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  First Love

  Jake & Sabrina: The Beginning

  LENA HART

  FIRST LOVE

  Copyright © 2015

  Originally published October 2014 in the Love in Black & White anthology.

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-941885-14-7

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.

  Dedication

  To Erica Allen for dropping everything to beta read this book and to the readers who fell in love with these characters as much as we did. I hope you enjoy the prequel!

  CONTENTS

  DEAR READER

  FIRST LOVE

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DEAR READER

  Thanks for downloading First Love! This novella is the prequel to Sabrina and Jake’s original love story—and my very first published work—Because You Love Me. Be sure to check out the extended excerpt at the end of this book. Enjoy!

  Best,

  Lena ♥

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  FIRST LOVE

  Five years before the heartbreak and distrust came a beautiful story of two people finding and falling in love…

  When freelance computer tech Jake Landon comes to Sabrina Monroe’s rescue her first day on the job, the two develop a sudden attraction that neither can ignore. While Jake sets out to win her over, Sabrina is having a hard time forgetting the humiliating outcome of her last office “romance” and wants nothing more than to focus on her budding, new career—not the attractive “IT guy.” Or so she keeps telling herself.

  Yet, as the seductive pull of Jake’s charm draws her unwittingly closer, causing tension and frustration to flare brightly between them, Sabrina is determined not to break her firm rule: never again date someone she works with. Ever. But the “rules of attraction” cannot be ignored, and Sabrina must decide if she is willing to release her inhibitions and give love a chance.

  *This story is a prequel to the novella Because You Love Me.

  Prologue

  Chicago, IL

  Early spring

  “I’m sorry, Sabrina, but we’re going to have to let you go.”

  Sabrina Monroe had known this was coming. She just hadn’t been prepared for the words. Sitting on the edge of her seat, she glanced over at the stern older, black woman who hadn’t said much since Sabrina walked into her office. Apparently, the Human Resources director, Susanna Douglas, was only there as a formality, but Sabrina would have felt less on edge if it hadn’t been for the woman’s cold presence.

  Tightening her hands on her lap, Sabrina returned her focus to Melanie Stephens, the HR manager, and the friendlier of the two women sitting across from her. She was more comfortable dealing with the younger woman, anyway. When Sabrina had started interning at McArthur, Murphy and Company—an internship she’d worked her hardest to land and was now coming to a sour end—Melanie had been her main contact.

  “May I ask why?”

  Stupid question. Sabrina didn’t need to ask. She already knew it was about the rumors no one had bothered to confront her about. Judging by Susanna’s hard and unsympathetic stare, it was clear the woman also believed the rumors about Sabrina that seemed to have spread throughout the company like a bad rash. Sabrina stifled a groan when it was Susanna who responded.

  “There have been some concerns about your ability to perform in your current role, and your superiors feel that you may not be the right fit for this position.”

  Sabrina’s heart sank. That was a lie. Just a few weeks ago, before the rumors started, Melanie had told her about the positive feedback coming from many of her supervisors. But obviously Sabrina wasn’t going to get a chance to defend herself, to dispute the gossip that she knew was the true reason she was now facing these two women.

  Fine. If they weren’t going to address the elephant in the room, then neither would she. Working at one of Chicago’s top consulting firm, even as an intern, was too big an opportunity for Sabrina to simply pass up, and she wasn’t going to just let them take it away from her.

  “Is there any way I could be placed on another team?” Sabrina asked Susanna directly, hoping to reason with the stern woman since she was in the position to make things happen. “Perhaps a smaller one? I would really like the opportunity to complete my internship successfully. Please give me another chance to prove myself.”

  The two women shared a look. Melanie pursed her lips, sympathy in her bright green eyes, but Sabrina didn’t want her sympathy. She wanted them to be fair. Yet, she knew, in that moment, her plea was a wasted effort.

  “Unfortunately, it’s out of our hands.” Susanna shrugged. “We can only go by what’s been passed down to us, and per upper management, your termination is effective immediately.”

  She vaguely listened as Melanie tried to soften the blow, but Sabrina’s mind was a million miles away. Had she known then what she knew now, she would have never agreed to the series of dinner dates that had started all of this—the unfortunate events that had now ruined her career.

  Many had already branded her the “office slut.” Even if Susanna could be convinced of her gullibility, there was clearly someone with more influence who wanted her gone. Sabrina had to accept that there was nothing she could do or say at this point.

  In a daze, Sabrina signed the series of forms pushed in front of her, glad for the numbness that had slowly washed over her. “This is so unfair,” she murmured. Melanie shifted in her seat but said nothing.

  The crushing blow came from the security officer that escorted her to her small desk to gather her things. Sabrina moved with stiff, mechanic steps, ignoring the eyes staring after her and the whispers that seemed to trail closely behind her. Her face burned and the threat of tears stung her eyes as she was led out of the building.

