Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume VI

by Tori Carrington

  The strict fraternization code was about to be applied. Rich’s assistant was awaiting his arrival and with a worried look, ushered him into the office. To Alex’s surprise, Greta was sitting on the sofa, her legs crossed primly in front of her. And to his relief, Thea had left. His gaze met Greta’s and he grinned at her. “Morning, Adler,” he said.

  She smiled weakly. “Good—good morning,” Greta murmured, staring at her hands. She looked up at Richard Johnson. “Let’s just get on with this, shall we?”

  “Have a seat, Alex.” He indicated a chair and Alex quickly sat down. “I’ll get right to the point. I understand that you two are involved romantically. Since you’re aware of agency policy, my question is, what are we going to do about this?”

  Greta shook her head. “Sir, I think I should first say that Alex and I are—”

  “What are our options?” Alex interrupted.

  “We’re not involved,” Greta explained.

  “Yes, we are,” Alex countered.

  “No!” Greta cried. “It was just a—a one-night thing. It’s over. Completely over. And it will never, ever happen again.”

  “No, it’s not over,” Alex said. “At least not as far as I’m concerned. And it was two nights.” He held up two fingers. “Two.”

  “Well, which is it?” Johnson asked impatiently.

  “What are you doing?” Greta asked Alex. “Don’t joke about this.”

  “I’m not joking,” Alex assured her. “Even now, after an entire weekend spent in bed, all I can think about is getting you home.” He gave Johnson a shrug. “Sorry, but it’s the truth.”

  “Hmm,” Johnson said. “That’s a problem.”

  Greta jumped to her feet and crossed the room to stand in front of him. “What are you doing?” she said under her breath. “We’re going to lose our jobs.”

  “I was about to promote you,” Johnson said to Greta. “Senior art director for the Sunrise Airlines account.”

  “We got the account?” Greta asked.

  Johnson nodded. “They called this morning to give me the news. They were very impressed with your print campaign.”

  Greta turned to Alex, sending him a pleading look. “I’ve worked for seven years to get to this position.”

  “I know,” Alex said. “And you deserve this promotion more than anyone I know.” He turned to Johnson. “So, Rich, if I agree to leave, then there is no fraternization and we’re cool, right? Greta can keep her job.”

  “You run one of our largest accounts,” Rich said. “I don’t think we want to lose—”

  “Yes or no?” Alex asked.

  “No!” Greta said. “This is ridiculous. Neither one of us has to give up our job. We’ll just agree that it’s over.”

  “But it’s not,” Alex said. “I think—no, I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with you. Very sure. And I want to spend as much time as possible with you. Besides, I can get a job anywhere.”

  “Hold on there,” Rich said. “What are we talking about? I can’t afford to lose you. If you go, Alex, Thea Michaels will follow. And I need you, Greta, on Sunrise Airlines.”

  Alex pushed to his feet. “Then, Rich, I think you’ve got a bigger problem than I can solve for you. If you fire Greta, then I go. Maybe you ought to just fire us both and get it over with.”

  “What?” Greta asked. “No! That would be a bad idea. I—I’ll go.”

  “I don’t know…” Rich said.

  Alex shook his head. “Nope. She goes, I go.” He slipped his arms around Greta’s waist and pulled her close, then kissed her softly. “You look wonderful,” he whispered. “I missed you last night.”

  “I missed you, too,” she said.

  “I love you, Adler.”

  She smiled, then smoothed her hand over the chest of his starched shirt. “I love you, too, Hansen.”

  Alex kissed her again, lingering over her lips before he finally stepped back. “Well, I’m sure you will figure this all out, Rich. Whatever you decide, just let me know. I’ve got to track down Thea Michaels and make sure she’s not upset with me, too.”

  “I told her to wait in your office,” Johnson said. “You know, she’s really a pain in the ass.”

  “Oh, my gosh, yes!” Greta cried. “You should spend a little time with her. She called me fat.”

  Johnson frowned. “She called you fat?”

  Satisfied that all would be well, Alex walked out of the boss’s office and headed to his own. As expected, Thea was waiting for him, casually flipping through a magazine as she sipped her morning coffee. “You’re here early,” he said.

