by Lexy Timms
“I could say the same to you,” Alex answered. “I’m not really a big fan of these kinds of things. Usually I end up bored out of my skull. So it’s a refreshing change to find good conversation and a good dancing partner in one.”
Macy smiled at him. “Flatterer.”
“Always,” he said in reply.
They sat for a moment in companionable silence there at the bar while the party went on around them. Somewhere toward the back of the room, someone was trying to make some kind of toast, but couldn’t get people to be quiet. Alex glanced at Macy, wondering if she heard it, too, and she grinned at him.
They went back to their drinks.
A few minutes later, Macy stood up from her seat. “I think I’m going to go find some place where it’s possible to get a little fresh air around here.” She smiled. “It’s been fun, though. Really. And thank you again, Alex.”
“You’re very welcome, Miss Nichols. It was my pleasure.”
She paused as she moved to step away, and lifted one hand in a brief wave. “Have a good night, Mr. Reid.”
“And you,” he answered.
He didn’t move to follow, though he wondered for a moment if she’d expected him to. But she’d said good night first. Alex took that at face value and didn’t move to get off the stool at all, in fact. He sat at the bar and sipped at the whiskey as the noise of the gala went on at his back.
“Well,” a woman’s voice said just behind him. “Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Reid.”
Alex lifted his head, and turned to find that the stool Macy had vacated had been taken by Laura Underwood. Tonight, her auburn hair was swept back from her face, and the black dress had been exchanged for a deep green one that Alex wanted to peel her out of slowly, like unwrapping a present. That instant spark of attraction that had lit between them in the restaurant was still there, burning again under his skin as soon as she sat down.
“Miss Underwood,” he said, keeping his voice even.
“It’s nice to see you again, Alex,” she said, and smiled at him. “Though we really do have to stop meeting this way.”
“Do we? I thought bold worked for you.” He dropped his voice a little lower. “It certainly worked for me.”
Laura didn’t answer immediately. She toyed with the glass of wine that she held in one hand, tipping it back and forth to watch the liquid slosh against his edges. Alex glanced down at it and froze, eyes locked on the engagement ring that circled the fourth finger of her left hand. The spark was doused in ice water. He felt her gaze follow his own, and finally looked up to meet her eyes.
“You’re engaged.”
She tugged at her lower lip with her teeth. “I wasn’t… before, if that makes any difference.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “What kind of difference is that supposed to make, exactly? If you’re engaged now, you would have already had to have been in a pretty serious relationship less than three weeks ago. Or did your parents arrange the marriage between then and now?”
“No.” She faltered a little. “I mean, I was in a relationship. Or, I had been. It’s complicated. We had a pretty nasty fight – about my career, actually – and broke up for about a month. So I wasn’t cheating on him. We just got back together a week ago, and he proposed last night.” For a moment her voice softened, a smile just visible at the corners of her mouth.
It made the knot in Alex’s stomach twist tighter. “So when you told me that you weren’t ready for commitment and that you wanted to focus on your career, what was that? You didn’t have to lie to me. I would have just taken no for an answer.”
She shook her head a little too fast. “No. Hell, no. Right then? I didn’t want any more commitment than I’d already tried with Michael. I thought if I just focused on my job it would be better.” Her eyes were on him, hopeful.
A sigh, long and heavy, slid from Alex’s throat. “Well, look, I’m not going exactly jump for joy about it, but it’s really none of my business what you do with your life.” He found a smile and forced it to his lips. “Am I disappointed that you’re not on the market? Absolutely. But we all suffer disappointments in life. I’m sure I’ll get over it. I wasn’t looking for a life partner when I brought you back to my house.”
She reached out like she was going to lay a hand on his arm, then thought better of it and pulled back. “I really am sorry I upset you, Alex. I only wanted to stop over here and say hi, and see how you were doing.”
“I’m doing just fine. Thank you.” He knocked back the rest of the whiskey in his glass and stood, setting the glass down on the bar with a clink. Really, he had no reason to be angry and he knew it. Laura had been a one-night fling. Yes, it was hot, but that’s all it was, and if she was broken up with her boyfriend at the time it wasn’t like she’d used him to cheat; maybe she’d used him to try and get over her feelings, but everyone was always using someone.
The justifications didn’t make him feel any better.
“Good night, Alex,” Laura said from the seat beside him, composed again now.
“Good night, Miss Underwood.”
Alex turned on his heel and headed for the door. He’d made his appearance at the gala. He was under no obligation to stick around for more than that.
People unconsciously parted around him as Alex strode through the crowd to the main door and stepped out into the warm August night. His tie felt abruptly much too tight around his throat, and he reached up to loosen it. The valet hurried over to him, and Alex handed him the ticket for the car.
“Quickly. Thanks.”
The man nodded and scurried off again to mutter into a walkie-talkie at his podium. Alex turned to run his gaze over the other side of the drive, running a hand through his hair, and heard the door open behind him. He turned.
“Hey, Alex. You okay?”
Emmaline was standing there, the redheaded woman behind her, and looking at him with concern written across her expression.
