Chapter 2
Atlanta, Georgia
Y ou don’t know what he wants?”
Jade looked up from her computer at Charlotte Rae, her coworker in the next cubicle.
The fiftyish woman was standing next to Jade’s desk, her thin eyebrows raised above surprised eyes.
She’d heard Jade talk to Miles’s secretary when she called a few minutes ago, and as soon as Jade hung up, she came right over.
“I have no idea.” Jade’s nerves started an unpleasant tap dance under her skin.
In the ten years she’d worked for Harrington Media—eight of those had been when it was Preston and Ustace Communications—this was the first time she’d been summoned by Miles Harrington, the owner’s nephew and an up-and-coming junior executive.
Thankfully, her hands weren’t shaking. With a lot of practice and self-talk, she’d overcome that outward show of her inner anxiety.
“Maybe he’s got the hots for you.” Charlotte gave her a sly look. “He’s about your age and quite handsome. In fact, if I were fifteen years younger—”
“You’re not and you wouldn’t.”
She sighed. “I suppose it would put a tiny crimp in my marriage.”
“Only a crimp?”
Charlotte laughed. “I’m joking. But you’re single and ready to mingle, and from all accounts, so is he.”
Jade put a stack of data sheets in the folder she’d been instructed to bring to her impromptu meeting. “I’m not mingling with anyone.”
“Obviously.”
What did she mean by that? Jade frowned and pushed back from her desk.
She had to meet Miles upstairs in fifteen minutes, and she needed to get there early to collect her thoughts.
The last thing she wanted was to think about her nonexistent social life, which was nonexistent by choice. “He’s not interested in me.”
“You don’t know that.” She quickly undid the top button of Jade’s blouse.
Jade gasped and pulled back. “What are you doing?”
“You’re too uptight. Showing a little skin—emphasis on little — wouldn’t hurt.”
She redid the button. “If you’re finished being ridiculous, I’ve got a meeting to go to.”
Charlotte sighed. “One day you’re going to realize that all work and no play makes for a dull life.”
“My life is fine.” She softened her tone. “Really, I’m happy.” At least as happy as she could be.
“It’s a shame you can’t see that you’re such a catch.” Charlotte’s smile was sweet but bordered on pity too. “I don’t want you to end up an old maid like my cousin Gert.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being single, and I have to go.”
“Good luck!” she called out as Jade hurried down the hall. “And if he gives you bedroom eyes, flirt right back!”
Bedroom eyes? She’s lost her mind. She meant well, though.
Jade had worked with Charlotte since she joined Preston and Ustace—or PU, as it was informally called, much to the chagrin of the owners who hadn’t quite thought through the ramifications of combining both their names.
Her cubicle mate was a little eccentric, nosier than she should be, but it was nice that she cared.
As she made her way to the elevator, she shifted her thoughts to Miles.
The only encounter she’d had with him was at last year’s Christmas party, and that had been in passing.
She stayed fifteen minutes, a suitable length of time for a drop-in.
She couldn’t stand small talk, and what little free time she had, she preferred to spend volunteering at one of the women’s shelters in Atlanta or helping with charity events for the children’s home and foster children’s association.
But Charlotte didn’t know that. No one at Harrington did, and neither did they know about her past. She intended to keep it that way.
When she stepped onto the elevator to go upstairs to the executive offices, she felt the phone in her jacket pocket buzz.
She pulled it out and saw an unfamiliar number on the small screen.
She let it go to voicemail and straightened the collar on her white shirt to make sure the button was securely fastened.
“Bedroom eyes,” she mumbled. She had no idea what bedroom eyes were.
“And I’m not going to flirt with Miles—”
The elevator doors slid open, and an office worker she didn’t recognize tilted his head at her, confused.
Jade’s cheeks flamed. “I, uh... Never mind.” She brushed past the man and hurried down the hall toward Miles’s office. When she was halfway down the hall, she turned to the right. A plaque right outside the door read Miles Harrington, Vice President. She took in a big breath and opened the door.
A beautiful young woman with long blond hair, French tip nails, and burgundy lipstick smiled at her from behind a modest-sized desk. “Ms. Smith?”
“Yes. Hi.” She gripped the folder.
“I’ll let Mr. Harrington know you’re here.” She gestured to a chair on the other side of the room. Jade nodded as the woman buzzed her boss, but before she could sit down, Miles came out of his office.
