by Donna Hill
“Several blocks.”
She smiled. “I’ll be fine. I could use a good walk and get a chance to see the neighborhood.”
He didn’t look convinced and gave a slight shrug. He came from behind the desk with the intention of walking with her outside and pointing her in the right direction, just as the elevator bell tinged and Graham stepped off. His dark eyes widened. A half smile teased his mouth as he approached the desk.
“Everything okay with your flat?”
Flat. That made her smile. “Fine. Everything is great. I was asking Milton about the supermarkets in the area. I want to pick up a few things.”
Graham placed the linen laundry bag with the building’s logo on the desk. “Can you send these out for me? The usual. Light starch on the shirts.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Stone.”
“If you don’t mind some company, I’ll walk with you,” Graham offered.
“Great.”
Graham extended his arm toward the front door.
* * *
The early-evening weather was still warm. Couples walked hand in hand and families strolled along the avenues pushing baby strollers, while others jogged to the rhythm of the tunes coming from their headsets and earbuds. The towering trees had begun to bloom, filling the air with the sweet scent of awakening.
“Great neighborhood,” Alexis said as they made the turn onto First Avenue.
“Yes, it is.”
She tilted her head to look at him. “You don’t sound convinced.”
He laughed lightly. “Oh, I’m convinced.” His eyes quickly roamed the street. “Who wouldn’t be?”
Alexis studied his profile for a moment, watching his countenance stiffen then relax as if he’d seen something he wished he hadn’t.
Graham pushed out a breath and turned his megawatt smile on her just as they approached Gristedes. He pulled open the heavy glass-and-chrome door. Alexis walked in ahead of him. Every aisle was lined with shoppers and the incredible assortment of goods was beyond imagination. It was a food lovers paradise.
“Take as much time as you need,” Graham said. “I have a few things to pick up myself and we can share a cab back.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“I’ll meet you up front when you’re done.”
She nodded in agreement, grabbed a shopping cart and started off. She probably should have eaten a full meal before setting foot in this emporium. She was tempted to purchase everything that she laid her eyes on and wished she’d brought a list. She selected a case of imported water, fresh vegetables and baked bread, fish, chicken and seasonings, sorbet, yogurt, fruit and mixings for salads. She could easily spend the day here, but her cart was nearly full. She pushed her cart to the checkout line and watched the numbers add up. New York prices were enough to send her into a sticker shock.
Alexis took out her credit card and reluctantly swiped it. Good thing this job pays well. She watched the groceries being bagged. Graham was standing at the store’s exit talking on his phone when she pushed her loaded cart next to him.
His eyes skipped over her purchases and hers were agape at his. He had two carts filled to the rim and she could only conclude that he hadn’t shopped in months.
Graham ended his call. “Get everything you need?”
“I sure hope so.” She lifted her chin in the direction of his carts. “I see you must have gotten one of everything.”
His eyes crinkled in the corners. “A few things.” He stepped away toward a cab that was lined up at the curb. The driver got out and opened the trunk.
“You think there will be enough room?” Alexis asked with a laugh.
“We’ll make it fit. Won’t we?”
Her eyes leaped to his face, but he was concentrating on getting the bags into the trunk. The muscles of his arms and back flexed as he lifted and deposited each sack. A lick of heat flamed in the center of her stomach. She swallowed.
“All in,” he said, turning toward her with a glimmer in his eyes. “Off we go, eh?” He shut the trunk and opened the cab door for her. Alexis slid in and moved over to make room for Graham.
Gone was the scent of his enticing cologne. It was replaced with a cool water fragrance that was even more alluring in its subtlety. She licked her lips.
“Liking the flat so far?”
She blinked rapidly and focused on him. “It’s fabulous. More than I could have ever imagined. I can’t thank you enough for arranging it.”
“You do a good job for R.E.A.L. and that will be thanks enough.” He smiled ever so slightly.
Alexis linked her fingers together on her lap while her gaze flicked across his face.
Within moments the taxi was pulling up in front of their building. Glen hurried toward the cab with a luggage cart and helped to unload the bags of groceries and wheeled them inside.
“Don’t know whose is whose,” Alexis said.
“We can sort it all out upstairs.”
They followed Glen onto the elevator. “Where to first?”
“Stop by my flat first, then you can help Ms. Montgomery.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Stone.”
They rode the elevator to Graham’s floor while Glen whistled some off-tune melody. Exiting, Alexis followed the two men down the hall to Graham’s apartment. He opened the door. Alexis lingered at the threshold.
“Come on in. You can help sort through.”
Alexis came in and looked around. The set up was similar to hers but the decor was decidedly different. Graham’s furnishings were in a deep chocolate. A leather sectional that could easily seat ten dominated the living space. At least she thought it did until her gaze landed on the mammoth television. She held back a laugh. Boys and their toys. One wall was covered from floor to ceiling with a bookcase that held at least two hundred books. Impressive. She wondered if he’d read them all. The tabletops held framed photos of Graham in a variety of situations. Most were with people who she believed were students, in others he was at banquets, and there were several with senators and one with President Obama.
