“Yes,” he said and leaned in closer, his hand tightening around my wrist. I could feel the intensity in his grip, the intention in his touch. I stepped forward on his toe, hard. He exclaimed in shock and let go of my wrist.
I was completely unnerved by the whole exchange. I marched back to the table where the girls were laughing out loud now. “Way to go! You went right to the top, girlfriend! Grabbed the boss’s ass!”Tash whistled to show how impressed she was. “I didn’t know he was the boss!” I said, but I had to laugh with them. I gave it a few moments, waited for their attention to move on to something else before I quietly got out of there.
I needed fresh air. Fast.
I stood outside the bar for a few seconds, to calm down and organize my thoughts. How was this possible? How had I managed to end up at the same organization as Matthew? The one guy I never wanted to see again in my life. Ever again. I thought with sadness how much I had enjoyed the job so far and how I’d only been able to find it after months of searching. Where would I find another job like this?
The door swung open, and Matthew came out, smiling at me.
“After that little stunt of yours, I’m actually looking forward to Monday morning for a change,”
He winked at me and walked off.
I had felt his glance slide over my skirt and my legs and thought of how I’d felt something that morning, almost a premonition that something would happen today. Despite everything, I couldn’t help but feel pleased that I hadn’t worn my jeans. He’d noticed my skirt and legs. I wanted him to know what he would never have ever again. Briefly, I felt my hand when it was on his behind, my palm burning. I rubbed my hand against my leg as if trying to rid myself of the feeling of his body.
But it only made it worse.
The feel of him on my skin.
Chapter 2
Matthew
I thought about Lauren all weekend.
While I was golfing with my boring cousin Evan and his brother-in-law, all through lunch at the dreary country club, listening to them drone on about new cars and expensive holidays, the cost of keeping their wives happy. A day of golf with Evan was something I had to suffer through occasionally on a Saturday. Another thing I had to do for the good of the company. His father and my father had started the company together decades ago. I had succeeded my father as CEO and Evan was heading up the International Sales Team.
And now, Lauren was working at Egal, too.
The last time I’d seen her was in college. This had to be three years ago. I had recognized her right away, though, she had hardly changed. Even though her hair was shorter now, she still had the bangs and those bright, blue eyes. There was the smile too, a dazzling and warm grin that drew people to her.
Seeing her again brought other things back to me. We’d had good times, my last year in college, going out with friends and playing tennis. Lauren was in college on a tennis scholarship, and she had a mean back hand. I wasn’t half bad myself and we played quite often over the weekends, when we weren’t out hiking or hanging out with some of her friends. Lauren was more sociable than I was, and I ended up falling in with her crowd on whatever jaunts they had planned. It was a carefree time of my life that I knew had to end. As it had. Leading the family company had always been the next step for me.
But when Lauren had felt me up at the drinks party on Friday, I had felt something that I hadn’t felt in ages, interest, and amusement. I called the head of HR on my way home.
“Janine? Sorry to call so late… I wanted to check on a new hire?”
“Oh?”
“Lauren Lambert? In communications?”
“Let me think… I’ve already left the office. Let me think... Yes, that’s right, our new Community Manager, I think? Everything all right?”
“I met her at the staff party now. She’s young?”
“I sat in on one of her interviews. She had a lot of ideas and I think that swung it. For social media, youth is a big plus. We want to get her to push the vegan products.”
I nodded. That made sense.
“We want to appeal to a younger demographic, right? Engage the younger consumer?”
“Absolutely.”
I ended the call and thought about Lauren’s reaction to seeing me again. The surprise seemed real, and she had not been pleased, I thought. I wondered if she would look for another job. I hoped not. I wanted to see her again. She looked good, sexy, with that tight, tennis body and those shapely legs.
On Monday morning, I sat through a few meetings, feigned attention in reports and feedback and bided my time until I could step out of my office and take the elevator down to the sixth floor. This was not the sort of thing I’d usually do, but I wanted to see her. I had spoken to the head of marketing and checked up on the role. Apparently, Lauren’s predecessor had been away on maternity leave and then decided not to come back after all. As a result, there was a lot of work that needed doing in terms of social media, creating brand awareness on some newer product lines. Lauren had made a good impression on all at the hiring panel, and her energy and bubbly personality had counted in her favor.
I got out on their floor and saw her sitting at her desk straight away. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, and she was wearing a bright red sweater that clung to her breasts.