Twelve Weeks Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Twelve Weeks

  Serendipty series Book Two

  A Billionaire, Second Chance Romance

  By Robin Edwards

  © Copyright 2017 by Robin Edwards

  and Second Chances Press

  All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. Names and persons in this eBook are entirely fictional. They bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead. To protect the privacy of certain individuals the names and identifying details have been changed. This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

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  Chapter One

  JAMIE

  It was already 3:59 pm when I glanced at the clock. I wanted to kick myself for putting the report off until the end of the day. Amy asked me to have it ready for her by close of the business day and now I’m typing as fast as humanly possible with one hour lefts, hoping to not let her down.

  It has been a long road for the two of us, despite her and Sam’s previous history and her undeniable attraction to him, she has been very respectful of me at work. She was still my boss and I didn’t want to upset her by missing a manageable deadline. Of course, it helped that Sam and I didn’t flaunt our relationship in her face, but she’s not blind either.

  It still felt surreal, the idea of Sam and I. After so many periods of hit and miss, for a minute there I sincerely believed that things wouldn’t work out between him and I. I was sure that things would turn out like all of the rejections I suffered in my past. Here we are though, three months later getting to know each other without rushing into anything too fast or putting an official label on it.

  Granted, we only spent time with each other and despite his busy schedule, he continued to make time for me.

  “Noth again! Ugh!” I cursed aloud as I realized I made another error as I rushed through the report.s

  My best friend, Lisa, always told me to relax on the pressure I was placing on myself at work. I love what I do, and I’m very good at it, so that’s what I want my co-workers to judge me for. Besides, Sam is a harsh critic himself, and I can’t imagine him keeping me around if I wasn’t doing a good job.

  When I landed my last client, he was happy, but not too ecstatic, like he expected that type of success from me, and I have to be honest, I liked that. I’m not the type of girl who had anything handed to her, and I would never want that to change.

  Everything I’ve had in my life, I worked hard to achieve, and Sam might not know my whole story, but I know he’s aware of the differences in our life. Cotton Wood Beach is a friendly, close-knit community, but it is no Sutton Hill, that is for sure.

  I can’t begin to imagine what growing up in such a stuffy community was like for him, and I guess he must feel the same about me. Cotton Beach doesn’t really define me though, but Sutton Hill is always the first thing out of anyone’s mouth from that community. They wear their zip code like a badge of honor, something I’ve never understood.

  Fortunately, Sam isn’t like the majority of people I’ve met from his esteemed neighborhood. He’s chill and very down to earth. Really, he has no choice because the majority of the workers at the Jerry Ellis Foundation, where we work together, do not live in his wealthy gated community.

  That aside, I’ve never seen him have a problem with any of the workers, and he is a very involved boss, the kind that knows everyone’s name and remembers birthdays. Sam is sweet in that way – he likes to make other people feel special, and I love that about him.

  Here I am, gushing about him again, making a mistake after mistake on this document to Amy. I’ll have to go through and edit it if I have time. Although I know she won’t even look at it until Monday morning, I have to meet our set deadline to ease my pride.

  Every so often, I ask Sam what Amy has said about me, and while he always assures me she was good things to say, I never want that to change, so I go above and beyond especially when she is involved. She’s the Vice President of the organization, so I think she deserves that much respect and consideration.

  Hopefully, one day I’ll be filling her shoes because this organization means a lot to me, and I can’t ever see myself working anywhere else. Founded in memory of his late father, Sam took over the family businesses, both this non-profit foundation and the for-profit Jerry Ellis Enterprises. In the years he’s managed them, both have soared passed previous benchmarks and projections, so he must be doing something right.

  I’d love to play a role in revamping some of the current programs to affect more communities, whereas they currently provide arts and humanities opportunities for children in surrounding communities, focusing primarily on Sutton Hill.

  Knowing their family has lived in the exclusive community for decades, I understand the attachment, but those kids don't lack opportunity, and I’d love to help children with no other options. When I mentioned the idea to Sam he seemed to agree, but he was working on his laptop, and sometimes I feel he’s not even listening to me when he’s typing on that thing.

  Don’t get me wrong, I like that he’s busy and dedicated to his career, but if he ever wants to start a family like his older siblings he’s told me about, he’ll have to switch up his priorities one of these days.

