22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Christian

23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Fiona

Sneak Peek

Falling for My Ex Next Door

Here is a Sneak Peek:

Chapter One

Clara

Chapter One

Fiona

Many things could be considered a big deal; one of them for me was meeting Christian Carr. The last time I saw him, we were kids, and my mother was driving us out of Laketown for good.

Was I nervous? Yes, but my desperation to excel at this job was bigger than whatever might come out of meeting Christian Carr. My sole objective at the meeting’s conclusion was to persuade him of my value to the company.

Allison, Christian’s younger sister and my best friend in the whole wide world, has assured me that her brother really did need an assistant. He knew I was coming and was thrilled to have me on his team.

I took another deep breath as I locked the door to my new apartment behind me. The job was going to be mine. It was the whole reason I moved back to Laketown, and it helped that my hometown was easy to fall back in love with.

When we left Laketown, my mother and I had hoped to find greener pastures. Mom’s cafe wasn’t doing as well as we’d hoped, and I also didn’t last at any of the jobs that I got. I was going to do any and everything to make sure that Christian Carr took one look at me and knew that I meant business.

I would be the secretary he could rely on, and I would keep this job, and he would worry less, and everyone would be happy. I would be the one who brought life and light to his company.

Success all around.

I flew in quite late yesterday, and all I managed to do the entirety of last night was talk to Allison about how nervous I was to meet Christian after all these years. I managed to give off the impression that I didn’t care too much about Christian the entire four years of college. Allison and I went to college together, after having been best friends in Laketown.

Christian and I both lived on Winston Street. Even though, as kids, the Carrs lived over at Grayson Street. A very long distance from here.

I stepped out of the tiny black gate in front of the house. This was going to be a great day for me, I was going to meet Christian, and we were going to rule the corporate world together.

I walked up the street towards Christian’s house. Over and over, I repeated the affirmations I spent the entirety of last night learning. Nothing was going to catch me off guard. I wasn’t going to be the one who got a job and quit it. My mother wouldn’t have to worry about me anymore.

She worried a lot.

I got to the house number and stood just outside the black gate. It was the same as the one in front of my house. But it wasn’t the gates that made me stand still; it was the toned muscular man wiping down a black car.

I’ve seen a lot of naked men in my days, but this had to be one of the best. I would have been drooling if the man didn’t turn around to face me. It was a struggle, I’d admit it in a heartbeat, to tear my eyes away from the body before me to look up at the face of a person who religiously worked out to get their body to this state.

My words stuck in my throat as the face stared unmoving at me. I ran through the list of words I could be called in that moment. Pervert sat atop the list.

“Fiona?” The man said, his thick brows furrowed. “Fiona Reece?”

I blinked once and then again, my eyes falling this time to the lips my name fell out of. An amused look settled on it, and I’ve spent a lot of my childhood looking at those lips to which I could immediately tell who they belonged to.

Christian Carr, as I lived and breathed, stood there with biceps that I wouldn’t mind having me in a hug. And I realized, albeit lately, that the thing about childhood crushes was they never really went away.

“Hey, Christian,” I said, barely even recognizing my own voice. I cleared my throat. “Hey.”

“Look at you! Long time no see.” He smiled widely, taking several steps until he was standing in front of me.

I’d hug him if he wasn’t showing so much skin. When I took the trip back to Lakewood, the last thing I expected to see was my future boss looking like a thirst trap. And while I knew he had no idea what he was doing to me, it was still hard to come to my senses.

“Allison said you’d be expecting me,” I said, giving his body a once over and trying to look nonchalant about it.

“One minute,” was all he said before disappearing into the house.

It was a lot longer than one minute when he came back outside with less skin showing and no sweat. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d have some more time before you showed up.”

Half-naked or clothed, the man was still a danger to my health. I cleared my throat again and offered him a small smile.

“I got excited about working for you, so I came over a little earlier.”

I saw him now that there were less body parts to focus on. His brown hair was slicked back, and his jaw, defined like it was sculpted by some god. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. As if I didn’t already have a crush on him; I needed to forget about that.

And because he smiled at me, it was only natural that I smiled back. My heartbeat was going off the charts, and I attributed that to the fact that we hadn’t seen each other in so long. I was thrilled to see him. And if the butterflies in my stomach took off after he hugged me, it was all because of the immense happiness I was feeling.

“How are you doing?” He asked. The scent of his cologne wafted into my nose. Talk about manliness.

“I’m doing fine. I was actually trying to figure out your address.”

“ Oh, you found it.” He pointed at the duplex that was just adjacent to my house. A couple of houses past my house, but it was so close that I could see my house from where I stood.

“Ah, I didn’t know we were neighbors!” I wryly chuckled.

“I didn’t know either.” He grinned.

His teeth weren’t perfectly aligned, but they were white and pretty. Christian Carr had pretty teeth.

“It’s fine. I’m glad I didn’t have to walk too far.”

“Really?” he asked, tone teasing.

And I took the bait and nodded. “I’m just down the street. Anyways, I’m thrilled to be working with you.”

Christian grinned in response.

“Yes, about that. Can we go in so I can put you through some fundamentals?” He said, tucking his phone in the left pocket of his maroon pants.