Aria
“Yeah, I’ve been craving sausage lately. It’s too bad Drake is in New York missing all the good sausage,” Evaleen said leaning back in her wooden chair.
“Maybe Morgana isn’t.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
We both laughed.
“I miss Drake but being in the office for the past two weeks has been a dream come true since Payne isn’t there.” Evaleen’s smile widened so far that I wondered if her cheeks would crack.
I wish I could be that happy. Since my fight two weeks ago with Alex, the joy had seemed to disappear from my life. I even went back to my job at the bar and picked up a couple of shifts just to keep busy. But that didn’t last long. Word had gotten out that A. Hawthorne bought my paintings. It seemed everyone who ordered a drink from me at the bar happened to own a gallery that would love to show my work.
Eventually, Sally, the manager, had to sneak me out the back to avoid the art groupies.
“I’m sorry, Dixon, I didn’t mean to rub my delight of a Payne-less life in your face. You seem down,” Evaleen said.
“It’s times like these I wish I had Morgana to talk to. Her parents are going to visit her in New York next week, maybe I’ll tag along.”
“You can always talk to me. I’m your friend, too.” She reached over and placed her hand over mine.
Would Evaleen even understand? It’s not like she’s the one-night stand type. But, maybe she could understand Alex’s point of view.
“It involves sex with a wealthy man, Evaleen. Are you sure you want to discuss that?”
She rolled her eyes. “I told you I was a—”
I waved my hand at her. “Yeah, yeah, so you say. Okay, let’s pretend this is a book. The hero is locked away in a tower on top of a high mountain by his evil mother.”
“Stepmother,” Evaleen said.
“No, his mother. Why does it have to be a stepmother?”
“That’s usually how it goes in books; I don’t know why. Especially in fairy tales—like Cinderella or Snow White—it is always the evil stepmother.”
I groaned. “Okay, fine, stepmother. So, the heroine of the story makes it up the mountain and into the tower. But when she gets there to kiss the hero and save him, he insults her. Oh, he knew that she would never take money for sex but he assumed it anyway.”
Evaleen’s blue eyes wandered around the room before she narrowed them at me. “I’m a little lost. Are we still talking about the fairy tale or something else? Why would the heroine take money for sex?”
I slammed my hand on the square wooden table. “My point exactly!”
Evaleen stared at me for a moment in silence before she said, “Maybe you do need to speak with Drake about this. I’m so lost.”
Why was I so angry? It made sense that Alex would assume his mother had paid me based on his entire history with women. Yet, I was so angry that he would think that of me.
Because you care for him more than you should, Aria.
It wasn’t Alex I was angry at, it was me. More importantly, my heart. My silly heart and its need to have feelings for a big, sexy man who was born into a crazy family.
“I see him,” Evaleen said through gritted teeth.
“What?”
“That hoodie guy from a month and a half ago. He’s doing a piss poor job of trying to hide behind a plant. What’s he like, six foot three and that plant is five foot at best?”
I turned to see what she was staring at. Evaleen was right. Alex was huddling behind a green potted plant that stood near the hallway to the restrooms.
He looked ridiculous—like a bear trying to hide behind a folding chair. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Alex, is that you?” I called.
His breathtaking gray eyes popped up, widening in surprise. He shook his head.
Evaleen and I stood. We walked over to him, cornering him.
“Yes, it is you. Why are you here?”
My smile faded as he stretched to his full height. Warmth bloomed between my legs and I couldn’t remember anything about our fight. It was something about sex. Why would I fight him on sex?
His eyes flipped between me and Evaleen. “You were right, Aria. I need to stand up to my mother.”
Memories were coming back to me as he spoke.
“I’m glad. But that doesn’t explain why you are spying on me at Chuck’s Sausage Shack.”
His eyes landed on Evaleen before turning back toward me. “Can we talk . . . privately?”
I glanced around the small restaurant and the only private rooms were the bathrooms and a broom closet. I wasn’t about to go back into a broom closet with him, and a bathroom at lunch hour wasn’t private.
Turning to Evaleen I leaned into her. “Do you think we could use your office or an empty room at Mimir to talk?”
Her eyes widened. “With Hoodie? Are you sure that’s safe?”
“His name is Alex. Alexander Hawthorne.” I took a breath before continuing, “He’s the guy trapped in the tower on top of a mountain.”
Evaleen’s lips thinned. “I know who he is, I just like calling him Hoodie.” She bit her lip and eyed Alexander for a moment before she said, “Okay. You can use Payne’s old office since he isn’t there.”
I waved Alex to follow us toward the front of the restaurant. However, he stopped just before we pushed through the door to the sidewalk.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He seemed tense and pushed his hands into his navy hoodie. “Um, it’s the outside. I don’t do well in the daylight.”
Evaleen snorted. “What are you a vampire?”
He shook his head and I placed my hand on his arm. “It’s okay, we’re here. Are you allergic to the sun?”
Based on his tan, I didn’t think that could be a problem.
“No, it’s my mother. She never took me out during the day. I’m sure it was more of her lies, but she warned me of bad people waiting to find me and kidnap me for money. So, I never went out during the day.”
“But you’re here now. How did you get here?” Evaleen said.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you, Aria. I knew you wouldn’t take my call so I forced myself to come out and find you.”
He’s right, I had been ignoring all of his phone calls.
I nodded. “Okay, let’s get you inside the Mimir building. Evaleen, can you take his arm and I’ll grab his other arm. We’ll be on either side of you. That might help put you at ease.” I smiled up at him.
Luckily, the Mimir building was right next door and we were outside for less than a minute.
Once we were inside, I could feel Alex melt in my grip. I hadn’t realized how tense he was until we walked through the turnabout glass door.
When the elevator opened, there was only one person inside and she stared at Alex with wide, doe-eyes.
“Hello, Jenson,” Evaleen said to the woman.
“Oh, hi, Ms. Bechmann.” She walked back to the corner of the elevator as we walked in.
“Don’t you have to get out of the elevator?” Evaleen asked the woman.
“I just realized I forgot something at my desk,” she said with a ghost of a smile before her eyes snapped up to Alex.
“You’re Grace, right?” Alex said pointing to her.
Her tan cheeks turned pink as she nodded.
“I remember you from when I was here a few weeks ago. I’m Alex.” He pushed his hand to her as she stared at him.
She reached for his hand to shake. “Hi, Alex. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
The elevator stopped and once the doors opened, Grace dashed out.
“That woman is weird. She’s like that with every guy she meets. She seemed especially odd with you, Mr. Hawthorne. I’m sorry,” Evaleen said as we left the elevator and moved down the hall.
Alex shrugged as we entered a large, empty office. It was bare bones with only a desk, a few chairs, and a black leather couch against the wall.
“I don’t think so. She’s just shy. There’s nothing wrong with being shy,” he said.
I don’t know why, but my heart jumped at his words. I figured I would be a little jealous of Grace. It’s obvious she was enamored of Alex, but she appeared to have a delicate nature. I think Alex’s heart goes out to fragile creatures.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about her. She has a boyfriend now. Hopefully, she’ll gain some confidence with that. I’ll leave you two alone. I have a meeting with Edgar Mimir so it might be a while,” Evaleen said as she moved to leave and shut the office door behind her.
I turned to Alex. He sank into one of the black leather office chairs.
“Are you ready to tell me why you braved your fear of daylight to hide behind a plant in a sausage shack? I asked.