by Noelle Adams
She actually liked working retail. She loved designer clothes—loved them—and she was really good at working with customers and keeping her department running smoothly.
It was a good job, and there was a lot of potential for her to advance in the store chain. She hadn’t lived on campus since her freshman year, so her social life wasn’t affected by the transition. She didn’t mind taking classes in the evening, but she didn’t always study as much as she should.
“If you’d told me the exam was coming up earlier,” Adam said, “I could have helped you study over lunch.”
She laughed. “You just want any excuse to show off.”
His dark eyes warmed again in that way he had—which made it seem like he was smiling even when he wasn’t. “Now what could I possibly want to show off?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe your freakish knowledge of all areas of history. I thought you were working on your MBA. How do you know so much history anyway?”
He glanced away, looking slightly diffident. “I read a lot. Plus, I got a Master’s in history before I started the MBA.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. Adam didn’t share much personal information with her, but she’d put together the facts she knew into a rough timeline to estimate his age. She’d been thinking he was around twenty-four, three years older than she was. But she now bumped it up to twenty-six.
“If you’re such a history buff, why are you doing the MBA?” It was a personal question—more personal than anything she’d asked him before.
For a moment, she was nervous, wondering if their casual relationship would allow it.
He didn’t hesitate before he answered. “History was for me. The MBA is for my family.”
“Oh. That’s a pretty big thing to do, just because your family wants you to.”
“Yeah, I guess. My dad always wanted me to do it. He died a couple of years ago, so I thought…”
He trailed off, but Zoe understood anyway. He’d gone against his family’s wishes by going into history, and the MBA was a gesture of loyalty now that his father was dead.
For some reason, it touched her. That Adam loved his family so much. For the first time, she looked at him with something more than amusement and interest—with something deeper.
“What does your mom think?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t intruding on his privacy but wanting to know more.
“She died too. Same time as my dad.” When she gasped, he added in explanation, “It was a boating accident.”
Details clicked in Zoe’s mind then. A boating accident. Two years ago. “Is your…is your last name Peterson?”
Adam let out a textured sigh and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t look upset by her discovery. Just slightly rueful. “Guilty.”
Zoe had heard about the Petersons. Everyone who spent any time in the area had heard about the Petersons. They were a kind of First Family for the city, with a long history in business development and local politics. Harold Peterson, who must be Adam’s grandfather, had spent decades as the mayor.
“Wow,” she breathed. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah. I know you didn’t.”
When she just looked at him, trying to reconcile her lunch buddy with this local dynasty, he gave a half-shrug. “It’s really not that big a deal.”
She realized she was making him uncomfortable, so she pulled it together. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
His expression changed, softened. “Thanks. They were great. I still miss them.”
Both of Zoe’s parents were still alive, and she was really close with both of them, so her heart went out to him. “Your grandfather is still alive, right?”
“Yeah. He’s thrilled about the MBA. I’m sure he has visions of my becoming a pillar of society and maybe going into local politics.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know. Not the politics thing, no. But the MBA has actually been rather helpful. My cousin and I have started a company.”
“Really? What’s that?”
He looked a little sheepish—like he was really proud of something and slightly self-conscious because of it. But he pulled something up on his laptop and moved it over so she could see.
She looked at the screen and saw what appeared to be a video game.
Adam explained, “Josh, my cousin, is a tech guy, so he did all the coding. We’ve already started to launch it, and so far it’s going pretty well. It’s called Light Switch.”
Zoe clicked a few times, just to see what happened. Her eyebrows arched as a question popped up on the screen.
“It’s a trivia-based game,” he added.
She started to laugh. “It looks great. Very cool.”
“I can send it to you, so you can try it out, if you want.”
Her eyes rested on him, and she felt a strange surge of fondness, kinship. He looked so pleased with himself but was trying to play it cool—just the way she’d felt when the store had wanted to promote her.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“I’ll need your email address.”
She gave it to him. “It’s nice you could partner with your cousin.”
“Yeah.” Adam finished typing her email address and put the laptop away. “He’s actually supposed to come by in a few minutes so we can do some work on Light Switch plans.”
“I’ve got loads of cousins, but I only talk to them maybe once a year. How great that you two are friends.”
“I don’t know if we’re really friends yet. I don’t know him as well as I’d like. His mom cut ties with us—the rest of the family, I mean—so I didn’t know him at all growing up. He’s been kind of hard to get to know. I think maybe he resents that he had a harder time growing up—since she wouldn’t accept any help from the family. He always says he’s not a ‘real’ Peterson. But it’s getting better now. He likes the idea of the game, and he did a really good job with it.”
“I can’t believe you invented a game and set up your own company. I’m pretty impressed.”
“We’re actually having a get-together on Saturday night for everyone who worked on it to celebrate the launch. Maybe—”
His eyes slanted over to the door to the café and he cut off what he was starting to say. Zoe turned automatically to see what had diverted him.
When she saw the young man who entered, she realized it must be Adam’s cousin.
He was the best-looking guy she’d ever seen in real life.
As he approached, she did a quick assessment of her appearance. She wore a cashmere twin set and pencil skirt that she thought were flattering. She wasn’t as tall as she’d like, so she always wore high heels to compensate, and her shoes today were new.
She smoothed down her fair hair—even though it was ruler-straight and had never shown the slightest tendency to wave or curl in her life.
Deciding she looked as good as she could for the moment, she turned to be introduced to Adam’s gorgeous cousin.
Adam was obviously not interested in her romantically—having not made any sort of move in two months—but that didn’t mean his cousin wouldn’t be.
He grinned as he approached their table, his smile absolutely breathtaking.
“Well, hello,” he said, his hazel eyes resting on her face with obvious interest. “I’m Josh.”
You can find out more about Bittersweet here.
About the Author
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
Other Books by Noelle Ad
ams
One Hot Night: Three Contemporary Romance Novellas – Hearts can change in just one night…
A Negotiated Marriage – Sex wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal…
Listed – A marriage of convenience has never been like this.
Bittersweet – Love is as strong as death.
Missing – Sex would never be enough…
Revival – There wasn’t enough left of his heart…
Seducing the Enemy – She’ll never let him win…
Playing the Playboy – She’ll never fall in love…
Love for the Holidays – My novella, Holiday Heat, is included in this collection of five Christmas romances.
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Teaser Excerpt from Bittersweet
About the Author
