by Geneva Lee
“He knows.” But it wasn’t me who finally answered her question. Alexander stepped from the dark hallway into a beam of morning light shining through the living room window. He had on the worn jeans and t-shirt he’d worn over to my house, but there was no doubt of his authority. It dripped from his voice and radiated from his confident bearing. Alexander was all man, and his stance dared anyone to question that. “You must be Clara’s mother. I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Bishop.”
Alexander offered his hand, but she didn’t move. My unflappable mother was frozen to the spot.
“Mom,” I prompted in a quiet voice. “This is Alexander.”
She looked from him to me and back again, then launched back into her diatribe. “Well, I’m glad she told you. Relationships must be built on honesty. Don’t you agree, Alexander?”
“Of course.” He nodded, flashing me a small smile.
“I think it would be best for all of us, particularly Clara, if we had someone attempting to contain this story. I’m sure you agree with that as well.” She clicked her manicured fingertips together as she spoke.
“Unfortunately from personal experience, I can tell you that it’s very difficult to control what they publish, whether it’s true or not,” he said wryly.
Mom’s lips pinched into a scowl, and she shook her head. “We have to do something.”
“I can’t promise anything, but I do have my best man looking into the circumstances behind the story,” he told us.
I balked at this information. I’d told him I didn’t want him to get involved. “You shouldn’t be dragged into this.”
“This happened because of me. It’s the least I can do.” The words simmered from him like a pot on low boil. Maybe Alexander wasn’t handling the uptick in my publicity as well as I thought.
“Thank you.” My mother lunged at him, catching him in the same awkward hug I’d been victim to earlier, and I shot him an apologetic smile over her shoulder. She broke away from him and patted his shoulder. “It’s so nice to see Clara has found someone.”
I cringed internally, trying to keep the smile plastered in place.
“We’d love to take you both to dinner. Do you have plans tomorrow?”
“Mom!” I snapped. Of course, she’d manage to pry a social obligation out of him immediately.
“I’d love to,” Alexander said.
“You’d what?” I asked in shock.
Mom ignored me, looping her arm through Alexander’s and strolling with him toward the door. “I’ll arrange everything. You don’t have any food allergies? I’ll call Clara with the details. Harold will be so excited,” she said, not pausing once for confirmation.
I followed them and opened the door for her, nodding enthusiastically as she continued to plan out loud. Five minutes later, I shut the door. Sagging against it, I dropped my head and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about that.”
“She seems to be a bit of a handful,” Alexander said with a smile in his voice.
“I can get you out of this. Don’t worry about it.”
Alexander’s smile faded into a frown. “I don’t mind going to dinner with your parents.”
“Are…you…sure?” I asked in a strangled voice.
“Stop staring at me like I need a straight jacket. Unless,” he paused and regarded me with a dark expression, “you don’t want me to go dinner with your parents.”
“No!” I yelped, surprising him as much as myself. “Of course, I do, but I understand if you aren’t comfortable.”
“Isn’t this what boyfriends are supposed to do?” he asked. “Meet the parents. Charm them. Earn the privilege to debauch their daughter.”
Hearing him use the term boyfriend sucked the air from my lungs, and I stared at him, unable to speak.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, running his fingers through his tangled black hair as the worried, tired look he wore so often returned to his face. “Did I do something to upset you?”
I swallowed against the raw feeling in my throat and shook my head. “Nope. I just don’t deserve you, X.”
“You don’t,” he agreed, his voice growing husky. “No one deserves to put up with me.”
I placed a finger over his lips, pressing close to him. “Don’t say that.”
“Where did you come from?” he whispered. “Who sent you to save me?”
I had no answer for him. There was only one way to comfort us both, so I crushed my lips to his. In a flash, he was in control, parting my mouth and plunging his tongue into my mouth. I lost myself, tasting him, reveling in him. My desire grew to an insatiable craving that rippled through my body and pooled between my thighs. I wrapped one leg around him and circled against him to relieve the intense pressure building inside me. Alexander’s arms closed around my waist and he broke away, breathing heavy and hot against my neck.
“You have to get to work,” he murmured. “Unless…”
I licked my lips at the suggestive tone in his raspy voice. “Unless?”
“You want to call in sick and let me show you what a good boyfriend I can be.”
It was a tempting offer. Too tempting. “Sorry, X. I can’t play hooky on my third day of work.”
He let me slide off him, stepping back to give me space. But the distance did nothing to calm the desire swelling in my body.
“Tonight.” It wasn’t a question. It was a promise of things to come.
“Tonight,” I repeated, feeling the hours of separation as acutely as the small distance between us.

“I put together the graphics we discussed yesterday,” Bennett announced, stepping into my workspace.
I looked up to meet his eyes, grateful that at least he could still look me in the face after yesterday’s tabloid fodder. Shuffling a few files on my desk, I found the list we’d concocted the day before and checked off the completed task. “I’ll work on pulling together the statistics on availability of clean water and child mortality.”
“Can I just say how grateful I am to have someone helping with this? I have to be honest, I’m still in shock that Isaac Blue chose to work with us.” Bennett dropped into a chair across from me. His oxford was wrinkled and there were bags under his eyes.
