Coming Back To You (13 page)

Don Jacoby?
Why would Don be calling
him after all this time?

He let the call go to voice mail but
struggled to concentrate on the remainder of his conference call.
Don was a connection to Karma.

After the call with his boss ended, he
checked his messages.

“Hey, Mark. It’s Don Jacoby from Solar
Industries. I hope you’re doing well. But hey, I’d like to discuss
an opportunity with you. Give me a call back on this number.” He
rattled off his digits. “Call any time. I’ll be around. Thanks,
Mark.”

Not wanting to get his hopes up that the
universe was finally delivering, Mark got up, shut the door to the
office, and paced behind his chair as he collected his thoughts.
This could all be nothing. Just an acquaintance calling to check
in. A colleague and former client seeking advice.

Then again, Don’s call could end up changing
his life. This could be
it
. He took a deep breath and dialed
his number.

“Mark. Hi. Thanks for calling me back so
quickly,” Don said.

“Sure. No problem. What’s up? Everything okay
at Solar?” He already wanted to ask about Karma. How
transparent.

“Yes, yes. Everything’s great. We’re up
almost ten percent over last year, thanks to you.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
How’s Karma?
Is she seeing anyone? God, I hope not.
And how selfish was
that? He should be hoping that she was dating again. That had been
the whole purpose of their time together, to set her up to find her
one true love. But more and more over their months apart, he’d
thought that maybe, just maybe,
he
was her one true love,
because it was clear that she was his.

Don chuckled. “Took our guys a few months to
get used to that new software, but now they can’t live without it.
They’re getting almost twice as much work done now than before, and
the customers have really taken notice. We’ve secured two large
accounts we’d been after for years but who were always wary to
commit.”

To Mark, it was all
blah, blah, blah,
which was awful. He should have been happy to hear Solar was doing
so well. And, really, he was, but that wasn’t what he wanted to
talk about. Still, he forced himself to say, “That’s great, Don.
Glad to hear it’s turning around.” He paced to the window and
glanced out at a pair of geese drifting over the surface of the
retention pond behind the office building, knowing Don hadn’t
called to give him a company update. The man had something on his
mind, and all this chatter was just ice breaking kind of stuff.
“So, how’s everything else? Everyone doing well?”
Karma? Is she
doing well?
“The family?”

“Yes, everyone’s great. Better than great,
actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. And that’s partly why I’m calling.”

Now they were getting down to it.

“Mark, our COO is retiring, and I’ve been
offered the position.”

“That’s great news.” The geese tittered out
of the water and shook their tail feathers. “I know you had your
sights set on that position.”

“Yes, it’s what I’ve been working for. But
now the director of operations position is open, and…” Don paused,
and Mark could hear what was coming. “You’re the first person I
thought of as Phil and I discussed who would replace me.”

Mark closed his eyes and turned his face
toward the ceiling.

Thank you.

Even though nothing was set in stone, this
was the sign he’d been waiting for. He could feel it. Yes, he would
need to get the details. Yes, he would need to negotiate salary and
give notice at Carter Mitchell. Yes, he would have to make
arrangements to move. But in his heart, he knew that somehow, some
way, he would end up taking the job.

That had been over two months ago. And now,
here he was. It was a done deal. After weeks of discussion and
negotiating, he had signed the paperwork last night. He was Solar’s
new director of operations, and Karma was his assistant. Of course,
that would have to change now that he was back. She couldn’t work
for him if they were romantically involved. Mark wasn’t sure how
that would all work out, but he’d gotten his sign, so the rest
would fall into place.

Mark had it all figured out. He would reenter
her life and they would pick up where they’d left off last year.
After a few months, she would move in with him, which was why he
was looking at family homes instead of bachelor pads. He wanted
enough room for them both…and anyone else who came along later.
Because he definitely saw children in the cards.

“Hello, Karma,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to
see you again.” Maintaining a professional demeanor while the woman
he loved stood less than six feet away was nearly impossible.

Her brow crinkled as she glanced between him
and Don. “What’s going on?”

