A Second Chance (28 page)

The start to the adventure
hadn’t been
very promising, she thought as she approached the elevator inside the building. Deep in thought, she had failed to notice the cab
had
arrive
d
at
her
destination.
After
three increasingly impatient prompting
s
from the driver to wake her from her stupor, she
hastily
paid and stepped out on the pavement, her eyes going to the large, brown brick building that reminded her
of
early
twent
ieth-
century
offices she had seen in movies
.
Never judge a book by its cover
, she thought
,
almost amused as she opened the large imposing door and stepped inside
.
T
he
ultra
-
modern design of the main lobby and white walls
scream
ed
twenty
-
first century
,
together with
the
sparkle of strategically placed silver abstract sculptures
that decorated
the foyer.

Liam worked in the fifth floor, his contract with one of the most prestigious
advertis
ing
agencies in town providing him with his own office and a team of people.

The building was teeming with life, a constant stream of people coming and going,
the
chatting and laughing almost soothing to her strung
-
out
nerves. Somehow
its
interior
designer
’s purpose
had bee
n
to put the emphasis on the people
,
minimizing
the
inanimate décor
to bare necessities.
The
people who worked here mattered most, she thought as she
walk
ed
in
to the elevator, smiling apologeti
cally as she almost stepped on
the
foot of a slim, dark
-
haired woman standing behind her.

‘No problem
.
’
T
he
other woman grinned, her face friendly and open. She rolled her eyes with comical exasperation and pointed to her own shoes, making Jade realize
the woman
was standing on one foot, bravely keeping her balance. ‘
Broke
my heel
,
’ she
said
, her lips twisting into a grimace of helplessness
.
‘
T
hat’s what happens when you
’
re vain and have no clue how to pull it off properly.’

Jade nodded
and smiled
, not quite sure what
to say,
t
he
elevator’s
arrival on her floor sav
ing
her from
having to answer.
The
other woman got out as well and walked ahead of her as she hesitated and slowed down
.
Eventually
the woman
turned back and eyed Jade, curious and friendly
.
‘
Are
you looking for something in particular?’
Her
voice
was
pleasant and helpful
.
‘I can help if you need me.’

‘I
’
m just taking my boyfriend
to
lunch
;
it
’
s supposed to be a surprise
.
’ God, she hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt. She must have, because the other girl nodded and smiled wider.

‘
Great
idea
.
W
e
’ve been
stuck here since
the
early morning. Liam
—
the boss
—
had this brilliant plan that he wanted to go over with all of us involved in the campaign, and by now
—
,
’ she glanced at her watch and grimaced before continuing
,
‘
—
by one, I am totally
wiped
out. That’s why I told him that I had something
extremely
urgent to take care o
f
and
would
be back in fifteen minutes. Just enough time for a quick coffee that isn’t delivered to the office
—
which doesn’t feel lik
e a break at all, right? Thank G
od
,
he bought it, otherwise I would have
had
to tie him down to his chair and escape nevertheless
.
I guess he
put a hex on cheaters
,
though, judging by my broken heel
.
’
S
he
kept talking, failing to notice Jade’s
difficult
y
at staying
serious. ‘
So
who is the lucky one, then?’ she asked finally, her eyes expectant
.
‘
Let
me guess
—
Mike? He was just bragging
that
he had a new girlfriend yesterday
. B
y
the way, I
’
m Sandra
.
N
ice to meet you.’

‘Well
,
I
—
’
S
he
didn’t get any further because
,
after they rounded a corner
into
a large, open space buzzing with people and monitors, Liam suddenly materialized in front of them.
Jade
was speechless, never
having seen
him wear
such
traditional attire, his crisp white shirt and dark pants
creating a gorgeous silhouette
. True, he had his sleeves rolled up and his pants were a far cry from
the
traditional dress pants worn in the office. She thought dazedly that it wouldn’t be Liam if he didn’t manage to put a personal touch on everything he did or wore.

