Janie (The Casanova Club Book 15)

by Ali Parker

  “I’m glad you like it,” I said.

  “You truly don’t know how badly I needed this.”

  “I might have had some idea,” I mused. “The drunken phone call kind of gave you away.”

  She blushed. “Touché.”

  I tipped my head to her office door. “Would you like a tour of headquarters?”

  She popped up out of her chair like her butt was on fire. “Hell yes, I would. Lead the way, Mr. Fisher.”

  “Don’t call me that. It’s taken years for me to get my assistant to call me Max and even now he drops the ball.”

  She brushed past me and I caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelled like summertime—like fresh blooming flowers, sun-kissed skin, and coconut. The scent made me dizzy.

  “I kind of like how Mr. Fisher sounds,” she teased.

  I chuckled and followed her out into the hall, grateful for the solace she offered. For the first time since finding out about Sienna’s pregnancy, I was fully present in the moment.

  Leave it to Janie to save me from myself.

  Chapter 7

  Janie

  Max looked tired.

  Really tired.

  I didn’t say anything of course. That was just plain rude. But I thought it over and over as he led me around the office and introduced me to his colleagues, people who, in due time, would hopefully become something close to friends to me. I needed friends. I needed people around me so I could figure out who I was again and rediscover what I liked and what I didn’t like.

  This place made Max happy. Why couldn’t it do the same for me?

  As I maintained my positive attitude and the tour left his head office and migrated to other areas of Apple Park, I kept a wary eye on my tour guide.

  Max moved stiffly, like he had a bad back or neck or knees—or all of the above. The man I used to know and love was light on his feet and had a suave, smooth grace to him that was nowhere to be seen in the tension of his shoulders now and the permanent furrow between his eyebrows.

  I wondered if this was just usual work stress or if something else was going on with him. Was it appropriate to ask?

  Probably not on my first day.

  We moved to the ground floor where one section flowed freely into the next. It felt like I was in a modern nature reserve rather than a tech building. That feeling amplified when Max took me out into a courtyard bustling with activity. Birds flitted from tree to tree while employees and visitors alike wandered the paths of the complex to order coffees or food or sit down at tables with friends and coworkers. Everyone who spotted Max looked up and waved and he waved back.

  “I forgot how popular you must be here,” I breathed, my shoulder grazing his as I leaned in. My stomach did a little back flip.

  He glanced over at me. The furrow between his brows was still there but his mouth quirked in a smile. “It’s not as glamorous as you think. Going for a walk to clear your head isn’t easy when everyone here knows your name.”

  “Yeah, you’ve got it so hard,” I said sarcastically.

  Max chuckled. We stopped so he could buy us coffees and carried on.

  “So how big is this place?” I asked.

  “It’s built on one hundred and seventy-five acres.” Max sipped his coffee and tipped his head in greeting at a cluster of young people with ID badges around their necks as they hurried past us with red cheeks and a chorus of giggles. I watched them over my shoulder as they cast excited looks back at us and whispered amongst themselves.

  “That’s him,” one girl whispered. “That’s Max Fisher.”

  “No shit it’s Max Fisher, Darcy.”

  “Everybody knows who he is.”

  “Who’s the girl he’s with?”

  I turned back around and fixed my attention on Max, who still walked gingerly.

  “The building itself is two million and eight hundred thousand square feet,” Max continued.

  “Two million and eight hundred thousand?” I asked incredulously. “I’m going to get so lost here.”

  He chuckled. “You’ll get the lay of the land sooner than you think. The design, like our products, is thoughtful and streamlined. It just makes sense. You’ll see.”

  I decided to believe him. “How many employees are here?”

  “Roughly twelve thousand.”

  “And they all know who you are,” I breathed. “You know, when we first met, I had no idea how famous you actually were.”

  “I’m not famous,” he said firmly.

  We continued our slow stroll through the courtyard, where I noticed all the walls on the inside perimeter of the building were made of curved glass. There were no sharp edges here. No poorly lit corners. No sections that didn’t see sunlight.

  “You kind of are,” I insisted.

  He shot me a dark look that pressed the creases deeper into his brow. “You haven’t changed.”

  I laughed. “Oh? Is that a good or bad thing?”

  “You’re as relentless as ever.”

  “And you’re not?”

  He shrugged.

  I smiled and followed him down a set of stairs flanked by flora unique to the Silicon Valley. I missed spending time with him like this. Sure, this morning wasn’t like how it used to be, but it was as close to who we were when we were together than I’d been since he ended things with me.

  I thought of the evenings where we used to lounge around at his place, huddled up by the fire in those winter months. I remembered drinking spiked cider and how I loved to drape my bare legs over his lap so he could run his hands over my knees and thighs.

  He was the last man to touch me with such affection.

  A pang of regret rippled through me. I missed that more than I missed anything else. The closeness. The intimacy. The shared moments with another person I trusted more than anyone else in the world.