  She had never been so humiliated in her life.

  Her nerves were strung tight as she walked out of the glass doors of McArthur, Murphy and Company, her small box of things weighing down her tired arms. Sabrina wanted to shriek at the injustice of it all, but the damage was done. She would only be known as the intern who had tried to seduce the nephew of the company’s co-founder to advance her career. It was all speculation and rumors, but that hadn’t mattered to anyone. And she was finally starting to understand how little it should matter to her.

  She’d just gotten a good dose of how cutthroat the corporate world could be and if there was one thing she’d learn from this experience, it was that work and romance just didn’t mix—a fact she should have realized much sooner. Sabrina could kick herself for making such a stupid mistake.

  But it was a mistake she vowed never to let happen again.

  Chapter One

  Six months later…

  Sabrina leaned back in her black swivel chair and groaned in frustration. It was her first day at her temp-to-perm job, and already it was off to a bad start.

  “I’m not sure what happened,” she muttered to the tall, lean man who’d suddenly stopped by her cubicle. She turned her gaze away from the black monitor and glanced up at him. “The screen just went blank.”

&
nbsp; “Hmm, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen that happen before.”

  Sabrina stared blankly at…what was his name again? She scanned his dark face, trying to remember. It had only been a few seconds ago that he’d come up to her cubicle to welcome her to the company and introduced himself as the Senior Art Director on her team. Now, for the life of her, she couldn’t even remember his name.

  Was it Dan?

  “Looks like you’ll need to put in a work order with IT.” He must have misread her blank expression as disbelief because his dark brown face broke into a tight smile. “Sorry. Dumb comment. Obviously, you won’t be able to put in anything through the system. I’ll put one in for you when I get to my desk.” Sabrina thanked him profusely, and he laughed. “No problem. Just remember this moment when you’re putting those timelines together and asking for one-day turnarounds.”

  Day…Dale! Right. Dale Connors.

  She thanked him again, skating around making such a promise. He might not know it, but as the temporary Marketing Assistant on the team, she wouldn’t have any control over timelines and such. What the executives wanted, the executives got.

  When Dale left her cubicle, Sabrina re-read the note left on her desk that morning by her direct supervisor. It was friendly and courteous, but to the point:

  Welcome to the team, Sabrina. Once you’ve settled in, please audit the server for all the current promotional materials published this year. We’ll need a complete list by 3pm today for our meeting with management. -Toni

  Sabrina groaned and stared at her dead monitor. Anxiety was starting to prickle up her spine at the thought of having to explain to her new supervisor that she hadn’t been able to complete the task because of a dead computer. Despite it being her first day on the job, she highly doubted Toni would be sympathetic to her technological woes. Sabrina had been in enough internships and temp jobs to know how much corporate executives valued proactivity, and she couldn’t afford for Toni not to see the value she had to offer.

  The humiliating incident at her last job had unfortunately followed her. After her termination from McArthur, Murphy and Company, she had concentrated on finishing her master’s in business administration. Yet, even with her degree and high honors, it had taken all summer for her to find a company willing to hire her outside of a receptionist position. Instead of an associate position, they had hired her on as an assistant and she was well aware that it was her past situation with MMC had influenced that decision.

  Though being a Marketing Assistant with an MBA degree wasn’t ideal, it certainly beat out all the other weak positions that had been offered to her. And if she wanted to turn her temporary position into a permanent one, she needed to start taking initiative.

  There was no telling how long it would take IT to get to her, but Sabrina couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. What if someone stopped by and saw her just sitting there? It was still pretty early, only a little after eight, and that left her with only a few hours to complete Toni’s request before having to head over to her mandatory new hire orientation.

  Sabrina sat back in her seat and continued staring at the blank monitor as she thought of what to do next. Jabbing at the power button had yielded nothing, but the loud humming coming from the computer tower hadn’t gone away. Maybe the computer itself wasn’t completely dead, and all she needed was a working monitor…

  She bound to her feet and glanced around the quiet floor then went to the vacant cubicle behind hers. Stacks of boxes, industry books, and a few sample materials crowded the small space, but more importantly, there was a computer monitor. A working one.

  She pressed the power button just to be sure. The green light illuminated, and the manufacturer’s logo flashed on the screen. Her heart skipped with relief. She wasn’t a computer whiz, but it didn’t take a genius to replace a computer monitor. She’d even done it once at one of her last jobs. She could do it again.

  Hiking up her dark pencil skirt, Sabrina went underneath the wide desk. It was dustier beneath the table than she’d thought, and she briefly worried about her ivory top, but she didn’t let that stop her from continuing her task of disconnecting the cables.

