Chapter Seven

“I greet the doorman, Sam, every morning,” Jackson recited as they sat in the backseat of his town car. “Walk through the lobby to the elevators on the left behind the indoor ferns. Go to the top floor and take the first right. Find the wooden double doors at the end of the hall and hole up in my office.”

“Excellent,” Lori said, holding the chart of faces she’d made for him the night before. “Who are you most likely to see today?”

“Will is my vice president and advisor when Marc is away. He’ll likely need me. Then there’s Trisha and Scott, who head the board and the legal team respectively.”

“With HynCor making moves, they’ll want to be assured you have everything in hand.”

“I’m aware of the situations and have taken steps to course-correct the company. Please bear with me while these countermeasures come into effect,” he recited.

“I think you’ve got it,” she said. “What do you do if you meet someone you don’t know?”

“Stall until you jump in with a name and then follow your lead.”

“I’ll be by your side all day. Just run your hand through your hair if you need me to step in.”

The car pulled to a stop in front of a silver and glass skyscraper.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked.

An expression of steely determination crossed his face. “Yes.”

With a nod, she got out of the car.

The moment Jackson stepped onto the sidewalk, it was as if another person took over his body. One she knew far too well.

He buttoned his black suit jacket, standing tall as he surveyed his empire. Without glancing at her, he strode forward like he owned the place.

Which he does.

Falling into her usual spot a step behind him, she trailed him through the lobby. He didn’t hesitate as he headed for the elevator, even though he didn’t remember the layout.

Muscle memory or the studying? she wondered.

A few employees murmured hellos and good mornings as they passed. He nodded to each one, professional but impersonal, just as she’d advised him. They made it to the elevator, which they rode in silence.

Lori glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Looked like he was trying to stay in character. When the doors opened, he strode forward, following her directions.

Nearly there.

They were almost at his wooden doors and safety when a member of the R&D team raced to meet them.

“Jim,” Lori greeted before Jackson had to say anything. “How are you doing today?”

“Trying to solve a problem, actually,” he replied. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Sinclair, but we’ve hit a snag on the software that should be rolling out at the end of the month.”

“What happened?” he asked.

Jim handed over the file he was hugging to his chest. “There’s a loading glitch we need to iron out. I figure an extra three weeks is needed.”

Jackson flipped through the briefing doc. “I see. What would you need in order to meet the original deadline?”

Jim laughed. “Two new programmers.”

“Done.” He snapped the file closed. “I’ll send the request through myself and have some temporary programmers at your door by tomorrow.”

Jim’s jaw dropped. “Thank you.”

“It’s an important project. That deadline needs to be hit, so if you run into any more snags I want to be informed immediately.”

“Will do. Thank you again, Mr. Sinclair. The team will be thrilled.”

With a curt nod, Jackson strode into his office.

“I’ll follow up with you this afternoon,” she said to Jim. “Email me the requirements you’re looking for and we’ll see what we can do.”

“Right away.” Grinning, he raced off, no doubt to inform his team Christmas had come early.

Shaking her head, she entered the office and shut the door behind her.

“Do you know how hard it will be to find decent programmers willing to take a one-month contract?” she asked.

He dropped into his chair with a sigh. “No clue. It sounded CEO-ish though, didn’t it?”

“Very in keeping with what you’d normally say. Although you would have made them hit the deadline and pay overtime for whatever hours they needed to work to do it.”

“Damn,” he said. “That would have been easier.”

“Yep.” She took her usual seat on the other side of his desk. “I’ll call HR and see who we can find. Don’t worry.”

“Once again I’m making more work for you.”

“I’m used to it,” she joked.

“I sound like a real prize.”

She opened her briefcase, pulling out the files they’d need. “You are in charge of running a company. My job is to make that easier. Whatever you need, Jackson, always.”

His eyes caught hers. “Always, hmm?”

“In a professional context, of course.”

“Of course.” He leaned forward, his arms crossed on the desk. “But what if I needed to take you to dinner? After-hours when you’re off the clock and not an employee.”

“Marc sent a briefing on the deal he’s trying to close with the Australian team. We should probably start there today.”

“Or I suppose we could take a helicopter tour of the city. Billionaires do extravagant things like that, right?”

“Then there’s the Randal project we should make sure is on track,” she said, ignoring him.

“A boat ride along the river? I wonder if I can rent a gondola this side of the Atlantic.”

“We should also clamp down on this programmer temporary hire so every department doesn’t turn up at the door wanting more resources.”

He grinned. “You get this is only making me more interested in you, right?”

She leveled an even gaze at him. “I will call HR on you.”

“You kissed me, remember? I think I’m the wronged party here.”

“Not even. I’ve been—”

“Eying me like I’m candy.”

“Keeping a professional line between us for years.”

“Good thing I don’t remember it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Good to see your stubbornness didn’t disappear with your memories.”

“God-given, it seems.”

She held out her hand. “Phone please.”

Arching a brow, he handed it over.

Jackson had never been territorial about his phone. Often, she managed his emails and messages when he was in meetings and didn’t have a free hand. Which meant she knew far more about his files than he thought. Clicking into his gallery, she pulled up a photo of his most recent flavor of the month.

“Her name is Jessica and I’m sure she’d drop everything to go out with you again if you need someone to flirt with,” she said tartly, passing the phone back over.

He glanced down at the gorgeous redhead smiling at the camera. “Beautiful,” he said.

A sharp pain shot through her chest and she did her best to ignore it.

Breathe. This is normal. It’s what you wanted. Shift his focus to someone he can actually pursue.

“Exactly,” she forced herself to say. “There’s a few other photos in there, too. I was serious when I said you didn’t need me.”

