“Come on! Move already!” I yelled at nobody in particular as I beat on my car horn. It was pointless, the yelling and honking. We were in a typical Los Angeles gridlock on the interstate. Nobody could move. I’d lived in California for almost two years now and still wasn’t used to the traffic.

I was running late for work, once again. Thankfully my boss was lenient about our work schedules. He never seemed bothered that I arrived an hour late every day. He knew I stayed late most nights and often worked the weekends. I put in my time, and I got the job done. All my clients were happy with my work, so he let me get away with my regular tardiness and occasional long lunches.

The traffic slowly rolled forward a few feet as my phone began to ring. Lizzie’s name popped up on the center display of my car dash.

“Hey!” I answered, excited to hear from my best friend.

With our busy lives, we rarely got to talk, but made it a point to talk at least once every couple of weeks, even if only for a few minutes. It was hard being on opposite sides of the country over the last few years, especially after we’d lived together through college and been inseparable growing up.

She was living in New York City with her husband, Mike, who’d become a successful chef. They’d moved there right after we graduated from Wellesley. He had worked as an executive head chef at a restaurant owned by our former boss, Christopher. Recently though, he’d received backing from an investor to start his own restaurant. I was more than excited for the both of them.

I had a suspicion about who the investor might be. But I never asked, and they never volunteered the information. We avoided the topic of Rhett altogether after the fight Lizzie and I had, when Rhett and I first broke up. It was the only time we’d ever fought in all our years of friendship. She’d begged me to hear him out and give him a chance to explain. I was hurt she’d take his side and didn’t understand why I needed to move on.

Lizzie claimed there was more to the story, that Serena was no longer in his life and that he wanted to be there for me with my father’s passing. She never elaborated on more, not that I gave her the chance. I didn’t want to hear excuses. Besides, even if that were all true, the damage had been done. The night we broke up, he’d made his choice—Serena—and hadn’t been there for me like he’d promised when my father passed away. If Rhett wanted to be there, nothing would have stopped him. Plus with everything that happened, it only confirmed things would have never worked between us anyway. And I was too scared to hope they could now. I couldn’t handle another heartbreak.

In the end, she stopped pushing, and we made up. I knew she still kept in touch with him, though. He was living in New York now. He’d recently taken over his father’s business after his father announced his retirement.

It was all over the news, tabloids, and business journals. I couldn’t avoid hearing about it, even all the way across the country. Shortly after taking the helm of Blackwood Industries, he’d also been named ‘New York’s most eligible bachelor.’ I’m sure the women were throwing themselves at him, even more than they already did.

Lizzie wasn’t the only one who still spoke to him. He periodically kept in touch with my family, too. He’d been to see my mom and Nana a few times, and he often spoke to Jackson. My sister never seemed to fail letting it slip into our conversations that they’d heard from him.

At first, it infuriated me that everyone didn’t turn their backs on him, shutting him out. I slowly realized it wasn’t fair to ask of them. After all, I was doing the same thing keeping in touch with his sister, Valerie. She was in town this weekend, looking at the USC campus. We had plans to meet for lunch today.

“Hey! Did I catch you at a bad time?” Lizzie’s voice came through the car speakers.

“No, I’m just sitting in traffic on my way to work. What’s going on?”

“Well, I was hoping I could invite myself out to California. I have some free time coming up in a couple weeks. Are you willing to put me up for a weekend?”

“Put you up or put up with you?” I teased her.

“Both,” she said on a laugh.

“Of course! I can’t wait. Will Mike be coming with you?”

“No. He’ll be stuck here, taking care of business. You get me all to yourself, you lucky bitch.”

“Perfect.” I laughed. “We can have a girls’ weekend.”

“I’ll send you my flight details as soon as I have it booked. Sorry to cut this short, but I have to run. I’ll call you later?”

“Sounds good. Miss you and tell Mike hi for me.”

“Will do and miss you, too,” she said before hanging up the call.

* * *

I walked into Willis & Associates, the small architecture firm where I’d been working for the last few years. I started working as an intern while finishing my graduate studies. Tom, my boss, had offered me a full-time position as soon as I graduated earlier this year.

At the time I started, he was a one-man operation. He hired Jocelyn and me a few months apart after landing a couple larger residential projects he wouldn’t be able to do on his own. We both worked as interns, becoming fast friends, so when he offered us both a permanent position, I was relieved. I didn’t know if he offered me the job because he truly thought I had talent, or because he needed the “Associates” his firm name suggested he already had. Either way, I happily accepted.

