Page 3 of Playing With His Heart

“Hey, Jenna. ’Bout time you got here.”

“What do you mean? I’m not late.”

She looked at her watch to verify the time, then looked back at the man sitting at his desk outside of her office.

“There was a suit here looking for you earlier.”

“Looking for me? Who was it?”

“No idea, but he seemed pretty official. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No, I never do anything to get in trouble.”

Who the heck was here looking for me? I haven’t done anything wrong that I can remember.

“Did you ask who he was?”

“Nope, didn’t think that far. He was overwhelmingly dominant. Commanding. Totally hot. Rendered me speechless.”

“Kevin, you’re a mess. You already have a steady boyfriend.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t drool.”

Jenna loved Kevin to pieces, but he let his hormones rule him most of the time. While Kevin thought the guy was hot, that didn’t mean Jenna would agree. She took his comment with a grain of salt. At least until she saw the “suit”—as Kevin referred to him—herself.

“Okay. Well, he’s gone now.” She grabbed a stack of files from Kevin’s desk and turned toward her own.

“I have work to do and so do you. We can do lunch if you want—come find me when you’re ready.”

The key with Kevin was to act calm and collected because when he got the feel something was off, he was a hound dog with a bone, and he would ride her until she gave in. Technically, there wasn’t anything to tell him. She was just as puzzled as he was. Nobody ever came looking for her. Not even men she’d dated in the past. Of course, that’s partly why they were now in her past.

“Okay, avoid. But I’m watching you.”

Ugh.

He always was.

“No drama here, Kev. I know nothing. You know I don’t date and especially someone in a suit—it’s not me, never has been. I’m more of the biker bad-boy type. You know, the ones you used to drool over.”

She shot him a wink. It wasn’t true. She didn’t really know what kind of guy her type was. Riddled with failure, her short dating history provided little comparison. She just wanted a nice guy that treated her good, whether he rode a bike, or wore a suit. There was something sexy but different about each of them. She just couldn’t handle a deadbeat with no job. She wasn’t into being a mom to the guy she dated.

“Used to is right. I have a new type now.” Kevin grinned.

“Only since your new guy came into the picture.”

“My point is anyone can change—even you.”

“Don’t hold your breath. Youcanhold my calls, though. I have a few manuscripts to get through before Miriam gets in today.”

“Sure, bury your head in the sand.”

“Not the sand, Kev. Just the job.”

She walked away while she could. Like she said, Kevin was a hound dog, especially when it was about what he thought was a good-looking guyandrevolved around her. It’s like she was his pet project—that he needed to keep track of every part of her love life. He would keep up that banter all day if she let him, too—if he thought he could get the scoop on something. He should be a journalist at the newspaper instead of an assistant at a publisher. And again, she had done nothing, and had no clue why a guy in a suit would come to see her.

* * *

Zayn sat in his office,the chair swiveled away from his mahogany desk, looking out over the city of Chicago. Why couldn’t he get this woman out of his head? All he’d heard was her voice. He didn’t know her, hadn’t laid eyes on her even once, but the more time went by, the more he thought about her.

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