Chapter 31

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Alex

I SAT IN MY office early Monday morning, still beating myself up for what had happened less than forty-eight hours ago. But in my defense, it had been a while since I’d last had sex, Rose was offering it to me freely, and I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t pretty damn hot. I knew it was wrong before we even really got started, but in typical guy fashion, I was going to enjoy the moment and think about the consequences later. I was a little surprised by Rose’s carefree attitude after, convincing me that it was only sex and wouldn’t change our feelings for each other.

“You still hate me, and I still hate you. The fact we slept together twice and had sex once won’t change that,” she’d joked during the car ride home.

But the truth was, I didn’t hate her, and it had nothing to do with the fact I had sex with her. My opinion of her had been shifting for a while, and the having sex part only added to those mixed feelings I was having about her. She was unlike any chick I’d ever known. She was able to think like a guy when it came to sex. Most girls would expect some type of commitment after sleeping together, but not Rose. In fact, a commitment seemed to be the last thing she was looking for. The way she whipped out the condom from her purse was something I’d never expected from the prissy stranger I’d summed up in the first five seconds of meeting not so long ago. Boy, was I wrong. Dead wrong.

I stared at the email on my computer, trying to form a reply for the past twenty minutes, but my mind was elsewhere, making it impossible to come up with a coherent sentence. I hadn’t seen Rose all morning, and I knew that initial meeting was going to be awkward for both of us.

“Hey, Alex!” Like she was reading my mind, Rose stepped into my office just as perky as could be, as if nothing had happened between us.

My eyes betrayed me and scanned her from head to toe before I could even stop them. The smile that was stretched across her face vanished when she caught on to my eyeball assault. She pushed her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.

“Umm…I’m meeting with Tina Wellington from Wellington Collectibles. I was telling her what a great idea it would be to run an ad in Him for the holiday season. You know, with all the men who read the magazine who may be looking for gift ideas for their significant other.”

“What kind of ad?” I asked. There was nothing feminine about the magazine, and I didn’t intend to change that now.

“Umm…women’s jewelry.” Her agitation over my questioning of what she deemed as a brilliant idea was evident.

“It doesn’t fit the image of the magazine.”

“You’re kidding me, right? You do know how much she’s willing to pay for advertising space, don’t you?”

“Who cares? It’s not about the money. It’s about having an image to uphold to readers.”

“You are so unbelievably pigheaded!”

I was happy to see that maybe sex hadn’t changed things between us, and we were able to get back to that place we once were. “Whatever,” I muttered under my breath, going back to the email in front of me.

“Will you please just come and meet her? I told her you would.”

I rolled my eyes, not much in the mood for meeting someone I had no interest in doing business with. Letting out an annoyed breath, I stood up and followed behind Rose, trying to focus on something other than her perfect ass. The dress she was wearing, which hugged every inch of her body, wasn’t aiding me in my plight.

“I thought you said she only liked dealing with women, so what’s the point in having her meet me?” I asked as we walked down the hallway.

“What can I say, I talked you up as a pretty decent guy. Please don’t go in there and say something that will let her know I lied.”

I walked in behind Rose and was pleasantly surprised with the hot blonde sitting on the other side of her desk.

“Alex, this is Tina Wellington,” Rose introduced.

“Hello, Alex. It’s very nice to meet you.” She stood up on long legs that seemed to go on forever and shook my hand.

I concentrated on her face while mentally calculating the cup size of her massive tits. Rose cleared her throat, breaking my attention from Tina Wellington’s killer body.

“Hey, it’s really nice to meet you,” I finally spoke.

“So, Rose was telling me you’re the guy to speak with about buying ad space in Him.”

“I’m sorry, Tina, but after talking to Alex in his office—”

“Yup, that would be me.”

Rose turned her head in my direction with her mouth agape. “I thought you said it didn’t fit the image.”

“So, tell me what you were thinking for the ad?” I asked Tina, completely ignoring Rose.