  We slipped back inside and Max showed me the amenities available to me as an employee, including a gym and showers. There were also plenty of rest areas where one could find quiet and uninterrupted moments.

  After that, we moved back toward the main office space so I could finish filling out all my paperwork and registering for my benefits.

  As we rode the elevator up to the office floor, I bit my bottom lip. “I’m sorry again about the drunk call.”

  Max didn’t look over at me. “Like I said, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

  “It was so humiliating.”

  He glanced at me. “Why?”

  “Because I was hammered and I spent three hours telling you how miserable I was.”

  “But look where it led you,” he said simply.

  Back to you. “Still,” I said, “it wasn’t very graceful of me.”

  Max grinned.

  “What?” I asked sharply.

  He ran his fingers through his hair like he used to when he was flustered. “Since when were you ever graceful, Janie Clarke?”

  “I’ve been known to have my moments.”

  The elevator doors opened with a soft chime and we stepped out into the lobby of Max’s main office. He strode purposefully toward my office, where we stopped outside my door.

  “I have a conference call to hop on,” he said. “My assistant is going to kill me if I miss another one. Get settled. Take your time. There’s no rush to hop right into all your duties but they have been added to your calendar. If you need anything, call Shawn. He’ll be your wingman.”

  I hated to lose my time with Max already, but I nodded. “Okay.”

  He adjusted the sleeves of his suit jacket. “Make sure you’re free for lunch.”

  “Why?”

  “I’d like to take you out and catch up properly.”

  A rush of excitement went through me. “Consider it done.”

  “I know a good place. Make sure you’re hungry.”

  I stepped into my office. “I’m always hungry, Max.”

  He smiled, and for a brief moment, the furrowed brow was gone. “I remember.”

  Cha
pter 8

  Max

  I purposefully took Janie to a restaurant outside of the headquarters building so we could eat in peace without feeling like people were watching us. I knew a quaint hole in the wall Thai restaurant with exceptional food and quality service, and the owner and I hit it off when I first started coming there to escape the craziness of the office.

  His name was Leroy and he ran his business with his family: his wife and his two daughters, both of whom stood to inherit the restaurant when he and his wife retired. For some reason, Leroy and his family reminded me of Piper and hers. Maybe that was the real reason I’d first started coming here after my month with Piper ended. This place felt familiar, and I knew in my bones Piper would have loved it here.

  Now I sat at my usual table by the window with Piper’s best friend smiling at me from across the table.

  Janie looked more beautiful than I remembered. I wished that wasn’t the case. Her radiant smile and the way her dress hugged her body made it hard not to remember the intimate moments we’d shared when we were together.

  I remembered how it felt to have the heat of her body pressed up against mine. I remembered the soft curve of her hip under my hand, the swell of her breasts, the racing of her pulse at her throat whenever I pressed my lips to the soft skin there.

  “What do you usually order?” Janie’s voice pulled me from my reverie. She had her eyes down studying the menu, but they flicked up to me when I didn’t answer. “Max?”

  “The cashew chicken.” I cleared my throat and took a sip of water. “Either that or one of the curries, but I suspect everything is good here.”

  “It certainly smells good.”

  This conversation felt safe and forced. Neither of us really wanted to talk about food. It didn’t matter. It was just easier to talk about than everything else left unsaid between us.

  Janie closed her menu. “Cashew chicken, it is.”

  We put in our orders and sat across from each other, silent.

  Janie averted her gaze. “Tell me something crazy that happened to you this year that I don’t know about.”

  I arched an eyebrow.

  “Go on,” she encouraged.

  The only thing that came to mind was Sienna beating the shit out of my McLaren, but that didn’t feel like the right thing to share.

  When I didn’t say anything, Janie leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I don’t want things to be weird between us, Max. I know we have history, but if we’re going to work together, we need to find a way to connect like we used to. I want to be your friend.”

  “So do I.”

  “Then tell me something bat-shit crazy so we can break the ice and get it over with.”

  So be it. “My crazy ex-girlfriend took a baseball bat to my McLaren a couple of months ago,” I said, hoping that was crazy enough to satiate Janie’s appetite.

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “Are you serious? Your McLaren? Isn’t that car like—”

  “Three hundred thousand dollars? Yeah. It was.”

  “What did you do?”

  I shrugged. “I agreed not to press charges if she got the help she needed.”

  Janie giggled.

  “Is something about that funny to you?” I asked.

  Janie covered her mouth and tried to contain her laughter. She failed. “I’m sorry,” she wheezed, waving a hand and bowing her head as her shoulders shook with laughter. “I don’t mean to laugh. It’s not funny. It’s just… I definitely feel better knowing I’m not one of the craziest women you’ve dated.”

  “You don’t fall on the crazy spectrum at all.”

  “Not even just a little bit?” She lifted a hand and held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

  “Well,” I said, pausing for dramatic effect, “the way you eat macaroni is a little insane.”

  Janie snickered. “I like to make it last as long as possible, okay? It’s my favorite food group. Eating it one noodle at a time ensures I don’t scarf down an entire bowl in sixty seconds.”

