"M... Mr. Lane..."

Andrew Lane wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were fixed on the earring in her hand.

Sadie tightened her grip around the earring without thinking. “Mr. Lane, what a surprise running into you here."

He finally glanced up, dark eyes meeting hers. "Those are nice earrings."

Sadie let out a weak laugh. "Really? I think they're cute too."

She barely knew Andrew Lane. Their companies had never worked together, and she'd only ever seen him at big events.

Honestly, there wasn't much to talk about. She figured he'd just walk away. But instead, he surprised her by asking, "Where did you get those earrings?"

Suddenly, Sadie's nerves were on high alert.

A guy like Andrew Lane, rich and sharp, probably knew exactly what these earrings were worth.

"It's nothing fancy," she blurted out. “Just something I bought online. They were like, ten bucks with free shipping."

The words were barely out of her mouth when she caught the flicker of a smile on his lips. “Online? Ten bucks and free shipping?"

Sadie nodded quickly. “Yeah. Stuff like this isn't really your style, Mr. Lane. You should go look at something else."

Andrew glanced at her clenched hand, didn't say anything else, and turned to leave.

She watched as his entourage followed him across the room. Some of them, obviously not sure what had just happened, even gave her a polite nod.

Sadie nodded back, calm on the outside, and headed back to her seat.

The second she sat down, her best friend grabbed her arm. "Was that Andrew Lane? He's seriously good-looking!"

Sadie looked down and, with extra care, tucked the earring back into her bag. "Yeah, that was him," she said. "I can't believe we ran into him here."

Her friend leaned in, whispering, “Oh my god, he's even hotter in person. He puts those celebrities to shame."

Sadie just shrugged, not bothering to respond.

Her friend wasn't done. "Hey, want to hear some gossip about him and your boss?" That got Sadie's attention. "What kind of gossip?"

Her friend scooted closer, lowering her voice. "I heard Andrew Lane is chasing after your boss."

Sadie's eyebrows shot up. "No way. That can't be true."

"Keep it down," her friend hissed, squeezing Sadie's arm. “I'm just repeating what I heard. Who knows if it's true."

"My boss?"

"Yeah, your boss."

"Ms. Blair?"

"Who else? You only have one boss, right?"

Sadie shook her head, looking completely unconvinced. "There's no way. My boss can't stand him."

Her friend stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously? Your boss hates Andrew Lane?”

Sadie nodded, completely serious.

"Yeah. I've seen it with my own eyes.

The way she looks at him isn't like how she tooks at anyone else it's.... almost like she's disgusted. She doesn't even have to say anything. You can just tell."

Her friend blinked, clearly su

But

"Really? B

I thought your boss

a few

lived with the Lane family for years "Didn't they take her in?"

Sadie lowered her voice, almost whispering That's probably why she can't stand him. From what I heard, when she started her company, the Lane family and

Andrew Lane didn't help her at all,

Not a word, not a

penny. If they

really got along, there's no way they

would have just left her struggling

like that."