Page 1 of Chasing his Ex

Chapter 1

Ava

There are moments in life when you don’t believe it can get any better, but you wish it could.

I have a job and family I love. I’ve loved and lost, but come out of it stronger. At least once I made good of my life. Yes, it’s harder than it should be, but I take every day as a blessing.

As a lawyer, I work in acquisitions and mergers, a decision I made at the last minute. I was going to go into family law because I had plans to become self-employed rather than the route I took on the corporate ladder.

I'm glad because my colleagues are my best friends.

“Come for a drink after work on Friday,” Charlie says. “We haven’t had a drink after work for ages. I’ll drag Jade, Sophie, and Amber too.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek, thinking of that. “Okay, only one, though. You know I like to get home to Emmy.”

The girls normally have a wind down cocktail after work on a Friday evening.

“Okay, just one.” She winks as I press to bring the elevator. “Are you meeting Jameson?”

“Yes, and it’s just coffee, Charlie.” I smile. I have no expectations of my mini dates with Jameson. We have an understanding. In reality, I have no choice. It’s fine though, things work well as they are.

I enter the elevator and press for the ground floor and wait.

When the door to the elevator opens, I step forward, but only make a few paces when the heel of my shoe catches on the steel runners at the edge of the tiling.

I slap my hand against the elevator door to prevent it from closing, and lean low, pulling at my heel. But as my heel withdraws from the runner, my body stumbles forward and I fight against the fresh air to stop myself from falling flat on the floor.

I’m not sure if I scream or if I’m deadly silent, but everything goes into slow motion.

And like an idiot, I do what I think is best. I grab for the person trying to enter the car. Grabbing a thick thigh to stop me from falling.

Unfortunately, a masculine grunt fills the air when my body refuses to stop and I collide my head direct with his junk. Understandably, this knocks him back a step, and is probably going to make him infertile.

Fuck! I want to scream.

“Ouch,” I say instead, trying to be a lady, as I land with a crash onto my knees and a loud thud on the floor.

A large hand thrusts into my vision, and another on my waist as I put my other palm flat on the ground, not knowing if I’m hurt or just plain embarrassed.

I put my hand in his and scramble red-faced off the floor.

As I rise, my body flushes against his wide chest as my eyes lock on his. “Got you,” he says.

The hair on my neck stands on end and my body hums from not only the contact but also from his voice.

His hand is still around my waist, and something sizzles through me as I stare at his throat.

My blood is pounding and my breathing is more frantic the longer we remain motionless.

My gaze slowly raises to his and embarrassment and something else flickers through me—definitely heat.

“Thank you,” I say with a flustered breath.

“You’re welcome.” There’s no humor or anything distinguishable in his tone. My eyes fix back onto the muscle tensing in his neck, his jaw ticks and until that point. I think he’s still angry with me. I glance back at his gray eyes.

Gray eyes that are actually full of heat.

“Ava.”

---