  Gosh, I sound like a nagging girlfriend! I don’t mean to be, but sometimes I feel like the more mature person in our relationship, and Sam is twelve years older than me. His professional life hasn’t really left him much time for dating, and although he’s never blatantly admitted it, I think I’m his first girlfriend.

  The learning curve is ever present when we’re handling issues because he has no idea what a normal relationship looks like. I’ve had to explain everything to him, but it’s not as frustrating as it was in the beginning. At least I know he’s trying and willing to make an effort, which means the world to me.

  Just then, my cell phone vibrates, the loud buzz making me jump as I glance over at the flashing screen. It’s
my bandmate Aaron, and while I know he can’t want anything serious, I answer the call just in case.

  “I’m at work, so make it quick,” I greet him as I continue to type feverishly.

  “Are you kidding me? You’re working on a Friday night? Oh no, we have to fix this. Come out with us. There’s a bar crawl over on High Street tonight. It should be fun,” he suggests over loud music playing in the background.

  “A bar crawl? I don’t need to be crawling home, Aaron,” I sigh, kicking my foot against the ground as I notice another error in my report.

  “Oh come on! You’re the hardest working twenty eight year old in the world! You need to live a little and let your hair down!” He yells into the phone, and I actually want to close my laptop and go to meet him immediately, but I’m close to finishing, so I try to ignore him.

  “I can’t. But I want to, so don’t be mad. I have to send in this report before the day is over,” I explain.

  “The day is over, Jamie. It’s time to party it up for the weekend,” he chuckles.

  “I know, but I told my boss I’d have it in and I don’t want to let her down,” I reason.

  “Well, how much do you have left?” He asks.

  “Ummm…” I stall, trying to muster all my focus to finish my conclusion.

  “Hello? How much more?” He repeats.

  “Done! I just finished. Now I just have to edit it,” I sigh a little relieved to finally have gotten through the tedious report.

  “Edit? No, you need to drink. Send that as it is and get down here.”

  “Aaron, I can’t. I’ve already noticed at least three edits I need to make. I like to send her perfect work because she’s delightful to me, and, well, she doesn’t have to be,” I decided against explaining the entire situation between Amy and me because he along with my other bandmates still doesn’t know about my relationship with Sam.

  “I triple dog dare you to turn it in as is, Jamie,” he teases, knowing I’m the daredevil of the group.

  “You can’t use that with work,” I scoff, shocked by his low tactic.

  “Well, I just did. What are you doing now?”

  With my hand on the mouse, I hover the cursor over the submit button, my heart racing, because I know I shouldn’t do it. The report is riddled with errors, although I’m sure I’ve made the point and articulated myself well. Amy shouldn’t have problems with it, it’s just not my best work.

  “Do it!” Aaron yells in the receiver, knowing my silence means I was contemplating his dare.

  Closing my eyes, I click the button and send the file over to Amy before I can stop myself.

  “You’re a bad influence. I’ll meet you guys at the bar. Bye.”

  Chapter Two

  SAM

  Sitting in the most boring meeting in life, I glance across the table, forcing myself to sit as straight as possible despite my strong desire to slouch and fall asleep. I’ve been at NSK’s offices for the past three days, working out logistical issues with their dedicated team for Jerry Ellis Distribution.

  Jamie actually secured this client, and as far as business goes they’re great. Together with the use of their factories and trucking facilities, we’ve been able to increase our market share by 13%. NSK covers our distribution, which means they’re responsible for getting us on shelves around the country.

  Although she was hired to work on the non-profit side, Jamie proved herself to be extremely useful when she identified a problem in our supply chain. We weren’t allowing ourselves to win because we’d drastically limited our presence in the southern region due to our previous supplier’s resources.

  It was an old partnership set up when my father was still alive, and I think we all just overlooked how elementary their services were. When I let them go, the CEO wasn’t even shocked or disappointed. He actually thanked me for keeping him on for so long, because he knew we had outgrown them years ago.

  I was thoroughly impressed by Jamie, but I tried not to let her know because I didn’t want her getting a big head, or thinking I was only complimenting her because I liked her. I try to keep everything professional in the office, especially after what happened to Amy and me.

  It only complicates things when you date someone in the workplace, but there was no way I could continue to ignore my feelings for Jamie after her accident, and the value she added to the company was undeniable. My only option was to have my cake and eat it too, I just make sure to only eat at home. When we’re at work, it’s strictly professional.

