Captivated Hearts Read online

  By the end of the week, even Kyler commented on the fact that Jada had yet to have a sit-down with him. “You really must have rubbed him the wrong way,” Kyler said as they stood in the breakroom on Friday morning. They were both desperate for their morning cup of joe and were in front of the Keurig machine, each waiting for their coffee to brew.

  Jada shrugged. “I would have thought after he’d given me the ‘talk’”—she made quotation marks with her hands—“that his almighty greatness would deign to speak with me.” Kyler made a face and shook her head, but Jada was on a roll and not about to stop. “But apparently, I’m at the bottom of the barrel in his book and I’ll just have to accept my fate.”

  “Or perhaps you could learn some patience, Ms. Hart,” a masculine voice said from behind her.

  Color drained from Jada’s face. Her eyes grew large as she glared at Kyler for allowing her to walk into a minefield. She inhaled sharply and turned around to face her nemesis. “Mr. McKnight.”

  Damian wore a navy-blue suit that Jada recognized as designer. Aside from the top-quality material, the single-breasted jacket was superbly tailored. The man looked well-built, and not a wrinkle could be seen on the sleeves across his interminably large shoulders. “Would you care to join me in my office, or would you like to continue to talk about me behind my back? I warn you that you get three strikes, then you’re out.”

  Jada grimaced and turned to Kyler. “If you’ll excuse me.” She plastered on a smile and walked toward him. “Lead the way.”

  “No. After you. I insist.”

  Jada didn’t respond and instead forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and move toward the stairs that led to the second-floor executive offices. Damian remained silent behind her, so she truly had no idea what was in store for her.

  When they made it to his office, she walked in and took a seat across from the large glass desk that held nothing but his Surface laptop. Apparently, McKnight didn’t like clutter. She heard the click of the door, indicating the need for privacy. Did this mean he was about to fire her? His three strikes and you’re out comment hadn’t been lost on Jada.

  Several seconds later, Damian sat across from her. Without looking up, he opened his laptop and clicked several times before training those infinitely dark eyes on her. “Why stay at WLB-TV?”

  “Wow! You go right to the point, don’t you?”

  “I see no reason for beating around the bush.”

  “I do not accept defeat. What I do have is my will and determination to succeed.”

  “Ah.” He greeted her with a smile, which was quite rewarding because it lit up his entire face and showed off his brilliant white teeth. He should smile more often instead of glower. “So, you’re hoping that your pretty face will propel you to stardom?”

  Jada frowned. “What does my face have to do with anything? I have a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. Was top of my class and graduated summa cum laude.”

  “And yet you’re doing the entertainment beat.”

  “I’ve tried to obtain more substantial pieces, but the prior ownership had a vision of who they wanted in the anchor spot.”

  “Which yet again begs the question, why stay? There’re any number of beautiful leading anchors at this station.” When she began to balk, Damian held up his hand and continued. “They all have the same, or similar, credentials as yours, Jada. What makes you think you’re ever going to get in the anchor chair?”

  “I thought in time I could prove I’m capable of more. I don’t give up, Mr. McKnight. My daddy taught me that quitters never win, and I’ve held true to that all my life. I won’t stop trying to reach the top of the ladder. So, let me ask you, are you going to help me get there or are you going to hold me back?”

  Damian’s brow rose. “That depends entirely on you, Ms. Hart. Do you have any stories that you would like to pitch?”

  “P-pitch?”

  “Yes, or did you think I called you in to talk about the weather?”

  Jada couldn’t resist a chuckle. She could do without his sarcasm, but not without the opportunity to get her ideas in front of someone who would finally listen. “Definitely not the weather.” She returned and leaned over the desk until she was mere inches from his face. “Let’s talk hard-hitting news.”

  An hour later, Damian was in his car and driving to the McKnight Media offices. He’d left the station twenty minutes ago after meeting with Jada. She’d gotten to him. It hadn’t been because of her great ideas for an exposé on school lunches or the opioid epidemic. It was because being around her made his system go haywire. He knew that if he had stayed in her company with that provocative perfume she wore, he might just lose his cool.

  He’d stayed away from Jada all week because she was the type of woman who made men ogle. For some inexplicable reason, she had become a forbidden fantasy to him. Damian supposed it was because he’d been celibate lately, choosing to work twelve-hour days. Not that it meant he went without entirely. Every now and then, he attended social events that were conducive to meeting women, and he usually found one who was willing to spend a night or two with him for a brief sexual liaison and nothing more. He had no time for emotional entanglements.

  Yet, Jada fascinated him. Throughout the week, he’d found himself watching her. She was an incurable flirt—the way she sat on the edge of men’s desk showing off those long legs or gave them that winning smile. She practically had every man in the station eating out of her palm, but somehow she hadn’t translated that into a seat at the table of the morning news program she coveted. She intrigued him.

  Rebranding and repositioning the station were going to take time and patience. He shouldn’t get embroiled in an affair, especially with a subordinate.

  But it didn’t mean he didn’t want to try.

