Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1)

by Ashland, Jodi

  “No, what do you have in mind?”

  “I make a mean lasagna.”

  His eyes lingered on her lips when she sipped water from the straw. “I love lasagna.”

  “It’s a date then.” Only it was three agonizing days away. Why, why, why did I suggest we go slow?

  INTENDED TO INTIMIDATE and impress, the executive boardroom was in a corner office on the forty-second floor, overlooking Puget Sound to the west and Mt. Rainier to the south.

  “What’s your flavor, cutie?” Roz held up a sparkling water and a soda to Bryce.

  “I think this might call for a soda, Roz.” Bryce was eager to find out how the board of directors would accept Jade as their new leader.

  Jade took a deep breath. She twisted the emerald ring on her right hand, a sign that she was nervous.

  To the others, all they’d see was a confident young woman in a dark green pantsuit with a small gold brooch on the lapel. Her hair was pulled back in a tight professional bun, and she wore a simple pair of pearl earrings. Bryce had to admit, he preferred her hair down.

  “Good afternoon.” Jade sat at the head of the large boardroom table, deliberately making eye contact with each member. “I’m delighted to be here with you today. Shall we get started?”

  She rose with the PowerPoint clicker in her hand, waiting for Roz to dim the lights. Jade walked comfortably around the room as she gave the presentation to the board on her strategic initiatives, including quality improvements and on-time deliveries. They asked several questions, and she competently answered them. When everyone voted in favor of the strategic initiatives, she moved on to the next subject.

  “Now, on to an important item of discussion. I would like the board to approve the acquisition of a two-hundred-fifty thousand dollar pick-and-place machine for Manufacturing. If you look at the memo Roz is placing before you, you will see that this new piece of capital equipment will pay for itself in as little as three months.”

  “We’ve heard about this machine before, Jade,” Andrew, a short, portly board member, said. “Stan was adamantly against it. He didn’t feel the Manufacturing manager’s numbers added up.”

  “Stan no longer works here, and the more I speak to our employees, the more I realize that Stan blocked a lot of initiatives that would have increased the profitability of this company. I checked the numbers myself. They’re solid.”

  “The bank is already questioning our stability.”

  “If we don’t implement the strategic initiatives I just outlined, this company will fail. We need this piece of equipment to meet our product deliverables. Which is why I’m willing to put up my condo as collateral.”

  Bryce didn’t agree with Donald’s recommendation for Jade to use her condo as collateral, but he admired her for taking the risk.

  Roger, a long-term shareholder who’d worked for Synergy many years back, spoke up. “It’s commendable that you’re willing to put up collateral, Jade, and it’s clear you’re committed to improving our financial situation. However, we have another item to discuss. We’ve been approached by Johansson Tek.”

  “What?” she gasped.

  “They want to buy out Synergy.”

  Jade rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not selling my shares.” Her voice wavered. She swallowed hard and turned to Bryce.

  As a privately held company, the board was made up of eleven advisors, who held two million shares. Jade held five, and Bryce held three. Gloria had made sure Jade had controlling interest, but gave the board and him enough control to block her. “I’m not selling either.” He sent her a reassuring smile.

  “I urge you both to think this through,” Roger said. “The offer is worth millions, and it’s better than losing the company.”

  JUST ONE MORE THING TO WORRY ABOUT. The board voted in favor of the new pick-and-place machine. Payments on it would start next month, payments they couldn’t afford to make. Jade was plowing through the financials hard, requesting reports, asking each department a lot of questions. She was so young, so naïve. She had no idea the impact she was having and how bad the financial situation was getting.

  When he’d originally started skimming off the top, it had been easy to ensure there was enough revenue coming in to cover costs and show a reasonable profit. But Jade kept making new changes without checking with anyone. She was upsetting the balance, and he couldn’t make adjustments fast enough.

  He typed “Johansson Tek, LLC” in the ERP system and reviewed the purchase orders. There were too many open orders for him to revert the account back from the bogus entity. He tried “Sentra Systems, LLC” and found only new orders. Carefully, he calculated a percentage to reduce the purchase order amount to. If he changed the amount too drastically, it might raise red flags. He’d do a little at a time, month after month, until the company was earning substantial profits again.

  Short of murder, this was the only way to get Jade from finding out the truth. He’d sent her a warning, only to have it backfire. Even though he’d killed two people and gotten away with it cleanly, as soon as he’d hit Jade over the head, a detective with a personal connection had gotten involved.

  Why else would they send a homicide detective for an assault?

  The only thing that made sense was if the detective suspected Gloria’s death was suspicious to begin with.

  He shook his head. That couldn’t be. Marge had cleaned up the office while she waited for the ambulance. Good ol’ Marge, he could always count on her. It had been months since Gloria’s burial, and there was no indication of an ongoing investigation. Even the professor’s accident had been chalked up to a drunk driver.

  Detective Hawkins hadn’t shown up until he’d hit Jade. Somehow, her involvement had triggered a deeper investigation. He couldn’t take the risk of hurting her again. The detective was asking too many questions, poking his nose into all the wrong places. Even into people’s homes and their private lives.

