My Hot New Year Read Free Page A

clapping like a circus ringmaster.
    I stare at Scott, frozen in horror.  He returns the gaze, with a look of pride for his ultimate power play.
    Wow!  So let me get this through my brain.  My lover, Jake, is not only the new owner of my company, he is also my ex-husband’s business partner.  I’m also being forced to move to New York City, so the company can ignore the enormous ethical conflicts between all of the above.  Splendid!
    Something tells me that finding a new job should be number one on my list of New Year’s resolutions.  Now all I see are mouths moving and hands clapping.  I hear absolutely nothing of what's being said.  This has got to be the worst possible moment I could go through.  I mean, I was a relationship columnist and shit like this NEVER came across my desk.  If it had, I would have run through the office like I had the winning lotto ticket.  Talk about gossip.
    There's a tense feeling in my stomach that seems to intensify when I thing about where Jake is.  All this time, I worried about the moment I'd have to face him, and now all I can wonder is WHY he isn't here.  Does he know that I'm Scott's ex?
    Oh, God.  I can't take it any longer.  The room is beginning to spin, and these mouths are moving faster and faster, like a bad cartoon.  I can't breathe.  A panic creeps over me as I contemplate how I am going to sit still any longer.  In a split second, I am on my feet interrupting everyone, yelling "I've got to leave. I've got to leave."  My voice feels strangled, yet I realize by the reactions around me that I am anything but quiet.
    Mike is next to me with a look of concern as I fumble to get past him and his comb-over to make my way to the exit.
    "Jillian!  Jillian!  Are you all right?"  I hear him shouting from behind me as I bolt for the door.
    I don't even toss a look over my shoulder while I power-walk toward my escape.  I need air.  I must get out of here.  Jake.  Sex.  Scott.  Move to New York.  All the things.  I’ve been trying so hard not to focus on slam through my thoughts.  Desperately I slam them back out again.
    I'm running down the hallway now, but there's no one to see my panic.  They all indulged in the “Jillian Meltdown Show" back the conference room.  Finally I spot the exit.  I feel as if my lungs are closing.  I push at the door and wince at the sight before my eyes.  There's a tall, dark haired man on his cell phone with his back to me and he looks suspiciously like Jake Sterns.
    This is more than nerve-racking.  As soon as the door swings open, the man looks around.  Right there, to my dismay, is the man who bound me with his silk tie and gave me the strongest proclamation of satisfaction that I ever experienced.  Oh God, he looks just as gorgeous as I remembered in the soft light of the snow covered cabin.  He's wearing an exquisitely tailored dark suit. His hair shines, and his lips look just as perfect as they felt on my skin.  Wow.  What a Christmas Eve that was...
    My eyes fall on his, and I feel my stomach flip over.  I'm going to die of panic.  Please just kill me, and do it quickly.  Where is the high-speed chase that mows down innocent bystanders when I need one?
    “Hello, Jillian,” he says as he pulls his phone down from his ear.  “I think it's time we talk."  He takes a few steps toward me.
    "Oh," I say.  "Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy day..."
    As I reach the little step outside the building I feel a stab of nerves, and without quite meaning to, I stop in my tracks.  Shaking uncontrollably, I take a deep breath and ask the million dollar question.
    "So...I suppose you know?"  I squint my eyes and look at him hesitantly.
    "Know that you are getting transferred to New York?  Know that your ex is my business partner?  Yes, I know all of that...now."  Jake says it all while staring directly at me.
    Don't look away.  Don't look away!  Don't show weakness.
    "But, I bet there's something you still don't