Less Than Three: A Romantic Comedy

by Maggie Dallen

  Raj’s eyes lit up. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”

  Raj gave him a look that told him he was an idiot. “Uh, she could say no. And then I’d be forced to see her every day and feel like a complete and total fool every time I bump into her.”

  Alex slapped his buddy on the back. “Right. But I mean, other than that.”

  They both burst out laughing just as Heather came into the break room, followed closely by Lacey.

  Alex stopped laughing as the air was sucked out of his lungs. It was the same situation every time Lacey walked into a room. His heart rate quadrupled and all the oxygen seemed to leave the atmosphere.

  “What’s so funny?” Heather asked.

  Alex saw his friend freeze up at the question. Raj must truly have a thing for this girl. He cast a glance over at Lacey who was grabbing a bag of chips from a cabinet over the sink. He could totally relate.

  “We were just talking about the party tomorrow,” he said.

  Heather’s eyes lit up at the mention of it. “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited. I got the most amazing dress at this half-price sale, and I’ve been dying to wear it.”

  Alex saw his opportunity to help his friend out. “Are you bringing anyone?”

  Heather made a face of disgust. “No, the guy I was dating turned out to be a total loser. Looks like I’ll be flying solo.”

  Alex shot his friend a telling look, and Raj took the cue. “Hey, Heather, I was planning on going alone too. Maybe we should go together.”

  Heather’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “That would be great! What time do you want to meet up?”

  Raj shot his friend a grateful smile as he led Heather out of the break room and continued with their party planning.

  Lacey was leaning against the counter popping chips into her mouth. “That was a nice thing you did there, Cupid.”

  Alex grinned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just gave a little nudge.”

  Lacey laughed. “I’m glad somebody did. Those two needed a good shove in the right direction.”

  “You knew there was something going on?”

  She rolled her eyes at his apparent obtuseness. “Oh please, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife every time they come within three feet of each other.”

  He moved nearer, so he was leaning against the counter beside her, almost touching but not quite. He lowered his voice so they couldn’t be overheard by passersby in the hallway. “Do you think people say the same thing about us?”

  He could hear her breath catch, but she didn’t turn toward him. “If they do, we’re doing something wrong,” she said.

  It was killing him. Not holding her in his arms was agony. Having her close by at all times but never being able to kiss her or touch her—it was torture. She seemed to be reading his mind. “It’s almost over, you know. The finish line is just around the corner.”

  Alex dropped his head and let out a sigh. The board meeting and election were scheduled for Monday morning. By the end of the day Monday, it would all be decided. His future and the future of the company.

  No matter what happened with the election, at least he and Lacey could finally be together. They were finally going to get a chance at being a couple.

  “I wish you could be my date tomorrow night,” he said. The words slipped out before he could stop them.

  Lacey finally turned to look up at him. She gave him a wistful half-smile. “Me too.”

  He resisted the urge to brush a curl from her forehead but instead leaned on his elbows. “I have an idea.”

  She raised her eyebrows in question.

  “Let’s talk about Monday night.”

  She laughed. “You mean, how are we going to celebrate your success?”

  “No, I mean, what are we going to do on our date?”

  Lacey’s grin was infectious. “Well, let’s see. We should go somewhere with champagne so we can toast your new position—”

  “Or drown my sorrows if I lose,” he finished.

  She narrowed her eyes in feigned anger. “I don’t want to hear that kind of talk, mister. After all the work you’ve put in to becoming this company’s next great leader, there’s no way you’re going to lose.”

  “Whatever you say, coach.”

  He loved the faith she had in him almost as much as he loved her. Over the past five days of being able to look at her and talk to her and not touch her, he’d realized how important she was beyond the physical. He’d accepted that what he felt for this woman was nothing short of love. Something he’d never experienced before. He could only hope that once this election was over he could put all of his effort into convincing Lacey that she felt the same way. He couldn’t let himself think of the alternative.

  “Oooh, Lacey’s got a boyfriend,” Morgan said in a sing-song voice.

  Lacey rolled her eyes and cinched her cell between her ear and shoulder as she dabbed on moisturizer before bed. “Seriously? How old are you?”

  “Lacey and Alex sitting in a tree …” Morgan’s giggle came through the line like she was in the same room. For the first time all week, Lacey was talking to her best friend and roommate on Morgan’s night off, which meant she was most likely curled up on the couch in her ratty old flannel pajamas and cuddling Sam.

  “I’m homesick,” Lacey said.

  “Oh please, don’t give me that. You’re having the time of your life with your new boy-toy. Admit it.”

  Lacey couldn’t stop the dopey grin that spread across her face as she thought about Alex. “Yeah, he’s pretty great. But I still miss you and Sam.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Morgan teased. “I bet. We don’t stand a chance against the new boyfriend. What are we calling him again? Oh yeah, the Greek hunk.”

  “It’s the Greek god,” Lacey laughed. “And he’s not a boyfriend yet.”

  “But he will be.”

