Chapter One
Josie
Click.
Click.
Click.
Pacing the small anteroom that housed the firm's tiny reception area, it seemed to Josie that the tap of her shoes against the tiled floor was abnormally loud.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Maybe it was just her own nervousness that was to blame. Anxiety always caused her to become overly sensitive to stimuli.... it stood to reason this would be no different. Continuing her trek from one side of the room to the other, Josie clutched the files tightly to her chest with her left arm as she nervously bit the nails of her right. How had it come down to this? Josie thought. Almost a year with the firm and never had she been more than a blip on management's radar. Now she was being called into his office after hours, with a request for the Dickerson files.
Her project.
Her mistake.
And he would want answers.
He always did.
Jaxson Montgomery was a formidable boss. One did not mess up with one of his clients... not if they wanted to stay employed. Smart, successful, and absolutely gorgeous, Jaxson, also known as Jax to the myriad of busty blondes who so frequently came and went from his life; was a devil to work for. Although he was scrupulously fair, and not above rolling up his sleeves and pitching in when the situation called for it, he was also extremely exacting, didn't suffer fools gladly, and had a zero tolerance policy when it came to mistakes of this magnitude.
"Shit!" Josie muttered heatedly under her breath "shit, shit, shit!"
"Is that commentary on the decor, or was there something on your mind Ms. Yandel?" Jax's deep baritone caused a shiver to run down Josie's spine, and not all from anxiety. There was something about Jax that had the power to stun Josie to stupidity every time she heard it. At the weekly company meetings, while addressing a coworker, or worse, small talk in the company's minuscule break room, whenever Jax opened his mouth, she lost the ability to put two words together and always came away looking like a moron. In any other situation, Josie could dominate any project, commanding the respect of her coworkers and clients alike. But when Jax was in the vicinity, she instantly transformed from a confident twenty eight year old woman with several degrees on her wall, to the gawky teen with braces and frizzy red hair of her past.
"The filerson dicks you wanted sir." Josie stuttered, "I, I, I mean I have the Dickerson files you requested." Josie was sure her face was as red as her hair. With the milky white skin one would expect from a green eyed red-head, she was cursed with a complexion that telegraphed her every emotion.
Jax stared down at her with an unreadable expression from his considerable height. Almost a foot taller than her 5'5 frame, he towered over most everyone in the office. Never had she felt at such a disadvantage as she did in that moment.
"Come on in Josie. I'm sorry I kept you waiting, but the conference call lasted longer than anticipated."
Ushering her into his office, she took the opportunity to discretely sniff Jax's alluring fragrance. She often dreamt about that scent, waking up to the sheets twisted around her legs, her body craving his touch. Having escorted her to one of the chairs facing his desk, Jax surprised her by taking the other seat, sitting so close she could feel the heat of his skin against her calves. Attempting to gather her wayward thoughts, Josie almost missed the look Jax shot towards her chest. Glancing down she was mortified to realize somewhere along the way, one of the files she had been holding so tightly had caught on the buttons of her silky blouse, leaving a good portion of her fair skin and lacy purple bra to show through the black garment. Setting the files aside hurriedly, Josie quickly attempted to button the offending item of clothing, somehow only succeeding in exposing more flesh.
"Oh my god. I'm so, so sorry." she stuttered, turning slightly away from Jax. At this point she would gladly welcome termination if it meant never having to relive this awkward moment.
Jax
With a Herculean act of will, Jax was able to tear his gaze away from all the alluring flesh his little Josie accidentally exposed. Months of planning, and plotting were finally coming to fruition, and it wouldn't due to show his hand too quickly, lest he scare away his prey. He was so close to collecting his woman...and make no mistake, Josie was his woman; she just wasn't aware of it yet. For eleven months, seventeen days, and... glancing down at the watch to check the time... ten hours, Josie had been his. Since the first day she stumbled into his life, Jax had done everything in his power to make her his own.
Unhappily, it seemed fortune was against him. Jax had a strict policy never to mix business with pleasure; a rule he had learned the hard way back when his firm had been in its infancy. Had he been in charge of hiring, he would never have found himself in the situation he now did. Unfortunately, his good friend and business partner Michael Malone has seen to the hiring of the firm's paralegals, and Jax had been stuck. From the moment Jax had set eyes on Josie, he knew his life would never be complete until his ring was on her finger and his baby at her breast.
Jax thought back to the day they met, how their eyes had caught across the crowded restaurant. On his way to the 'getting to know you' luncheon the office had set up when the influx of new staff had been brought on, Jax had been heading to the reserved banquet room the company often rented, when he caught sight of the curvaceous redhead exiting the establishment's restroom. What could only have been moments in reality, seemed like a lifetime to Jax as his gaze caught hers and his world stopped spinning on its axis. About to ditch the get together in favor of meeting the woman who would one day be his, Jax had been struck dumb when his office manager came up to the redheaded goddess and led her to the banquet room. The loss of her gaze had had almost a physical impact on his body and it had taken everything he had not to go up to the woman, bend her over the table and breed her right then and there.
While Michael had seen to the introductory speech, and handled the fine points of the meeting, Jax's agile mind was trying to find a way out of the quagmire he now found himself in. He could always break his iron clad rule, and take her regardless of her employment status, but then he had the problem of his future wife thinking he dallied with his employees often. He couldn't begin his married life under a cloud of suspicion, and didn't want his spouse to have any doubts where his loyalties lay. He briefly entertained the idea of finding her employment at another firm, but quickly dismissed that notion as he would then have the issue of others spending hours upon hours in her presence; working on projects, sharing lunches, stealing her time and attention away from him.
Never having had a jealous nature, Jax was surprised to find he was envious of anyone who had a claim to her time. Still at a loss on how he would handle the issue, Jax had attempted to approach her, but one problem after another had kept him from her side. From clients with interests in multiple countries needing his council oversees, to his own family being constantly in the way, Jax's time in the office was limited.
The few times he had managed to be around her, Josie either answered his attempts at conversation in stilted monosyllabic replies, or ignored his presence all together. Had it not been for her body’s involuntary responses signaling her attraction to him, he would have given up hope completely. As much as he wanted her in his life, he would never do or say anything that would make Josie feel pressured or harassed. Jax cherished those unintentional signals: Every quickened breath, every blushing glance. He lived for those moments of proof his attraction wasn’t all one sided.
Month after month, there had been no progress in his campaign and Jax’s formidable patience was nearing its end. Noticing his odd behavior, one of his many cousins, Mandy, had suggested he kidnap the girl and spirit her away to a deserted island where he could ravish her in style. Or blackmail her into marriage by threatening her livelihood if she did not consent to become his wife! At the time, Jax had suggested his cousin lay off the Harlequin romances, and concentrate on reality, but as time went on and he made no further progress, Jax began to seriously consider Mandy's outlandish suggestions.
At almost forty, Jax was tired of waiting to start his family, and his hand was beginning feel abused from the number of times he had been forced to take care of himself at the thought of his beautiful Josie. When the Dickerson case had landed on his desk, Jax was finally in the position to have all of his dreams come true. Yes, blackmailing your future bride was frowned upon in most circles, but Jax didn't care. Josie was in his grasp; all he had to do was take hold of this chance.