“What can I say?” Victor shrugged. “I do what I can.”
“Get out of here, Vic.” Alex sighed, reclining against his desk. “You’ve caused me enough trouble for one day.”
“Me? Trouble?” Victor pointed to himself. “Surely you jest.”
“No, I don’t,” Alex said. “You’re nothing but bad news.”
“My dear brother, you know your life would be so boring without me.”
“Oh, how I’d like to test that theory.” Despite his black mood, Alex cracked a smile.
“No, you wouldn’t.” Victor confidently grinned and opened the door. “Later, bro.”
“Hey.” Alex halted his brother’s exit. “What do they say about assuming?”
“You’re kidding, right?” At his brother’s blank stare, Victor laughed heartily before explaining, “When you assume you make an ass out of u and me. Get it?”
“Ah, I see.” Alex smirked at his brother, who gave him a mock salute before exiting. Well, she had told him off without raising that sweet little sexy voice of hers, hadn’t she?
He glanced at his closed door, and his smirk transformed into a slight smile as he replayed the confrontation with Nicole. Today she was dressed in a red dress with a matching duster jacket and red pumps. She looked wonderful and smelled even better—like lavender. He had fought down an insane urge to bury his nose in her neck and inhale deeply. What the...? His smile quickly slid into a deep frown. Oh, Lord, what am I doing reminiscing over how she looked and smelled?
She had barged into his office uninvited, so he should be angry; however, he was intrigued instead—which was surprising and intensely disquieting. Nicole Carter had that effect on him. The question was, what was he going to do about it?
* * *
As Nicole slowly made her way to her workstation, she chewed on her lower lip worriedly. What in the world had possessed her to do such a stupid thing like confronting her boss like that? Even though his door had been ajar, he had been in the privacy of his office talking to his brother, and she should have just walked on by.
She wasn’t impulsive, and now was no time to change her ways; she usually weighed everything she said and did very carefully. You’re sleep deprived. That’s why you acted so unwisely, she told herself to feel better, but it wasn’t working. She sat down at her desk and sighed heavily.
She was used to order and normalcy in her life. Since moving to Paris, her equilibrium had been constantly in flux—due primarily to her volatile boss and her disturbing attraction to him. She didn’t know where she stood with Alexander from one second to the next. She had thought after last night that they were starting to get along, but after overhearing him complaining about her this morning, she wasn’t sure anymore.
She wanted Alexander’s respect and maybe even his admiration. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, and the little scene she had just caused probably hadn’t helped things. She half expected him to barge out of his office, tell her off in front of everyone and order her out of his company, but thankfully, he didn’t. Apparently she was still employed at her dream job—for the time being anyway.
Resting her chin on her hands, she silently reprimanded her unruly tongue, which had caused her far too much trouble so early in the morning.
* * *
The next time Nicole saw Alexander was in the late morning. He was walking around the designers’ workstations peering over shoulders, making suggestions and giving out compliments when he deemed warranted. After their confrontation this morning, she held her breath, praying he would bypass her. Of course, he didn’t.
He reached her station and sat down beside her. She had removed her jacket, leaving her arms bare. When he slid his chair close to hers, the sleeve of his jacket brushed against her bare flesh, sending tremors through her.
“Settling in?”
“Yes.” She managed a slight smile. “Monique is great.”
“She is,” he agreed. “You seem startled. Why?”
“You know why,” she softly accused.
“You’re right. I do.” He paused before adding, “I apologize for talking about you behind your back. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re apologizing to me?”
“Yes, I am. Do you accept my apology?”
He had completely flabbergasted her. Where was the anger and outrage she expected from him? This man was truly hard to figure out; she never knew what he was going to say or do next.
“Of course I do. Thank you.” She magnanimously added, “I’m sorry for barging into your office.”
“It’s already forgotten.” He waved her apology away. “You may have figured out that I can be very demanding, Nicole.”
“Yes, I had noticed that,” Nicole quickly agreed around a smile.
“Right.” Humor lit up his gorgeous eyes. “I’m going to be hard on you, but I promise to give you a fair shot.”
“I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
“Truce?” He offered his hand.
“Truce.” She placed her hand in his momentarily, but that was long enough for needles of awareness to shoot through her. “I’m looking forward to working here, Alexander.”
“And work you will,” he assured before standing and leaving her staring after him.
Seconds later, Monique walked out of her office to perch on the edge of Nicole’s desk. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey.” Nicole tore her attention from Alexander’s retreating back and focused on her colleague.
“You and the boss looked rather cozy.”
“He was just showing me something.”
“Really?” Monique grinned. “Do tell, what?”
“Something about work,” Nicole said with a shake of her head.
“Oh, okay.” Nicole raised an eyebrow at her skeptical tone. “You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?”