Graham and Glen sifted through the bags and deposited all that belonged to Graham on the kitchen floor and on the counters.
“All done,” Graham announced by the time Alexis made her way to the unloading zone. “Glen will take yours down to your place.”
“Thanks. When did you get to meet with the president?” she asked while Glen wheeled her groceries to the door.
“I was on his education committee during his first term. That particular photo was taken during a fund-raising dinner for his second term.”
“You travel in pretty high circles. I had no idea you were part of the education committee.”
“It’s not something that I broadcast.”
“Why not during his second term?”
“As much as I wanted to help President Obama further his agenda, it took me away from mine. My focus needed to return to R.E.A.L.”
She nodded her head in understanding. “Good choice.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
Graham stood in his doorway and waited until the elevator door swished closed. He slowly shut his door and hoped that he hadn’t made an awful mistake in hiring Alexis Montgomery.
* * *
Alexis had finished putting away her groceries, seasoned a piece of salmon and was waiting for it to finish broiling when her doorbell chimed. She frowned, wiped her hands on a towel and went to the door and pulled it open.
“Graham. Mr. Stone.”
“Graham is fine.” He held up one of the Gristedes bags. “This was mixed in with mine.” He extended the bag that was filled with salad greens.
“I thought it might be with your things.
Thank you. I could have come up and gotten it.”
“Not a problem. Mmm, something smells good.”
“I have some salmon broiling.” She paused. “You’re welcome to join me if you want. There’s plenty.”
“Thank you but I’d probably fall asleep. Jet lag is beginning to catch up with me.”
She wanted to run her fingers across the expanse of his chest...just to see if it was as hard as she imagined. She smiled instead. “I totally understand. Get some rest.” She took the bag. “Thanks.”
“Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
“You, too.”
Alexis slowly closed her apartment door then rested her head against it and shut her eyes. They were going to wind up in bed together, and there was nothing that either of them could do about it. That she knew for sure. What she didn’t know was if she’d be able to keep her job the morning after.
Chapter 4
“Finer than Ian?” Naomi squeaked in disbelief.
“Yes. They haven’t invented the word to describe the man.” Alexis put her feet up on the couch and snuggled into girl-talk mode. She reached for her glass of wine and took a sip.
“Details, details. Let me live vicariously.”
Alexis giggled and then began to fill Naomi in from the moment they met in the car to his dropping off her misplaced groceries.
“Sounds yummy, and a Brit accent, too. Got a little Idris Elba thing going on. Is he single? No, forget that question. You know that mixing business with pleasure is always a disaster.”
Alexis sighed. “I know. Bad business for all concerned. Great if it works, a nightmare when it doesn’t.” She finished off her wine. “But a girl can dream.”
“Make sure it’s only a dream, Lexi,” Naomi warned. “This is a phenomenal career move for you, don’t sabotage it. Besides, if he is as fine as you say he is, then he probably has a string of women nipping at his heels anyway.”
“You’re probably right. But I still have my dreams,” she said on a playful note. Naomi had always been the more provincial, live by the rules, don’t rock the boat kind of girl. She was her conscience, and Alexis knew in the months to come that she was going to need Naomi’s good sense to whisper in her ear when it came to Graham Stone.
* * *
At eight forty-five on Monday morning, Alexis walked through the doors of R.E.A.L. The offices were located on the fifteenth and sixteenth floors of what was once part of the ABC Television offices on Avenue of the Americas and Fifty-Third Street in Manhattan. Everything looked pretty much the way she remembered from her last visit.
The receptionist looked up from her computer screen and smiled. “Good morning, how can I help you?”
“Good morning. I’m Alexis Montgomery. I start work today.”
The young woman’s eyes widened. “Oh, Ms. Montgomery.” She hopped up from her seat. She extended her hand across the horseshoe shaped desk, which Alexis shook. “Mr. Stone told me to send you straight to his office when you arrived.”
Alexis’s pulse quickened at the mention of his name. “Certainly.”
“Let me advise him that you’re here.” She quickly pressed a button on the multiline phone and spoke into her headset. “Yes. Of course.” She looked across the desk at Alexis. “Straight down the hall, make the first right and his office is on the left.”
“Thank you.”
Alexis followed the directions and passed several employees in the hallway and others who were getting settled into their offices. She made the turn and slowed her step. The door was partially open. She could hear his distinctive voice but couldn’t make out the words. Alexis approached the door and knocked.
“Yes. Come in.”
Alexis pushed the door open and stepped inside. Graham stood up from behind his desk. A stunning woman with large, luminous dark eyes and a short pixie haircut turned from her seat to look at Alexis from over her shoulder. She had on a soft pink skirt suit. Everyone couldn’t get away with wearing pink without looking like Barbie. But this woman could.