“Things a little rough right now?”
“Two little girls are a lot for two parents to handle, and I’m all they have,” he admitted. “I can’t help thinking that I’m screwing them both up.”
I leaned forward and touched his sleeve, feeling a wave of sympathy at his confession. No one who cared as much as Bennett could be screwing up. “You aren’t. You just have your work cut out for you. If you ever need someone to come over and watch them, let me know.”
“I wouldn’t know what to do if I had a night off. I’d probably work.”
I laughed at this and shook my head. “No work. That’s the deal.”
“So what do you think so far?” He spread his arms. “How’s your first post-university gig?”
“Good.” I blew a thin stream of air between my lips.
He raised an eyebrow, leveling his gaze to mine. “That was very convincing.”
I hesitated, uncertain whether I should bring up all the drama in my personal life. Bennett seemed content to leave all that shit at the door, but I had to accept that my relationship with Alexander might complicate things. “Well, I haven’t met anyone else in the office yet, and no one seems eager to introduce themselves.”
“I think they’re intimidated by you,” he said honestly.
“Me?” It was the most preposterous thing I’d ever heard.
“You’re kind of a resident celebrity.”
I covered my face with my hands and dropped my head to my desk.
“Hey,” he soothed, “it’ll pass and then nobody will even remember you dated what’s-his-face.”
“Nice try,” I croaked. “They’ll still have seen his texts to me. They’ll still remember I’m the girl with the eating disorder.”
I’d been throu
gh this before at my high school. It was impossible to ignore the dissecting gaze of your peers as they assessed your figure and how much you ate for lunch. I’d run away from it then, but that wasn’t an option anymore. I didn’t want it to be.
“Then show them that you’re more than all that.” Bennett stood and waved me out of my chair.
We spent the next hour going from desk to desk, shaking hands, and sharing small talk with the staff of Peters & Clarkwell. There was no way I’d remember half the names that had been thrown at me, but I was grateful to meet my co-workers. I could only hope that it laid to rest some of the office rumors about me.
The remainder of the day passed in a blur of reading environmental resources and taking notes in the hopes of impressing our celebrity client. I knew little about Isaac Blue outside of film posters and movies, and a quick internet search turned up a lot of speculation on his private life. I couldn’t help but feel for the guy even though no story mentioned a commitment to the environment. Popping down to Bennett’s office, I stopped in the doorway.
“So did Blue’s publicist say why he’s so interested in starting this campaign?” I asked, adding, “I’m just curious.”
Bennett leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head, and gave me a grim smile. “She sold me on his deep commitment to the cause, but if I’m honest, I think we’re being hired to reform his image.”
That’s what I figured. I might know what it was like to be tabloid fodder, but I wasn’t exactly psyched to invite more drama into my day-to-day life. And Isaac Blue was clearly trouble.
“I guess we should just be happy that he wants to help,” I said, edging out the door.
“I’ll take what I can get!” Bennett called after me.
As I returned to my desk to wrap up my final notes, already thinking about how I’d be spending my evening—or rather who I’d be spending my evening with—a glowing redhead bounced up to me. She held out a card, and my heart skipped as I took it from her.
“Victoria?” I asked with a sheepish smile, hoping I had the right name.
“Victoria Theroux,” she confirmed. “But call me Tori.”
“Thanks, Tori.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I shuffled my feet.
“Was the guy who delivered it available?”
“Um, I don’t know. What did he look like?” I asked, a bit taken aback by the question.
I managed to keep the shock off my face as she described Norris. “I don’t know,” I admitted with barely-concealed amusement, “but I can ask.”
“Sorry,” she said, fanning herself. “I have a total daddy complex. It’s terrible, but you’ll get used to it.”
A laugh escaped my lips, but this only seemed to please her as she broke out in a wide grin. Maybe I was going to make more than one friend here.
“We should get lunch sometime,” I said. I was eager to have more friends in London, and from my brief interactions with Alexander’s friends, I didn’t think I was going to find any there. Plus, the idea of having a girlfriend who wasn’t obsessing over her wedding sounded fantastic.
“Awesome! I know a fantastic fish and chips place,” Tori agreed with a genuinely warm smile. “Sometime this week.”
“It’s on.”
“I know where you work, so don’t think you can back out.” She shot me a wink and floated back to her desk. I made a mental note where she sat, trying to attach the face and name to the spot.
As soon as I was back at my computer, and after a quick check to make sure no one was watching, I tore open the envelope and read Alexander’s note:
Poppet,
This isn’t a love letter. The thought of a moment passing without having my cock in you is too much to bear. I want you to know that I’ve spent the day imagining my hands on your body, my fingers rolling across your nipples. Imagining your perfect breasts arching as I fuck you with my tongue. While you’re saving the planet, I’m replaying the whimpers that escaped your sweet mouth the last time you came and plotting how to hear them again.
And I will hear them tonight. Whisper my name now, Clara, because tonight I want to hear you scream it.
