by Rose, Carol
She really didn’t have a lot of choices here. It was eat or be eaten. The sharks were out in force these days. If she hoped to out-smart Wendi and Michele, she had to pretend to play along with Alex.
Damn him. She’d thought he was different. Better. So much for her instincts. Ironically, she realized his coming along with plans to destroy the company had prompted her stand up to Michele and Wendi.
“It doesn’t really matter though,” she told Jessica, a shade to heartily. “I didn’t do any irreversible damage. When the board puts me at the helm, I’ll be able to pull the company onto stronger footing. That’s what this is all about. I may have to get a little dirty, but it’s all for a good cause.”
“Yeah,” Jess said, not meeting Eden’s gaze. “I hope so.”
***
“Hello, beautiful,” Alex spoke into the mic on his hands-free headset as he negotiated the Porsche down the exit off the freeway, his mood lifting at the sound of Eden’s voice.
“Alex!”
He’d surprised her, calling her on her cell while she was at work in the middle of the day, but dammit, he’d missed seeing her last night. Soon the nights of her working late would be over. When the company was being dismantled, she could take time off while she looked around for a different position…and he had a few positions in mind himself.
So when was he getting naked with his luscious inamorata?
He wasn’t sure and that fact itself was strange. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d dated a woman this long without sleeping with her. Complex interactions weren’t usually a prohibition for sex, as far as Alex was concerned, but this situation was too damned complicated.
His original deception had clouded things more than he’d anticipated, but then he hadn’t planned on coming to care for her. If she ever found out how he’d arranged to meet her for the purpose of this deal would she hate him? He didn’t want to think about it. It was behind them. If he’d have thought it would help anything, he’d have come right out and told her about setting up the fake mugging. He hadn’t told her, though. The truth in this instance was potentially hurtful and misleading. And unnecessary.
“How is your day going?” Alex asked, picturing her with her short dark hair tucked behind one ear, her head lost in the computations of some product yield report.
“Fine,” she responded, sounding tired, a rustle of paper in the background.
“I miss you,” he found himself saying. He’d never been a particularly mushy lover, but he did miss her, and this without even the bonding of sex. Damn, he liked her. He’d never been mean or particularly deceptive with women, but he’d sure as hell jumped into this complicated mess. It made him wonder if he was so smart, after all.
His thoughts of their still-chaste relationship brought to mind their meeting with the Michele Cosmetics board member, Dave Sanders. Alex knew he hadn’t imagined the man’s overly-familiar attitude toward Eden. If she were having an affair with the jerk, would she have voluntarily brought him forward to meet Alex? He didn’t think so. Eden just didn’t play those games.
Alex’s hand clenched on the padded leather-encased steering wheel as he repositioned his earpiece. Uncertainty usually added zest to life, but he hated having suspicions about her and Dave Sanders. Alex’s ability to read people had stood him in good stead in his business dealings. Nothing he’d concluded about Eden previously lead him to suspect she was cheating, particularly with a slimeball like Sanders. But that didn’t do away with his nagging impression of intimacy between them.
Was it cheating if he and Eden hadn’t agreed to exclusivity yet? He needed to get the Michele Cosmetics deal out of the way so they could concentrate on the two of them.
“Have you heard from Dave Sanders?” Alex heard himself ask abruptly, irrationally, since he knew there was no foundation to his anxiety.
“No,” she responded, sounding surprised. “Did you expect him to contact me?”
“No,” Alex replied, “not about the deal we made, but I got the impression that he might be interested in contacting you for other, more personal, reasons.”
Her immediate chuckle was brief, but he felt reassured all the same.
“Don’t worry about that. Dave’s a whore,” Eden said simply. “He’s got a serious sexual addiction problem. He’ll pork any woman who’ll stand still long enough.”
“Oh.” Alex knew his relief was probably evident in his voice, and he knew he ought to care that she’d picked up on his concern regarding her and Sanders. He didn’t. “I’m glad to know that. I thought his interests were aimed specifically at you…and I’d have a problem with that.”
“Dave acts horny with everyone,” Eden replied, almost sounding flustered at his declaration. “And even if he were, you know, more seriously interested in me, it would be a cold day in hell before he’d get anywhere. I wasn’t always so clear about who he is, but I am now.”
“Good.” Alex knew he sounded possessive, but he really didn’t give a damn. If she didn’t know by now how he was starting to feel about her, she hadn’t been paying attention.
He was still holding back, he knew, waiting to get their business dealings more established before they became physically intimate. Perhaps in the past he hadn’t been so scrupulous in his mixing of business and pleasure, but with Eden, he cared more about the outcome.
As he was forming the words to make plans for the evening—very specific plans—Eden broke the brief silence.
“I had that meeting this morning before work—the one we talked about,” she said with significance.
Turning his thoughts away from the tender curve of her neck, Alex connected to the subject she was addressing--the Wall Street Weekly reporter. “Oh, yeah. Did it go well? No questions you couldn’t give solidly ambiguous answers to?”