I loved my job, and our little firm seemed to be growing quickly, which was exciting to be a part of. There were now four of us working in our tiny, quaint office. Tom recently added a new intern to our little group, Drew, to help us with drafting.

“Morning!” I beamed, passing Drew on the way to my desk.

“Morning, Ava,” Drew greeted, standing near the door. “I was about to make a Starbucks run. Do you want anything?”

Drew was your average good-hearted guy. He had boyish good looks but was not someone I’d call strikingly attractive. He was cute in his own way, with his curly, brownish-blond hair, and cheeks that always seemed to be flushed. He had an average build and wore thick-rimmed glasses befitting of his quirky personality and sense of humor. He was often laughing at his own jokes, which somehow had a way of making us laugh with him. 

“No, thanks. Brought some from home,” I said, lifting my travel cup into his view.

“All right, be back in a few.” He waved, leaving through the front door of the office.

Our office wasn’t the most impressive, as far as size or layout, but I loved it nonetheless. It had a long, narrow, open floor plan, with only three rooms toward the back of the space housing Tom’s office, a restroom, and a small room used as both a break room and a makeshift meeting area.

The walls were all painted white, but the warm wood floors, desks, and exposed wood beams above all helped keep it from feeling stark and bland. Tom had commissioned photographs over the years of some of his most impressive projects. They were stretched across large canvases that hung on the walls all the way down the space, giving it a gallery feel.

We each had our own desk facing the front of the space, allowing us to intercept clients and visitors as they came in. Not having a receptionist, we all did our part answering phones and greeting people. 

I sat down at my desk. Joce’s desk across from me still sat empty. I wasn’t the only one running late today. After putting my purse away, I began checking my messages. A few minutes into reading my emails, Joce came blowing through the door looking a little rough, but still gorgeous, with her unfairly beautiful long, red hair, pale green eyes, and tall, slender figure. She had fair skin covered with a smattering of the faintest freckles. Her lips and cheeks were a natural pale pink, requiring her to wear little makeup. She reminded me of a beautiful, antique porcelain doll.

She moved quickly to her desk, dropping her stuff on it with a huff as she sat.

“Another bad date?” My eyebrow arched with my question.

“How did you guess?” she responded with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.

We both knew it was an easy guess. Joce was boy crazed and seemed to have a knack for picking the wrong guy. She met most of the men she dated through social apps like Tinder and Bumble. She always scheduled her dates for Thursday nights, which meant most Friday mornings she arrived in the same fashion and mood.

“I’m thinking I should swear off men, like you have, Ava.”

I didn’t respond. I just gave her my best sympathetic smile. I hadn’t exactly sworn off men. I had at first, but eventually I decided the best way for me to move on was to date. The problem was, most men didn’t compare to Rhett, and the few I’d gone on more than one date with ended up losing interest in me after the second or third date. It was like I was cursed to be alone forever.

“What do you say we get some drinks tonight? I could use a little girl time and who knows, maybe I can meet a good man the old-fashioned way,” she said, looking at me hopefully.

I wanted to tell her meeting a guy in a bar wasn’t exactly her best option for finding husband material, but who was I to judge? 

“Sure,” I reluctantly agreed.

“Ladies,” Tom interrupted our little chat, “I have some exciting news! I just got off the phone with a new potential client who wants us to work on a home in Malibu!”

Tom was a little more ecstatic than usual, his smile stretching wide across his face. Malibu meant money, so I didn’t blame him for being overly enthused.

Tom was a family man in his mid-to-late forties, with a receding hairline of brown hair speckled with grays. He’d spent the first part of his architecture career working for large corporations, and eventually got burned out from the high stress of commercial architecture. He left his cushy salary job to start his own firm, doing residential architecture.

He started out with mostly remodels and smaller new-construction homes. But he was quickly becoming a recognized architect in the area and had built up his portfolio of residential work. He had more recently gained exposure to larger projects and clients with more money to spend.

“That’s great news!” Joce radiated.

“That is! When do you meet with them?” I asked, equally happy for him.

“We,” he corrected me. “Ava, you’ll be coming with me. You’re going to help me run point on this one. And the meeting is today. This’ll be a vacation home for the client and they’re in town for the weekend.”

Crap.

My excitement deflated a tad, afraid I was going to have to cancel on Valerie. We were supposed to meet up after she finished touring the campus this morning.

“What time is the meeting? Will it be here in the office?” I asked, hoping I could figure out a way to both meet with Valerie and make the meeting in time.

“The meeting is at two downtown. I’ll send you the address. We’ll need to drive separately. I have to head straight home after the meeting. My son has a baseball game tonight.”

