A novel introducing Candy Thomas who thought she had found her soul mate in the name of Mace James. When she meets the new attorney at her law firm, Jordan Hayes, Candy is beginning to wonder if Mace is her soul mate after all when he starts to take their relationship for granted. Who will Candy choose?
PROLOGUE
Mace was my chocolate brother, fifty-three to my forty-two, a heavy-set, nice looking man who found the humor in every situation. I was his opposite, a serious woman who viewed most things in a negative light, and it showed on my always-frowning face. Mace was not my type, but he continued to pursue me. Then one day when we were talking on the telephone, I realized I was laughing. He made me laugh every time we talked and I liked this new side of me. I still couldn’t believe we were so hopelessly in love with each other.
Mace showed his love for me by cooking breakfast for me, cheerfully getting up an hour or so before me so that breakfast would be waiting when I walked into the kitchen. I showed my love for him by cleaning up the enormous mess he made when he cooked my breakfast. When he moved into my apartment on the lovely south side of
I was the luckiest woman in the world. Who could want for more? As great as he was, let me tell you, Mace did have his faults. He belonged to the school of thought that a man was king of the castle and the woman was his follower. Mace and I got into heated arguments when I refused to follow his orders. No one told this grown woman what to do and got away with it. Despite our disagreements, we loved each other and were able to work past them. I was happy and felt blessed.
It seems that when things are going fine, something will always come along to turn your world upside down. I was no exception to the rule.
I worked as a paralegal at a prestigious law firm on
It was a sunny Monday in April and
“Come in,” I said, not looking up. “I’ll be with you in just one more minute.”
“Take your time,” replied a smooth male voice. “I’ll just enjoy the view.”
Jordan Hayes was a newly hired associate attorney at the firm. I had seen him at a distance, but had not yet met him. The women in the office were all abuzz about him, taking bets on who was going to get into bed with him first. When they saw I was scheduled to work with him this week, they all teased me, telling me to remember Mace and not let my head get turned by
I looked up into the most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen. The eyes matched the rest of him. He wasn’t exceptionally tall, just about 5’9”, but he had a lean muscular body, surprising on a forty-five year old attorney. Few of the other men in our office could boast of a body like his.
“Are you Candy Thomas?” he asked. “I’m Jordan Hayes. I’m sorry to be so late but I’ve never worked in an office this large before. It took me some time to find you.”
“Yes I’m Candy. Don’t worry about being late. Mr. James needed me to get this ‘Motion to Strike’ ready for him anyway. I’m just finishing it now and I need to run it over to his office.” I was surprised at how normal I sounded. My insides were shaking and I felt like my body was burning up. I had to get away from him for a minute to calm myself down. All thoughts of Mace left my mind as I sneaked another peek at Jordan Hayes. He had an olive complexion that went well with his dark blonde hair. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I’d never felt like this before, especially about a white man.
“I’ll wait for you as long as you want me to,” he said. “But once we start, we’re going to be glued to each other for at least the next twenty-four hours. Do you need to let someone at home know you’re going to be working some serious overtime?”
“I will need to make a phone call later tonight, but my friend is a chef and he sometimes stays at the restaurant long after they close, trying out new recipes. Sometimes he gets so caught up in his work that he doesn’t get home until sunrise.” Why was I babbling? A simple ‘yes’ would have answered the question. The man was going to think I was an idiot.
“Do you want to meet me in my office when you’re finished or should I wait for you here?
“How about if we stop by your office and I’ll get you set up with an office manual and a recorder and tapes? Then I’ll be back to see you in about ten minutes or so.”
“Okay, sounds good. I have a couple of letters that have to go out this morning and I’m hoping you can make some big inroads into a pile of research I need. Mr. Taylor told me you were the best in the business and they were glad to have you. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but he said they paid you way over scale for your services and would be willing to pay even more to keep you.”
I was extremely flattered to hear that. I worked my ass off and that’s how I kept my job, not by spreading my legs like some of the other women in the office. I settled him in his office and left him there puzzling over the instructions for the recorder. I shut the door and leaned against it. Jordan Hayes was going to be a big problem for me, maybe more than I could handle. What in the hell was I going to do?
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REVIEWS
Passion in all sizes and shapes, November 20, 2006
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