  She looked up and smiled, her gaze slowly drifting down his body and back to his face. “I had important business,” she said.

  “Did you tattle to my boss about this weekend?” He kept his tone light, hoping that a confession would give him exactly what he needed to turn this situation around.

  “I might have mentioned your little tryst.”

  “Well, I guess I have you to thank you then. I’m sure they’ll find you a new account manager who can handle these little games you enjoy so much.”

  Her expression froze. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m done here. I’m no longer—”

  “No!” she cried. “He was supposed to fire her, not you.”

  “Well, I quit. So she could keep her job. I’m in love with her and I’m willing to do anything to protect her. So don’t even think of going after her, Thea. You can toss me in your nasty little oven, but leave her alone.”

  Thea opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. She drew a deep breath, then sent him a grudging smile. “All right. You win. I’m sorry. I was just having a little fun.”

  “I don’t think messing with peoples’ careers is considered fun. Listen, I love my job here at Johnson-Jacobs. I’m damn good at what I do, which I think I’ve proved to you quite well. But obviously, that’s not good enough.”

  “He fired you?” Thea asked.

  “No, I told you, I quit. Why don’t you go back in? If you can straighten this out with Rich, I might forgive you.”

  She stood and crossed the office to stand in front of him. Then, Thea pushed up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man,” she murmured. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

  “Yes,” he said, recalling Greta’s words to him. And for the first time in his life, he believed the words were true.

  * * *

  GRETA STOOD NERVOUSLY at her desk. Her meeting with Rich Johnson had been cut short the minute Alex had walked out of the office. She’d been ordered back to work without further comment.

  She stared at the small vase that sat next to her computer, the lovely wisteria flowers cascading over the edges. Alex had filled the vase with white tea roses and the scent of them filled her office.

  Greta stood up nervously. But she couldn’t stay at her desk. She needed to find Alex and talk to him. This was ridiculous! He’d put in years of hard work to get where he wanted to be and now he was willing to throw it all away just because they spent a weekend in bed? There was no way she’d allow him to do that.

  She strode out to the lobby and looked at the receptionist. “How long ago did Thea leave?”

  “A couple of hours,” Emily said. “And then Alex left and Rich caught up to him at the elevators and they went downstairs together. What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Greta said.

  “Is this about you and Alex?”

  “You know?”

  “Everyone knows,” she said.

  “How did it get around so fast?” Greta asked.

  “What?”

  Greta frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “The thing you have with Alex. Your friendship. Everyone can tell it’s more than that. We’ve all been wondering when you were finally going to admit it to yourselves. It’s blatantly obvious that you two are in love with each other.”

  “We are?”

  Emily laughed, shaking her head. “The way
you flirt and fight and then flirt all over again. All of us girls have been waiting for the wall to finally come down.”

  “Well, it came down, all right,” Greta said. “And now, Alex plans to quit so I can keep my job. I think we should go back to being friends, but he wants to continue what we started.”

  “You can’t go back,” Emily said. She leaned forward. “Is he as good in bed as we all imagine him to be?”

  Greta pushed away from the receptionist’s desk, wagging her finger. “I’ll never tell.”

  “Speak of the devil, there he is,” Emily said, her gaze fixed on the wide glass doors.

  Greta turned around and watched as Alex walked across the atrium to the front doors of the agency. When he spotted her inside, he grinned. Greta felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. He looked so happy. How could he be happy if he just quit his job?

  He pulled open the doors and strode up to her, dropping a kiss on her lips. “Hi. You’re just the girl I’ve been looking for.”

  “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you.”

  “I had a lot of thinking to do.”

  “You can’t quit,” Greta said.

  “I already did. And then Rich convinced me to stay.”

  “He’s not going to fire you?”

  Alex shook his head. “Nope. And he’s not going to fire you either.”

  “But what about the policy?”

  “Well, it seems that the policy only applies to two single people carrying on a relationship within this office.”

  Greta glanced around, noticing a small crowd gathering in the lobby. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.

  “I’m talking about us. You and me. If we’re not single, they can’t fire either one of us.”

  “I—I don’t understand. We are single.”

  “That can be remedied.”

