Page 21 of Sweet Surrender

“We’ll take these final figures back to our team, but from what I see here, I’m satisfied.” Jim finished what was left of his coffee, then dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “We hate to run like this, but we have a meeting across town at the top of the hour. You understand.”

“Of course.” Standing, I shook their hands, assuring them I would cover our brunch bill. Considering this was my first major win in weeks, I would’ve covered just about anything. We made plans to connect by the end of the week, and I looked forward to sharing the news with Maxim once I reached the office. He needed a win too.

What a shame I couldn’t tell my PR manager about it and thank her for the work, which must have contributed to the deal advancing. Two weeks ago, the Pine brothers were practically ducking my calls, playing phone tag with me. Rather, their assistant was, since I couldn’t get them on the phone. After the donation to the housing foundation and the goodwill that had been stirred up after that, along with my unequivocal denial of the charges in that bullshit article, it seemed I had regained a little trust.

It was then that I checked my emails. One came through from Momentum Public Relations, Sienna’s PR company, but it wasn’t from her.

I scanned it, some bullshit next-level instructions from someone I’d never heard of. It made my blood boil. Had she seriously ghosted me completely and washed her hands of me?

When I wanted to speak to Sienna about my morning win, I get this? She’d been MIA since the interview at my place, and part of me was relieved she’d left when she did. But another part of me, the part that couldn’t shake her from my mind, wished she hadn’t gone. It was a dangerous game, being near her. She was like a flame, drawing me in despite the risk of getting burned. Her absence only intensified my desire, making it hard to keep myself away from thoughts of her. Like it or not, she was pretty damn irresistible. I was only a man, flesh and blood, so it wasn’t surprising for a beautiful woman to affect me.

I did not, however, take well to being ignored. The email made me change my plans out of nowhere, walking to her office rather than heading back to my own. She couldn’t avoid me if I were in her face.

However, as it turned out, I wasn’t in her face when I arrived at her sleek headquarters, where a dozen employees tapped rapidly on their keyboards as I stepped off the elevator. Blowing past the receptionist, I strode smoothly toward the opposite corner of the floor.

Sienna’s assistant spotted me and almost jumped out of her chair before I reached her. “I’m sorry, Miss Black is at a meeting in Midtown. She has another appointment after that, and she was going to let me know if she’d come back to the office afterward or if she would finish out the day at home.”

I thanked her assistant, whose name I still didn’t know and didn’t care to, before asking, “What about her partner? Jules something? Is she around?”

“My ears are burning.” I turned at the voice over my shoulder and found myself face-to-face with a petite, curly-headed blonde. Normally, a person had to know me before looking at me with so much wry uneasiness etched on their face. Considering we have never met, I had to assume Sienna told her about me.

“Jules Sherman.” She extended a hand, offering a firm shake. “I guess she didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“She’s left the work in the capable hands of our senior staff.” She was quick to tell me while I tried to process the news. “If I understand correctly, she’s handling the setup for the sports clinic on her own, as it’s a bit more complicated to work out the scheduling. You’ll be posing for photos with star athletes and smiling kids within the next couple of weeks, though, rest assured. Was there something you wanted to discuss?”

So this was how it would be, getting the brush-off. She didn’t have the balls to tell me to go fuck myself. Then again, she had told me in her own way by walking out on me after the interview. Only, I’d figured she was bluffing.

Nobody walked away from me.

“Jules?” A girl on the other side of the floor called out, waving an arm over her head. “Your eleven-thirty call.”

“That’s right. Be there in a second.” Jules offered a tight, professional smile. “Don’t worry. Everything’s looking up. We’ve got plenty of goodwill flowing your way.”

I’d had the same thought on the way over, but it wasn’t enough. Standing alone in the middle of a hallway, surrounded by young women at tastefully decorated desks, it was then I realized all of the employees were female and may as well have been alone.

How could she leave me floundering like this? Was I supposed to accept this bullshit at face value? She didn’t know me at all if she thought I would accept her ghosting me without explanation.

A switch flipped in my head, and when I turned back toward Sienna’s assistant’s desk, I had a plan in place. “Excuse me,” I offered, wearing my most charming smile as I approached her like a man without a care in the world. “Any chance you can tell me where I’d find Sienna?”

She peered up at me over the rims of her glasses. “Excuse me?”

“Miss Black. You said she was at a meeting. She left something at my apartment during the interview with Gretchen Harris on Monday. I’ve been wanting to get it back to her.”

“You could leave it here,” she offered, nodding toward Sienna’s office door.

“I would rather hand it directly to her if it’s all the same. It’s been weighing on my conscience for days.” Winking, I added, “I’ve already been accused of being no good, filthy scum. I don’t want to add thief to the list.”

I knew her smile. I had seen it so many times on the faces of so many women. She knew she should resist but couldn’t find it in her to do so. “Okay,” she whispered, tapping on her keyboard. “Don’t tell her you found out from me.”

“I would never,” I assured her.

The restaurant was bustling with the early lunch crowd when I arrived.

“Can I help you, sir?”

I barely noticed the voice of the chipper girl at the hostess stand while scanning the dining room, searching for a familiar brunette. “I’m looking for someone having lunch here,” I explained without looking her way.

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