  Chapter 2

  Later that evening, Jada hung up the phone and sighed. It was a Friday night, and she was dateless. She could call Kyler and try to hit a nightclub, but she wasn’t in the mood. She’d unsuccessfully tried to reach her sister Bree to get some advice on what to do about Damian, her career, the station, all of it. She was at a crossroads.

  Jada suspected her newlywed five-months-pregnant sister was probably cuddled with her husband, Grayson, and if not, watching a movie with him and his autistic brother, Cameron, who lived with them. Jada was so proud of how accepting Bree had been of Cameron and vice versa. Grayson’s brother thought the sun and moon hung on Bree. Jada felt the same too. There was nothing her big sister, a renowned geologist, couldn’t conquer when she set her mind to it, and now she was a wife and a soon-to-be mother.

  If you’d asked her many years ago, Jada would have said that being a wife and mother was her greatest wish. She’d never thought she’d be a career woman like Bree or even like her oldest sister, London, who’d started off studying marketing at Tulane University only to chuck it and become a chef and open her own restaurant, Shay’s, in New Orleans.

  But Jada’s hopes and dreams had been dashed shortly before her wedding when she’d discovered her fiancé, Joshua Allen, having sex with another woman. It had humiliated her. And when she’d confronted Joshua, he’d merely stated that he’d grown weary of their sex life. He’d said he needed a real woman who knew how to satisfy him in the bedroom.

  Jada and Joshua had been together since they were sixteen. Their families knew each other. Even though they’d gotten engaged young, Duke hadn’t balked because Joshua came from a good family. Jada had thought they’d get married and she’d have lots of babies. But Joshua had other plans. He’d told her that all she was good for was as arm candy and that he had no intention of getting hitched to a cold fish like her.

  Jada had prided herself on being the perfect Southern belle like her mama had taught her by going to cotillion and saving herself for the right man. And still, she’d been duped. Immediately, Jada had gone back to
college and thrown herself into her studies, eventually emerging as one of her university’s top students.

  She would show Joshua and even her father, Duke, that she was capable of looking after herself. She didn’t need a man to define her. Moving away from Dallas and the Hart ranch was Jada’s way of making her way in the world. However, her salary didn’t completely cover her expenses. San Francisco was pricy, and although she tried to pare back, she could only do so much. She was used to a certain lifestyle. Jada had been subsidizing her expenses with earnings from her shares in Hart Enterprises. After growing up on the ranch, where her every need was taken care of, she wanted the same in her new city.

  She’d purchased a two-bedroom condo in Pacific Heights that had a concierge, fitness center, game room, and rooftop terrace. Meanwhile, her condo had floor-to-ceiling windows and provided panoramic views of the city and the bay. Her kitchen was state of the art with modern fixtures and stainless steel appliances. Her master bath was an oasis with a porcelain-tiled shower and soaking tub. It was expensive, but it suited Jada’s needs and included a reserved parking space for her Jaguar.

  With her new career and condo in the bag, Jada was poised for her new beginning—but one thing eluded her.

  Sexual experience.

  Jada hadn’t forgotten Joshua’s long-ago words when he told her she was a cold fish. Since then, she’d dated all types of men to figure out who or what type she liked best. Sometimes, she was pleasantly surprised at the end of the night. Other times, she could have had a V-8.

  Jada didn’t consider herself a hussy. She was a beautiful woman with a healthy appetite, and when the right man came along, she’d be ready for him. The cold fish would be a thing of the past.

  By Monday morning, Jada’s outlook had improved. She was ready to face the workweek. Her outfit was perfect for her second week with Damian McKnight at the helm of WLB-TV. Although he’d said he wasn’t making sweeping changes, Jada knew he would be watching her and she had to put her best foot forward. Today, she wore a classic, fitted sheath dress that featured her signature bold, bright colors. The burnt orange highlighted her fair complexion, and the cutout at the top of the bodice stopped just above her cleavage. The side slit showed her leg, but nothing indecent. She accentuated her look with three-inch strappy sandals that matched the color of the dress perfectly.

  Her hair was simple in a sophisticated updo with chandelier earrings and minimal makeup—just some mascara, blush, and a sweep of lip gloss. She stood back and stared at her reflection in the pedestal mirror in her bedroom.

  She looked damn good.

  Later, in the office, she was feeling great about her appearance and confident as she went over a few last-minute notes with the producer before her weekly segment. But suddenly, her antennae went on red alert. Her sixth sense felt danger was near. She turned around to find Damian staring at her with a frown.

  What did I do now?

  Since arriving this morning, she’d kept her nose down and out of his way. On her drive to work, Jada had decided to ignore him and do the best job she could. If he wanted to sack her, he could have done so after she’d put her foot in her mouth last week. Jada took that to mean he saw potential and wasn’t going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

  She noticed Damian motion Martin, a producer, over to him in the shadows and whisper something in his ear. Jada wished she were a fly on the wall to hear what he was saying.

  Seconds later, Martin returned to the set. He seemed uncomfortable as he shifted from foot to foot. “What is it, Martin?” asked Jada as she glanced into his bespectacled face.

  “Mr. McKnight requested that you lose the chignon. Said it makes you look matronly on camera when you’re usually more approachable.”

