the door, she paused for him to walk ahead of her.
“My office is just down there to the left,” he said, voice bland. “My name is on the door.”
Jade almost rolled her eyes. Of course it was.
He stepped ahead of her and she followed him, trying her best to keep her eyes at shoulder level, or at least on his back. But with her eyes on his back she saw clearly just how well he had filled out since college. His shoulders were so very broad, and his hips narrow.
Although she had never fooled herself into thinking she was over him the minute he walked out the door and left her ten years ago, she didn’t realize his presence would affect her so strongly, or so soon. Her body’s traitorous response triggered a hot flush of fury.
Ahead of her, he opened a door identical to the one that guarded Kingsley’s office. His assistant, a capable woman with purple hair and multiple piercings, greeted him with words Jade didn’t pay much attention to. After a few moments of conversation, he left his assistant behind and guided Jade deeper into the space that was obviously all his.
He closed the door behind them. For all of its magnificent view of Miami, the glittering water of Biscayne Bay, the amazing blue skyline littered with white puffy clouds, the office was very plain. He obviously didn’t spend much time there.
A spotless and bare mahogany desk sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The leather chair in front of it seemed comfortable and brand-new. The long conference table identical to Kingsley’s looked unused. And that was all.
Jade spent a few precious seconds wondering where he spent his time before common sense came back to her. Then she let her anger handle the rest.
With the door closed between them and the rest of the world, she stopped being polite.
“What do you want, Carter?”
At first he didn’t say anything. He just leaned back against his desk and watched her. His look was intent and hawkish, like he was just eating her up with his eyes. It was unnerving, and unexpected. Only years of doing business with some of the most frightening people in the world stopped Jade from squirming.
“It’s good to see you again, Jade,” he said in his basement-deep voice.
I will not react, she told herself. I will not react.
But it was useless. Back in college, she’d always been surprised by the low voice coming from such a skinny guy. The depth of his voice definitely matched his personality. Even then, he had been stable, reliable and so sure of himself. He handled every situation that came at him with a maturity surprising for someone that young.
At least that was what Jade realized now.
Most twenty-year-old guys didn’t possess the maturity to get other college students to calm down and keep the situation peaceful. They didn’t know how to effortlessly get girls to trust them and not take advantage of that trust by taking them to bed.
It’s good to see you again, Jade, Carter had said. Did he really think so?
“I don’t see anything good about this, Carter.”
At least she didn’t want to. Ten years should’ve been long enough for her to forget about what happened between them and move on. But apparently, she was as stuck in the past as her parents had been.
“I came back to Berkeley and you were gone,” he said, immediately facing the elephant between them.
“Funny. I dropped by your room the day after we had sex and you were gone.” She tipped an eyebrow at him. “A little difference there.” If he wanted to talk, then dammit, they would talk. She took a seat in the sofa and put her briefcase next to her. “When did you come back to campus? A few days later? A week?” She knew the answer was neither because, fool that she had been, she waited even longer to hear from him.
He shifted against the desk, recrossing his arms. “About two weeks,” he admitted after a round of jaw flexing.
“Yeah...” She pursed her lips and found to her annoyance that his eyes latched instantly to them. He was such a man. “Did you expect me to sit there and wait for you to decide...whatever?”
“I didn’t think you’d just disappear from school, just like that,” Carter said, a touch of...something in his voice. “And then I couldn’t find you.”
Just how well did you look? But she wasn’t getting into that game with him. After he disappeared, she’d taken it stupidly hard, running back to her parents and seeking a shelter with them that she’d absolutely not found. It hadn’t been a game of hide and come seek. She’d been deadly serious and thought she’d left everything to do with Carter far behind her. Except for that one important thing.
And now he was here. They were here together, dancing around something that was dead and should’ve been long buried.
Jade needed it to be in the ground. Maybe then, it wouldn’t hurt so much.
“There was no reason to find me, Carter. That afternoon, I was stupid. I was just shocked I read Hudson wrong, that’s all. I didn’t know he and I were in an open relationship. Believe me, after I walked in on him and my replacement, I knew.”
Jade hadn’t always had a boyfriend in college. She’d gotten there single and naive and fallen immediately in love with Carter. But after nearly two years of pining after him, she agreed to be Hudson’s girlfriend.
Worst. Decision. Ever.
That disaster lasted until their senior year when Hudson cheated on her, using the excuse that Jade never put out so he’d needed to get his sex fix from somewhere else.
“You knew, huh? What exactly did you know?” Carter adjusted his stance against the desk. A tall mountain of a man with blazing brown eyes. Watching her.
“I knew I was better off with my boyfriend. Yeah, he was with another girl, but I was just angry. I was jealous. I wanted to get back at him and show him I could have some fun somewhere else too.”
“Somewhere else?” His look sharpened.
God, she wished she knew what he was thinking. But that transparent boy had vanished out of her life ten years ago never to be seen again.
“Yes. Somewhere else. I’m sorry I made it seem like more than what it was. I just wanted to see how different it could be with another guy. You were protective and it felt good to touch somebody who was...” Tender. Always good to me. “...just different in bed.”
Part of that was true, at least. Carter had been tender with her that afternoon in his sun-drenched dorm room. He’d kissed the tears from her face, licked her all over and touched every part of her that could give pleasure.
He’d been nothing like Hudson. Carter had gotten much further with his gentle touches and kisses than Hudson ever got with his threats of telling everyone how frigid she was. In the end, though, Carter had been just as bad. Worse.
That day, she’d been furious with her cheating boyfriend, and miserable. She only wanted comfort from Carter, the one person who showed her consistent kindness and understanding.