  Greta watched as he slowly dropped to one knee. He took her hand in his and reached into his pocket. “We’ve known each other for seven years. And we’ve been best friends for most of that time. You’ve seen me through good times and bad and no matter what I’ve said or done, you’ve always stuck by me. You are the most important woman in my life and I want to keep it that way.”

  “Get up,” she whispered, her gaze frantically scanning the room. The crowd moved in closer to hear what Alex was saying. “Everyone’s watching.”

  “Good. Because I want everyone to know exactly how I feel about you.” He turned to face their coworkers. “I love Greta Adler,” he shouted. “And I’m pretty sure she loves me. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

  “No!” the crowd shouted, the cry mixed with laughter and cheers.

  He turned back to Greta. “Since we have their approval, then I’m going to proceed. Greta, I love you. I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?”

  “Are you crazy?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Crazy in love. What do you say? Let’s not waste any more time. I want to be with you.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a velvet-covered box. “I’m not sure if you’ll like this one. If you don’t, the jeweler has others to choose from.” He opened the box and a diamond ring twinkled in the lights from the lobby.

  Greta held her breath as he took it out and held it at her fingertip.

  “Say yes,” Alex urged. “I promise I’ll make you happy.”

  Her mind spun and her heart pounded. For a moment, she thought she might faint from the whirl of emotion inside her. Everything she saw in his eyes told her that his words were true. She’d imagined the day he’d finally fall in love for good, but she’d never dreamed that his love would be for her.

  He was her best friend and now he was her lover. Was it such a stretch to think that he could be her husband as well? “Are you just doing this so we can keep our jobs?”

  “No,” he said. “I’m doing this because I can’t imagine spending another day without you in my life. I think it’s time we made it official.”

  “Say yes,” Emily whispered.

  The crowd around them agreed and they voiced their own pleas for an answer to his proposal. Greta didn’t have to think about what to say. Alex was right. They’d been in love for a very long time. “I do love you,” she said. “And—”

  “And?”

  “And I will marry you, Alex Hansen. My answer is yes.”

  Their coworkers burst into a round of cheers and Alex got to his feet. He slipped the ring on her finger, then pulled her into a long, deep kiss, his hands cupping her face gently. When he finally drew back, he smiled down at her. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t said yes,” he murmured. “You’re the one for me.”

  Greta pushed up on her toes and kissed him again. “I know. I’m glad you finally figured that out.”

  “What’s going on here?”

  Rich Johnson’s booming voice filled the lobby and the crowd around them quickly dispersed. He frowned at Alex and Greta, then shook his head. “This is exactly what that fraternization policy is meant to prevent. Public displays of affection in my lobby. A client could walk in at any minute. What would—”

  “She said yes,” Alex interrupted.

  “Well, then, I guess my problem is solved,” Rich replied. “Now that it is, I think we need to meet about the Sunrise account. Adler, I hope you can work with your soon-to-be husband without too many problems.”

  “Of course,” Greta said. Her husband. Alex was about to become her husband. Though the concept was a bit hard to believe, it certainly didn’t scare her. She could envision a life with Alex, a future, a family, a home they shared.

  “Actually, we’re going to take the afternoon off,” Alex said, lacing his fingers through hers. “We’ll be back tomorrow morning, bright and early. We can meet then.”

  He pulled her along, opening the wide glass door in front of them. When they reached the elevator, Greta took a deep breath. “Are we really engaged?”

  “Did you think that was all just for show?” Alex asked.

  “No, I—”

  The bell rang. When the elevator doors opened, he drew her inside. The moment they closed, Greta found herself wrapped in his embrace. His lips came down on hers in a very convincing kiss. “We are,” she said with a satisfied smile.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “There’s a little trail of bread crumbs that leads right to your bed. I think it would be best if we follow them.”

  “Will there be a witch waiting for us at the other end?”

  “No,” Alex said. “Just years of happy endings.”

  “I can live with that,” Greta said. She smiled and kissed him again. This was all she’d ever wanted, this fairy tale, this handsome prince. She’d thought she’d come to the end of the tale, but now, it was beginning all over again. And they would live happily ever after.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459225800

  Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  MAID FOR HIM…

  Copyright © 2012 by Tori Carrington

  OFF THE BEATEN PATH

  Copyright © 2012 by Kate Hoffmann

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