Page 6 of Baby For My Ex's Brother

"Great. You'll do fine, Shiloh." She pauses, and her expression turns a notch serious. "Just one last thing you should know—Mr. Nolan, he can be… well, a bit of an asshole sometimes. But don't take his comments personally. Once you get to know him, he's not all bad."

I blink, taken aback by the blunt description.

"Good to know," I reply, a nervous chuckle escaping my lips.

Asshole bosses are a dime a dozen, right? And after dealing with Chris’s moods, I’m pretty sure I can handle a corporate ego.

"Most of the time, he's just intensely focused on his work. His commitment can come off… wrong." Jackie’s eyes soften. “But I’ve worked for him long enough to see the man behind the facade.”

"Thanks for the heads-up," I say, grateful for her candor. Jackie nods and reaches for the door handle.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I respond, drawing in a deep breath.

Time to meet the infamous Mr. Nolan.

Jackie gives the door a soft knock before pushing it open, and I step into the sprawling office behind her. The room is all sleek lines and cool tones, a testament to power and prestige.

My eyes are immediately drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal a breathtaking view of the city sprawled below us.

"Mr. Nolan, your new personal assistant is here," Jackie announces with a professional lilt to her voice.

The man at the desk doesn’t turn around. He's silhouetted against the morning light, his posture straight, exuding an air of command even in stillness. My pulse quickens—not from fear of meeting my new boss, but from something else, a familiarity that doesn't make sense.

This is just a job, I remind myself. Just a boss. Nothing I can't handle.

But then he turns around.

Recognition slams into me with the force of a speeding train. It's Liam—Liam Nolan, the man who I never expected to see again, let alone sit across from as my employer. His eyes, the same shade that once mirrored the winter sky on that snowy night, lock onto mine.

He doesn’t say a word, staring at me like I’m the ghost of Christmas past… and I know in that moment that I’m going to have to quit.

Because Liam—that Liam—cannot be my boss.

Chapter three

Liam

I'm flipping through acontract, red pen in hand, when the door to my office swings open without a sound. I look up, ready to scold Jackie about knocking, but she’s not alone.

She’s standing there with my new assistant… and that assistant is Shiloh Sanders.

My pen freezes mid-sentence, and I'm not just surprised; I'm sucker-punched by reality. She stands frozen like she's been rooted to the spot, a deer caught in the high beams of an oncoming truck.

Her eyes are wide, fixed on mine, and no one moves. In the silence, memories slam into me—her voice echoing in my ears. That night, we let our guards down, and our lips met in a reckless collision. Her kiss wasn't just a kiss; it was a damn revelation. I only met her one night, but I’ve never forgotten her.

And now, right here in my office with LED lights buzzing overhead, the memory of her taste mingles with the scent of lemon-scented polish and expensive leather.

I try to focus on the now, the professional distance I should maintain, but it's futile. My gaze, traitorous as it is, drifts from her frozen face down to where her blouse—a plain, no-nonsense white—betrays her reaction. Her pert nipples are pebbled underneath the silk, almost definitely wearing an unlined bra.

It’s a detail that shouldn’t matter, but it does because it’s Shiloh, and every goddamn thing about her matters too much.

"Did you get lost on your way to the mail room?" I ask, voice more gruff than intended.

She blinks, and I can tell she's trying to regain her composure, to find her place in this unexpected confrontation. But the air's already thick with things unsaid and feelings best forgotten.

Or so I try to convince myself.

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