“He’s—” Nicole paused, unsure of how to finish that sentence. Finally, she ended, “—very complicated.”
“Truly,” Monique agreed.
“I never know what he’s going to do or say.” Nicole glanced around to make sure he wasn’t within earshot. “He’s so...temperamental.”
“He definitely is. I think it’s the artist in him. He’s also very fair.”
“I hope so.”
“Trust me, he is.” Monique couldn’t resist adding, “You’ll find that out soon enough.”
“Here’s the sketch you asked me to revise.”
“Nice subject change.” Monique took the sketch from her and studied it. “Very good. I like it a lot.”
“I’m glad.”
“You’ve got talent, girl. I see why the boss hired you.”
Nicole placed a hand on her hip in fake outrage. “Did you ever doubt it?”
“Never.” Monique smiled. “Work me up two variations of this sketch—one with a longer skirt and the other with a different top.”
“I’m on it.” Nicole flipped to a clean page in her draft book. “When do you need them?”
“How does tomorrow around noon sound?”
“Perfect.”
“Great. I’ll let you get back to work.” Monique stood. “If you have any questions, holler.”
“Will do,” Nicole agreed, reaching for her charcoal pencil and bending her head to study the sketch on her desk.
Her hand froze in midair as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She felt rather than saw Alexander’s eyes on her. Slowly glancing up, she found him standing across the room at Crystal’s desk. He was nodding as though listening to something she was saying, but his eyes were glued on Nicole. She returned his intense stare for a few seconds before lowering her eyes back to her sketch, pretending interest in her design when she was really wondering what that l
ook was all about.
Chapter 4
Around noon, Nicole had finished one of Monique’s requested revisions of her sketch and was starting on the second when the hair on the back of her neck stood up in rapt attention. Instinctively, she knew Alexander had entered the designers’ area. It was uncanny that she could feel him before she saw him.
He stopped to answer a question from another designer. Nicole heard him laugh heartily, which was a sound she could really get used to. She held her breath involuntarily, praying he wouldn’t stop by her station, which, of course, he did.
He stood beside her desk silently for a few seconds, willing her to look at him. She knew she couldn’t ignore him and slowly raised her eyes to his.
“You’re not using Victor’s design software?”
“I’ve played with it, and it’s fabulous,” Nicole carefully began.
“But?” Alex smiled slightly. At her hesitation he ordered, “Be perfectly honest.”
“But when I first create a design, I have to do it with my charcoal pencil and paper.” She shrugged. “It allows me to feel the design. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“You explained it perfectly,” Alex assured. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Nicole sighed in relief that she hadn’t offended him. “You, too?”
“Yep.”
“I’m glad I’m not the only weird one.”
“Hardly.” Alex winked, pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. “May I steal of piece of your paper?”
“Of course.” Nicole tore off a couple of sheets from her pad and handed them to him, along with a charcoal pencil.
“I’m going to start a design.” He began effortlessly sketching. “And you’re going to finish it.”
Nicole’s heart jumped into her throat at his casual, terrifying statement. Was he serious? The walls started closing in on her, and she gulped in air. She glanced down at his hands as they expertly glided over the paper, and the formations of an elegant beaded blouse began to take shape. Oh, Lord, please let me remember how to sketch, she silently prayed.
“Okay.” He handed her the paper and charcoal. “Your turn.”
Nicole cautiously took the pencil from him and held it between her shaking fingers. She willed her nerves to subside; however, they persisted mercilessly.
“I’m not sure what you want.” Nicole’s terrified eyes stared into his serious ones.
“I want you to revise my design any way you see fit to make it better,” he elaborated.
“You want me to make your design better?”
He chuckled at her incredulity. “Yes.”
“Okay,” she nervously agreed. “I’ll try.”
How was she supposed to improve on Alexander James’s design? She swallowed her apprehension, took a calming breath and started revising as requested. After hesitating endlessly, she finally added jeweled cuffs to the sheer sleeves to match the neckline, which she changed from the square design Alexander had created into a sweetheart one. Last, she lengthened the blouse by an inch.
When she finished he didn’t say a word, simply took the charcoal from her and sketched a pencil skirt, followed by a ball gown. He handed the sketches and charcoal back to her, which she took and immediately began revising. The only design he rerevised was the ball gown and insisted she do the same. They spent about forty minutes together designing, and it was nerve-racking, but also exhilarating.
“How did I do?” She held her breath.
For a few minutes Alex studied the three designs they had created without responding. She fought against tapping her fingers impatiently on the desktop or shaking him to get an answer; instead, she folded her hands in her lap and waited for his critique.
“Very nice,” he finally answered, and she frowned.
“Is that good?”
“That’s good.” At his assurance, she released her heretofore held breath on an audible sigh. “Well done.”
“That was nerve-racking,” she admitted with a slight smile.