‘
Th
ere
you are,
S
weetheart
.
’
H
e
grinned at her and before she knew it, she was in his arms, his warm mouth on hers. Of course, they
had
talked about it
,
and she knew it was to be expected. After all
,
they were a couple and
,
as such
,
it would only look weird if they weren’t physical at all. Still, the sensation of his firm lips shaping around hers with an intimacy
that
reminded her of
the
other
,
more personal
,
encounters they
were pretending
to have shared, shook her to the core. She managed to stay calm and even kiss him back,
her hands going up to his
shoulders,
as she pressed closer.

‘
Oh dear!
’
S
he heard the amused voice behind
her
and stepped back, flushed. Her new friend from the elevator was watching them with a mix of humor and horror, her brown eyes confused. ‘
So
this is your boyfriend?’

‘Guilty as charged
.
’
Liam
smiled his wolfish smile, his eyes challenging
.
‘
W
hat’s with
th
e
long face, Sandy? Don’t tell me I
’
m breaking your heart,
h
u
h
?’

‘
You
wish, you devil
,
’ she retorted tartly, regaining her composure. ‘
But no, that’s not the problem
. I was just sharing some… secrets with your girlfriend here, not knowing it was you she was visiting, that’s all
.
’

‘Like the fact you went for a coffee, Sands?’
H
e
was amused, especially after she gasped in outrage, caught in the act.

‘
How
the hell did you find out?’ she asked, too puzzled to come up with an excuse. ‘
Do you have little cameras
installed in our eyes? Did you have us
bugged
?
’

‘Nope, nothing that dramatic. Next time
,
erase your browsing history or
,
at least, close the screen
.
’
H
e
was laughing now, his dark eyes cheerful
.
‘I told you
many times
that your screen saver
doesn’t
com
e
on until you are away for a minute or so.
You’ll h
ave
to change the settings. You left the page open
to
where you ordered your coffee and a snack
.
’

‘Shoot
,
’
s
he
said
sheepishly
.
‘I forgot
.
W
ell, as a
positive
thing, you can tell I was trying to save time, too. If you place an order
before you get there
, it
’
s ready for pick
-
up
,
and one is back here much faster. It
’
s called good planning
.
’
S
he
had regained her cheeky
attitude
and hopped forward, looking at Jade.
‘
Well
, I guess it wasn’t the best
introduction
.’ She stepped out of her damaged shoes, stretching her toes and smiling with relief
.
‘
T
hat’s better
.
I
’
m Sandra
Miller, Liam’s assistant.’

‘Jade, J
ade
Row
ley
.
’
I like her
, Jade thought with a sudden sense
of having
found a friend where she
had
expected it the least
.
‘
V
ery nice to meet you.’

‘Sandra
keeps
this whole place together
,
’ Liam
said
, his arm sneaking around Jade’s shoulders as they walked
deeper
into the room. ‘
There
is nothing I can think of that she
c
a
n’t
handle. Even fixing the printers and crawling into the vent to tighten a screw
to make the panels stop rattling
, if I
’
m remembering right.’

She noticed the other girl’s pleasure at his words and wondered instantly why he
hadn’t
pick
ed
her for
Jade’s
job. They were obviously marvelous friends
,
and even though she couldn’t detect even the slightest sexual chemistry between them, it would make sense to have her at his side.

‘
Well
, the noise was driving me nuts
,
’ Sandra agreed, trying to play down
the vent crawling
.
‘
T
he mechanic was taking forever to arrive, so someone had to do it. You weren’t here, Liam. Otherwise you would
have been
the one up there in the ceiling.’

The next five minutes were a blur as Liam showed
Jade
around the office,
only to
o
happy to introduce her to
who
ever
wanted to stop them for a small chat. And it seemed that everyone was interested, she
soon
realized, her head spinning with names she tried to memorize. Another thing she noticed was how popular Liam was with his coworkers.
She could sense the positive energy around him, not one single
hint
of resentment or even reserve marring the easy
conversations
they were having. People liked him, she thought
;
their warm reception of her as his girlfriend and easy jokes that he returned with a lazy smile only
confirm
ed
her earlier assumption that his personal charisma and
no
-
nonsense approach w
e
re definitely a large part of his success in his professional life.