  “Maybe,” Lacey said. She considered her reflection in the mirror and forced away romantic daydreams. “Right now I need to focus on my career.”

  “Right, sure.” Morgan’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Morgan, this means a lot to me.” Sometimes the fact that her best friend was still living their college life made her feel like they were in two different worlds. This was one of those times.

  “Listen, Lace, I get it. I know this job means a lot to you. I’m just sayin’, why can’t you have your cake and eat it too? Why can’t you have both?”

  Why can’t I have both? The words lingered in Lacey’s head long after she hung up the phone. As she finished getting ready for bed the thought took root, and there was no denying the wellspring of hope that bubbled up inside her.

  She would be on her best behavior for the remainder of her contract. But once this election was over, what was stopping them?

  Lacey ordered her brain to stop fantasizing. Now was not the time for romance, there was still a lot of work to be done. And something told her that Alex would not like the next exercise she had in store.

  In fact, if he was still speaking her by tomorrow afternoon, it would be a miracle.

  They’d agreed to share a car to the office the next morning but Lacey planned to make a stop on the way. It was their last day to practice—and Lacey’s last chance to break down the remainder of Alex’s insecurities. She knew what needed to be done. But it wasn’t pleasant.

  “What are we doing here, Lace?” Alex’s tone held a hint of warning.

  Lacey swallowed her hesitation and led the way into Alex’s father’s apartment building.

  She stepped into the elevator and turned to find him watching her warily. “I don’t want to go up there.”

  Lacey’s heart went out to him, but she remained silent until he eventually joined her inside the elevator, stabbing the button for the fifteenth floor— his father’s floor—with more force than necessary.

  They watched the numbers tick by overhead. When they’d reached floor ten, Alex finally
spoke. “I don’t know why we’re doing this.”

  Lacey glanced at him. “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.” He said it so quickly her heart did a little flip in her chest.

  “Then believe me when I say that you need to do this.”

  She let him lead the way to the apartment. Lacey waited patiently as he took a deep breath, then another, before reaching for his keys and letting them both in.

  After what felt like an eternity of watching Alex roam around the apartment, looking at pictures and touching knick-knacks that cluttered the shelves and end tables, he finally spoke. “I haven’t been back here since he died.”

  “I know.” When he looked over in surprise, she shrugged. “I pay attention.”

  He gave her a half-smile, a hint of amusement in an otherwise grief-stricken look.

  She moved toward him. “I didn’t bring you here to torture you, I swear. And this isn’t some ploy to make you a better speaker.”

  When she reached his side she grasped his hand, and he squeezed it in return. “I just think…”

  She cleared her throat and shoved away the fear that she was overstepping her boundaries. Someone had to be honest with him; someone had to push past his defenses and help him to move past the barriers that were keeping him from embracing this presidency with the fervor she knew he felt. “I just think you need to say goodbye,” she said.

  His eyes met hers and the pain was unbearable to witness.

  Before he could speak, she hurried on. “I know you’ve grieved for your father, but I think…I think stepping up and taking this role is difficult for you to accept. The role was supposed to be his. I think you’re hesitating because it would mean that his death is real. That he’s really gone and he’s not coming back—not for the company and not for you.”

  He turned away from her. Now she’d done it. She’d crossed the line, and now he would push her away. He’d hate her for presuming to know anything about him or his father or—

  “You’re right.”

  His soft-spoken words were a relief, but they also tugged at her heart. His back was still to her and she wanted to go to him. Wrap her arms around him from behind and rest her cheek against him. Let him know she was there for him without speaking.

  She shouldn’t. It would break every professional rule in the book. But she did it anyway.

  An hour later, they sat side by side on the couch. They were largely silent, except for Alex’s occasional story from his past or memory of his father that had them both laughing and, in Lacey’s case, wiping away tears.

  It was good. It was healthy.

  “It was just the two of us, you know?” Alex said. “My mom ran off when I was little, so it was always just the two of us. My dad and I against the world.” He had one arm around her shoulders as they listened to the low hum of the refrigerator.

  She nodded. “I do know, actually. That’s how my mom and I always were.”

  He pulled away so he could look at her and she realized he was waiting for her to continue.

  With a little shrug, she told him the whole, not-so-pretty story of her childhood—from the divorce, to her father remarrying and losing interest in her, to her mother’s constant struggle to put food on the table.

  “She got pregnant with me when she was young. She never had a chance to figure out what she wanted to do with her life or start a career. It was always one dead-end job after another.”

  His hand stilled in the middle of stroking her arm. “So that’s why this job at Ackland means so much to you?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Freud, I imagine that has something to do with it.”

  He laughed and pulled her closer. “I’m glad we came here. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad you’re glad,” she said. “But now we’d better get to the office, you still have a lot of work to do.”

  She ignored his groans and pleas for mercy as she led the way out of the apartment.

  Lacey was laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

  “I’m not kidding, Lace, give it to me.” Alex had her pinned against the conference room table that afternoon, one arm around her waist as he reached for the remote control in her outstretched hand.

