When he walked out of the room, all the confidence he radiated followed him. The world around me seemed to close in until I was dying to have just a moment with him—to share in the same space, the same breath.
He’s my catalyst.
And that feeling was too overwhelming to ignore. And so was this situation. If Jack Powell was my boss, that was going to be a problem. Because I couldn’t handle him having power over me in that way. All of my bright ideas of being a bold woman didn’t extend to my boss.
So, I scooted out of the meeting, and followed him.
“Jack?” I said, just as he exited the building into the midday summer sun.
The streets were relatively calm, considering the work day was still in session, but when the wind blew a slight breeze, I caught a whiff of that same spice and man that I had the night we met.
“Lana,” he said, not surprised to see me at all.
“This isn’t a coincidence, is it?” I asked. “Me working here?”
He didn’t say a word. Didn’t shrug. Didn’t give any kind of answer or emotion away.
Instead, he turned and started walking, glancing back at me as if expecting me to follow. I did.
“I was pleased to see you today,” he said.
“Are you leaving without answering me?” I kept stride beside him, rounding the corner of the building.
“My office is a few blocks away.”
“I didn’t know you owned the resorts.”
“Does that make a difference now?” His tone was a little sharp, so I went with honesty.
“Yes, it does.”
“Why?”
“Because I…” I tried to get a handle on my thoughts, which were scattering a million miles a minute. I had admitted the truth to him once. That I wanted him. And he did have a powerful persona, and it was one of things I liked most about him. But, in a work environment? No, not a good idea.
“I don’t think I can work for you.”
That made him stop and face me. His dark eyes skated over my entire body. My simple black dress was sleeveless and hit just above my knees. It was sleek, but professional. The way his eyes ran the length of me made me feel anything but professional though.
“You said you’d see me again,” I blurted out, hating that my social skills, especially with men, were lacking. But this situation was too easy to ignore, especially since he was one of the only things I’d been thinking about. “I didn’t think it would be like this. Did you know I was being hired? Somehow set this up?”
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt like an idiot. Harper had been the one to mention this job to me. There was no way—aside from Jack being part magical—he had anything to do with that.
“I met you in a bar, Lana.”
I nodded. Again, hating how stupid I felt.
“After our encounter,” his gaze paused on my mouth and a shiver broke over my spine, “I did look into who you were, and the fact that you applied for the payroll position came up, but you’d already passed through the hiring process.”
“I see.”
He took a step toward me. His eyes locked on my face. I glided back just a foot.
“Still running from me?”
“No,” I gasped, because it was the last thing I wanted to do. It was just instinct.
A man came toward me, I took a step back. Simple.