  She came up from under the table, releasing a few body-shuddering sneezes, the kind that made the muscles in her stomach sore, before carrying the large monitor to her cubicle. That task proved harder than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t expected the monitor to weigh as much as a box of bricks. Thankfully, her desk was only a few feet away.

  She managed to carry the heavy monitor back to her desk, and she ungracefully dropped it on the smooth surface. Glancing at her wide computer screen, she groaned. Now she would have to disconnect her dead monitor and take it back to the other cubicle. Sabrina frowned, seriously contemplating the wisdom of her plan. Her arms were already starting to ache, and streaks of dust were smeared on her black skirt. From her reflection in the blank screen, she could see strands of her hair sticking out in places it shouldn’t.

  Just get this done, she urged herself. Once she hooked up the borrowed monitor, she could go freshen up.

  Though there was no one around, and her cubicle was stationed in a quieter part of the office, Sabrina still scanned the area before she hiked up her skirt again and went beneath her desk. It took her longer than she’d anticipated to disconnect the cables of her useless monitor. There were more cords for her to maneuver around, and it took longer for her to figure out which to actually disconnect. Eventually, through process of elimination, she managed to find the correct cord that would free her dead monitor. She jerked the cord from the outlet. The computer tower continued its soft humming, so she figured her guess was right.

  Sabrina wiggled out from beneath the wide desk, bumping her head hard against the solid, inner surface along the way.

  “Damn it!” Sitting on her haunches, she frantically rubbed the back of her head. Once the throbbing subsided, she stood up and braced herself to lift the dead monitor. It, of course, was just as heavy as the other one, if not heavier.

  Talk about dead weight, she thought derisively. Maybe it was just her tired limbs, but she didn’t have enough time—or strength—for second guesses. Sabrina turned with her heavy bundle, fully intending to stash it in the vacant cubicle before anyone saw her.

  She wouldn’t get the chance.

  The tall, good-looking man leaning against the wall across from her cubicle stopped Sabrina in her tracks. She stared fixedly into the deep blue of his eyes, feeling awkward and silly with the large, heavy monitor literally weighing down her arms. The impossibly handsome man said nothing. He just stood there, casually leaning against the wall, a dark brow arched.

  Sabrina didn’t know what to say. Partly because of the way his dark blue eyes glinted with amusement, but mainly because of his rugged handsomeness, which left her tongue-tied. He wore a slight smirk on his sensuous lips, and her face heated with embarrassment, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the awkward position she found herself in or her unexpected attraction to him. How long had he been standing there, watching her make a fool of herself?

  Given his black T-shirt and dark jeans, he couldn’t possibly work in Marketing, but neither did he have the haughty look of a designer. Was he from IT? If he was, he certainly wasn’t what she’d expected. And why wasn’t he helping her with the computer that threatened to tear her arms from their sockets?

  The sudden thought of her current position with the heavy monitor brought pain crashing down along her arms. They grew weaker, and the monitor began to slip from her numb fingers. She looked at him helplessly as the monitor continued its quick descent.

  With one word, she finally broke the awkward silence between them.

  “Help.”

  ****

  Jake Landon sprang from his position against the wall and rushed to the silly woman carrying the large monitor that was quickly sliding from her fingers. She completely lost her grip on it, and he caught it right before it crashed to the ground—or his foot.


  He hoisted the monitor back onto the desk, right beside the other one she had undoubtedly stolen from someplace else. Didn’t she know how much these things weighed? Judging by her slender arms, he knew she hadn’t had an easy time moving the first one. Shaking his head, Jake stared back at the sexy, senseless woman.

  It was nice to put a face to the round, shapely ass that has been wiggling out from under the desk when he’d walked up. Smooth brown, shapely thighs had peeked from beneath her raised skirt and his imagination had run wild. He should have been ashamed of himself for looking as long as he had, but he wasn’t. He had enjoyed the view too much. The first good thing he’d seen all morning. She stared back at him with beautiful, slanted brown eyes and full, pouty lips. Lips that looked very soft…and very kissable.

  “Thank you.” She glanced nervously around the cubicle, shaking loose her arms. “That was a close one.”

  Her voice was light and sweet. A surge of desire swept over him, and Jake couldn’t stop his gaze from lingering down the rest of her. A smooth, musical voice to go with her sinfully erotic body. It was such a turn-on and did little to draw his attention from his suggestive thoughts.

  His direct scrutiny must have added to her nervousness because she looked everywhere but at him. She tucked a strand of dark, wavy hair behind her ear, a move he found endearing. Jake pushed his sudden, strange feelings aside and smiled down at her to ease some of her nervousness.

  “Looks like I got here just in time,” Jake said, keeping his own tone light and casual.

  She nodded, still not looking at him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but nothing screamed sexual harassment louder than an unsolicited touch. But damn, did he want to feel her, to make her as aware of him as he was of her.