  Recognizing the ringtone, he picked up his cell phone on the first ring.

  “Did you make the changes we discussed yet?”

  “I’m working on it right now.” He typed in another company name and hit Enter.

  “You’ve got to make it look good, so Jade stops asking questions. We don’t need that detective breathing down our necks.”

  “I’m taking care of it. Now let me finish.”

  “Call me later. I want to know how much this will impact us.”

  Of course you do.

  He was worried about going to jail, not the money.

  Searching the database again, he found two companies with no open orders and invoices. These would work perfectly.

  He stood and walked over to the filing cabinet. He glanced toward the door to make sure it was still closed. Then he opened the top drawer and pulled two files from the very back.

  He sat at the desk and flipped open the manila folders. Punching the real address and phone number into the keyboard, he modified the companies’ profiles. Quotes for supplies would now come in at their retail value without his percentage on top of it. This would work out well, since they’d need to place a large order in the next couple of weeks, based on a recent sale. Profit would be higher on these units and would be reflected in the end of month financial reports.

  He noted a few more companies he might be able to modify next month, after the orders were received. If he could put a few obstacles in her way and get Jade to slow down, within a few months, they’d be showing steady profits, and she and the bank would finally back off.

  And if he couldn’t… well, he’d have to risk taking care of her once and for all.

  CHAPTER 21

  JADE RAN TO HER OFFICE to grab the McDermit contract. She glanced at the clock. Bryce was waiting for her. They’d gone to dinner together every night this week, but tonight was their first official no-pretense-of-working date. She was going to make him her favorite lasagna recipe. And after that… well… She took a moment to brush her hair and check her face before she
met Bryce.

  Lip gloss, I need lip gloss.

  The nice shade of pink matched her cheeks perfectly. Happy with the results, she rushed off to see him. “Bryce, I thought you’d like to review the McDermit contract before we, oh—” Jade came to a screeching halt. Kenzie was sitting on the edge of Bryce’s desk, her hands on his shoulders, her back to Jade, and she was kissing Bryce.

  Kenzie turned around and smiled at her. “I didn’t realize Bryce had company.”

  Jade couldn’t force her lips to curve. It was all she could do to keep them from trembling. Bryce had lied to her. “I, uh, well I’ll leave this here for you later then.” She placed the file on the end of his desk and couldn’t look at either of them. She glanced at the door. “I… better get going.”

  Bryce stood. “Kenzie will be leaving in a few minutes. I can go over the contract with you then.”

  “That’s okay, really.” Her throat stung. “Just leave it on my desk for the morning. I’ve got to go. I have somewhere to be.” Which was anywhere but here. Jade smiled as best she could. She wasn’t going to let him see how much he’d hurt her. “Nice seeing you again, Kenzie.” Jade couldn’t leave the room fast enough.

  Bryce followed her out to the elevator. “I thought we were doing dinner tonight at your place?”

  Jade shook her head. “Sorry, I made other plans.”

  “What kind of plans?”

  When the door opened, she got onto the elevator.

  Bryce held it open. “What kind of plans?”

  Jade desperately wanted to get away from him. “I’ve got a date. I’m late.”

  Bryce’s mouth dropped opened just before the doors closed.

  I’m such an idiot. Jade berated herself. She’d fallen for “she’s my cousin” hook, line, and sinker. How could I be so stupid?

  BRYCE STOOD THERE, STUNNED. How could Jade have a date? She’d never talked about another man. He’d thought… hell, he didn’t know what to think. They’d agreed to take their relationship slow, but they’d made no commitment; for all he knew she had lots of men. She worked long hours, worked weekends too. How did she have time to develop a relationship with someone else? Maybe it was Zachary or Timothy. He’d seen the way Timothy had come on to her, and it was obvious she and Zachary were chummy.

  He walked back to his office and slumped into his chair.

  “Did she go?” Kenzie asked.

  “Yeah, she has a date.”

  “No she doesn’t, you moron.” Kenzie nudged him. “She’s flat-out jealous of me. Haven’t you told her we’re cousins?”

  The vise on his chest loosened. He thought about it for a second. “Yeah, I told her. So she doesn’t have a date?”

  “No, dummy.” Kenzie waved him off. “I was kissing your cheek when she walked in. From her angle, she must have thought it was something else.”

  “But you’re my cousin.”

  Kenzie winked. “You have heard of kissing cousins, haven’t you?”

  “Well, why didn’t she just say something?”

  “Because she felt rejected and came up with a story to make you think she’d rejected you instead.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “What?”

  “Jade thinks I lied to her.” Bryce shot up from his chair and put his leather jacket on. “Sorry, Kenz, I have to go. Need me to drop you off at the hospital?”

  “No, I’ll find my way there. Go get your girl back, now.”

  THE LAST PERSON JADE WANTED TO SEE was Bryce, but there he was, standing on her doorstep. She wasn’t about to let him worm his way out of this. It was wrong to start a relationship when he still had a girlfriend. She wasn’t going to be the other woman and she definitely wasn’t into the multiple-partner thing. “Why are you here?” She blocked the doorway.