“I know.” He touched her hand briefly. “Come on, wasn’t it just a little bit fun?”
“It was—now that it’s over.” She laughed, and he joined her.
“Which is your favorite?” He spread the designs out on her desk for her review.
“The ball gown.”
“Mine, too.”
He picked up the design and studied it. Their codesign was floor length, free-flowing and simply elegant. It was Grecian-inspired, sleeveless, cut into a deep V nearly to the waist, which was gathered with a wide sequined belt, and the skirt cascaded down to the floor in soft folds.
“What material would you use for this?”
“Chiffon.” Nicole decided without hesitation. “This gown was made for layers and layers of chiffon.”
“I agree,” Alex said approvingly. “I think this might have a place in our April fashion show.”
Nicole’s eyes dilated to twice their normal size. Surely he was teasing her. Wasn’t he?
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” Alex smiled at her shocked expression. “This will be the first James-Carter creation.”
Nicole was too flabbergasted and thrilled to respond to this fantastic news. She didn’t know which was more thrilling—designing a gown with him or the fact that he had referred to it as their first one. Somebody pinch her; she was going to codesign a gown for a fashion show with Alexander James!
“Wow.” She wasn’t aware of speaking out loud, but Alexander’s chuckle informed her she had.
“I hear Monique asked you to move in with her.”
“What?” Nicole blinked rapidly at his change in subject.
“I said I heard that Monique asked you to move in with her.”
“Oh. Yes, she did.”
“She told me you refused to relocate until the weekend because of work,” he continued.
Nicole groaned. “I wish she hadn’t said anything to you.”
“Why?”
“Because...” She faltered, unwilling to finish verbalizing her reasons.
“You thought I’d make a big deal if you asked to take the time off to move,” he correctly completed for her.
“It’s not a problem,” she quickly guaranteed. “I’m fine with moving over the weekend, Mr. James.”
“Alex,” he reminded with a smile.
“Alexander.” She opted for the full version instead. “I don’t expect nor do I want any special privileges.”
“And you won’t get any,” he quickly assured. “Nicole, you’ve relocated from another country. You’re entitled to time off to move. Leave here at two today, and get yourself situated at your new place.”
“But...”
“That’s an order,” he commanded in mock sternness. “Just make sure you’re here bright and early in the morning.”
“I will be,” she promised as he stood. “Thank you, Mr.—I mean, Alexander.”
“You’re welcome.”
He studied the designs she had been working on before he interrupted her. “That’s nice. You’re working on a variation of this?”
“Two. Monique wanted one with a different top and another with a longer skirt.”
“Why don’t you also do one that shortens the hem by half an inch and add a slight flare to the skirt?”
“I will.”
“What type of material are you thinking of using?”
“It’s meant for casual wear, so I was entertaining jersey knit for freedom of movement and ease of care.”
“Good choice.” His eyes strayed to her desk to the pictures arranged there. “Your family?”
She followed his eyes and smiled. “Yes.”
“May I?” He pointed toward the wedd
ing photo showing them all.
“Please.” She handed him the photo.
“Your brother’s wedding?”
“Yes.” She waited for a snide remark, and when none came, she relaxed and pointed everyone out. “That’s Nathan and Marcy. That’s my sister Natasha and her husband, Damien—who’s Marcy’s brother.” She paused and glanced at him. “Are you following me?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He chuckled. “There wasn’t a brother free for you?”
“Nope, the Johnsons were fresh out of siblings.”
“Are you sad about that?”
“No, I don’t need to be fixed up. I’ll find my own man when I’m ready.” How had the conversation taken such a personal turn? It was too weird and very uncomfortable talking to her boss about finding a man to settle down with.
“So you’re not ready now?”
“No, I’m focused on establishing my career.”
“That’s commendable.”
She purposefully refocused his attention to the photo and concluded. “That’s my mother, father and Marcy and Damien’s parents.”
“And you.”
She smiled. “And me.”
“You have a nice-looking family.”
“Thank you.” She took the photo from him and replaced it on her desk. “I love them.”
“It shows when you talk about them.” As if sensing she was missing them, he changed the subject. “The wedding dress is beautiful. Who designed it?”
“I did,” she proudly proclaimed.
“You?” At her nod, he picked up the picture again. “It’s really lovely.”
“Thank you.
“What about the bridesmaids’ dresses?”
“Me again. I even made them.”
He whistled in admiration at her statement, and she felt ten feet tall.
“You sew, too?”
“Since I was nine.”
“That’s damned good work, Nicole.”
“Thank you again.” This was turning out to be a fabulous day. “I’m not used to so many compliments from you.”
“Get used to them,” he suggested.
He stood and walked away without another word, and Nicole shook her head in confusion. That man was a whirlwind of unpredictability.
Our First Embrace Page 4