I enter the North & Co building and stride towards the elevators. It’s just after seven this morning, and I’ve come in early to get through some leftover work from yesterday. I’ve also come early in anticipation of Charlize’s arrival. She would have to be the only woman I’ve ever met who I can’t get out of my mind. She seems to be permanently lodged there for the moment. Hiring her is probably the worst decision I’ve ever made for my company. Not because she won’t contribute to our success. I’m sure she will. No, it’s the worst decision because as much as I want to work with her, I want to date her more.

“Fuck,” I mutter as I scrub my hand over my face. I really do get myself into some shit where women are concerned.

I’m halfway to the elevator, deep in thought, when someone comes flying out of the bathrooms to my left and runs smack bang into me.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry!” Charlize’s hands grip my biceps, probably to stop me from falling. The opposite happens, though. By gripping me, she actually forces more weight against me, sending me to my ass. Unfortunately for her, she comes with me.

I lie sprawled out on the ground floor of my building with her on top of me and make no effort to move. Placing my hand on the small of her back, I ask, “Are you okay?”

Her eyes go wide, and she attempts to scramble off me. I’m not ready to let her go yet, so I hold her in place. This seems to confuse her, and bewilderment flashes across her face. “I’m fine. Are you? I really didn’t mean to run into you. I mean—”

Although I love the way she rambles from one sentence to the next, often connecting odd thoughts, I want to put her mind at ease. Smiling, I say, “I’m good. But we really need to stop meeting inside and outside bathrooms.”

She takes a deep breath before exhaling it. When she tries to move off me again, I let her go, and we both stand. She fumbles with her black bag for a few moments before blurting out, “God, I am so nervous about today!” Her hand flies to her mouth as her eyes widen again. “Shit, I just totally said that out loud, didn’t I? No wonder people don’t give me jobs.”

I chuckle and lift my chin towards the elevators. “You drink coffee?”

She appears to relax a little and follows me to the lifts. “Owen, I live for coffee.”

“Good. I make the best coffee.”

“Ah no, dude, I make the best coffee.”

“I see we’re going to have to fight this one out. Just so you know, I’ve never had coffee better than mine.”

Her eyes narrow at me. “You really do make your own coffee? I’d have thought your assistant kept you fuelled.”

I shake my head. “No, I have far more important things for Tahlia to do.” Like keeping my ex wife out of my office.

“Hmm, you really are an odd beast, aren’t you?”

The elevator reaches our floor, and I lead her to the kitchen. “An odd beast? Why?”

“Well, you stayed and tried to help me the other night. Then you gave me your jacket, which I meant to bring today but totally forgot. And yesterday, you were, I don’t know, you just don’t do things I expect you to do. Don’t get me wrong, I like that about you.”

I smile at her as I grab mugs out of the cupboard. “My ex would agree with you there, except she wishes I would do the things she expects from me.”

“Ah, one of those ex’s, huh?”

“Yes, but let’s not discuss difficult things so early in the morning. I’m going to make our first coffee. You get to make the second. Then we compare.”

She watches in silence as I make the coffee. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate with her standing so close. Not to mention being distracted by what she’s wearing. The burgundy skirt she has on hits her midthigh, revealing long legs encased in dark tights. It’s not only those legs of hers that draw my attention, it’s the whole outfit of lace-up burgundy ankle boots, fitted black top, and black biker jacket. She did have a scarf wrapped around her neck, but she’s removed that. The outfit is so unlike any I’ve seen my team wear. Jill will detest it, but I have no issues. Hell, the only thing I’d change would be the tights. I’d get rid of them so I could actually see her legs.

“Here,” she says, passing me the milk from the fridge.

Our hands brush as I take it from her, sparking desire through me. Our eyes meet, and I know she’s felt the same thing. But then, this isn’t something new. I’m certain we’ve both felt it from the first night we met. I believe it’s the reason why she tried to avoid taking this job. And fuck, now I’m wondering again why I hired her.

My gaze drops to her lips and then her breasts.

Fuck, Owen, get a fucking grip. She’s a staff member now. You can’t ogle her at work. Hell, you can’t ogle her full stop.

I shift my attention back to the coffee and take a step away from her, intent on putting some distance between us and these feelings. I finish making our drinks before lifting my gaze again. “You ready to be blown away?”

She rolls her eyes as she takes the mug I offer her. “Calm down. The only one of us who is going to be blown away is you when you drink my coffee.”

I arch my brows. “I see you have the trait that all good analysts share.”

“And what would that be?”

“You’re overly confident.”

“Pfft, it’s easy to be confident when you know you’re right.”