  I stared blankly at her. “Insane.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said, holding up her hands innocently. “I’ll give you that one. But at least the way I eat my macaroni doesn’t hurt anyone. Or their cars. Did you cry?”

  “Over what?”

  “When she trashed your car?”

  I laughed and shook my head. “No, I didn’t cry over a car.”

  “I would’ve.”

  “You cry when you get within a foot of an animal adoption center.”

  “Because they need homes, Max,” Janie said, the humor out of her voice now. “Why would you bring that up right now?”

  “I thought it was relevant.”

  She scowled at me but let it go. “So, what happened with this ex of yours?”

  “Nothing,” I lied.

  I certainly wasn’t going to say, hey, Janie, don’t worry about me but it turns out that psycho ex of mine is actually carrying my unborn child, so, yeah. Fun times. I’d hardly accepted it myself. I wasn’t going to go around sharing it with anybody.

  “So what’s your thing?” I asked.

  “My thing?”

  “I told you something crazy that happened to me this year. What was something that happened to you?”

  Janie sipped her water and eyed me over the rim. She had a sly smile playing on her lips. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Lay it on me.”

  She leaned forward like she was sharing top secret information with me. Her eyes darted around before settling on me and a giggle escaped her that was, in my humble opinion, the cutest sound I’d ever heard. “Easton called me two months ago,” she whispered.

  “Easton? Playboy, athlete, Casanova Easton?”

  “That’s the one,” she said. “He asked me out.”

  “No,” I breathed.

  She giggled again and nodded dramatically. “Yes. I couldn’t believe it. But he called me up out of the blue, said he was in the big apple and looking for a local to show him a good time, and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner and a show with him and see where it led. He said I looked great in my bridesmaid dress at Piper and Wyatt’s wedding.”

  “You looked better than great. You looked stunning.” The words fell from my lips before I realized I’d said them.

  Janie and I both froze.

  She recovered first and sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Yes, well, those words coming from Easton were a lot less charming than they are coming from you.”

  “Naturally. He’s Easton.”

  She smiled. “He was persistent.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him no, of course. He’s not my type. Besides, how bad would it look for me to start dating through the guys Piper turned down? That’s not a good look on a best friend in any scenario.”

  Ouch. Was that how she saw me now? As one of the guys Piper didn’t want?

  “Fair enough,” I said.

  Our food arrived just in time to spare me from this particular part of the conversation. Janie and I had both ordered the same thing and she leaned over her meal as steam rose from the bowl.

  “This looks amazing,” she gushed. “I’m so hungry. I didn’t eat anything this morning because I was so nervous for my first day. The nerves were for nothing in the end. You always manage to put me at ease no matter what.”

  She did the same for me. In fact, she had no idea how much of a relief her company was this morning. I’d been twisted up in knots over this thing with Sienna until Janie arrived with her big smile and sexy black dress.

  We enjoyed our meal together, and conversation shifted to safer, easier subjects. We talked about Piper and Wyatt a lot. They were common ground for us both and we were so happy for them that it was easy to discuss them becoming parents without either of us feeling bitter.

  Although I was a bit envious.

  Piper was having a baby with the man of her dreams. Wyatt was having a baby with the woman I believed for a time was t
he woman of my dreams. And I was having a baby with a psychopath who thought pummeling my car was a good way to settle an argument.

  “So this ex of yours,” Janie said as she picked at the remnants in her bowl. “What’s she like aside from obvious anger management issues?”

  “Blonde,” I said.

  Janie giggled. “That’s the best you have? Blonde?”

  I shrugged. How did one describe Sienna properly? “She’s beautiful in a manipulative kind of way. The outer layer is welcoming and bubbly, but as soon as you start to get to know her, you realize who she really is.”

  “And who is that?”

  “A snake,” I said simply.

  Janie whistled. “Dramatic. Good thing it’s over between you two then, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I grunted. “Good thing.”

  Janie crossed one leg over the other and eyed me from across the table. “Hey, Max?”

  “Yes?”

  “You can talk to me, you know.”

  Shit. Was it that obvious that I felt like I was being ripped in half?

  “I know,” I said.

  She nodded like she was satisfied with the answer. “Good.”

  I swallowed. “I’ve missed you terribly, Janie.”

  She froze as she reached for her glass of water.

  “I’ve missed us,” I said softly.

  Janie pulled back and clasped her hands together in her lap. Her breath hitched and her bottom lip trembled for a brief moment before she got her emotions under control. “I think about you all the time. I wish…” She trailed off.

  I didn’t push her to keep going. I didn’t expect anything from her. I hadn’t said I missed her because I wanted her to reciprocate. I just wanted her to know my truth.

  “I wish I’d made different choices, you know? When you asked me to move here with you last year, I should have said yes but my head was so far up my own ass with the promotion and I truly believed I was going somewhere. And now? Well, you know how the rest goes. I should have put you before my work, Max. I regret that a lot.”