled the cabin. To my left, Nova was practically vibrating. Her tray table was down, her tablet was propped up, and her fingers were flying across the attached brightly colored keyboard as she cleared out her final task lists for her clients.

To be honest, the color-coordinated schedule she’d created looked a little intimidating when I tried to make sense of it all. Instead, I focused on my drink and the hockey game playing on the screen in front of me.

Every now and then, she’d chew on her lower lip—a habit she’d had since I’d met her—completely oblivious to the fact that it was destroying my sanity. It was by far one of the sexiest moves she had. That and the way she laughed. Intoxicating.