Since he couldn’t take a leisurely lunch elsewhere as planned, he settled for a sandwich and drink at the café across the street. By the time he returned to the office, Anton had sent the bullet-point summary with the names of the project manager and other contacts at Hayes Realty Management.
The real estate firm specialized in commercial real estate, and though Axel didn’t know much about them, he knew enough to know they had built a solid reputation in Atlanta. The current deal saw them in a unique position. After finding out that The Brixton Group was going bankrupt because they’d overextended themselves on a real estate development project, Hayes Realty had swooped in and made an offer to take over the cash-strapped company and all their assets for ridiculously low prices.
The deal was currently hush-hush so that The Brixton Group could save face. The purchase would be spun as a merger, and the dozens of employees who would have lost their jobs if the company was dissolved, could keep their jobs or find new positions within Hayes Realty.
They intended to hire Abraham, MacKenzie & Wong to aid in working out the details. Axel only had a few questions and was ready for the meeting by the time two o’clock rolled around.
As he opened the conference room door, Axel’s eyes swept the interior. Anton and the other attorney on the case—a tall blonde named Jen, were already inside. His eyes landed on the third person in the room, and he froze.
Everything froze. Time. His body. His breathing. His heart.
He blinked, but what he thought was a mirage was very real. It was her. Andrea, in the flesh.
All he could see was the back of her head as she chatted with his co-workers, but there was no doubt in his mind that the person he saw was Andrea, the woman he met in Belize.
Heart racing, he set his pen and notepad on the table. Eyes pinned in disbelief on the figure before him, he ate up the distance between them.
Anton saw him first. “Hi, Axel.”
Andrea then faced him, and his mouth went dry. Same dusky-dark skin and raven hair that spiraled to her shoulders in wide, lustrous curls that framed her face. Her black skirt and black jacket came in at the waist and showed off slim curves that he’d traced with his tongue and fingertips over and over again.
“It is you,” he whispered.
Her pretty eyes widened.
“Andrea, what are you doing here?” Axel asked.
Anton and the other attorney frowned.
“Andrea? No, this is Naphressa St. James, the project manager from Hayes Realty Management,” Anton said.
“You’re with Hayes,” Axel murmured, barely registering what his co-worker said.
He was on autopilot, entranced by the woman who’d haunted his nights for over a year. No one had compared to her before or since.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“I…” She shifted from one foot to the next and darted a quick glance at Anton and Jen.
Anton nudged the blonde. “We have to get some paperwork that I forgot to bring in. Be back in a few minutes.”
The two of them disappeared, but Axel barely noticed. He hadn’t lifted his gaze from Naphressa. The name fit much better than Andrea.
“Damn, I can’t believe it’s you.”
“It’s me,” she said, looking twitchy, as if she were nervous.
“This is a shock.”
“For me, too.”
He lowered his voice. “This isn’t the time or place, but maybe you and I could—”
She shook her head. “No.”
“You haven’t heard what I was about to say.”
Her eyes pleaded with him for understanding. “I don’t have to hear what you’re about to say. I know what you’re going to say. It’s about the challenge that I made to you before we left Belize.”
“You told me to find you, and I’ve been looking.”
“I should have never told you to do that.”
“You said there would be a chance for us.”
“Maybe,” she corrected.
“Okay, look, I know this is all very sudden and my firm is working on a case for you, and I understand the ethical implications, but we met before this deal. If you prefer, I could ask to be taken off the project.”
“You do whatever you feel is best. I, however, have no intention of getting involved with you. I said maybe there was a chance for us, and I shouldn’t have said that. Shouldn’t have implied there was a possibility we could get together if we met again.”
Axel gave a shallow, pain-filled laugh. “My ego is taking quite a bruising right now. Care to explain why there’s no possibility of us getting together again?”
“I… It’s…” She licked her lips, clearly unable to come up with a reasonable explanation.
“Look—” Axel stopped abruptly and stared at the gold ring on her finger as shock reverberated through his chest. “Are you married?”
