It’s been a week since Alastair told me he was retiring, and now I’m sitting at my dresser, preparing for his retirement party. He’s hired out a posh hotel on Michigan Avenue where over three hundred employees will gather to celebrate his time at Cupid’s Arrow.
“I still can’t believe how gorgeous Alastair’s youngest is,” Ellie says. “I can’t believe Alastair asked you to help teach him the ropes.”
I start brushing my hair and smirk at her. “Good genetics. Alastair is very good-looking, too. He has two sons from different marriages and a string of affairs to attest to how those Walker men are candy to the ladies.”
I twist my hair back into a bun as quickly as possible so that I can finish my makeup. I may be a designer, but styling hair has never been my strong point. I continue with my makeup, ensuring that it enhances my blue-green eyes and light skin tone.
Why am I so nervous about tonight?
Is it because Alastair is leaving...or because Kit is taking over?
“I’m sort of dreading this whole thing, Ellie. I mean... Why does Alastair think I have the ability to change some playboy into a model boss and entrepreneur? It’s ludicrous, really.”
“But you did notice the way you two sort of lit up the whole room when you saw each other?” Ellie, not one to miss anything, asks.
A little tingle races down my spine at the thought of seeing Kit again.
I try to push the memory of our initial meeting aside, but the nervousness increases. I examine my face and figure in the mirror, wanting to look perfect.
My hours at the gym have paid off and my slinkiest black dress finally fits me again. It hugs my hips and shows off the perpetual flatness of my chest and stomach. It makes me look professional, at least, and that’s what I need this evening.
I spritz some perfume on my neck and wrists. “No, I won’t admit to that,” I finally say in my effort to put that meeting past me. “In fact, I think you’re seeing things, and I blame your new low-carb diet.” Fixing my hair one last time in the mirror, I quickly change the subject. “Okay, I’m ready. You?”
I cross the room to find a suitable pair of shoes while Ellie takes my place on the vanity bench. “I’m ready. But are we seriously not going to talk about this? Alex, we’ve been friends for ages. Even before Cupid’s Arrow. We grew up together. I know you.”
“Okay, fine. I haven’t been on a date in two years and I suppose I was struck by the man’s utter beauty and his gorgeous—we can’t deny it—British accent,” I say, slipping on my favorite red heels. “That speaks volumes about me, don’t you think? That some stranger can just throw me off the way he did?”
Ellie laughs. “It speaks volumes that you need to get laid. Even workaholics need a little playtime.”
“Not this one. And especially not with him. God, he was such an ass in Alastair’s office, Ellie!” I stand up, wriggling my toes in my shoes to make sure they’re comfortable enough to drive in. “I suppose if a decent man asked me on a date, maybe I’d go out with him.”
This week I’ve been sleepless, wondering why meeting Kit has made me think a lot about the romance in my life—or lack thereof. And how much I’d love to change that.
“Like who?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
Ellie arranges her bun and twirls around, inspecting herself in the mirror. “Yeah, well. I do. Alastair’s son. You would totally date him.”
“No, I shouldn’t. Alastair once told me his eldest son, William, is like his first wife, who was very responsible and divorced Alastair because he was such a mess in his younger years. But if Kit is anything like his father when he was younger or that stripper second wife he married, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. Players aren’t my thing.”
Ellie frowns at me, looking disappointed.
I laugh. “I just like guys that aren’t complete assholes, Ellie. Like that one boyfriend who was so easygoing. Maybe too easygoing to the point maybe I thought he didn’t care?” I grab my car keys from my dresser and pull Ellie to the door. “I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not picky. I just have standards.”
Ellie and I head out to the car together, complimenting each other’s outfits.
“I have standards, too, but I occasionally date, you know?” she counters as we get in my car. “It’s not a bad thing to recognize that you’re a woman and have needs.”
I groan and playfully swat her shoulder before starting the engine. “Stop it. I need to be professional tonight and I can’t be moping around about my datelessness these past two years.”
The truth is that I’m more nervous than I’m letting on.
I haven’t been to a party in a while, let alone one as important as this. Kit will be there tonight. I need to make the right impression from the start. Do I act professional? Do I try to be friendly with him in a way that’s totally out of character for me? I’m not sure what Alastair will expect.
“Are you going to pull out of the parking spot?”
I blink, realizing I’ve been sitting in the driver’s seat for a solid minute. I shake my head at myself, shifting into Drive.
“Wow. Alex Croft, completely dazed by a guy.” Ellie laughs.
As I pull into traffic, I rub at my eye absentmindedly, then quickly pray I haven’t smudged my makeup. “This has nothing to do with a guy. We barely exchanged words. It’s just that tonight is important.”
“I’ve never seen you so flustered. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I say bluntly. Then I laugh when she just wags her eyebrows. “You know I’m nervous about this whole deal. Me babysitting that...player. I’m nervous that after Alastair gives his goodbye speech later tonight, there’ll be no turning back and we’ll all have Kit Walker as a boss.”
Ellie sighs dreamily. “Another reason to wake up with a smile in the morning. Just to see him in the office—”
“Ellie!” I groan, part of me wishing I could be so carefree about men and dating like she is.
When we park outside the hotel, I grab my handbag from the backseat and spend a minute fixing myself up in my wing mirror. Ellie does the same.
“Speaking of possible dates...look who’s here just in time. Methinks some guy at the office likes you.”
As I peer out the window, I spot Ben walking toward us. “Hey, Alex. You look great.” He opens the door for me.
“I—ah, thanks Ben.”