Tom’s wife, Marie, was pregnant with twins and had been recently put on bed rest for the remainder of her last trimester after having some complications. He often took off early from work to help with their son and do things around the house. He’d been assigning projects to Joce and me to run point on, so the clients always had someone available to them if he couldn’t be. Neither of us minded. It was good experience for us.

“Sounds good,” I responded, starting to feel a little stressed.

A two o’clock meeting didn’t give me much time to meet Valerie at The Ivy for lunch. It’d been awhile since we’d caught up, and now it looked like I’d have to cut our lunch date short. 

I spent the rest of the morning responding to emails and getting as much work done as possible. My day had just been derailed by this unexpected meeting. It appeared I’d be working some this weekend to catch up on the time I was losing this afternoon.

I was wrapping up some final touches to a rendering when my phone vibrated on my desk.

Valerie

Just finished the campus tour. Still on for lunch?

I looked at the clock, seeing it was nearly noon. I’d been so focused I lost track of time. I saved my work and rushed to pack up my things, responding to Valerie as I headed for the door.

“Don’t forget, drinks tonight!” Joce hollered from behind me.

“I won’t! Text me the time and place,” I said, waving as I ran out the door. 

* * *

Valerie was already at a table on the patio when I arrived. She was looking as stunning as ever in a little emerald-green sundress, with her long brown and golden hair down in wavy locks. She looked casual enough, but I was sure her dress probably cost more than my rent. She’d been watching for me, and when she saw me approach, she stood, waving with excitement.

“Ava!”

“Hey, Val!” I hugged her as I reached the table. “You look cute. I love your dress.”

“Thank you! I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Me too, but I’m afraid I had an unexpected meeting come up, so I won’t be able to stay as long as I’d hoped,” I apologized.

“Oh, it’s fine. I know you’re a busy professional woman now,” she said, grinning with a wink.

The server approached us and took my drink order. We went ahead and ordered our lunch, so I wouldn’t be rushed to make my meeting. We visited and laughed about random things like clothes and the boys she’d been dating. I was enjoying my time with her, and hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her.

“So how was the campus tour?” I asked as we ate our lunch.

“Good, just a typical campus, I guess,” she shrugged, impartially.

“I’m kind of surprised your family is on board with you coming all the way to California instead of following in the family footsteps at Harvard.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say they were exactly on board. Dad obviously would prefer me to go to Harvard and get a law degree or something boring like that. But I want to be an actress. Mom finally got him to agree I could come out here as long as I attended college and got a degree.”

“An actress, huh?”

“Yep!” She grinned from ear to ear.

I didn’t know if Valerie had any acting talent, but she definitely had the face for it. I could see her gracing the red carpets as one of the glamorous Hollywood starlets someday.

“Well, it’d be great to have you living here. I still can’t believe they let you come all this way alone.”

Valerie’s family was extremely protective of her. I was a bit surprised when she told me she was flying out here and her mother wasn’t joining her for the trip.

“I am eighteen now, Ava.”

I gave her a raised eyebrow as I tilted my head, knowing her age didn’t make much difference.

“Ok, they may have sent a chaperone with me,” she conceded, changing the subject to me and my job.

“Speaking of work,” I looked at my clock, “it looks like I better head out or I’ll be late. How long are you in town?”

“Only the weekend.”

“Well, let’s meet up again before you go. I hate that I couldn’t take a longer lunch.”

“Sounds good to me!” she said, smiling. “I’ll text you later.”

We hugged our goodbyes before I rushed to my car, leaving for my meeting.

* * *

I cursed the highway gods when I got stuck in Friday-afternoon traffic on the way to the meeting. I looked at my GPS, and I was sixteen minutes out for my meeting that started in thirteen minutes. As soon as I made it downtown and parked, I sent Tom a text apologizing and letting him know I was on my way up.

As I made it through the revolving door of the massive glass-and-steel building I was entering, my phone chimed with a new text. I pulled it out, rushing to the elevator bank, expecting it to be Tom responding. Instead, it was Joce letting me know the time and place for drinks. I started to text her a response when I collided with a hard figure, sending my phone to the ground.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I apologized, lowering my eyes to the gentleman who’d already bent down to kindly retrieve my phone.

I halted, unable to continue my apology, stunned silent when I saw the head and broad, muscular shoulders crouched below me. My heart dropped to my stomach. My lungs tightened in my chest. He stood back up with his smile that dripped with sex appeal.

“Ava,” Rhett replied smoothly, handing my phone to me, smiling, with his beautiful blue eyes reminding me of the Pacific Ocean. I stood there paralyzed, unable to move or speak, his voice rendering me incapable of anything.