“I’m just fine. Thank you, Emmaline. Just tired of the festivities for the night. Though I did have a good time with Miss Nichols, so if you see her you could mention that.”
“You sure? Because you swept through the hall with the wrath of a Greek god, and I’m not saying it wasn’t attractive from a certain angle, but if you need to talk about it I’m happy to listen.”
“I really am fine. Thank you.”
She didn’t seem convinced, but Alex didn’t care. The valet was driving around with his car. He stepped around to get in and paused with the door open, looking over the roof of it at Emmaline and her companion. He forced another smile. “Really, Emmaline. Enjoy the rest of your night. I’m sure I’ll see you next time I’m obligated to make myself socially available.”
He slid into the car and hit the gas.
Chapter 15
There was a car in his driveway that didn’t belong. Alex stared at it as he pulled his own car in. It looked, he realized, like a car he’d seen before, and he tried to place it. With the construction, there had been any number of unfamiliar vehicles coming in and out. He might not even have noticed it, except that it was late enough there shouldn’t have been any cars left in the parking space, and there were two. One of them, he figured, belonged to one of the maids. It was conceivable that she might be staying late to finish some task, though ten o’ clock was a little past what he would expect. Of course, he hadn’t been expected home until midnight.
Alex pulled into the garage and went into the house, opening the door carefully to keep from making any noise that might alert the extra person inside to his presence. He shut it just as silently behind himself.
It became immediately obvious just why there was an extra car in his driveway.
The sounds of very enthusiastic sex traveled clearly down the hall. Alex didn’t immediately go to find the culprits. He pulled the knot out of his tie, and laid it on the counter. His jacket followed. He unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and then his cuffs, rolling the sleeves up his forearms.
There were two ways to handle a situation like this. Go in, dressed to the nines, and pull the power card. Or do as he’d done, and show a relaxed front over a core of steel.
He stalked down the hall toward the source of the noise, knowing as he went that if it hadn’t been for the run-in with Laura at the gala he would likely be in a much better mood about such an infraction, but not inclined to let it slip because of that knowledge. If he hadn’t come home early, in fact, he would never have known. Whoever was having sex in his house had planned it that way.
There was also the not at all inconsequential fact that at least one of the people involved was an employee of his who was currently on the clock, and that it was entirely unacceptable to have people over to your employer’s home for sex.
The noise was coming through the partially open door of one of the guest rooms between the kitchen and the gym.
Alex didn’t bother knocking.
Gina Campbell, was straddling a man whose face Alex couldn’t see, but who was definitely in good shape, because the arms currently lifting her whole bodyweight were corded with muscle. For a moment he stood there, listening with a kind of train-wreck fascination to the harsh panting sounds of their breath and watching Gina, his secretary, toss her hair back from her face. She was, at least, still wearing a skirt.
Alex had thought once or twice of crossing the line and nixed the thought. Ms. Campbell was a great secretary and she’d been with him since he bought the building. Now, did he fire her, or let this one slide? “You want to explain to me why you’re having sex in my house?”
Both of the bodies on the bed froze, and Alex abruptly recognized the man who was currently laying under Gina. The tattoos were hard to miss.
“You’re not even supposed to be here, Parker.”
“Oh fuck, Mr. Reid. I’m so sorry,” Gina said, not turning to look at him as she grabbed for the sheet.
Alex took a step back, toward the doorway. “Make yourselves decent, both of you. And then meet me in the kitchen.”
He went back to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, which he drank while he waited for them to emerge. Five minutes later, a shame-faced Gina and a seemingly indifferent Parker stepped through the door.
She could hardly look at him. Her eyes were glued to the floor like if she looked up she might self-destruct, her cheeks scarlet. Parker, on the other hand, met Alex’s gaze with perfect calm, his muscled and tattooed arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised.
“It isn’t the fact that you’re obviously having a sexual relationship that I have a problem with,” Alex said shortly. “Though some employers might. I really don’t care about that. What you do on your own time is your business.” He stared at his secretary. “By the way, what the hell are you doing here, Ms. Campbell?”
She blushed. “I came to drop off some of the files you wanted to look over for tomorrow.”
What the fuck? Alex set the glass down on the counter and crossed his own arms over his chest, looking right back at Parker despite the other man’s greater size. This was his house. He held the power here. “What I do have a problem with, Parker,” he said, going on, “is the fact that, not only were you having sex in my house, but you were having it in one of the beds I own, with every intention of hiding that fact from me. Had I not come home from the gala early I’m sure you would have both been long gone by the time I arrived.”
What he really wanted to do was beat the shit out of the cocky tattooed bastard. It just wasn’t his style anymore. “You have two minutes to explain yourselves.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Reid,” Gina said again. “I didn’t really plan it this way. I was just… I came by to drop some papers off for you. This wasn’t planned.” She blew her bangs from her forehead. “Dammit, Mr. Reid. He’s fucking hot. I didn’t stop to think about it being inappropriate. Please don’t fire me. I swear it won’t happen again.”