  Video footage of Alex reading to kindergarteners played out on the TV at the front of the room. “It’s a learning tool,” Lacey insisted, but the fact that she was giggling as she said it didn’t help her cause.

  Alex scowled at her, but there was laughter in his eyes as he reached for the remote. “You are cruel,” he growled.

  “Cruel but effective,” she said. And it was true. They had worked hard that week on various ways for Alex to harness the natural charisma and confidence he exuded outside of the boardroom.

  They’d made real progress. At the end of every lesson, Lacey would videotape Alex’s speech and would go off to her office to review the footage and make notes on what areas he still needed improvement. She’d sent the most recent tape to Rick back at Ackland headquarters and had been pleased, but not surprised, that he and the team agreed with her assessment—Alex Newsom had come a long way.

  They both heard the door opening behind them but neither turned to see who it was. Dawn was always interrupting their lessons to fetch Alex for his grandfather. Lawrence Newsom Senior’s every spare moment was spent trying to cram facts into his grandson’s head. He was trying to do the impossible—fit decades’ worth of life experience into two weeks. Every time he returned to her after these meetings, her heart ached at the weariness she saw in his eyes. She’d overheard enough of their conversations to know that his grandfather was merciless in his judgment and criticism of the younger man.

  “Dawn, tell the old man he can wait,” Lacey said. “Alex and I aren’t done.”

  “Oh, you’re done all right.” The old man’s gravelly voice was like ice water in Lacey’s veins. She hurried to distance herself from Alex who had spun around to face the old man.

  “Grandfather, what are you doing here?”

  Lawrence Newsom stalked into the room, his eyes narrowed as he took in the scene before him. Lacey had a feeling those eyes didn’t miss much.

  “I came to see how your lessons were coming along.”

  She watched as Alex fidgeted like a little boy in front of his grandfather as she struggled to overcome her embarrassment.

  The old man’s watery blue eyes turned to her, and she lifted her chin stubbornly. Yes, they were caught having fun, but it wasn’t as though they were doing something inappropriate. She and Alex hadn’t crossed the line into impropriety once since their little chat in her hotel room. There had been some flirting and a whole lot of fun, but no kissing and certainly no sex. Not that it wasn’t on her mind every minute of every day. She was counting the seconds until the election.

  “Mr. Newsom, I’m glad you could join—” Lacey started.

  “Lawrence, please go to my office. The CFO is waiting to brief you on last quarter’s results.”

  Alex shot Lacey a comical look of horror behind his grandfather’s back as he moved toward the conference room door. Lacey smothered a grin, all too aware that the old man was watching her every move like a hawk.

  Once they were alone, the silence was unnerving. Lacey cleared her throat. “Mr. Newsom, you’ll be happy to know—”

  Mr. Newsom started to speak as though she’d never opened her mouth. “I understand that you have a job to do here, Miss Ames. And I believe my team and I have been extremely cooperative with you and your unique methods.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lacey agreed. “You have been most accommodating.”

  It was the truth. He had watched from the sidelines as she led Alex through her personalized versions of Ackland’s program—one that was far from typical. He never intervened, even when he walked in on one of Alex’s training sessions that involved him giving a somewhat ludicrous speech about the danger of sugar consumption to the admin team in the break room.

  “I’ve given you this freedom because I have seen the resul
ts. Your boss at Ackland gives me regular updates on the status of your training.” Lacey stared at the old man in surprise. Rick had never mentioned that he was in contact with the elder Lawrence Newsom.

  Mr. Newsom regarded her with a look of amusement. “Your employer seems unaware of some of your more outlandish tactics, but I’ve kept my mouth shut because the only thing that matters to me is the result. And your unconventional methods appear to be working. That’s all that matters.”

  Despite his domineering demeanor, Lacey had the distinct impression that she was being complimented. “Thank you, Mr. Newsom.”

  His eyes narrowed and he took a step closer. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, Ms. Ames. I am pleased with your work, but that does not mean I don’t see what’s going on beneath my nose.”

  Lacey blinked in surprise and struggled to think of an appropriate response to the vague insinuation. “I don’t think I know what you mean.”

  The old man’s chuckle was humorless. “Don’t play dumb with me. You might be blonde but no man with half a brain would call you dumb.”

  Lacey’s shoulders straightened and her spine stiffened involuntarily at the old man’s accusatory tone. “What are you saying?”

  “I see the way my grandson looks at you and the way you look at him. I may be old but I remember what it’s like to be young. And I recognize a workplace romance when I see one.”

  Lacey cursed the heat that rushed into her cheeks. She was sure that only made Lawrence Newsom more convinced than ever that she was guilty. “I’m afraid you are mistaken, sir. There is no workplace romance. Not between Alex and me, at least.”

  He waved away her protest. “Please don’t take me for a fool.” Lacey opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. “In any other circumstances, I would be happy to see my grandson settle down with a lovely, intelligent young woman like yourself.”

  Lacey’s mouth parted in disbelief. There was no way they were having this conversation.

  “But?” she prodded.

  “But now is not the time.”