CHAPTER5
1056 Words
NORA POV
I turn the phone over in my hand.
It shouldn’t matter.
It’s two words.
A professional message. Nothing more.
But somehow it feels like more.
Maybe because I just found out Jayden is a Rowan.
Maybe because Davis Rowan never strikes me as a man who sends unnecessary messages.
Or maybe because everything around me is changing too fast.
I lock my phone and force myself to focus on the documents spread across my desk.
Numbers. Schedules. Project timelines.
Normal things. Safe things.
But every few minutes my eyes drift back to the Orion assignment file.
To the three names.
Davis Rowan.
Nora Edward.
Jayden Rowan.
I hate how trapped that makes me feel.
The afternoon passes slower than it should.
Every sound seems sharper.
Every conversation feels like it’s happening around me instead of with me.
Then the entire executive floor shifts.
Not dramatically, just enough.
People sit straighter.
Conversations stop.
Several employees glance toward the elevators.
A strange tension spreads through the workplace.
I look up as the elevator doors open.
And Jayden Rowan walks out.
My stomach drops instantly.
He looks exactly the same.
Maybe a little older.
A little sharper, but still confident.
Still carrying himself like the world naturally makes room for him.
For one horrible second, I think he’s going to look directly at me.
His attention moves across the floor, studying everything.
Like he’s assessing the room.
Then his eyes find mine.
My pulse stumbles.
Jayden isn’t supposed to be here.
He knows parts of my past.
Not everything.
But enough.
“Nora.”
His voice is warm.
Easy.
Familiar.
Exactly the kind of familiarity I don’t need right now.
I stand slowly.
“Jayden.”
For a second, he just stares at me.
Then genuine surprise flashes across his face.
“Wait… you work here?”
A knot forms in my stomach.
“What?”
“At Rowan & Co.” He gestures around us.
“You work here?”
I force a small smile.
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
The question comes so naturally that I know immediately he had no idea.
My stomach sinks.
So I was right.
When he called yesterday, he had no idea.
He really didn’t know.
“I joined recently,” I say carefully.
“Recently?”
He laughs softly.
“And you didn’t mention that?”
I shrug.
Every extra second feels dangerous.
Too many people can see us.
Too many people can hear us.
“We haven’t exactly talked much.”
“Fair point.”
But he still looks surprised.
Like he’s trying to fit this new information into whatever picture he already had of me.
And I hate how exposed it makes me feel.
Especially here.
Then his expression softens.
“Oh, and how’s the little troublemaker?”
My heart nearly stops.
Mai.
My eyes flick instinctively around the workplace.
Too many people. Too many ears.
“She’s fine,” I say quickly.
Jayden’s smile fades slightly.
His eyes move across the executive floor.
Then back to me.
“Did I say something wrong?”
I force a small smile.
“No.”
He studies me for a second, then smiles.
“Good. I was thinking about her the other day.”
My breathing turns shallow.
“Jayden,” I say quietly.
A warning. A plea.
Not here. Not now.
Movement catches my eye.
Melissa Walker, another operations coordinator, walks past our desks carrying a file.
She’s dressed as sharply as ever, her expression unreadable.
Her pace doesn’t slow.
But I catch her glance in our direction.
Just once.
Her eyes linger for a fraction of a second when Jayden mentions the little troublemaker.
Then she’s gone.
Maybe she didn’t hear. Maybe she did.
I don’t know which possibility is worse.
I look back at Jayden.
Trying to silently tell him to stop talking.
Trying to make him understand.
He notices.
Confusion flickers briefly across his face.
Before I can say anything else, a voice cuts through the moment.
“Jayden.”
The entire floor seems to straighten.
I don’t have to turn around. I already know who it is.
Davis.
Jayden looks past me.
His relaxed expression shifts slightly.
More professional. More controlled.
I turn.
Davis Rowan is standing several feet away.
Dark suit.
Unreadable expression.
The same calm authority that seems to change the atmosphere wherever he goes.
His gaze moves briefly to Jayden.
Then to me.
Only for a second.
But somehow it feels longer.
A strange silence settles between the three of us.
Nobody else seems to notice it.
But I do.
Every second of it.
Jayden waits.
“Conference room three,” Davis says.
No greeting. No small talk.
Just instruction.
“We’re starting in five minutes.”
Jayden nods once.
“Understood.”
Then Davis looks at me.
“Ms. Edward.”
My pulse jumps.
“Sir.”
“You’ll join us.”
The words land like a stone in my stomach.
I blink.
For a moment I think I’ve misunderstood.
“Join the meeting?”
“Yes.”
His expression doesn’t change.
“Orion coordination requires it.”
His eyes move from Jayden…
…to me.
They rest there for a fraction longer than they should.
Then he turns away.
Nothing else.
Around us, I can practically feel curiosity spreading through the office.
People aren’t staring directly.
But they’re listening.
Watching. Noticing.
Melissa especially.
I can feel her attention from across the room.
A new employee.
An executive meeting.
Directly with Davis Rowan and Jayden Rowan.
Nothing about this looks normal.
“Understood,” I manage.
Davis gives a single nod.
Then walks away.
Just like that.
As if he hasn’t just turned the rest of my afternoon upside down.
Jayden watches him disappear before looking back to me.
A slow smile appears.
“Looks like things are getting interesting.”
Before I can respond, Jayden’s phone lights up.
His eyes flick to the screen.
Then to me.
Something unreadable crosses his face.
“Well…”
A knot twists inside me.
“What?”
Jayden slips the phone back into his pocket.
“Nothing.”
He smiles.
But the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Now I understand why I was added to this project.”
My pulse stutters.
Before I can ask what he means, he walks away.
- Writer