  Jada was opening her mouth to respond when Damian himself joined them on the set. “That’s only part of what I said. If you’re going to relay a message, please be accurate.”

  “And would you care to expound?” Jada lifted a brow. What is his problem? She thought he was going to be observant before jumping into the fray, but maybe that didn’t apply to her.

  “You never wear your hair up,” Damian said. “It’s always down.”

  How in the hell does he know how I usually wear my hair? Then it hit her—he’d been watching her, and probably all of the staff, to find cracks or fissures in their demeanor. Jada’s heart began pounding. “I was trying a new look.”

  “Don’t.”

  Jada saw Martin blanch beside her. Meanwhile, she felt defiant. “What if I don’t want to?”

  Yes, she was challenging him. He had no right to tell her how to wear her hair.

  “I would think you would get the adage, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’” Damian responded. “But since you don’t, let me be clear: I don’t like it. Take it down. Now.”

  Jada fixed her eyes on Damian’s. Once again, a battle of wills was taking place between them. She wanted to disobey him, but there was a brightness to his dark gaze that told Jada if she tried it, it might be the last time she was on this set. She didn’t want to go back to Dallas with her tail between her legs.

  Slowly, her hands reached behind her to the chignon she’d spent a painstaking amount of time on this morning, and she began to pull the pins from her hair. One by one, she dropped them in her lap until, eventually, her entire mane fell to her shoulders. As she shook her hair out, she stared at him defiantly. “Happy?”

  Damian wasn’t happy. He wanted to run his fingers through those luxurious strands, not just look at them. He sucked in a deep breath. He should never have come over here. He’d been busy with the station manager and several program executives when Jada walked in. It had been impossible not to notice her in that striking orange dress.

  She looked vibrant and as delicious as a juicy orange. He loved the way her dress skimmed her luscious curves and round backside. But her hair … since when did she wear it up? When it was down, she looked youthful. So why was she downplaying her vitality? Had she guessed he’d had carnal thoughts about her? Is that why she was trying to be something she wasn’t?

  After he’d requested she take her hair down, she’d responded like a child acting out when told what to do. She could stew for all he cared. He had a job to do: turn this struggling station around. He spun on his heel and left the stage even though he could feel her eyes on the back of his skull.

  His team at McKnight Media thought he was insane to take on the station, but Damian saw potential. WLB-TV was a diamond that needed some polishing. With the right management and news programming, it could be a moneymaker. Jada Hart fit into that picture. He’d seen star potential in her video clips, but he felt she was underutilized. She needed to be given meatier subject matter so he could see if she could run with it. She had a degree from the University of Texas, so surely she had more underneath her beautiful surface.

  “Mr. McKnight.” Andrew came toward him. “If now is a good time, can we talk about advertising numbers?”

  “Absolutely,” Damian said, walking toward him. “Let’s do.” Damian knew that Jada Hart was watching him as he disappeared.

  “The entire station is buzzing about what happened to you today,” Kyler said over lunch with Jada. It was a crisp fall afternoon in San Francisco, and they were dining outside. The high for the day was seventy degrees, so they had to take advantage of it while they could before the smog rolled in.

  Different food trucks came and parked outside the building each week, so they could try new offerings weekly. Today’s menu was from a Greek eatery that locals had given rave reviews. Jada opted for the chicken souvlaki with a side Greek salad while Kyler selected the same, but with French fries. If Jada ate like Kyler, she would blow up like a balloon.

  “It was nothing,” Jada said as she placed a forkful of salad in her mouth and chewed. It had to be, because if Jada allowed herself to think it was more, then what woul
d it mean?

  “The new owner, Damian McKnight, has set his eyes on you,” Kyler said. “I can’t tell if it’s in a good or bad way, but you’re certainly in his crosshairs.”

  “Why would I be?” Jada put down her fork. “I made an out-of-turn comment once, and he promptly put me in my place. Why is everyone making a big deal out of it?”

  “Because he didn’t singlehandedly come over and tell anyone else to put their hair down. He told you.” Her blue eyes focused on Jada’s brown ones.

  “And I did what he asked. End of story.” Jada picked up her fork and continued eating.

  “True.” Kyler sipped on her Perrier. “But I just wonder what he has in store for you—hell, for all of us. If your slightest hairstyle change has him out of whack, what’s next?”

  Jada shrugged. “If you ask me, he’s a bully throwing his weight around when he knows we all have no choice but to do as we’re told if we want to keep our jobs.”

  “I’m with you. I can’t afford to lose my job either. Otherwise, I’d be heading back to the great state of Ohio.”

  Jada leaned in and whispered, “You wouldn’t leave me in this pit of vipers, would you?”

  Kyler smiled. “Only as a last resort, but let’s think positively. Damian McKnight may be just the breath of fresh air WLB-TV needs to put us on the map.”

  Damian stared back at the station’s abysmal quarter advertising figures. He’d never seen anything so improperly managed his entire life—except maybe when he took over that radio station from a reality star who’d been using it as a platform for his entire family to make a name for themselves. Damian had done the impossible and put that radio station in the black after it had operated for years in the red. He could do the same thing here.