Page 43 of Fumbled Beginning

“Do you need something?” I asked, spinning around and walking over to my desk. I took a seat and wanted to roll my eyes when I spotted Dominick sizing JP up. My ex spent a fair amount of time at the gym, but he was a sorry comparison to the All-Star Wide Receiver standing off to the side.

Dominick spotted the flowers on my desk; his eyes seemed to be glued there. “I wanted to talk to you about an event we just added to the calendar.”

He was always using an excuse to stop by my office. Most of the time, it was at the end of the day, and he would suggest drinks or sometimes dinner. Sometimes, he would find me in passing and manufacture reasons why he needed to talk to me. He wasn’t discreet about it, and it didn’t matter how many times I blew him off, Dominick wouldn’t take the hint.

“Can it wait?” I asked, reaching for my purse under my desk. “We were just on our way out to lunch.”

“Sure.” He simply nodded, held out his hand, and tried to force a smile that wasn’t even close to genuine. “Dom Cavallaro. You’re JP Watson, we’ve met briefly a few times when Rylee was my girlfriend.”

He just had to go and make things freaking awkward.

JP tilted his lips into a smirk. “Sorry, can’t say I remember meeting you, but then again, anyone standing next to Rylee is pretty forgettable.”

I shoved as much as I could into my purse so I could get the hell out of there before the pissing match started.

“Are you two dating?” His gaze turned hard as stone, and it annoyed me how standoffish he was coming across. What in the ever-loving hell was his problem?

“It’s new,” I said before JP had a chance to answer.

Dominick rubbed his palm along his chin. My ex was an attractive man with his tan skin, thick black hair, and muscular build, but having the two men together in the same room, I couldn’t help but notice how opposite they were.

Dominick was polished, whereas JP was rugged. He was also arrogant when JP was simply confident. From their physical appearance to their personalities, they were night and day. The biggest difference though, was that I felt absolutely nothing at all for my ex other than regret for all the time I wasted that I’d never get back.

“Okay, then.” Dominick pulled on the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Seeing that you already have plans for lunch, how about we meet for dinner?”

You’ve got to be freaking kidding me. He was testing me, trying to figure out how serious things were.

“Sorry.” JP walked over and held the door open, giving him a not-so-subtle hint. “Rylee isn’t available tonight or any other night in the foreseeable future. Your interruption has made us late for lunch, so please excuse us while we get on with our day.”

Oh, wow. Normally, I wouldn’t let something like this fly, but my ex was acting like an ass, and it looked like JP was one second away from losing his cool.

Dominick shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Seeing that you’re so busy, I’ll call you later.”

As soon as he disappeared down the hall, I sighed with relief. “Are you ready?” I asked, throwing my purse over my shoulder.

“Come here.” JP shut the door and held his hand out.

I walked into his arms. “I thought we were leaving?”

“We are.” He grabbed my waist, pulling me closer. “I didn’t know you worked with your ex?”

“The subject never came up.” I looked up at him, catching a hint of insecurity on his handsome face.

“What does he do here?” He swallowed, seeming uncomfortable.

“He’s our in-house legal counsel. We have five properties, so he travels between the facilities, but this is his home base.”

Our weekend had been so intense, and I was still trying to wrap my head around all that transpired. And JP’s reaction to my ex only added another layer of confusion.

“You know he wants you back, right?”

That was something I already knew, but I wasn’t going to admit that to JP.

I brushed a strand of hair off his forehead. “Doesn’t matter if he does. It won’t be happening.”

His arms tightened around me. “I don’t like him. He’s annoying.”

“Join the club. He’s not my favorite person at the moment either.”

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