“I gave some very unambiguous answers,” she replied evenly. “That was the point, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, I suppose so.” Alex pulled up to a traffic light, wishing he could talk to her in person and knowing he couldn’t until the evening. She sounded weary and, for a moment, he was distracted by his thoughts of how he could ‘nurture’ her into a better mood. “Are things rough there, honey?”
Before she responded, he could hear the sound of paper crackling again. “No more than usual.”
“No additional crap from Wendi or Michele?” He pursued, his radar picking up distress in Eden.
“No,” she denied, her voice muffled for a moment as if she’d taken a drink.
“You sound beat.”
“Sorry,” she responded, a clearly-deliberate perkiness infusing her voice. “I’ve had a very busy morning.”
“Eden, you’ve got to take care of yourself. You can’t let this situation run you into the ground.”
“I’m fine,” she snapped before her voice suddenly gentled. “Really. I just have a headache. I guess I need to get some lunch.”
“I’m not bitching at you,” Alex replied quietly.
“I know,” she said, apology in her voice. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Jess has been at me about ‘taking care of myself.’ She’s into vegetarianism now and she’s all worried about everyone’s diet. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he couldn’t keep from saying.
“Yes. Really.”
“Well, at the risk of you taking my head off,” he concluded, “I’d like to carefully suggest you get some lunch and something for that headache.”
“I will,” she promised, the tiredness more pronounced in her voice.
“I can’t wait to see you tonight,” he said.
“Me, too,” she replied, her voice warm in his ear.
***
Standing next to Lauren at the kitchen window, Alex joined her in watching his nieces play in the remnant of snow left from one of the season’s early storms.
&nbs
p; “Those two are amazing,” he said, smiling.
“Exhausting, amazing and downright annoying sometimes,” his sister responded, her smile echoing his.
“Have you heard from Jim recently?” Alex asked, wondering how any man could be asshole enough to abandon his own kids.
Lauren’s smile faded away. “Not since this last summer when he called to talk to them. Still no child support, but I suppose that would be asking too much of a man who makes a hundred grand a year.”
“You pissed him off by divorcing him when he left with his bimbo,” Alex told her, “and now he’s making the girls pay.”
“In more ways than just the money,” she agreed sadly.
Outside, Isabel, the elder of his two nieces, landed a scattered splat of snow on her younger sister’s head. From the window, they could see redheaded Kelsey, shrieking and determined, charge after her fleeing elder sister.
Alex could half-understand how a man could feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising two young daredevil daughters, but he couldn’t understand refusing to try. Lauren’s husband had done just that. Six years ago, he’d called from one of the cities he flew into as a cargo pilot, and told Lauren briefly that he wanted out. Out of the marriage, out of his parental responsibilities.
“You really should let me sic my lawyers on the bastard,” Alex murmured, already knowing Lauren’s response.
She turned away from the window with a sigh. “We’ve been over this. You know I’m okay financially. They don’t pay teachers much, but we get by, particularly with you buying the girls’ clothes and paying for this house.”
“But the jerk-off ought to be contributing something,” Alex insisted, frustrated at the injustice of his ex-brother-in-law’s escape from his responsibilities.
“He’ll suffer,” Lauren replied in her calm manner. “Someday Jim’s going to wake up and feel old. Then he’ll want to see the children he gave up. Whether they let him into their lives or not, he’ll never get these years back. Eventually, he’ll make his own punishment. I’m counting on it.”
Eventually wasn’t soon enough, as far as Alex saw it. “I still want Bryan to look into some legal options—“
“No!” His sister’s sharp reply wasn’t in character. Lauren held the record as the most unflustered person he’d ever known.
Alex frowned at her.
She said more calmly. “I know you’re used to giving an order and making things happen, but I don’t want Bryan doing anything, at least nothing about Jim. Really. We’re okay. The girls have you. You’re a really important part of their lives. They’ll be okay. You can make a man pay to support his kids, but you can’t make him act like a father. Let’s don’t even try.”
Glancing back out the window to where his nieces still ran shrieking around the backyard, Alex said slowly, “Who knew that being together with someone would be the hardest thing most of us would ever do?”
“Well, it’s complicated,” Lauren said, her usual good humor back in place. “It is the hardest thing people do, outside of raising kids.”
“I guess so,” he agreed, going over to join her at the kitchen table.
“So,” she said with a sisterly grin, “are you dating anyone?”
Alex glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “And if I am?”
Lauren’s grin grew into a smirk. “Let’s talk about your life for a while. Does she let you boss her around or is she smart enough to stand up to you every once in a while? Who is she and are we ever going to get to meet a woman you’re seeing?”
“Hell, yes, she stands up to me,” he acknowledged with a sudden smile. “And, yes, you may get to meet her.”
Lauren’s surprise was evident. “Finally. I’d begun to think you were too busy making money to actually get involved with anyone—I mean, involved more than sleeping with them.”
