I can feel his stare on my profile, but I keep mine up front. The light turns green, but he doesn’t do anything about it, so I force myself to look his way. His expression is unreadable, as usual, his gaze locked onto mine. The exchange doesn’t last long, but it feels as if his gray irises can see past my brown ones straight into my soul, reading my thoughts and desires.
Despite my best efforts, I can’t look away from his entrancing eyes. This man has a magnetic pull on me that I cannot comprehend.
He gets over whatever’s happening first, refocusing on the road and putting us back on our way to my place. The rest of the ride occurs without another word between us. Music is still playing, joyful and catchy, but it isn’t enough to appease the tension.
As soon as we reach my building, I grab the handle. “Thank you for the ride,” I say, hating how shaken I sound. “Sorry for the detour.”
He keeps looking forward before turning to me. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
With one last forced smile, I pull on the handle to exit the car. It’s still pouring outside, so I run to my entrance and urge myself not to look back and enter the lobby.
Shit… That was weird, and tense, and strangely sexy. I’m feeling electric, and I don’t know what to make of it.
Unless he changes his mind, I’ll have to spend my working days in the same room as that man.
If that’s not a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is.
My weekend isn’t very restful. Which is to be expected, given how many things are plaguing my mind. First, I missed my date with Oli, which earns me some scolding from Tami. Second, my obsession with my boss has grown substantially, which is terrible. Third, I’m expected to spend even more time around said boss. Fourth, I had another vividly realistic wet dream about the man.
The future’s looking really bright.
Somehow, when I get to work on Monday, there’s another parameter that I forgot to account for. “So,” Steven tells me, spinning his chair to face me when I arrive, “not even here for a month, and you’re already working upstairs with the boss?”
It’s a joke. I know it is, but it still makes my insides churn. From their point of view, it must look so suspicious. Especially knowing how Alexander is. I didn’t realize the news would spread so quickly. But my computer isn’t on my desk anymore, so it makes sense they had questions.
“I explained the situation,” Oliver says. “They can’t wait to see the app you’ve created.”
“Trust me,” I say to Steven, eager to clarify things, “I’d rather be here with you guys than upstairs with him.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear,” says a deep voice behind me.
Ah, shit …
I slowly spin around, worriedly glancing at Lex, but he doesn’t give me any attention and turns to the guys instead. “When the rest of your colleagues arrive, I want all six of you in the conference room. We’ll rearrange a few things for the weeks to come.” Without another word, he leaves us.
About five minutes later, when Brian and Joseph arrive, we all head to the conference room, as instructed. It’s nearly full already, with more people still filtering in. Lex is talking with a man I have seen before but never met—Kevin Langley, Kelex’s co-owner. He’s slightly shorter than Lex, his body is leaner, and his blond hair is neatly combed back while his face is closely shaven. The man is devilishly handsome, but not in the same way as his business partner. Alexander is dark and mysterious, while the other man is luminous and refined. The other big difference is that he’s wearing a three-piece suit, while Alexander is back in his usual T-shirt and jeans. The contrast between the two men is striking, which makes the apparent familiarity between them somehow surprising.
The nerds greet our bosses before sitting or standing around the large table. Alexander waves for me to come closer, so I comply.
“Kev, this is Andrea Walker,” he says. “Andrea, this is Kevin Langley.”
“I can’t believe we haven’t met sooner. It’s great to finally put a face to the name, Andrea.”
“Andy, please. And yes, ditto. I’ve heard a lot about you,” I greet back, shaking his hand.
“Lex tells me you’re quite the genius with a keyboard,” he continues. The compliment boosts my ego, and the utter pride I feel warms me all over. I glance at the object of the discussion, who’s already busy talking to Steven and Brian.
“Well, he never used the word genius in front of me,” I retort.
“Ah, you’ll have to excuse my old friend. While he might be the smartest man I know, he is most certainly not the sharpest one when it comes to people. He’s a good guy deep down, though, I promise.”
He gives me an impish wink and then guides me to a couple of empty chairs.
The room rapidly falls silent as we sit, all because of Alexander’s commanding authority. He doesn’t even have to speak to make the room shut up, and it’s honestly impressive.
“We’re about to acquire a new project, which will now become our number one priority,” he says to the gathered crowd with a clear voice. “Starting today, a few of you will be assigned to it. I want the alpha version of this app up and running by Thanksgiving, so I expect all the involved parties to do their best to respect that deadline. Andrea, if you would,” he adds, moving to the side.
What? I’m supposed to improvise a speech out of the blue? Everyone’s eyes are on me, so I force myself to stand up and join him. It feels like drama club allover again.