He swiped through a few pics in his gallery before setting the phone down. “Very pretty,” he agreed. “Too bad for them you’re far more intriguing.”

“I’m really not.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“Can we please just focus on work?” she asked, ignoring the pleasure coursing through her at his words.

He sighed. “Yes, but only because you’re a captive audience while this amnesia wrecks my life and I know where to find you to wear you down.”

“You can try,” she said, flipping through some papers. “But I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m just as stubborn as you are.”

His teeth flashed as he grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

“Sign here,” she said, tossing a contract at him.

Still smiling, he did as she requested.

Don’t get sucked in. His interest won’t last. Stand strong.

And deny herself the one thing she’d wanted for years.

…

Jackson rubbed the bridge of his nose. All the reading and staring at computer screens today was making his ever-present headache worse.

Lori glanced up from her work and frowned. Fishing into her purse, she handed him a bottle of aspirin without a word and went back to her computer.

He stared down at the painkillers he hadn’t asked for but wouldn’t refuse.

The perfect assistant.

And she seemed determined to stay that way.

Which means you should leave her alone.

What was he thinking, making the moves on anyone when he was days out of the hospital? Hell, his hand was barely functional. He’d practiced signing his name with his left hand, but it was little more than chicken scrawl on this contracts.

Lori doesn’t mind if I’m a hand short.

He bit back a groan. What was it about her? She was right about everything. It seemed liked she always knew what to do, from what he’d observed.

That should annoy me.

But it didn’t. Nothing about her annoyed him and he had the feeling that was rare.

When she’d showed him the picture of the woman he’d obviously been seeing, he’d stared at the drop-dead beautiful face and felt absolutely nothing. Looking at his assistant, however, had visions of their kiss filling his head.

Not that he could remember any other kisses, but even so, he was sure they’d pale in comparison.

There’s just something about her.

Something he couldn’t put his finger on. An inch in his brain that told him she was far more important than the women in his phone ever could be.

Women who apparently hadn’t even noticed he hadn’t contacted them in days. Not that they’d cared enough to check in, either.

Superficial relationships.

Was that all he had?

With everyone except Lori.

He glanced at her again, popping the painkillers. Why wasn’t he dating her? What had been the barrier when he’d had his memories?

Did I really not want her before?

It seemed inconceivable.

I was a different man.

He wondered which version Lori preferred.

With an inner sigh, he turned his attention back to his work. She’d told him he used to love days like this. Ones filled with paperwork and research. Now, however, he wanted to run in the other direction. There must be more to his life than this. What did he do for fun? Or did he just not have any?

The door banged open, admitting a flustered-looking man. “Jackson, where the hell have you been?”

I recognize that face. Think of the chart. Who is it?

His brain ran through the list of possibilities before landing on the right match. “Will,” he greeted, standing. “Good to see you.”

“Just wait till I’m done with you,” his VP said, striding forward. “You haven’t been answering your phone all weekend.”

He lifted his braced wrist. “Hospital.”

That stopped some of Will’s bluster. “What happened?”

“Racquetball accident.”

“Good thing the ball didn’t hit your head.”

If only you knew.

“I’ve had to take it easy the past few days. What’s going on?”

Surprised flashed in the other man’s eyes. “You don’t know?”

Misstep. Try again.

“I’m aware of the situation. I meant, is there more you need to add in person?”

Will dropped into one of the chairs on the other side of his desk, so he took his seat as well. He noted the other man didn’t even glance at Lori as if she didn’t exist.

She really is just a shadow.

His shadow.

And it bothered him that others viewed her that way.

“What is this I keep hearing about HynCor?”

Handle this carefully.

“They want our market share. We need to be bigger and stronger to survive this threat.”

“Which means what?”

“Marc is looking into options for us.”

“You didn’t want to handle this personally?”

I can barely walk to an elevator. High stakes corporate mergers would be impossible.

“I have utter confidence in my brother.”

“That makes one of us.”

“Marc is in constant contact with Jackson and speaks on his behalf. He’s not acting alone. He’ll get the information we need,” Lori put in.

“I don’t need to hear the cheerleader version,” Will said, not even looking in her direction.

He bit back a growl. “Lori has been working equally hard on this. I value her input,” he snapped before he could call back the words.

Shock flashed across both Will and Lori’s faces.

All right, looks like I don’t stand up for her. What the hell kind of man was I?

Trying to recoup the slip, he changed the topic. “I’m expecting an update from Marc tomorrow. I’ll brief you then.”

“Please,” Will agreed.

“Anything else you need? It’s a busy day,” he lied.

“Yes. I hear we’re hiring some help for R&D today.”

That decision will haunt me.

“Have you looked at the projected revenue from that project? Because I have. I weighed the cost of a delay versus a couple temporary contracts and you know what I decided?” He leaned back. “The software will make us another fortune. Why would we cut corners now when we’re so close?”

“Fair enough,” Will said, nodding. “You’re the boss.”

“Yes, I am.” Apparently.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. Let me know what Marc says.”

“Once we hear tomorrow, I’ll send you an update,” Lori said quietly from behind him.

“Great.” Will didn’t even glance at her as he left.

She’s invisible in my world.

Had she been invisible to him, too?

“Good job,” she said when the door closed behind Will. “It was like you were your old self. Mostly.”

“All thanks to your coaching.”

She smiled slightly. “Maybe it’s just ingrained in you. The memory loss took your history, but it can’t steal your personality.”

Is that true?

He wondered. He’d playacted his way through the day, pretending to be a character that was alien to him. What happened if he never got his memories back and he was stuck pretending for the rest of his life?

He glanced at Lori. He didn’t know which man he should hope to be. The cold CEO who didn’t give a damn about anything but business?

Or his new self who couldn’t look away from the woman in front of him?