Chapter 1: One in a million chance
Amelia's breath caught in her throat as she saw the man walking and standing in front of all staff and employees of Fiberfusion. A textile company she has been working for in the last three years and where she has rapidly been promoted manager in one of the departments due to her dedication and hard work.
Unlike before, when she last saw him in Windybrook, a small town where they were both born and raised until she turned seventeen and he eighteen, he now exudes a strong sense of purpose and assurance.
He stands tall, his posture impeccable, shoulders squared, and head held high. The ultimate picture of self-assuredness. She found herself admiring the big, amazing change in him despite her nervousness and fear.
His frame, both sturdy and graceful, seems to have been sculpted with the utmost precision, lending him an air of natural authority, truly the opposite of the previous James Richardson.
Each step is deliberate and confident, his shoes tapping lightly on the floor, announcing his presence with quiet authority.
Dressed in a tailored charcoal-gray suit that fits him like a second skin, he epitomizes sophistication, still very much the opposite of the James Richardson twelve years ago.
His lips, curled on both sides, almost resembled a smile. It was a face she thought she'd never see again, a memory she'd buried deep within herself for years... until two weeks ago, when the most shocking, unexpected happened.
As James walked into the room, a whirlwind of emotions rushed over her, leaving her hardly able to believe her eyes.
Her heart raced, its beats echoing loudly in her ears. Her palms grew clammy, and her knees felt weak. Her stomach churned with a mix of shock, confusion and apprehension.
"James!?" she whispered, the word escaping her lips almost involuntarily.
"F___k!" She thought. "He's the absentee billionaire owner of this company?" she exclaimed to herself.
Fortunately, no one seems to have heard her, or noticed her shocked reaction when she exclaimed the CEO's name before being introduced by Freddy Wonder.
Everyone's attention was commanded by the man now standing before them.
This was why she didn't recognize him that night.
James has changed a lot, not just in appearance but also with his aura and dominance, since the last time she saw him.
The gaunt teenager she had last seen has improved much, much more than she could ever imagine.
She felt her head growing bigger and lighter.
She started feeling dizzy and took a step backward, gratefully leaning against the wall.
It had been two confusing weeks since she'd last seen him after twelve years when they had the wedding ceremony.
Hearing his name being announced, James left his two big bodyguards behind and walked confidently in front of almost a thousand employees and officers.
This is by far the smallest company he has ever acquired since he has started being a business tycoon.
He was originally not interested in this company. He actually acquired this company as a favor to a friend a year ago, but has never set foot in it, let alone oversee it.
He let someone else, Freddy Wonder, his friend from college oversee it.
As long as the company was shedding him the expected profit, he left it to Mr. Wonder to oversee it according to his discretion.
Until that day.. when he woke up and realized he has been making wild, unforgettable love unexpectedly with his wife from twelve years ago.
And that she works in this little company he previously had no interest in running.
Two weeks earlier...
He has just arrived that day from oversees on a business trip and would have gone straight home if not for the pre-arranged dinner meeting with board members.
The meeting lasted for five hours, and he was too tired to go home so he decided to use a VIP room in one of the hotels he owned, reserved only for his use anytime he needed or wanted to use it.
Before going to his room, he graced the party arranged for a retiring company president and had three drinks of brandy, which was more than his usual limit, before going up to his room.
He remembered dismissing his bodyguards and taking the stairs to get off the effect of brandy that seemed to have immediately had a strong effect on his system, perhaps due to his tiredness.
After getting off the three flights of stairs, he noticed a young lady sitting by the steps, obviously drunk.
She had on a slinky black dress that clung to her curves. The dress was backless so he could see her smooth skin and had the urge to run his fingertips on that very smooth surface.
She was holding her lowered head with both hands, and he heard her chanting...
"shit!... shit!... shit!" continuously.
But when she heard him come up to the landing, she immediately stopped and just kept her head lowered on her hands.
As if waiting for the person who just came up to just pass by.
When she didn't hear any footsteps pass by, she raised her head to confirm that she was alone and immediately gasped, obviously startled when she saw him.
His eyes, like bottomless pools of midnight, held her gaze captive.
They seemed to penetrate her very soul, as if unraveling the secrets hidden within her.
James remained standing, looking at her.
He found himself drawn to the woman at the stairs.
His breath became shallow, and his chest tightened as he slowly and unconsciously walked nearer to her.
He thought she looked familiar, but he couldn't and was not yet interested in discovering where he'd seen her before. All he knew was that she had a certain attraction he could not seem to decline. He finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her.
He was focused on her blurry eyes right now.
Though obviously intoxicated, her eyes still could not hide the fears and frustrations she was feeling.
She had eyes that tell a lot of stories, waiting to be discovered.
His palms grew damp, and his pulse thundered in his ears.
A cascade of feelings surged through him.
It was the first time he felt like this towards a woman.
He had the sudden urge to wipe away the fears, anxieties and frustrations he could see in her eyes.
Time stood still as they locked eyes, a charged silence enveloping them both.
A palpable electricity crackled in the air, a magnetic pull between them that defied explanation.
He saw her throat move, as if swallowing a whole lot of water.
And he couldn't take it any longer, walking to her in two steps, then roughly pulling her towards him.
He immediately pounced on her lips. Roughly and hungrily kissing her as if he could take her whole body full in his mouth.
After a few minutes, both stopped and looked at each other's eyes, breathing heavily. Feeling the sexual tension aroused by electrical connection of their lips.
Only then did they realize, they have become almost as one. Her breast has completely glued itself to his chest.
That part of her that has become wet, was truly stuck on that part of him that was hard.
She almost groaned and got excited when she heard him groan deeply.
She wanted to continue kissing him, her fear of a man's touch unusually vanished, perhaps by the drinks she had... or her determination to be free of the past... or simply because of the sexual attraction she felt for the perfect specimen holding her tightly.
She moved her lips to his for another kiss but he evaded her, hugging her tightly.
He softly whispered in her ears. "My room?"
She looked at him once again, catching his lips with hers. She wasn't experienced in kissing even at her age, but it didn't stop her from seeking the pleasure she knew his mouth would provide her. She did not know how but she realized she had her hands around his neck and his hands were wondering her back. Finally setting on her perfectly shaped butt. Pulling her even close down below to him.
She can feel herself getting wet and hot down there. Before she knew it, she was moaning even more, grinding her hips closer to his, if it was possible, to him. She can feel how hard he is, and she couldn't tell him in words but she wanted more than this.
She heard him and felt him groan from deep inside his chest, then forcefully detach his lips from hers before taking a deep breath.
"We have to go honey."
"Go where?" Amelia was just going to ask but felt herself being carried away from the stairs. She again held him by the neck and continued to kiss his lips. It was pure heaven. She loved his kiss. She loved being carried to wherever he was bringing her to. She felt herself being placed inside a room but did not get the chance to look around as James assaulted her lips roughly as if he could not get enough her.