“We really have to stop meeting this way,” he teased.

I had no words as emotions bombarded me. I broke our eye contact, looking at my phone. I took it from him carefully, ensuring our hands didn’t touch. I knew if I touched him, this would be a losing battle for me. And I intended to win. I heard the elevator ding to open, and I thanked God for the escape.

“Excuse me,” I said flatly, side-stepping around him, keeping my distance.

I rushed into the elevator, repeatedly pushing the button for the top floor, pleading the doors to close faster. Just as they started to close, a masculine hand stopped them, pushing them back open as he stepped into the elevator with me.

Damn it.

Just like the highway gods, the elevator gods were against me. And apparently, Rhett was determined to follow me.

I scooted to the other side of the elevator, trying to put as much space between us as you could in a claustrophobic six-foot-by-six-foot box. He moved to stand next to me, where I could smell his sinfully good fragrance. He straightened the lapels of his suit jacket as I stepped backwards toward the rear of the elevator to regain some much-needed space. He followed me like we were doing a square dance.

I moved forward trying once again to get away from him. Before he could follow me, I turned around, glaring at him. “Stop it,” I scorned pointedly before facing forward, careful not to look at him for too long.

“Stop what?” I could hear the amusement in his voice from behind me.

“You know damn well what.” I didn’t bother explaining. He’d always known the effect he had on me, especially when we touched.

I watched the numbers light up as we ascended into the sky, praying for the dreadful elevator to go faster. I could feel his eyes on me, and I suddenly wished I hadn’t chosen to wear my sheer cream blouse and form-fitting, pale pink pencil skirt that hugged all my curves.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, we stopped halfway up to my destination. The elevator doors opened and a crowd of people got on, cramping the space, leaving just inches between everyone. I attempted moving to the side, hoping the others would help be a barrier between us. Unfortunately, Rhett used the opportunity to move right behind me, so his front was to my back.

I stood rigid with my hands to my sides, praying he wouldn’t touch me. The elevator doors closed, and I felt the familiar intense magnetic energy pulling between us. He lightly brushed the tips of his fingers with mine. That was all it took for the electric shock to course through my body, bringing every nerve alive.

I held my breath and closed my eyes hoping, somehow, it’d be enough to fight him away. As if knowing what I was doing, he leaned forward, putting his lips near my ear, where I could feel his warm breath tickle the delicate skin at my neck. 

“Breathe, Ava,” he whispered.

My knees weakened as he brushed his finger tips over my hip. I didn’t know if it was from him or the fact that I was holding my breath. I let out the air I was holding in, trying to regain my strength. The elevator doors opened and closed a few more times as the others made their way off the elevator, leaving us by ourselves, once again.

Before I could step away from him, he turned us, pinning me against the elevator wall, his arms on each side of me, caging me in. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t have to. I felt the heat radiating from his body. He looked down into my eyes as we breathed each other’s air.

“You know what you’re doing to me right now,” he gritted through his teeth. “I’m having a hard time controlling myself. It’s been too long, Ava… Too long since I’ve been inside you.”

I felt the throbbing between my legs from his words. My body responded to him like it always did. My lips parted, wanting to feel his lips on mine. The elevator door dinged open, breaking my trance. I quickly ducked under his arms, running out of the elevator, not looking back. I hoped he wouldn’t follow. I was panicked and breathing fast as I quickened my steps, walking up to the receptionist.

“Ava Conner, with Willis & Associates.” The words rushed out in a pant as I spoke.

The nice lady behind the desk smiled sweetly. “Yes, the other gentleman is waiting for you in the conference room, through the frosted-glass doors on the left. No need to stress. The meeting hasn’t started,” she said, pointing me in the right direction.

My rapid breathing had clearly clued her in to my skyrocketing stress level—little did she know, it had nothing to do with being late for the meeting. I quickly made my way into the conference room, finding Tom alone at a big, long, wooden table.

“I’m so sorry, Tom,” I said, trying to catch my breath as I spoke.

“Don’t worry, Ava. It’s fine. He hasn’t made it back from lunch yet. They expect him any minute. Have a seat, dear. Catch your breath. You look like you just ran a marathon.” He patted my back.

I sat next to Tom, trying to level my breathing and gain some composure. I needed to focus. We had a very important meeting, and I didn’t want to mess this up for Tom. We sat there for about five more minutes, waiting for our client to arrive. I had finally started to feel calm when the frosted-glass doors opened. Looking up, I plastered a smile on my face to greet our new client. My smile dropped and was replaced by my mouth hanging open as Rhett walked through the door.