Chapter 1

Julie

It was the end of May. Julie was almost there. In less than a week, she was going to be a college graduate, and she was no closer to making the biggest decision of her life.

As she walked into class for the very last time, she felt a nervous feeling fill her entire body. They were having a speaker. Her teacher had been talking about it for weeks. While he wouldn't give away exactly who was coming, he'd told them it was the owner of one of the most successful local software companies. She couldn't wait to finally find out who it was. Who did she want it to be? A huge part of her wanted it to be her father. Deep down, she wanted him to stand before her class to talk about his business. She wanted him to finally admit that she was the one he wanted to take over their family business, not in front of everyone of course, but after, when he took her out for a nice dinner. Could she deal with being his second choice? She laughed as she thought about it. Was it really that important for her father to see her as an equal? It was. She knew she could code circles around him, if he'd only give her that chance.

Julie could hear people filling the room, as she looked down at the notebook she had out and opened in front of her. What would he say? How would he be? As much as she'd been a part of what their family held important in the past, she'd never heard her dad speak, and she couldn't wait. It had to be him. His company was top in the state. Shit! A nervous feeling ran through her. What if it was her Uncle Ethan? Could it be him? She couldn't even begin to imagine the things that would come out of his mouth? That man had no filter, and she knew that carried over into his business too.

Ethan had offered Julie a job with him. He knew she was struggling with her father and his behavior, and he let her know that he'd love to have her on his team. Would she do that? Could she do that to her dad? The answer was no. As pissed and hurt as she was, she could never hurt her father, and working for her uncle would hurt him worse than anything else she could do.

Julie hadn't realized how much time had gone by when she heard a deep, unfamiliar voice come from the front of the room. It wasn't the teacher's, but it wasn't her father's or her uncle's either. When she looked up and saw the man standing at the front, leaning leisurely against the podium, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. It wasn't her father. It wasn't her uncle. It was Cody Williams. How did she know who he was just from seeing him? He was a man she'd heard both her father and her uncle go on and on about. He was their biggest competition, the one keeping them both up at night. He was young, arrogant, and on the rise, and neither of the men she knew could stand him. It wasn't just the fact that he was closing in on them, ready to take their spots at the top, but it was him as a person. They couldn't stand the man he was. She'd heard them both speak negatively more times than she could count, and she'd only been home in the summer since Cody's company had come onto the scene.

As Mr. Williams spoke, Julie thought about her dad. Why wasn't he the one standing there? Had he been offered? Had he turned it down? Had their teacher even thought of him? It didn't matter, It wasn't him. He wasn't coming to make some grand gesture to show that he thought his daughter could in fact run his company. Yet another tiny sparkle of hope she'd had left was blown out.

She held her pen in her hand and looked toward the front of the room, ready to get something useful out of what the man her father thought of as a villain had to say. Julie couldn't help the low laugh that came out as she thought the words, causing the man to falter for just a second. Her hand immediately moved to cover her mouth, as his eyes locked on hers. She mouthed the word sorry, sure that it wasn't going to take away the embarrassing moment she'd just had. Without a word, he pulled his eyes from hers and moved on with his talk.

As he spoke, she listened halfheartedly, but before long, she had been sucked into the words he was speaking. Her hand began scribbling down notes, and she couldn't wait to hear what he'd say next. By the time he was done speaking, she'd taken pages and pages of notes, but she wanted more. So much of what he said she had totally agreed with. Some were the very same things she'd told her father, but he hadn't agreed. He'd had reasons why those things weren't going to be done in his company. Hearing the words come out of Mr. William's mouth, the one moving quickly up the charts and only inches from flying right by her father and her uncle, verified that she'd been right, and that felt damn good.

While most of the people walked out of the class, she stayed, and as she sat, she thought back to what her dad and uncle had said about the man in front of her. They were wrong. He wasn't a joke at all. He was sure of himself, but from the sound of it, he deserved to feel that way. He wasn't a kid that knew nothing. He was knowledgeable, and the things he said were interesting and true. Julie knew enough from being around her parents and uncle her whole life. Not to mention the endless hours of studying she'd put in through high school and college. The man at the front of the room knew what he was talking about. He was the real deal.

At least five guys from the class were making their way forward to talk to Mr. Williams, and she knew she needed to be right there too. Anything he had to say, she wanted to hear.

Was he the man her father and uncle had said? Not when it came to business. Was he as a person? She wasn't sure. Oh, he was by far the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, but she'd already known that from researching him online the second she first heard her family talking about him. He was tall, dark, and handsome.

As she walked closer to him and the men surrounding him, she realized that the pictures she'd seen had not done him justice. He stood there, wearing a suit that looked like it was created just for him, exuding nothing but confidence, but he'd earned that. He was successful, and there was nothing wrong with that, but was he the asshole they'd made him out to be? That was yet to be determined.