Tina glanced at her watch. “I would love to tell you all about it, but I have a plane to catch. I’ll be in LA until Friday morning.” She grabbed her briefcase. “Would you like to meet up for drinks on Friday night, so we can discuss it further?” She moved closer and handed me her business card. “Give me a call, I’d love to hear from you.”

“Sounds good.”

“Rose, I’ll be in touch, and, Alex, hopefully I’ll be seeing you very soon.” She smiled and made her exit.

Rose stood in front of her desk with her hands on her hips, staring into space. “Okay, what just happened from the time you walked from your office to mine that made you change your mind?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I never said I changed my mind, I just want to hear what her plans are for the ad.”

“I already told you, and you weren’t interested!” She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at me. “Until you saw her big boobs…which were fake, by the way!”

“How do you know?”

“Oh, please, Alex, you could see those things coming from a mile away. I’m surprised she didn’t fall over from being so top heavy. Of course, the blouse she was wearing that was two times too tight for her didn’t help matters.”

I looked down at the ground and chuckled. I never thought I’d see the day Rose Perkins would be jealous of anyone—but she was.

“I think it’s a bad idea.” She carried on.

“What?” I asked.

“Meeting her for drinks.”

“Oh, now it’s a bad idea, when just a little while ago, you were trying to pitch it to me.”

“Umm…not the going out for drinks part. She’s agreed to buy space in the Her edition. Let’s just leave it at that. I don’t need you getting a few drinks in you and saying something to piss her off and jeopardize everything.”

I tried my hardest to hold back my amusement. She had no idea how adorable she was when she battled with the green-eyed monster.

“Oh, there you are?” Uncle Henry beckoned as he entered Rose’s office. “How was the trip?”

“Fine,” Rose and I both answered in unison.

My uncle stared at us suspiciously. “Did you accomplish everything you wanted to get done while you were there?”

“I don’t know about Alex, but I sure did.” Rose grinned.

“I have tickets to this charity benefit ball the bank holds every year. It’s going to be Thursday night. It a black-tie event, and it’s three hundred dollars a ticket. Can I count you in?” Uncle Henry directed his attention to me.

“Yeah, I’ll get you a check, even if I don’t end up going.”

“Oh, that sounds fun! Count me in…and my aunt Kate,” Rose chimed in.

“Rose, are you sure?” my uncle inquired with a satisfying smile at the mention of her aunt’s name.

“Yup! My dad has no problem giving to charities.” She laughed. “And it’s the perfect opportunity for me to wear this new dress I just bought.”

I tried to hold back my laugh. Her heart may have been in the right place, but her mind was always on her wardrobe.

“Well, this is wonderful! I’ll make sure you and your aunt Kate are at our table,” my uncle said.

“I’ll call my aunt and let her know not to make plans for Thursday, then I’ll call Daddy and tell him to get his checkbook out.” She and my uncle both laughed in harmony.

“And I saw Tina Wellington just leaving. How did it go?” my uncle asked Rose.

“Good.” Rose nodded, not seeming as enthusiastic as she once was over the whole idea. “She’s gonna get back to me on what she wants to do for the ad.”

“And she may want to do an ad for the December issue of Him,” I added.

Rose let out an annoyed breath and frowned.

“Wow! This really is shaping up to be a great day! I knew once you two learned how to work together, you’d be doing great things.” He patted me on the shoulder and gave Rose a smile of gratitude before leaving her office.

“So, you’re gonna go through with it?” Rose scowled.

I knew exactly what she was referring to, but I wanted to mess with her a little. “Go through with what? Going to the benefit?” I shrugged. “I guess I have to now, since I can’t have you showing up and making me look bad.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Morning, Rose. Morning, Alex.” Lucy walked in just in time to halt Rose’s wrath.

“Just forget it.” She stared up at me with emotion-filled eyes, then greeted Lucy in her normal bubbly manner. But I knew better. Underneath, she was exuding a hint of jealousy and some bottled-up anger toward me for not giving in to her wishes. Maybe I was wrong for getting such amusement over it, but I couldn’t help it. She looked really cute when she was stewing on the inside.