What the hell did this man just say? I huff a shocked laugh, wondering if he meant it to come out that way. I turn back to him.
“You meanwithwhomever you please…” I say testily, arching a haughty brow, wondering how he's going to respond. Thisinterestingly stoic, yetoddlyemotionally attuned man. My lips quirk, thinking about his birthdate, and it hits me that he's a Cancer. The emotional astrological sign.
Alexander shakes his head, arching his own brow at me almost as if in a challenge, but it doesn't intimidate me….not inthatway. We stare each other down for a tense few seconds before he speaks, “Which one is yours?”
Huh? Is he wanting to knowmykink? I feel my eyes get impossibly wider, to the point I wonder if it's possible they’ll fall out of my head.
"The burger, Sarah," he clarifies, keeping his eyes trained on mine. Does he know how intensely he comes off?
“The lettuce wrapped one, of course,” I mumble as I pull it closer, thanking God I can order food with no bread. “I swear I think I’ve gained five pounds over the weekend thanks to you.” I'm still looking down, but I can see in my peripheral vision his head tilts.
“Hmm-hmm. You’rewelcome.”
My heart skips a beat, and I flick my eyes back to his in surprise, where we again have another tiny standoff. His lips twitch again, but he's very good at keeping that wicked smile of his under wraps. Controlled. Everything about this man screams discipline, control, and class.
I can't imagine him being unhinged in bed, though I do wonder how he'd be.
Alexander clears his throat, picking up his burger once more. “Now, back to the email I sent. I got you a first-class ticket to Vancouver, and we’ll be flying out together. I've already ordered a driver to pick us up and take us to the airport, so we don't have to worry about parking fees and such. The flight leaves at five in the morning, so the driver and I should be at your house by three. Will you be able to get up on your own, or do you need to stay at my house the night before?”
“Huh?”I admonish. My brows lift, and I put my burger down, pinning him with a stare. “You did what? Alexander, what are you talking about?”
Just then, a sharp tapping sounds on his office door, interrupting us. Alexander turns his head and frowns, displeased at the disruption. Ironically, so am I; I want as much alone time with him as I can get. Because something about him calls to me, begging me to figure him out.
“Come in,” he calls, grabbing a napkin to wipe his fingers.
I look over my shoulder and see none other than David, an associate of mine, walk in. David gives Alexander a kind smile before his eyes slide to where I'm sitting, finally seeing me, and I break out into a big smile of my own as we lock eyes.
I giggle as David breaks out into a laugh of his own. “SarahBeara! What a surprise to see you here! You lookgorgeous!”
Excited to see him for the first time in person after over a year, I stand up with a skip, making my way over to him and throwing my arms around him. He laughs. “Dr. Flemming,oh my God! I didn’t know you had an office here! I didn’t see your name on the plaque downstairs! It’s so good to see you again!”
A sudden blast of icy energy hits me hard, and I stiffen, feeling the vibes in the room immediately turn cold. David's in the middle of rubbing my arm when my skin breaks out into goosebumps as Alexander clears his throat rather rudely. My smile slips, and I half turn to look back over my shoulder, seeing Alexander sitting rather stiffly in his seat.
His eyes are sharp with a smoldering intensity, and, dare I say it, something akin tojealousy.My heart skips a beat, wholly unprepared to see that particular expression on his face.
"Oh," I whisper, rolling my lips and taking a tiny step away.
I turn and give David an apologetic look; however, David's busy looking at Alexander, not me, and I can tell the second he clocks the energy shift as well. His smile wavers, and he takes astep away from me cautiously, throwing Alexander a perplexed look. But David pivots easily, fixing his face back into his usual kind expression almost effortlessly.
“I uh…. IhopeI’m not interrupting anything?” David asks, folding his arms and throwing me another fond smile.
I keep my eyes purposefully off Alexander’s as I walk back to my seat and sit down. I look back over my shoulder at David and scoff.“Nonsense—“
“David,"Alexander interjects smoothly, turning his eyes to him. "If you kindly would excuse us, I can stop by your office at two o'clock when we’re done.”
I turn my face back to Alexander, surprised at how effortlesslyhepivoted, effectively shutting down any hint of David third-wheeling our meeting. I keep silent, chalking it up to inter-office issues; maybe there's something going on between them I don't know about. But I wonder how David feels, having been dismissed so thoroughly in front of me.
Nervous, I peek again to see Alexander raise a haughty brow at David, who bites back a grin and backs out of the office. He pauses, though, on the threshold with a hand on the doorknob, and his eyes meet mine once again as he gives me a wink.
“Bye, Sarah Beara, I’ll email you soon. Maybe we can have our own lunch date to catch up,” David says, clicking the door shut behind him. For a second I tense as he uses my nickname again, all of a sudden feeling very awkward with it being said in front of Alexander.
I turn back to Alexander, gaping at him. “Alex, that was a littlerude!” I chastise.
I can't help my eyes narrow, but when his gaze leaves the closed door and finds mine, I can see he couldn't care less. Yet it's hidden under the usual carefully veiled arrogance and confidence.
“So,Sarah Beara,huh? How do you two know each other?” he asks, obviously ignoring my chastisement of him and trying to keep his tone light and innocent despite the redness under his color.
I lean in further, staring into his eyes. Getting lost in them, rather.
