Chapter 3: The Rules Of Engagement
979 Words
Chapter Three – Rules of Engagement
Selena arrived at the hotel site early.
Too early.
The sky was still gray, the streets half-asleep. But inside the lobby, the energy buzzed—contractors shouting, drills screaming, the scent of fresh plaster in the air.
She needed the chaos. It grounded her.
What didn’t ground her was the man standing beside the central marble column, reading blueprints like he didn’t own the entire building.
Jared.
In charcoal slacks and a navy shirt, no tie. His sleeves were rolled just enough to show his forearms—just enough to annoy her. He glanced up, as if he felt her stare.
“Morning,” he said.
Selena didn’t smile. “You're here early.”
“So are you.”
She ignored that. “I’m meeting with the tile rep at eight. Then lighting design by nine. You don’t need to hover.”
“I’m not hovering,” he said, folding the plans. “I’m investing.”
She gave him a look. “In the project. Not me.”
Jared’s mouth twitched. “Of course.”
They stood there in silence. Not awkward. Just... tight.
Selena cleared her throat. “Have you reviewed the tile samples I sent last night?”
He nodded. “I like option three.”
Her brows rose. “Really? That’s the boldest one.”
“You’re the expert. I trust your gut.”
It threw her off. The Jared she knew never trusted anyone’s gut but his own. Still, she kept her voice cool. “Fine. We’ll move forward with it.”
“Anything else you need from me?” he asked.
Yes. Answers. Closure. A damn apology.
“No,” she said instead. “This is strictly professional. Remember?”
Jared nodded once. “Right. Rule number one.”
She turned to walk away, but he stopped her with a quiet, “Selena.”
She froze.
When he said her name like that—low, deliberate—she hated that she still felt it. In her stomach. In her ribs.
She turned slowly. “What?”
He hesitated. “Did you ever... regret it?”
She blinked. “Regret what?”
“The divorce.”
Silence.
Then: “You mean the one where I packed my bags and left our penthouse without you saying a single word to stop me?”
Jared’s jaw tightened. “That one.”
Selena crossed her arms. “Every day I stayed, I felt invisible. So no, Jared. I didn’t regret leaving.”
He looked down for a beat. Then nodded. “Fair enough.”
“And you?” she asked, the words out before she could stop them.
He looked at her—really looked. “Every day since.”
Selena’s breath caught in her throat.
But before she could say anything, one of the site managers called her name, waving a clipboard.
She turned without another word and walked away.
Her heels clicked across the marble, but her heart was louder. Harder.
She needed to get a grip.
They had rules.
No personal talk.
No old memories.
No falling.
And right now, she was dangerously close to breaking all three.
Selena dove into the rest of the morning with laser focus. Tile selections. Lighting configurations. Carpet samples. Anything to keep her mind away from him.
But it didn’t work.
Jared’s words kept echoing in her head.
> “Every day since.”
Every damn day since.
What the hell did he mean by that? That he missed her? That he regretted losing her? Or was it just another manipulation wrapped in honesty?
“Selena?” one of the junior designers asked, snapping her back to the present.
She blinked. “What?”
“The meeting with the structural engineer. It’s upstairs. Jared said he’d join.”
Of course he would.
She climbed the stairs two at a time, gripping the railing like it might keep her upright. The project was moving fast—too fast for her emotions to keep up.
When she stepped into the suite on the top floor, Jared was already inside.
He stood by the window, sunlight turning his profile into something out of a magazine. The man was impossibly composed, damn near carved out of steel and secrets.
“Miss Moore,” he said, not turning.
“Mr. Cole,” she replied, voice clipped.
He finally faced her. “We need to talk.”
“No. We need to work.”
“It’s about the rules.”
She exhaled. “Which one did I break?”
He didn’t smile. “None yet. But we should be clear before this spirals.”
Selena crossed her arms. “Go on.”
Jared stepped closer, not enough to touch, but enough to invade her breath. “No personal history. No unfinished conversations. We don’t talk about the past unless it affects the project.”
“Agreed.”
His gaze flicked to her lips, then back to her eyes. “And if it gets messy—emotionally—you walk away.”
Selena nodded slowly. “And if you cross a line?”
“I’ll walk,” he said. “No questions asked.”
Her heartbeat tapped faster. “Fine. We have rules. Boundaries.”
“Walls,” he murmured.
She smirked. “You were always good at building those.”
He flinched. Just a little. But she saw it.
The engineer arrived moments later, sparing them both from saying anything else. Blueprints came out. Dimensions were debated. Business resumed.
But underneath it all, tension simmered like a slow boil.
By the end of the walkthrough, Selena’s head throbbed with more than logistics.
Jared held the door as she passed. “We’re professionals now,” he said quietly.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Let’s keep it that way.”
But deep down, she wasn’t sure how long they could.
- Writer