  This is usually our time to spend together since the weekends are our days off, but here I am stuck across the country in a boring meeting, while she probably prepares to head home for the evening. My thoughts are racing with memories of her when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

  Glancing around, I dig my smartphone out of my pocket as discreetly as possible, careful not to look disrespectful with the blabbering NSK executive as I check the alert. It’s a message from Jamie, which makes me smirk.

  I was just leaving work, and almost drove to your house on autopilot! Lol

  It’s her way of telling me she misses me, even though she would never actually say that. I’m not sure if she does it for me, but Jamie tries to play independent all the time like she’s not at all wrapped up in our relationship. She worries about appearing clingy to me because I’ve told her how girls being all over me drives me away.

  When I told her that, I was talking more about the clinger on the type of groupie girls that only care to be around me because of my last name. Sutton Hill is like one big high school. No one wants to date outside of the zip code, and so the options are limited when it comes to picking a partner.

  The order of life is set in stone, so me not being married makes me about the only single person in my age bracket. Typically, you graduate college, get married, then have kids. There’s little room for alternative plans, and my mother reminds me this at every family function.

  As the youngest of four, all of my siblings are married, and all but one have children. It’s just the way you do things, which makes women very determined to settle down and make something serious, even if it’s nothing but a fling.

  Jamie and I are nothing like that. I like her and have since I saw her at the dojo. That’s not usually how I begin interactions with women. Jamie made me chase her a bit, and I liked that, so I would never look at her as clingy, but I can tell she makes an effort to remind me she’s not that type of girl.

  I’m in a meeting at NSK, babe. I’ll talk to you later.

  I type beneath the table so the other executives can’t see me. The NSK exec is rambling so fast, I don’t think he’s even noticed there are other people in the room. He’s been talking about improving supply chains in the south, and the implementation of drone surveillance over inventory for the past hour.

  Really? I’m heading out to the bar and won’t get home until the middle of the night your time.

  Jamie texts back and I feel like a dick. We’ve already discussed my need to shuffle my priorities so I can make room for her in my life, mainly when I’m out of town. I just wish she could understand how much I’d rather be face timing her than looking across the table at this geek, pretending to care about product supply chains.

  This is work, and she claims to like how hands-on I am with both businesses, yet she sometimes complains about how much of my time they take. I tell her all the time, she can’t have it both ways, but I still understand her frustration.

  I’m sorry, babe. I’ll be home tomorrow, and we can try to see each other if you’re free.

  Pressing send, I hope that’s enough to hold her over because the last thing I need is an upset girlfriend when I get back to Sutton Hill. Whoa. Did I just call her my girlfriend? That is a bit strange, even to say in my head. I haven’t had a girlfriend since college unless you count my career because we’ve been going steady for almost twenty years.

  ILY

  She finally texts back, a
nd my stomach flutters a little. She refuses to spell out the words, but when we’re together, she can’t tell me enough. She’s funny that way. I think she’s afraid that if I read it, it will be too much for me. She’s always so scared about how I will react to her expresses her feelings, like I’m emotionally handicapped or something.

  Love you too. Have fun, babe.

  I send before scrolling over to my calendar to see when I can fit some time to hang with Jamie. I don’t know how I missed it, but my entire next week in Sutton Hills is blacked out, which means I won’t have any time to take her out or really do anything special.

  My heart sinks imagining how that conversation will go. Jamie has been on me about working with my assistant to leave some blank space, reminding me I don’t have to tell her what it’s for. She’s right. I schedule everything else, I can easily make time to spend with her if it was as important as I claim it to be.

  At least she’ll have a fun night wither her friends. She’s probably going out with Lisa, and those two never fail to have a ball together. Honestly, if it weren’t for Lisa, Jamie would have probably broken up with me by now, because her social life would be completely empty. Instead, she gets to have fun with her friends and then hang with me whenever I can squeeze her in.

  I shake my head realizing how shitty of a partner I am to her. I guess we can at least see each other at work, although there won’t be much hanging out. In addition to being discreet about our relationship, we both have so much work to complete for a new acquisition we’re working on.

  There won’t be any time for her to slide in my office for a little midday play, even if she was open to it, although she never would approve. Jamie was nothing like the previous women in my life who would do any and everything I say without question, and that’s why I like her.

  She’s her own person, with her own life, simply asking me to meet her in the middle, and I think that’s fair, though my actions don’t align with my intentions too well. I have to make a point to show her how special she is to me, because I don’t want to lose her, but I know I’m not giving her enough to satisfy her emotionally.