The Man Behind the Rusted Pickup
Chapter 1 - The Door She Slammed
The pickup door slammed hard enough to turn heads outside the office tower.
Ethan Carter's hands were already clear of it. He looked at the woman standing beside the faded blue paint, then at the rust beneath her pointing finger.
“Five years, and you're still driving this junk?”
Claire's laugh carried across the pavement. She wore a beige suit, immaculate heels, and the expression Ethan remembered from the evening she had left him.
He let the sound of the door settle.
“I'm here for a meeting.”
He stepped toward the entrance. Claire moved across his path.
“Deliveries go around back.”
Behind her, a silver-haired man came through the revolving doors with an open folder.
“Mr. Carter, I need your signature on this contract.”
Ethan accepted the folder from Martin Hale. He glanced at the marked page, but Claire's voice interrupted him.
“Mr. Carter? You're the new CEO?”
He looked up.
“Why? Don't I look the part?”
Her mouth opened. For once, the answer did not arrive ahead of the thought.
Ethan closed the folder without signing.
“I'll review the final version upstairs, Martin.”
“Of course.”
Claire stepped aside. As Ethan passed, she touched his sleeve.
“You could have told me.”
He looked at her hand until she removed it.
“You could have asked.”