She finally looked up at him and there were tears in her eyes, threatening to overflow and roll down her cheeks. Alex clenched his teeth a little tighter closed and didn’t give in. Not yet. He turned his gaze to Parker.
“And you?”
The other man shrugged. “I really don’t see what the big deal is, to be completely honest. It’s not like we wouldn’t have cleaned the sheets before we left. I know those guest rooms don’t actually get used often. And is the bed really the problem anyway? I don’t think you would have felt much better if we’d had sex on your kitchen counter instead. Or on the floor of the gym. Or anywhere else.”
MacBane certainly wouldn’t like if they’d had sex on the kitchen counter. He’d only just gotten over the time Alex and Laura had done it. And that just made Alex’s annoyance flare hot again. He stared at Parker.
“Have you had sex on the floor of the gym?”
“Nope,” Parker answered, grinning in a way that seemed designed to piss Alex off.
“The issue,” Alex said, after pausing for a moment to take a long, deep breath, “which I refuse to be sidetracked away from, is that this is my property. And it’s not open for free use by the general public. I like things kept a certain way, and that does not include people who are not me having sex in beds that are technically mine. The only exception to this rule, which I’m sure you will understand, is in cases in which I have invited them into the house with the knowledge that they are in a relationship which probably involves sexual intercourse and will be sharing a room when they visit. Your work here ended days ago, Mr. Parker, and I have not given any indication that you should come back. Ms. Campbell should have known better than to let you in at all, let alone for a booty call. It’s not appropriate behavior for a work environment, even if that work environment is a home. And you both know it. Do you not have homes of your own?”
“Sure we do,” Parker said. “And we could probably go use them. This just seemed more convenient.”
Alex was going to kill him and it was going to be entirely justified. No jury in the country would convict him. Well, he conceded, no jury in the country would be able to see past the obfuscations his top-dollar legal team was capable of coming up with in a case like this, but all of that was really beside the point. The point was that Parker was deliberately trying to wind him up, and Alex was not going to have it.
“I could have you arrested,” he said flatly.
Parker grinned at him like it was all a big joke. “That seems a little extreme, don’t you think, Mr. Reid?”
Alex resisted the urge to slam his hand down on the granite countertop. It would hurt more than it was worth, and signs of temper weren’t exactly on the list of good negotiation skills. There was probably a lot he’d said that he could have said better. What he should have done from the beginning was simply tell Parker to get out of his house and not come back. That would have been better than all this going around in circles while the insufferable man baited his temper.
He took another deep breath, and let it out again slowly. When this was over, he was taking an Excedrin for the headache that was rapidly developing and then he was getting in bed and not coming out again for at least ten hours.
“Okay,” he finally said, very calmly. “Here is what is going to happen. You are going to gather whatever things you brought here when you decided to come over without the permission of the homeowner. You’re going to get in your car, and you are going to leave. Don’t expect a call from me about the issue of a workout routine. If I need a personal trainer, I’ll find someone else. Now get the hell out of my house.”
Alex watched, arms still crossed, as Parker laid a hand briefly on Gina’s shoulder as though he was comforting her. It honestly amazed Alex that he made any kind of gesture at all, considering the attitude he’d been showing up until that moment. The secretary had her face buried in her hands, as though she couldn’t bring herself to watch what was happening. Undoubtedly she thought Alex was going to fire her. In truth, he hadn’t decided yet. It would depend on what happened once Parker left.
Straightening up from Gina, Parker looked him in the eye again. “You might consider lightening up once a while, man. Just a tip. It will do wonders for your health. Stress levels like that can’t be good for you.”
With that, he moved out of the kitchen. Alex heard his footsteps, and then the sound of the front door opening and closing. It was followed by the rev of an engine.
Goodbye and good riddance.
Alex turned his attention finally to Gina, who hadn’t moved. “Honestly? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire you for that.”
Her shoulders hitched like she was swallowing back a sob, but when she lifted her head her eyes were dry, and she met his gaze.
“You’ve never had a complaint about me before, Mr. Reid. I’m a good worker. A hard worker. And I’ve never done anything like this before, I swear. I won’t do it again either.”
He sighed. “You absolutely promise that you won’t bring that man back here, or anyone else? Ever again?”
“I do,” she said fervently. “Absolutely, Mr. Reid.”
“Fine. But don’t catch my attention negatively again, Ms. Campbell. I’m not a tyrant, but my patience isn’t endless. I don’t allow incompetence or insubordination in my employees.”
“Oh, of course not, Mr. Reid. Thank you, though. Thank you so much. I promise that you won’t regret keeping me on.”
He hoped she was right. “You’re a damn good secretary. I couldn’t risk losing you. However, that doesn’t give you the freedom to take advantage of me.”
“I’m sure I won’t. Ever.”
“Have a good night, Ms. Campbell.”
“Th-Thanks. You, t-too.” She hurried out.
Alone in the kitchen, Alex reached up to rub the ache from his temples. What the hell! What an absolutely ridiculous night. He picked up the water glass he’d set down to deal with Parker and Gina and drained it dry in one long swallow. Then he filled it again and took it up to his bedroom, along with the clothing he’d left out on the counter.