He’d always seen himself as starting his own tech firm with his best friend David but decided to pour all his energy into running the tech department after their friendship suddenly ended. One minute they were best friends, and the next, David wouldn’t answer or return his calls. Not only did David throw away six years of friendship, he left Nick confused because he still didn’t know what happened. Five months and nothing.
Nick realized that he hadn’t thought about David since his first conversation with Kalilah. She was a good distraction, and he appreciated it. Nick had a lot of acquaintances, but David was the only person he’d truly considered to be his friend. It was apparent that he didn’t feel the same about Nick. David couldn’t be bothered to send him a text message to tell him to fuck off at the very least.
When David first started to freeze him out, Nick made all excuses for him that maybe he was busy or broke his phone. But when he realized that he and his family were unfriended and blocked on every social media platform, including LinkedIn, he knew David had done the friendship equivalent of dumping him.
Nick felt momentarily lost and questioned every decision he’d ever made. How could he be wrong so many times? He was partially wrong about Meg. He knew she was mean, but he’d underestimated how evil she was towards others, and he was wrong about his level of friendship with David. He’d replayed the last time they’d hung out in his head repeatedly, and he still couldn’t find any reason for the sudden demise of their relationship.
He pushed the residual pain aside and willed himself to focus on the current presentation by taking notes. His dad was wrapping up the meeting exactly twenty-two minutes later. Nick couldn’t help but notice the way Kalilah flinched when his dad told her to get with him to consider implementing some of his ideas. She couldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t her scope of work. She avoided looking at him. This was more of a personal avoidance.
“I’ll have my assistant schedule an appointment with him next week. I’m tied up in meetings until Monday.”
Nick rubbed his chest to try to ease the pain. It was confirmed; she was definitely avoiding him. Why? Did she not like his new look? He studied her. She’d changed her hairstyle again. It was dark with hi-lights that were a blend of blond and auburn. One side fell slightly over her right eye in a flirty wisp and the rest fell straight to her shoulders. It was sexy. She was sexy. The rest of her came into view as she stood to leave. Nick had to force himself to keep his mouth closed and not stare at her like some lovesick puppy.
She wore a black, long-sleeve dress that clung to her curves and stopped slightly below her knees. She accented it with a gold dangly necklace and a gold and black leather belt. She strode out in black stilettos with red bottoms. All of the longing he’d felt all week floored him, and he diverted his attention. The last thing he needed was to embarrass himself on his first day on the executive floor.
Nick was quickly able to take his mind off his desire for Kalilah when he’d noticed Greg from Finance openly staring at her retreating ass. A wave of possessive annoyance that he’d never felt before flowed from the tips of his freshly cut hair down to the toes of his new shoes. Nick took a few breaths to calm himself before he hit Greg in his balding head. Instead, he fixed him with a look that caused him to flush red and scurry out of the conference room.
Pleased, Nick started to pack up his case when he noticed his dad giving him an assessing look. Nick stood up and slung his case over his shoulder.
“What?”
Andrew looked at him a little longer and tilted his coffee cup in his direction.
“It took you long enough.” He grinned and strolled out of the conference room.
Nick shrugged, at least his dad liked his makeover. He walked into his new office and looked around. It was the same layout of his old one except he was wrong about his dad’s design choice. The offices on the executive floor did have privacy glass; he’d just never paid attention.
Nick thought Kalilah had them because she was higher ranking. Aside from the glass upgrade, his views were a lot better. The best view was directly across the hall looking everywhere but at him. Kalilah would have to deal with him being her new neighbor. He wasn’t going anywhere personally or professionally. He was going to fight for her whether she liked it or not.
He waved when she looked at him. She activated her privacy glass in response. He chuckled to himself.
Game on.
Chapter 13
K alilah was in trouble, and she knew it. She’d managed to avoid Nick for the last two days, but now that the weekend was upon her she was scared that she would break down and call him. Each of his outfits made her wetter than the previous one.
Casual Friday was of no solace to her since he’d seemed to have updated his casual clothes as well. Of course, she wasn’t the only one that noticed his change, and if all the baked goods and casseroles that were thrown his way were any indication, plenty of women were more than willing to pick up where she’d left off.
Kalilah threw her covers off and jumped out of bed. She was jealous and angry. She didn’t like it. She wasn’t the kind of person who felt those emotions often, and it was her fault. She knew she was in self-imposed hell, but the alternative was unacceptable. She could not fall further for Nick, just for him to toss her aside for one of those casserole-making bitches.
; Kalilah looked at herself in the mirror while she brushed her teeth. She didn’t make any sense to herself, so how would she explain it to him? She had wanted him to clean up his appearance and have more confidence. But the moment he did, she freaked out and was now hiding from him like a big baby.
She took a quick shower and pulled on some cotton yoga pants and a tank top. A lazy Saturday with bad food and Hallmark movies was exactly what the doctor ordered. Granted, it was only 8:30 in the morning, but there wasn’t anything wrong with starting early.
Her doorbell rung, and her plans were suddenly shot to shit. Kalilah should have known that the new Nick would not allow her to avoid him. She froze like a roach when lights are turned on. The realization that he could not see her made her feel stupid. Maybe if she left through the back door…
“Kalilah, I know you’re home. Your car is in the driveway.” Nick said matter-of-factly through the door.
Shit. She really needed to start using the garage when avoiding someone. Kalilah sighed and accepted her fate as she crossed to the door. Nick was leaning casually against the doorjamb. His hair was perfectly combed, and his shades rested on the top of his head. His expression was a mix of amusement and annoyance.
He wore a teal V-neck t-shirt that clung to his body as a true testament that Natalia was a genius. His new jeans clung to his body in wonderful ways, as well, but weren’t tight enough to be considered slim fit. Kalilah breathed in his wonderful scent when he leaned towards her.
“Want to tell me why you’re avoiding me?”
“I…ah…am not avoiding you.” Kalilah tried her best to sound indignant, but she didn’t believe herself either.