Okay, so that wasn’t the reaction he’d
expected, but then, maybe she was just trying to hide how intimate
they’d once been with one another so as not to let the cat out of
the bag. He really needed to discuss this with her in private.
Maybe he
should
have called her first. He’d thought about
it, but then decided against it, preferring to surprise her
instead. Suddenly, his plan didn’t seem like the best idea.

“Mark’s joining us,” Don said, clapping him
on the shoulder.

“J-joining us?” Karma’s luminous, green eyes
opened wide. “What do you mean?”

“He works for Solar now. We’re making an
announcement at the company meeting this morning. Mark’s our new
director of operations.”

The color drained from Karma’s face, and she
looked like she might be sick.

“You okay?” Mark realized this had to be a
lot for her to take in. The decision not to call and warn her
seemed to be backfiring. He’d only wanted to surprise her, not give
her a stroke. Now it was obvious he hadn’t really thought things
through. He’d been too excited to get back than to actually
formulate a plan on how to reenter her life.

“Yes, I’m just tired. I had a…um…” She
exhaled and lifted her fingers to her brow as she glanced down. “It
was just a long night.”

That’s when he noticed the ring.

Whoa. That wasn’t supposed to be there.

The fat, sparkling princess cut diamond on
her left hand glared like a magnified explosion he was viewing
through a telescope. And for all the destruction obliterating his
heart that very second, it might as well have been an H-bomb.

She wasn’t supposed to be engaged. That
hadn’t been part of his plan.

“Karma?” Don reached across the counter and
took her hand. “Is this what I think it is?”

Color rushed back into her cheeks as she met
Mark’s gaze and gulped. “Uh, yes. Brad asked me to marry him
yesterday.” Her eyes never left his as she spoke.

“Well, congratulations. That’s good
news.”

Yeah. Great news. Just fucking great.

He cleared his throat. “Yes,
congratulations.” Shit, but he felt like
he
was going to be
sick now.

The universe hadn’t given him a sign, after
all. It had slapped him in the face, and now it was sitting back
laughing its ass off.

So much for putting his faith in invisible
entities.

Chapter 15

In a stupor, Karma plopped into the chair beside
Lisa in the large, downstairs conference room. The rest of Solar’s
employees filtered in. The company’s president, Phil, along with
Don, Mark, and Barrett, the chief operating officer, stood in a
cluster at the front of the room, engaged in conversation.

Seeing Mark again had nearly made her faint.
He looked better than she remembered, his features sharper. He’d
also let his beard and mustache fill in, giving him a distinguished
yet welcoming appearance. She’d thought he looked good
clean-shaven, but this look was just as hot, if not hotter. And,
damn him, he’d worn that navy pin-striped suit she loved so much.
Seeing him in that suit had always turned her on, and now was no
different. She wanted to run her hands up the lapels and stroke his
beard with the tips of her fingers as she took his lips against
hers.

Except now, everything
was
different.
For starters, she was engaged. Second of all, she’d put him behind
her months ago. Or at least she thought she had.

What was he thinking taking a job with Solar?
Don’s job, no less. Was he insane? With their history, he’d been
crazy to even consider the position, let alone accept it.

“When did this happen?” she said quietly,
catching Lisa’s eye.

Lisa hunkered down and leaned closer so no
one would overhear. “From what I can tell, they’ve been talking to
him at least a couple of months, maybe longer. He just accepted
yesterday.”

A couple of months!
And he hadn’t
called to warn her? He hadn’t thought this was something she should
know, or that he should at least discuss it with her?

“What am I going to do, Leese?” This was a
colossal train wreck.

“We’ll figure it out. But, hey, maybe this
means the two of you can finish what you star—”

“I don’t think so.” Karma held up her left
hand, flashing her engagement ring.

“What!” Lisa’s eyes bugged out as several
pairs of eyes turned toward them, including Mark’s. She instantly
lowered her voice. “Oh my God, Karma. Brad proposed? When?”

“Yesterday. In front of my family.”

“And you told him yes?”