  “Can I come in?”

  “No… I’m going out soon. No time for company.” Jade faked a smile.

  Bryce took one look at what she was wearing. “You’re not going anywhere in that. Let me in, Jade. Please.”

  It figured she was in her oversized nightshirt with the UW Husky mascot. There was no way to brazen her way out of this one. She left the door open and sulked back to the kitchen, sitting down at her kitchen table with a tub of chocolate ice cream while Whiskers enjoyed a small bowl. She wasn’t about to offer Bryce any.

  Bryce stopped by the table and rolled up his sleeves. “What happened back there, Jade? Do you think I lied to you about having a girlfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why didn’t you just say that? Why did you tell me you were going out on a date?”

  “What does it matter? You can be with as many women as you want. Why can’t I?”

  “I’m not with any women.”

  “What about your girlfriend?”

  Bryce pulled the spoon out of her hand and jabbed it in the ice cream. He took her hands in his. “Mackenzie’s not my girlfriend. She really is my cousin. We grew up together, and she’s my roommate.”

  Jade arched an eyebrow. Yeah, and if every girl believed that line…

  “She told me to come here tonight. Why would she do that if she was my girlfriend?”

  “You two seem awfully close.”

  “She was kissing my cheek when you walked in. If I had been kissing her, would I have followed you out to the elevator and asked you about our date?”

  True. He hadn’t acted the slightest bit guilty. Instead, he’d been confused. But… “At the barbeque, you two seemed like a couple. The way you touched each other, stood together…”

  “I kind of got used to using her to keep other women away. They just assume she’s my girlfriend when we’re together.”

  “So what am I? What am I to you?”

  “I… don’t know.” Bryce gripped her hands.

  Jade pulled away. She walked to the sink and grabbed the edge of the counter to help her fight back the tears. She’d been in love with him for as long as she could remember. Her chest tightened. Didn’t he know they were perfect together?

  Bryce placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. He lifted her chin so she was looking up at him through glassy eyes. “I know we shouldn’t be together. You’re my boss.”

  Her throat stung.

  “But I have strong feelings for you, and I don’t want to take this relationship slow anymore.” He gently pulled her into his arms. “Do you have the same feelings for me?”

  Jade didn’t have to think twice about his question. She was crazy in love with him, but she couldn’t tell him that. She didn’t want to scare him away. Was she supposed to say, Yes. All I think about when I’m near you is when are you going to kiss me again? No, Aleks would probably tell her to play it cool, keep the ball in her court. That would keep him on his toes.

  His muscles tensed and he started to pull away. She put her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. “Yes,” she whispered.

  He took a deep breath and relaxed. “I thought I’d just made a fool of myself. I know we shouldn’t be doing this”—he placed a hand on the side of her cheek—“but I want an exclusive relationship with you.”

  Her pulse jumped. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure it’s not the right thing to do given we work together, but yes, that’s what I want. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. The only person who can fire me is you.”

  She couldn’t stop the wide grin from spreading across her face or her chest feeling so light, she might float away. “So, no more pretending we have to work on the weekends just so we can see each other?”

  He laughed. “No more. Now we just go out together and do non-work things.”

  “No more making up work to do in the evenings so we can spend time together?”

  “We’ll spend the evenings here at your place.” She arched an eyebrow. “If you want to spend time with Kenzie, we can go to my condo.”

  “That’s okay. We’ll stay here.” Jade pulled him closer. “And when you have an event to go to and yo
u need to bring a date?”

  “I’ll take Kenzie,” Bryce joked.

  Jade elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Ow. I meant, I’ll bring you.”

  She grinned. “And how do you think we should act at work?”

  “Professional, as always.”

  Jade laughed. “So, do we let everyone know up front, or do we shock them at the next company event?”

  “Let’s give it some time, and if things work out between us, then we’ll shock them.” Bryce planted a kiss on her forehead.

  The idea of things working out between them, of having a long-term relationship with him, was more than she’d ever hoped for.

  “Got any plans on Saturday?” he asked.

  “Other than work? No.”

  “Then come to my rugby game and cheer me on. Besides, the guys are dying to meet you.” He planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “Really? You told your friends about me?”

  “Oh, yeah. They’ve been pestering me about missing the games. So naturally, I blamed it on you.”

  “Hey.” Jade elbowed him again.

  “Okay, okay. They know you get under my skin.”

  She rose on her toes, inviting him to plant a kiss on her lips.

  He slid one hand around her neck and lowered his mouth to hers. The soft caress of his tongue caused a slow ache in the pit of her stomach. When he balled her nightshirt into his fist, goose bumps rose on her arms and legs.

  She shivered, not from a chill, but from a searing heat that coursed through her veins. She’d dreamt about this moment for so long. And now here he was, with his warm hand gripping her lower back and pulling her hips into his. A low moan came from deep within him as his tongue demanded more.

  She slipped her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer, tasting him, wanting him, never wanting to let him go. She was so in love with this man, this man who could infuriate and excite her all at the same time.

  His lips trailed down her neck to the V of her shirt.