He sighs and pours me another.Before I can lift the glass, my boss stops me, his hand covering mine.“You’ll get drunk.”
I grin at him, feeling a little light-headed.“Good.I’ll prefer it that way when I see that cheating low-life and my tramp of a cousin.Bastards.”
I start downing the third glass as Alexander watches.
“Tramp cousin?”he questions.
I slam the glass down, glaring at him.“This is my personal business, Mr.Castellano.”
He raises a brow, and I turn my heated gaze towards the drink in my hand.“He cheated on me.With my cousin, of all people!And do you know what he said when I broke it off with him?!”
I turn to look at my boss who’s just watching me calmly, not at all bothered by my little drunk breakdown.“No.What did he say?”
“He said if I loved him, I would have fought for him!”
Alexander’s response is more arching of his brows.
“Can you believe that?”I drain the remaining scotch and then wave the glass at Rick who is looking nervous now.
“If she has a flight and she’s too drunk?—”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t miss her flight.”Alexander assures him.Before he can say anything, I grab his jaw forcing him to look at me.
“I’m talking to you!Why aren’t you paying attention?”
Alexander studies me for a second before covering my hand on his jaw and lowering it into his lap.“Trust me, Miss Hartley.You are the only one who has my attention.”
For a moment, the low edge of his voice makes something tighten in my belly.But then I remember what I was talking about, and I pull my hands away from his.“He wanted me to fight for him.Can you believe that?Like I’m going to fight with my cousin for a penis, and not a very good one at that.”
Rick nearly chokes, but Alexander doesn’t flinch.“So you broke up with him?”
“Yes!”I sneer.“Two-timing bastard.And now he’s going to marry her.Marry her, when he wouldn’t commit to me after ten years together!”My eyes feel watery as the words spill out.“Now I’m going home, and everyone’s going to talk about me and how I couldn’t hold on to a man.And Amber’s going to gloat because she got the most eligible bachelor in town while I have nothing.I’m just going home to get humiliated for a month.”
With that last outburst, I drop my head to the bar, my eyes burning with unshed tears.“I don’t want to go home.”
Alexander is silent for a few minutes, and then he says, “I never took you to be a coward.”
Those words have me snapping up straight as I hiss, “I’m not a coward!”
He shrugs, picking up his glass and sipping from it, those grey eyes on me.“You want to run away rather than solve the problem.That’s what cowards do.”
I make a face.“What would you know?When’s the last time your girlfriend cheated on you and then got with your cousin?”
“Never.”Alexander looks amused.
Groaning, I give the bartender a pitiful look.“Ricky, just give me the whole bottle.He’ll pay for it.”
“No, I won’t, and don’t give her the bottle.”
“We’re not in the office,” I point out, my words slurring just slightly.“You can’t tell me what to do here.”
I reach for his glass of scotch—because why not, mine’s empty—and his hand shoots out, catching my jaw.Not hard.Not painful.But firm enough that I go completely still.His fingers press into my skin, tilting my face toward his.Those gray eyes are dark now, intense in a way that makes my stomach flip.
“I can help you,” he says, his voice low and controlled.
I try to scoff, but it comes out breathy.“How?”
“Stop drinking first.”It’s not a request.It’s a command, delivered in that same tone he uses in the boardroom when he expects immediate compliance.And god help me, my body responds to it.Some traitorous part of me wants to obey, wants to do exactly what he says just because he said it in that voice.