Graham came from around the rather large desk. “Alexis. Good morning.” He turned to the seated woman. “Tracy Carter, this is Alexis Montgomery.”
Tracy extended her hand but didn’t get up. “I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
Alexis shook her proffered hand and was drawn to Tracy’s green eyes that reflected like hidden jewels against her sandy-brown complexion. “Nice to meet you.”
Tracy’s softly tinted lips barely lifted into a smile. “Welcome aboard.”
The two women held each other’s gaze. Tracy was the first to turn away.
“Tracy is my executive director and probably knows more about how this business runs than I do. She’ll bring you up to speed and get you set up in your office.” His phone rang. He reached for the phone and gave them a brief look that the meeting was over.
Tracy retrieved her iPad from the desk and stood. “I’ll direct you to your office,” she said, swinging past Alexis. Alexis offered Graham a tight smile that he completely missed before leaving with Tracy.
“So how long have you been with the organization?” Alexis asked while they walked down the hall and back to the elevators.
Tracy tucked her iPad under her left arm and pressed the up button on the panel. “Since we opened,” she said without any further elaboration.
Alexis’s right brow flickered upward. She slid a look at Tracy from the corner of her eye. This was going to be interesting.
They got off on the sixteenth floor and Tracy silently led the way to the corner office at the end of the wide hallway. She took out a key card from the pocket of her jacket and slid it through the slot like a hotel room. The lock clicked open. Tracy opened the door and stood aside to let Alexis go in. Her first gracious overture since they met.
Alexis looked around. A genuine corner office. Wow. She turned to Tracy. “Thank you.”
“IT will be up in about—” she checked her watch “—twenty minutes to get your computer set up, and give you a company cell and iPad. I’ll send in Claire. She’ll be your assistant. Graham... Mr. Stone has you on his schedule for eleven-thirty in his office.”
“Thank you, Tracy.”
“I’ll send Claire right in.” She handed Alexis the key card, walked out and closed the door behind her.
Alexis stared at the door for a moment. Tracy Carter clearly had a bug up her behind. Alexis wasn’t quite sure how she fit into the equation but she wasn’t going to let Tracy’s cold shoulder rub off on her. She walked to the window that overlooked the city. In the distance she could see the treetops of Central Park, and felt the buzz and electricity of the city speeding by below. It was like looking at a magnificent movie with the sound muted.
Her heartbeat escalated. She was here—New York City, with a six-figure job and an apartment on Sutton Place. She had the opportunity to make major changes in education on a global scale. It was everything she could possibly hope for. And then, of course, there was the Graham Stone factor that made the package perfect.
She turned away from the window at the sound of a knock on the door.
“Yes, come in.”
The door eased open and a young woman peeked her head in.
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
Alexis crossed the room as she spoke. “Please come in.”
Claire stepped fully inside. “Good morning, Ms. Montgomery. Claire Davis.”
Alexis extended her hand. “My pleasure. I understand we’ll be working together.”
“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you need.”
“How long have you been working here, Claire?”
“Two years.”
Alexis bobbed her head. “Good.” She blew out a breath. “IT will be up shortly. But until they get here why don’t you giv
e me your perspective of R.E.A.L., the who’s who and where you see yourself in five years.”
Claire blinked back her surprise. “Well...”
Alexis sat down on one of the club chairs and indicated that Claire should sit, as well.
“Before you say anything, I want you to understand that as my assistant I will be entrusting you with keeping me on task, from something as simple as taking a phone message to scheduling appointments, maintaining my calendar, navigating me through the minefield of R.E.A.L. We are a team. That means we work together as a unit. I depend on you and you depend on me to help you do your job. When I’m lagging, I want you to let me know. I can be demanding and get an awful case of tunnel vision when I’m immersed in a project. I give one hundred fifty percent, and I expect no less from anyone that I work with. I make sure that hard work is rewarded.”
Claire sat up straighter in her seat. “As I said, I’ve been here for two years. I worked for Mr. Martin. He had the position before you arrived.” She paused a moment. “Actually, we all thought that this position would go to Tracy.”
That explained the attitude. Alexis nodded and let Claire continue.
“I have a master’s degree in educational leadership. I spent four years with Teach America, teaching fifth grade in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. I’m good at what I do. I’m married and have a two-year-old son. I’m dedicated to my job but I will be honest, my family comes first.”
Alexis smiled. “That was the most impressive thing you said...about your family.” That little ache that echoed in her belly was still there, not as powerful or as painful as when her mom first passed away, but there nonetheless. She knew the importance of family. She was sure that if her mom would have still been here she would have never left Atlanta, no matter how good this deal was. She cleared her throat. “I think we’re going to make a formidable pair.”
Claire smiled and appeared to physically relax.
The knock diverted their attention.
“IT,” a voice announced.
“Come in,” Alexis said, standing. Claire followed suit.
“Morning, I’m Jason. I’m gonna connect all of your equipment and set up your accounts.”
