“Currently, I do a lot of volunteer work. I recently left a demanding position that left me unfulfilled, and I’m taking the next month or so to enjoy myself a bit and give back to the community that’s nourished me for more than five years. But I have a business degree from Harvard, and I’m a licensed accountant, so after the first of the year, I’ll be working freelance. Tax time approachesquickly.”
“Now, Paige, you have grilled my lovely Elizabeth enough for one evening, and I fear we are expected upstairs,” Alexander purred. “It wasanexperiencemeetingyou.”
The reporter narrowed her eyes at him as he steered Elizabeth towards the elevator. They were almost out of earshot when she spoke to her videographer. “I wonder how long he plans on keeping this onearound.”
Alexander stiffened and couldn’t help the feral sound that rumbled in his chest. He turned back to the reporter, a quick glance at the camera ensuring the red light was dark. “As long as she’ll have me,” he said, unable to keep the venom from his voice. “And I’ll thank you to treat her with more respect from now on or your network will lose a substantial investor and your boss will receive a personal call from me explainingwhy.”
Paige sputtered out a hasty apology while Alexander wrapped a protective arm around Elizabeth’s waist and pulled her againsthim.
“I suppose that’s going to be a common reaction,” Elizabethmurmured.
“Don’t listen to her.” Alexander jabbed the button for the twentieth floor. When the elevator doors closed, cocooning them protectively in the ornately paneled box, Alexander pressed Elizabeth against the back wall and crushed his lips to hers. He took possession with tongue and teeth, eliciting a low, throaty moan from the pliant woman in hisarms.
She gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes after he pulled back. “What…was that…for?”
“You are mine, Elizabeth.” Alexander cupped her neck. “I cultivated my playboy reputation. I let the press think I was aloof, impossible to tame or corral. It was easier that way. But I regret that now if it causes you even one second ofgrief.”
The elevator doors opened, sparing Alexander from hearing Elizabeth’s protestations. “Ready for a party,chérie?”
“No more reporters?” sheasked.
“Oh, there will be more, I am certain, but they will be print or web only. No video cameras up here.” He smiled and offered her his arm again. Not more than three steps out of the elevator, a flash went off in their faces. Elizabeth teetered for a moment, unsteady, but Alexander’s arm held herup.
“Tami-Lynne Thorne, Mr. Fairhaven. I’m sorry for the flash. I write for theBoston Globe. A few minutes of yourtime?”
They repeated the dance again and again. TheGlobe, thePost, and even the local weekly gossip rag. Elizabeth was charming, holding her own but deferring to Alexander for questions surrounding the timing of their relationship and their holiday plans. “A couple must keep some secrets, wouldn’t you agree?” he said to one particularly determinedreporter.
Throughout the rounds, he never stopped touching her. A kiss to her neck here, playing with a lock of her hair there. It was well after eight when they extricated themselves from the requisite interviews, chit-chat, and introductions to his various business associates and found their seats at a silver cloth-covered table set with the finest crystal, flatware, and china. A perfect poinsettia graced the center. Nicholas and his slave, the not-so-brilliant Candy, were already seated, and Nicholas stood when theyapproached.
“Elizabeth, you look lovely,” Nicholas said. He extended his hand and raised an eyebrow at Candy. She stood and toddled over on heels that were so high that she matched him for height. “Candy, this is my brother’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Bennett. Shake her hand,dear.”
Candy gave Elizabeth a wide smile. “Nice to meet ya,” she said with a thick New York accent. Around her throat, Nicholas’s diamond collar glittered. The thin silk of her low-cut gown barely hid tight nipples, and Alexander shook his head as Candy struggled to sit back down in a dress cut so high, it was practicallyobscene.
“Really, Nicholas? You could not have dressed her a bit more conservatively for the evening?” he whispered in his brother’s ear once they were all seated oncemore.
“Hey, let me have my fun. Just because you’ve got a woman with some fashion sense andintelligence…”
Alexander took Nicholas’s jacket from his chair and draped it over Candy’s shoulders. “You must be chilled, Candy. Keep that on for dinner, willyou?”
Nicholas grimaced as Candy looked to him for approval. “Do what he says,dear.”
Wine arrived, poured by white-suited waiters. The conversation was sparkling, Elizabeth fitting in perfectly with the two Fairhaven board members and their wives, who joined them at the table. One of the wives, a small Asian woman named Sun who looked about ready to give birth, addressed Elizabeth. “So what do you do for aliving?”
“I’m an accountant,” Elizabethreplied.
“You count ants?” Candyasked.
Elizabeth swiveled her head towards Alexander, eyes wide, an expression of pure and total disbelief on her face. He shook his head sadly. Yes, his brother’s current conquest wasexactlythat dumb. He turned to whisper in her ear. “You see what I had to deal with lastFriday?”
“I take back every mean thought I had about you. And her,” Elizabeth whispered back. She reached for his thigh under the table and gave it a squeeze. “No, Candy,” Elizabeth told her. “I do taxes. I make sure companies pay their billsproperly.”
“Then why’d you say you counted ants?” She looked over at Nicholas. “I don’t understand,sir.”
Nicholas glared back at her. “I told you not to call me that in public,” he growled, low enough only for Candy and Alexander to hear. “Let it go,Candy.”
Alexander rested his hand over Elizabeth’s. He was about to lean over and kiss her when her entire body stiffened, and she gripped his thigh so hard he wondered if he’d bruise. “Elizabeth?”
Her entire face paled as she stared past him. Through clenched teeth, she hissed out a single word. “Carter.”
