hand and told him she’d beat him the next time.
She’d been an annoyance, to say the least, and had rubbed Shane the wrong way from day one. If he said the sky was blue, she would say it was green, if only to be obstinate. Shane highly doubted Gabrielle Burton would accept having to answer to him in the lab. He’d heard she’d stayed in Paris to work for L’Oréal, but that wouldn’t stop her from going after this position.
This was definitely going to be interesting.
* * *
“Gabby, are you sure you want to leave Paris?” Mariah asked as she watched her dear friend and roommate pack her suitcases that evening. They’d met ten years ago when Gabrielle was lost on the Paris subway. With some free time on her hands, Mariah had graciously agreed to show her the way. Born and raised in South Africa, Mariah had been a struggling model back then, but now was one of the most sought-after models. With Mariah always on the road, it hadn’t made sense for her to pay for her own place, and so they’d moved in together. A decade later, they were still the best of friends.
“Yes, I think it’s finally time I go back to the States,” Gabrielle said, exiting her closet with several handfuls of clothes. “I can’t run from my past forever.”
Ten years ago, she had come to Paris for perfumery school and had never gone back to the United States. She had never faced down the fact that she’d lost her brother, Seth, in a tragic drowning accident when she was fifteen. She’d insisted on accompanying Seth on a boating trip with his friends. Then the weather turned treacherous when they were on their way back to shore, and Gabrielle had fallen overboard. Seth had jumped in to save her. And he had; he just hadn’t been able to save himself.
Their family had never recovered from the loss. Although they’d never said it, Gabrielle knew her parents blamed her for losing their only son, and having her around only seemed to add to her parents’ grief. So as soon as she could, Gabrielle had hightailed it out of Atlanta, come to Paris and stayed.
She’d graduated top of her class in perfumery school and had been immediately hired by L’Oréal. Although she was an excellent chemist, she’d recently been overlooked for a promotion. Gabrielle supposed she didn’t have the look or pizzazz they wanted in their top-chemist position, and so she’d begun to realize it was time for a change. She hoped that a new opportunity with Adams Cosmetics would give her the creative boost she needed.
Of course, the position meant she would have to work closely with Shane Adams, and that caused Gabrielle to take a deep, calming breath. The knowledge that she would be going to work for her father’s employer’s direct competition was not lost on her. Not many people knew that her father, James Burton, had started out as an assistant at Jax Cosmetics. He had moved up the ranks and was now an executive. When she was younger, he used to sneak her and Seth into the labs at night, and it was there that she developed her interest in chemistry.
And the fact that she and Shane had been like oil and water in perfumery school made the position even more of a challenge. But despite their rivalry and her personal conflict, Gabrielle was sure they could overcome their differences. They were both professionals, after all.
“Okay, so you’re interviewing, but why are you packing?” Mariah asked. “You haven’t even been offered the position.”
“That’s irrelevant, because I will be.”
“You’re that sure of yourself?”
Gabrielle spun on her heels to face her friend. “Of course I am. My credentials are above reproach. I have a degree in chemistry and went to the top perfumery school. Shane Adams will have to acknowledge that.” Ethan Graham had called and informed her that, although she was on the short list, it was ultimately Shane’s decision whether he would hire her or not.
“The Shane Adams?” Mariah smiled knowingly. “Your rival in perfumery school?” Mariah remembered Gabrielle mentioning the sexy Atlanta bachelor.
“Yes.” Gabrielle turned back around to continue packing.
“Who just so happens to be handsome as sin,” Mariah replied.
“Shane?” Gabrielle’s voice rose despite herself. “Handsome? I hadn’t noticed.” She attempted to fold her blouse into a perfect square, but found it hard to do so. She hated for things to be out of order. Some would say she had a slight case of OCD.
“Oh, really?” Mariah picked up a nearby fashion magazine and flipped through several pages. She stopped when she found a picture of Shane and his sister Kayla celebrating the launch of their new fragrance, Hypnotic. She rose from the chair and came to Gabrielle’s side, placing the magazine in her line of sight. “Don’t tell me you hadn’t noticed how devastatingly handsome this man is. Because if you do, I’ll know you’re lying. I mean, what woman could resist that curly hair or those arresting hazel eyes?”
“I could and I have.” Gabrielle pushed the magazine aside and stood up straight. “Shane was known to be a player in school, but I was much too interested in my studies to pay him any mind.”
“So you competed with him instead to get his attention?”
Color flushed in Gabrielle’s face. “No…no, that wasn’t how it was.”
Mariah’s brow rose. “No?”
“No,” Gabrielle stated more adamantly. “I refused to be one of Shane’s little playthings that he could toss aside when he was done.” Though Gabrielle had to admit there was some small part of her that had wondered what it would be like to be with a man that fine.
But the Shane Adamses of the world would never look at her. She didn’t play up to their male fantasies and dress to show off her figure or cake her face with makeup. Gabrielle recognized it was ironic that she’d ended up in the fragrance and cosmetics industry, given her affinity for not wearing any.
“If you say so,” Mariah said with a laugh. “I just can’t imagine not wanting to try that man on for size.”
Gabrielle took the blouse she’d been trying to fold and hit Mariah. “You’re incorrigible.”
“And you love me for it.”
“I do.” Gabrielle smiled. “And I will miss you dearly. Promise me you will come visit?”
“Cross my heart.”
* * *
“Who is this Gabrielle Burton anyway?” Byron Adams asked his family at the dinner table. They were all seated in the grand dining room at the Adams family’s eleven-room mansion having a three-course meal their cook had prepared.
“Don’t you remember the emails, Daddy?” Courtney asked. “The ones from Shane?” She inclined her head in her brother’s direction across the table. “I think the exact quote was, ‘She’s a prim and proper know-it-all who thinks she’s better than me, but I’m ten times the chemist she could ever be.’”
“I was right,” Shane replied. “I won best fragrance in our last year of school, and I am head of R&D of Adams Cosmetics. And she’s second in command over at L’Oréal Paris.”
“Are you saying she’s not qualified, son?”
Shane reached for his wineglass