“No, really, you do. You sound like you don’t believe me.”
“I, uh, no, I’m...”
“Ben, she knows she looks hot.”
He frowns at Ellie, then shoots me this sad little smile. It’s probably the kind of look that normally has girls swooning at his feet. He’s got a certain charm, that one. Not that it appeals to me much. He’s a friend, and that’s how I want it to stay.
“Okay then,” he says absentmindedly. As I straighten up, he offers me his arm and I take it, letting him lead Ellie and me inside the hotel.
The party is already getting going, even though it’s early.
Alastair has always known how to throw the best parties. The music and decor are just right: young, simple but edgy. When the guests are happy, everything is good. I just wish I could get in the spirit of it.
“Alastair knows how to get the best vibe. I’ll miss his parties,” Ben says, staring around in awe as Ellie goes over to talk with Angela.
A waiter passes by with glasses of champagne and Ben thanks him as he accepts a glass. The waiter offers me one with a smile and I shake my head, though a drink would really calm my nerves right now.
But I’ve always told myself that I’m not one of those people who need a drink to feel confident.
I guess I’m regretting that stance now.
“Where’s Kit? Have you seen him?” I ask Ben. He wrinkles his nose, half his glass already poured down his throat.
“Who cares? I’m sure you’ll see him later. We should be having fun.”
“It’s a staff party. It’s not meant to be fun.”
“Everyone else is having a good time,” Ben points out. He gestures over to Tim, who has a girl from Accounting on his arm and three empty glasses of champagne on the table beside him. I sigh.
“I can’t cut loose. Not tonight.”
“Suit yourself,” Ben says, finishing off his glass. “Are you coming with me?”
He points to the bar and I shake my head. “I’ll wait here awhile.”
Ben shrugs and wanders off alone, grabbing another glass of champagne as he saunters into the thick of the party. I curse myself for being no fun, but tonight is about business for me. I have to be ready.
I spot Ellie chatting with the other girls and smile at her, motioning that I’ll be right over. I make a trip to the bathroom and when I emerge, male voices coming from a nook down the hall catch my attention.
British-accented voices.
“...hope you act responsible for once like your brother. I’m asking Alexandra to take you on and report to me as you learn the ropes and that’s that.”
“I don’t need to be taken on by your favorite pet. I know a thing or two about business.”
“Right. Dropping out of college to travel around the world taught you all the ropes?”
“Gut instinct. Believe me, Pops, you can learn things out in the streets that you can’t learn in a classroom.”
“Well all I know is this is the only chance you’re getting, Kit. Your brother already has a—”
“I know William made it big on his own. I never asked for this company. You want me here. Face it.”
“True. So show me I wasn’t wrong.”
“You’re not wrong, but I appreciate you letting me bring my own cards to the table and not stepping on my toes.”
I ease away when the voices sound closer and hurry back into the ballroom.
And seriously?
Ouch.
I’m smarting over being called pet. I’m not Alastair’s pet. I like pleasing my boss. Hell, I need this job. It’s not my fault Kit has it all on a silver platter and doesn’t want someone like me looking over his shoulder and reporting back to his dad. I’m fuming and feeling irritated at the guy. It also irks me that he’s young and that he’s handsome, and that for a moment there, on the day we met, I was interested in him in a way I haven’t been interested in a man in a long time. I felt something. A connection.
Stupid Alex.
I shake my head at myself, then scan the room for Ellie. There’s sudden loud applause coming from the main ballroom. Alastair must be about to make his speech. Trying to forget what I just heard, I enter the room and push through the crowd to get a good spot at the front. This speech matters to me more than I want to let on. I’ll be sad to see Alastair go.
When I reach the stage, the applause is dying down and Alastair is standing with a microphone, looking casually cool and collected as usual. As if the conversation between him and his youngest son was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to my retirement party. I know you’re all thrilled to see me go, and I see some of you are already celebrating so much you won’t remember this whole evening even happened.”
There are laughs and cheers from the corner of the room. I suspect it’s Tim and Ben in their semidrunken state, but I’m praying for the sake of our department’s reputation that it’s someone else.
“Now before I get far too drunk myself—” Alastair pauses amid another smattering of laughter “—I’d like to say some thank-yous.”
I scan the room to see if I can spot Kit but the crowd is too thick to see much of anything.
“Thanks to my trusted friend and finance manager, Erin Gough,” Alastair is saying, “To Ben, on the technical side of things. We’d trip up without you, Benny! And I’d especially like to thank my design team. For an app like Cupid’s Arrow, you need a vision, and my most faithful employee helped me bring my idea to life.” He finally spots me in the crowd and fixes me with his amber eyes, so much like Kit’s. “Thank you endlessly, Alexandra Croft, for working far too hard to make my dream a reality.”
I blush as the crowd applauds. I’ve always known that Alastair holds me in high regard, but it’s nice to hear his appreciation. He winks at me as he sets his microphone back on the stand, then picks it back up. It can only mean he’s about to introduce his son. Nerves seize me again as I remember Kit’s amber eyes and the connection I felt between us when we met, but I have to keep cool. This isn’t like me. Not at all.
“Now, despite my retirement, I do plan to pop in from time to time to observe how my company is doing. There will, of course, be new management, and it’s my great honor to introduce my successor tonight. I hope that he can do me proud as we enter a new era at Cupid’s Arrow.”
This is it. Here he comes.
“Please give a warm welcome to my pride and joy, my son, Kit Walker!”
Loud applause erupts around me, but my senses are engulfed by the man taking the stage.