I try not to smile. “Drink up, woman.” Fuck, there I go again. I can’t call an employee, woman. It’s a good thing I’m assigning her to work with Trent, because by the looks of it, I can’t be trusted around her.

She takes a sip, and I see the surprise in her eyes, but she doesn’t give me anything else to go on. Stubborn too, I see. After the fourth sip, she caves. “Okay, so you weren’t kidding when you said you made good coffee. I’m actually just going to call it now—you win. Not even my coffee can stand up to this.”

I grin. “And here I was thinking you weren’t a quitter. Isn’t that what you said the other night? Where’s that fighting spirit?”

She smacks my stomach. The way her eyes widen tells me she possibly didn’t mean to hit me there. And when her apology tumbles out of her mouth, I know she’s experiencing the same concerns about working with me that I’m having about her.

“God, Owen, I am so sorry. You’re my boss now, and so far this morning I’ve knocked you over and hit you, and we haven’t even started work for the day. This might take me a second to get used to, but please don’t fire me for being inappropriate.”

I turn to face her, leaning my hip against the counter. “There’s no need to—”

My ex wife takes that moment to breeze into the kitchen, interrupting our conversation. “Oh good, you’re here,” she says before glancing at Charlize. She slows, her eyes narrowing as she takes us in. When she speaks again, her tone is sharp. “I need to go over some things with you.” Waving her hand in Charlize’s direction, she adds, “Of course, finish with the staff first. I’ll be in my office.”

These two women couldn’t be any different, and I’m left wondering what I ever saw in Jill as I watch her leave. I could swear she never used to be this rude, but years of putting up with her have made my memories foggy.

“Sorry about that,” I apologise.

Charlize is still staring after Jill. “Is she always like that?” She turns back to me. “And will I be working for her?”

“I hate to break it to you, but yes. That’s my ex wife. She owns half the company.”

A flash of understanding crosses her face. “Ah, gotcha. Makes sense.”

I frown. “What makes sense?”

“Her rudeness. She was staking her territory.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “What territory?”

She pulls a face as if I’ve just asked the dumbest question. “You, of course.”

Trent joins us then, effectively ending our conversation and leaving me confused. I’m not sure why Charlize would think Jill was staking her territory. Jill has slept with at least a dozen men since our divorce and two that I know of during our marriage. We ended things badly, and not once since then have either of us tried to reconcile, so there’s no territory to be staked.

I introduce the two of them, and once I’m sure Charlize is comfortable with him, I leave them to it. I filled him in on the phone last night about the work I want her doing, so he’s ready to go. And the fact they hit it off straight away puts my mind at ease. Trent’s not as hard as the other guys I have working for me—he’ll take the time to guide her that none of them would have.

Jill’s waiting in my office for me, and her cold eyes greet mine as I enter. “You took your time.”

I move to my chair and sit. “And I thought you said you’d be waiting in your office for me.” I’m not ready to play her games yet this morning. I need at least one more coffee for that.

She scowls. “I see you were busy in the kitchen with the flavour of the month.”

I stare at her. Who is this woman? Sure, she’s caused me no end of problems over the last year where this company is concerned, but it’s like she’s morphed into a whole new level of bitch recently. “What the hell does that mean, Jill?”

Leaning her hands on my desk, she snarls, “It means that if you’re thinking of fucking that staff member, don’t. We do not need a sexual harassment suit because you can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

I push my chair back as my blood boils. Levelling an angry glare on her, I say, “I’ve never had a problem keeping my dick in my pants, and I’ve certainly never done anything to put my company at risk. I don’t appreciate you throwing those kind of accusations around.”

Her brows arch. “Your company?”

“Fuck, Jill, why are you being like this? I’ve worked damn hard over the last year to keep you happy, but you just seem to become moodier and bitchier with each passing month. If you’re not happy here, I’ll buy you out. You can go and find something that will make you happy. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

“Screw you, Owen. All you’ve ever wanted since the day I met you was to fix the sins of your father. You put everything second to that one goal, including me. Not once did you think about my happiness, so don’t give me that bullshit now. And as far as your precious company is concerned, I’m not going anywhere. I stayed by your side for six long years, taking scraps of your time whenever you decided to hand them out. I deserve my seat at the table.”

I grip the back of my neck and rub it. The guilt I feel over the breakdown of our marriage rears its ugly head. It’s the reason why I allow her to get away with some of the shit she does. Rationally I know she contributed to the breakdown, but this is one area of my life where my head doesn’t always win.

When I don’t respond straight away, she snaps, “Just remember the Bluestone Award the next time you’re tempted to sleep with the staff.”

With that, she stalks out of my office, and I exhale a frustrated breath.

In other words, if I step over the line she’s created for me, she’ll fuck my chances of winning that award.