Raising his hand, Alex said with mock seriousness, “We can only talk about my sex life if we also talk about yours…which would mean you’d have to go out there and get one first. You have no room to criticize me on the relationship front. You’ve hardly had a date since Jim left.”
“Not true,” Lauren corrected him. “You don’t know everything, little brother. I’ve had a number of dates. I went out a couple of times with a guy who teaches at the same school. You just haven’t heard about my dates because I haven’t found anyone interesting.”
“Maybe the same holds true for me,” he said significantly. “Huh? Could be?”
She laughed. “Okay, but something tells me you’re really into the one you’re dating now. What’s her name?”
“Eden,” he said easily, conscious of the blossom of warmth in his chest.
“So?” Lauren pressed. “Details? What does she look like? What does she do? Does she have kids?”
Despite his life being so different from hers, Alex loved his time with his sister. They’d been through more than the usual family stuff together. He grinned at her now.
“She’s got short, dark hair. Really sexy. She’s an executive at a large cosmetics company, and, no, Eden doesn’t have any kids.”
Lauren raised her eyebrows inquiringly, “So, is Eden the woman to tempt you into taking the plunge?”
“Possibly,” he said. “She sure as hell tempts me in general.”
Lauren laughed at that, their camaraderie comfortable.
“Have you told her about mom?” his sister asked, compassion in her eyes.
“No,” Alex said. “It hasn’t come up.”
“Well,” Lauren said, getting up to refill her cup, “make sure you tell her. If you can talk about something as personal as the insomnia thing, you’ll know you really trust her.”
“True.” Alex said, aware as he spoke that he did trust Eden. And she was now trusting him with her business. It made him feel warm and solid inside.
***
“Alright! Alright,” Eden croaked, levering herself up off the couch and dragging the afghan with her. She didn’t know why she couldn’t get warm, she’d turned the thermostat up to “Sahara” more than half an hour ago.
She stumbled over her briefcase, still sitting on the floor where she’d dropped it when she came home the night before.
The knocking on the door hadn’t stopped despite her feeble attempt at communication.
Leaning against the door, she struggled with the deadbolt, finally getting the damn thing to flip open. Pulling the door open without checking the peephole, Eden leaned against the polished wood surface.
“Yes? What do you want?” She was having trouble focusing and her knees felt strangely uncooperative.
“Eden, sweetheart!” Alex was there next to her, his strong arm around her for support. “Honey, you look terrible.”
“Thanks,” she managed, despite an uprush of severe embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been calling you all morning,” he said, leading her back to the couch and her beckoning pillow.
“Was that you?” she asked vaguely. She hadn’t bothered with the phone since she’d called the office this morning to tell Cheryl she couldn’t make it in.
“Yes, it was me.” Settling her back on the couch, he disentangled the afghan and draped it over her. “I called your office, giving no name, of course, and your assistant said something about you being sick, which you apparently never are.”
“No,” she mumbled into the pillow. “Never sick.”
Alex leaned forward, tucking the afghan around her chin, his fingers blessedly cool against her skin. “Damn, Eden. You’re burning up. Have you taken anything for the fever?”
“I’m fine,” she said, attempting to wave her hand dismissively before she realized it was tucked under the afghan. “Never sick. Just tired. Been working a lot.”
“I’m sure,” he said grimly. “But this is more than overwork. I think you’ve
got the flu, honey.”
“No,” she disagreed, allowing her eyes to shut against the harsh light from the lamp. “I don’t get sick.”
“Okay,” he said, an amused tolerance in his voice. “You sit there and don’t move.”
“’Kay,” she said, suddenly mortified. She’d just remember how she looked! After waking up freezing cold in the pre-dawn hours, she’d put on a ratty pair of thick sweats. With her hair smashed and uncombed, and her teeth not brushed yet, she must look like hell. Even in her achy, chilled state, she couldn’t keep from feeling really self-conscious. This was not the way to look when a boyfriend…or whatever Alex was, showed up.
She ought to get up and take a shower while he was gone out of the room. But her body balked at the thought, leaving her slumped ungracefully under the afghan. Eden closed her scratching, aching eyes again. In a minute, she’d get up.
“Here, sweetheart, take these before you go back to sleep.” Alex knelt next to the couch, a glass in one and pills in the other.
“So tired,” she managed.
“I know,” he said. “These will bring the fever down so you can rest better.”
“’Kay.” With effort, she levered herself up on one elbow, took the pills from his hand and gulped them down.
Alex took the glass from her and stood up.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said with a belated surge of protectiveness. “Germs. Don’t want to get the flu.”
She felt his hand brush against her forehead as he said cheerfully, “I’ll risk it. You sleep.”
“’Kay.” With an uncharacteristic obedience, Eden felt sleep close in on her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Here, sweetheart, drink this.”
Struggling with the confusion of fever and sleep, Eden felt him sit on the couch next to her.
“What?”