Karma nodded and glanced down at the ring as
she lowered her hand to her lap. Brad’s proposal and their pending
nuptials suddenly lost some of their luster. She just couldn’t find
the excitement she’d felt yesterday.

“What about his daughter? Jade? How’s that
going to work? From what you’ve told me, she hates you.”

Karma pressed her lips together and rubbed
her chin. Jade was a sensitive subject where Brad was concerned. “I
don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”

She never would have guessed that Brad’s
daughter would be such a thorn in her side. After she and Brad had
been dating a couple of months, he finally introduced them. Karma
had looked forward to meeting his daughter only to find that Jade
didn’t feel the same way. In fact, Jade made no secret that she
couldn’t stand Karma and only tolerated her presence to appease her
dad. And now Karma had just signed up for a lifetime with
Brad…
and
his daughter. Hopefully, things would get better
between her and Jade, because being around that twelve-year-old
bundle of hostility and disrespect for an hour left her frazzled
and near the end of her patience.

And now, to make matters worse, she had to
contend with Mark. How was this going to work?

Mark lifted his gaze to hers from the front
of the room, and her heart skipped a beat. In that split second,
she knew without a doubt that she still loved him, but damn it, she
didn’t want to. Mark could never give her what she wanted. What she
deserved
. She’d worked so hard to forget him. For her
efforts, she had won an engagement ring from a stable, good-hearted
man who wouldn’t flake out at the mention of commitment. Who
welcomed the idea of eternity with her. Maybe Brad wasn’t the most
passionate man, and maybe he wasn’t as sexually adventurous as
Mark, but he was emotionally solid and promised security. Karma
couldn’t let Mark get in the way of that, because she knew where
that road led. Straight back to heartbreak.

Lowering her gaze, she turned away.

“Damn him,” she whispered to Lisa. “Damn him
for coming back.” Her tone held more aggression than she
intended.

“Are you okay?” Lisa touched her wrist.

“No.” Anger rose in her blood. Why now? Why
come back now? After a year away? Mark hadn’t tried to call her
once. After leaving last September, he hadn’t called, and he hadn’t
e-mailed or texted. He hadn’t even written a fucking snail mail
letter or sent a generic Christmas card or wished her a Happy New
Year or a Happy Birthday or bothered to keep in touch at all. And
now, here he was. And from his hopeful expression when he’d walked
out of Don’s office and met her gaze, he thought everything could
go back to just how it had been before.

Well, screw that. She wasn’t going back. She
wasn’t the same person she was last year, and she had no desire to
return to that state of existence. She was with Brad now. That was
where she belonged. Mark needed to get that through his
commitment-phobic skull pronto. There would be no walks down memory
lane, holding her hand, kissing her, sweeping her into his bed.
That shit wasn’t going to happen. Karma refused to allow it.

“Karma?” Lisa nudged her arm. “What’s
wrong.”

“Just…I…” She huffed. “I’m so mad at him for
doing this to me. Now, of all times, when I’ve finally moved on and
found the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Who does
he think he is? He had no right to—”

“Calm down, Karma. Just keep your cool.” Lisa
gently waved her hand in a downward motion to indicate she needed
to take deep breaths and chill. “We’ll go to lunch after the
meeting, and you can unload then, but hold it together during the
meeting.”

Karma crossed her arms and threw one leg over
the other, tapping her foot in the air. Fine. She would keep her
emotions under control for now, but once she and Lisa left for
lunch, she wasn’t going to hold her frustration in. She had a thing
or two to say about Mark reinserting himself into her life when she
had only just gotten over him.

Chapter 16

Karma fumed through the entire meeting. Why did Mark
have to be so fricking hot? So delectably sexy? So magnetically
gorgeous? Shouldn’t someone allergic to long-term relationships
have an egg-sized wart on his nose? A missing front tooth? No teeth
at all?

But his sex appeal didn’t make up for his
audacity.

Unable to meet his gaze, she kept her eyes on
Don, Phil, and Barrett—the traitor. Barrett was retiring. How dare
he retire and leave an opening Don needed to fill. Now she was
stuck with Mark, because Don would move into Barrett’s upstairs
office and inherit
his
assistant.