X

I exhaled shakily, realizing I’d held my breath as I read, but I knew that didn’t account for the dizziness swimming in my head. That was just his effect on me. The X effect, I thought wryly.
Inhaling, I did as he commanded.
“Alexander.”
Chapter Twenty-One
CoCo was the last place my mother would have picked for dinner. She told me so herself, and that was exactly why I chose the comfortable seasonal bistro in Notting Hill. Despite boasting some of the best upscale comfort food in London, it also had private dining rooms. Private and unpretentious? Just what I needed to relax.
Notting Hill on a balmy June evening felt like another world. The hectic chaos of London didn’t extend to the sleepy neighborhood that could somehow be packed with people and still feel laid-back. I pointed out shops that I wanted to stop in with him sometime as we strolled down Portobello Road, and we lingered at the few stalls open late on a Wednesday night, thumbing through old books and antiques of questionable worth. But as Alexander and I finally made our way to the restaurant, my nerves kicked in.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to introduce him to my family. I loved my family, even if that wasn’t always easy. And I knew that I couldn’t keep him away from them for long, especially if I was going to be on the cover of a goddamn tabloid every other day. The fact was that things were complicated. My mother was over-protective and over-opinionated. My dad was a little better, but he always gave in to her. And I wouldn’t put it past Lola to spend all night flirting with Alexander—or trying to, at least.
Not to mention that Alexander and I didn’t have a typical relationship, and I could never be certain if he would suddenly shut me out.
“You’re quiet,” he said, and I realized we’d reached CoCo without saying a word.
I glanced over at him and a possessive ache burst across my chest. He’d gone out of his way to give me a night of normalcy, dressing in worn jeans and a white button-down that skimmed his lean form. His eyes were hidden behind aviators with a Yankees ball cap for extra cover. None of which camouflaged his strong jawline peppered with second-day stubble or the roguish curve of his smile. While the ensemble offered plausible deniability if he were approached, he couldn’t disguise his luscious sex appeal. I knew it wasn’t the kind of thing a boyfriend typically wore to meet the parents, but then again, Alexander wasn’t a typical boyfriend.
“Actually, I’m tired.” I wasn’t exactly lying. My body hadn’t adjusted to waking up early for work yet or to my newly implemented nocturnal activities.
“I feel like I should apologize for keeping you up half the night,” he said, drawing me close and kissing the top of my head, “but I’m not sorry.”
His arrogant smirk tugged at me until I was smiling too. “And I won’t be getting any sleep tonight either.”
“Hot date?” he asked.
“The hottest.”
“Anyone I know?” Alexander’s hand wandered to my tailbone, his fingers drumming lightly.
“I would say you’re on intimate terms.” I ran my tongue over my lips and blew him a kiss.
“You need to rest.” He was sincere, but I suspected his valiant selflessness wouldn’t last long, until he added, “I’m sending you home alone tonight.”
A vise-grip squeezed my heart, and I fought to keep my tone playful. “But I owe you sexual favors.”
“And what did I do to deserve that, poppet?” he asked as the familiar, wicked glint of lust returned to his sky-blue gaze. “Tell me so I can do it again.”
“You might not be saying that after dinner.” I reached for the door, but Alexander caught my hand, pulling me against him.
His index finger traced down my cheekbone, over the bow of my upper lip and came to rest on my mouth. “Have a little faith. I can be quite charm
ing when the situation requires it. I am a prince after all.”
“Prince Charming, huh?” I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t remember him having a dirty mouth and an insatiable sex drive.”
“He kissed the wrong girl,” Alexander whispered, moving closer until his lips hovered over mine. “Or maybe ‘happily ever after’ is only code for multiple orgasms.”
“The Brothers Grimm have nothing on you.” I teased, but I swallowed at the thought of Alexander and a happily ever after.
Alexander spotted the telltale slide of my throat and winked at me. “Wait until I tell you my theories about riding off into the sunset.”
“Behave.” I smacked him on the shoulder, trying—and failing—to look serious.
“I love it when you get riled up. It makes me think of spanking your pretty, little ass.” His eyes hooded as he spoke, and a shiver of anticipation ran down my neck.
“Well, well, well,” an amused voice interrupted our banter. “Can I get in before he mounts you on the spot?”
I looked over Alexander’s shoulder, startled to find Lola watching us with an entertained grin. As usual, she was dressed to the nines in a skin-tight pair of fire red capris paired with a breezy linen tunic that showed off her toned arms. She shouldered her bag and sauntered over to us, thrusting her hand out to him.
He hesitated before he took it, glancing over at me with a questioning look.
“Alexander, this is my sister, Lola.” I tilted my head toward her with a tight-lipped smile. “Lola, allow me to introduce—”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said as she held his hand. “It’s lovely to meet you. Clara has told me absolutely nothing about you.”
Alexander tipped his head politely but drew his hand back quickly. The crackling intensity that had hung between the two of us shifted to a heavy tension now that my sister had joined us. I couldn’t be sure how much of our exchange she had overhead, but judging from the haughtiness on her face, it had been enough. The last thing I needed was Lola making tonight any more awkward.