“Ms. Smith. Or can I call you Jade?”
“Jade,” she said.
“Perfect.” He smiled and waved her in. “I promise this won’t take long.”
Jade followed him into a simple office adorned with photos of Miles and various people, mostly on golf courses.
She noticed a few golf trophies on a shelf behind his desk, and on the opposite side were several diplomas.
Near the desk was a medium-sized round table with three neat stacks of folders on it.
“You can sit here.” He held out one of the chairs at the table for her.
She sat down, and he sat opposite her. “Sorry about the mess,” he said, moving one of the stacks to the side. “I’m in the middle of research.”
As someone who liked tidiness, she didn’t think it was even a little bit messy. She’d seen worse. Much worse.
“Thanks for meeting me on short notice, Jade.” He folded his hands and rested them on the table. “I’ll get to the point. I need your assistance.”
That explained the data sheets he asked her to bring regarding several newspapers in Oklahoma and Missouri. She handed it to him. “I’m happy to help.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” His smile widened, and she had to admit Charlotte was right—he was a nice-looking man.
A little too nice-looking for her taste.
His short black hair was slicked to the side, his dark eyebrows perfectly groomed, his chin appearing freshly shaven despite it being three in the afternoon.
His navy blue suit and crimson tie looked perfectly pressed and expensive.
All things she would expect from the nephew of a very rich CEO with an impressive financial portfolio.
“I want you to go to Arkansas,” he said.
She froze. “W-what?”
He took one of the folders near him and opened it. “I’m putting together a huge acquisitions deal, but I’ve run into a snag.” He pushed the folder toward her.
Jade looked at it. “ The Clementine Times ?”
“It’s been a thorn in my side for months.” He tapped the folder. “This small newspaper is the last piece I need to make this deal work, but I can’t get to the owner.”
She lifted her gaze. Clementine sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. And she didn’t want to. She’d left that state behind a decade ago, and after her failure with Logan, she never looked back.
“I need you to go to Clementine and open negotiations with him.”
“But I’m just an accountant.”
“Now, you’re more than that, Jade.” His smile widened, to the point she thought he might hurt himself. “You’re a valuable member of the Harrington team.”
So valuable he never bothered to talk to her before this, but she shoved that thought aside and looked at the folder’s contents again. The top page was mostly specs about the newspaper’s circulation, expenditures, history, other business things. Then she got to the list of employees.
Sebastian Hudson—Owner, Publisher, Editor in Chief .
Her gaze flew to Miles. “I can’t do this,” she blurted.
“Sure you can. In fact, I think you’re the only one capable of getting through to him. I did some digging and found out he used to work for The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . Imagine my surprise when I discovered you worked there too.” He sat back, extremely satisfied. “What are the chances?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled, glancing at Sebastian’s name.
She hadn’t thought about him in years. Not too much anyway.
When she packed up and left Arkansas shortly after their last conversation, she’d been filled with guilt over how she’d handled ending their relationship.
His telling her he loved her had thrown her for a thousand loops.
.. and it had also felt nice. Like when he surprised her with that intense, amazing kiss that nearly made her lose her mind.
Those heavenly moments in his arms had nearly made her lose her resolve too, and she almost told him she wouldn’t take the job.
Somehow, she had regained her senses. Logan was her priority, not her feelings for Sebastian.
Better to end it then instead of breaking it off later.
That would have inevitably happened—no man would want to be saddled with an instant family and a troubled teenager.
In the end, she didn’t even have a family anymore.
“Jade?”
She shifted her focus to Miles. “I’m sorry,” she said, pushing the folder toward him. “I’m the last person Sebastian wants to see.”
“Because you used to date?”
Her brow lifted, and she almost asked him how he knew that. Then again, she shouldn’t be surprised. His uncle Mayfield Harrington and the executive team were very thorough, conscientious, and successful. Of course Miles wouldn’t have left a stone unturned. “It didn’t end well.”
“That was ten years ago. Surely bygones are bygones?” He leaned forward.
“Even if they’re not, you can both be professional.
I want The Times , Jade. It will complete our acquisition of all the community newspapers in that region.
The other owners were eager to sell. They understood our mission—to keep newspapers alive in an uncertain industry. ”