“Just go with it, Aubrey. I feel it too and honestly never thought I’d like this feeling, but I do.”
“Well, how do I argue with that? I have to go to work. Do you want to hang out here?” I was silently hoping he said no. I didn’t want him finding my journal—not that he would snoop—but it still made me nervous.
“No, I’ll head out with you. I should go get ready for work too. I have a meeting with a hot marketing chick this morning.” He laughed and smacked my ass.
“Yes, Julie is pretty hot.” I smiled up at him.
“Well, I don’t know about Julie, but I know that you are. I look forward to seeing you later.” He leaned down and kissed me. Our tongues twisted together, and I heard a moan escape my throat. I really wanted him. I was so scared and excited at the same time that I hoped I wasn’t confusing one emotion with another.
We broke apart smiling. He dragged his thumb under my lip to wipe away some moisture that was there. It was a sweet and sensual gesture. Was I falling in love with him? Is this what love felt like? It had to be too soon. He grabbed my hand, walked me out, and hailed a cab for me.
Chapter 10
I arrived at work early. I had time to get some work done before we had to leave to go to the club for our meeting. I walked into the break room to get some coffee, and Mark was sitting at a table having coffee and staring at his phone. He didn’t look right.
“Mark? Are you okay?”
He looked up at me, and he was either very tired or upset over something. “No, yes, I don’t know. Jessica told me that she wants to take a break so she can concentrate on her studies. The University has a study-abroad program in London, and she’s going. She didn’t even talk to me about it. She just said she was going and wanted a break.”
I was shocked. I hated situations like this. I never knew what to say or do. “Mark, I don’t know what to say.” Well, at least that was honest.
“What can you say, ya know? I didn’t get to say anything to her. I would have been fine with her going. I’d never want to hold her back; I just didn’t realize that she didn’t need me to move forward.”
I sat down at the table with him. “Why don’t we go out later? I’ll ask Julie to join us. It will be low key—nothing fancy—maybe grab some pizza and beer.”
“Thanks, Aubrey. That would be nice. I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t know if I’m pissed off or just in shock. No, scratch that. I’m pissed off because she shocked the hell out of me. It’s too bad I really love her.”
I looked at this man, who had the entire package, and my heart ached for him. All I could do was nod and be understanding. We left and went to our desks. I stared at my computer and thought about Alex and me. Would this happen to us? Was something going to come along where he was going to want a break? Was someone else going to come along and pull him away from me? Could I hang on to a guy like him? The thought of not having him around depressed me. What was worse was that I’d only known him a couple of weeks and I’d totally fallen for him. My head spun.
Julie came bursting into my office with a wide smile on her face. “Morning, chica!”
Her smile is generally infectious, but I couldn’t get out of my own thoughts or how bad I felt for Mark. “Morning, Julie.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? I figured you would be psyched that you’ll be seeing Alex in an hour.”
She didn’t know I’d just left him. “I am, but I just talked to Mark.”
Julie cut me off. “Yeah, I just saw him, and he looks like shit. Is he sick?”
“No, he isn’t sick, unless a broken heart is an illness.”
“Shit. Jessica? What happened?” Julie looked concerned and sad as if she knew what was coming next.
“Jessica is going to London to study and decided to end things with Mark. Well, she called it a break. The only thing that broke was his heart. I feel awful for him, Julie. I thought we could all go out tonight for pizza and beer. What do you think? Can you come?”
“Definitely, that is an awesome idea. Want to see if Alex and Brett want to come?”
Did I? “No, I don’t think it would be right to bring our happy relationships to dinner while he is nursing a broken heart. If you ask Brett and I don’t ask Alex, the you know what will hit the fan.”
Julie nodded. “Okay, the three of us it is. Get your stuff together; we need to be at the club in thirty minutes. I’ll meet you in the lobby in ten.”
I collected my files, sent Mark an email telling him we were on for tonight, and headed to the lobby.
We arrived at the club. I had an odd feeling when we walked in, because it was completely empty, except for a couple of women vacuuming. We heard the sound of bottles, so we went towards the bar where we spotted Tyler, who looked as if he were conducting inventory.
He looked over and saw us. “Hi, ladies, Alex is in his office. Julie, you know where it is, right?”
“Hi, Tyler, yes, thank you. We’ll head on up.”
Julie and I walked through the club, and I noticed the vases on the tables in the VIP area were empty. Did he replace the orchids every day? That had to be expensive. I didn’t even know offices were up here. We approached a door and Julie knocked. “Come in.” That voice, it really made me feel as if my knees were going to buckle.
Julie opened the door and I followed her in. Alex stood up and walked around his desk. He looked fabulous. He was wearing black dress pants and a light blue dress shirt with no tie and the sleeves rolled up revealing his muscular forearms. I had to touch the corner of my lips. It felt as if I were drooling. Thankfully, I wasn’t.
He shook Julie’s hand and then looked at me as though he didn’t know what to do. How weird! Why did he just shake Julie’s hand? I guess it was the professional thing to do, so I stuck my hand out. I had no clue what to do. He took my hand, but instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. Mental note to self—he is romantic toward me in a business meeting.
“Have a seat, ladies. Would you like something to drink?” His voice was beyond sexy.
Julie and I spoke at the same time. “No, thank you.” We looked at each other and smiled. I love her.
“Alex, Brian said that you wanted a new marketing strategy. Was there something wrong with the current one?” Julie looked concerned and sounded extremely professional.
“No, Julie, I’ve loved everything that you’ve done. We want to expand a portion of the club and add a wine room. That’s where I need Walker-Stone to step in and create a promotion for us. We have some time because Brett and I will be traveling to different vineyards in Europe to explore the culture and regions of the wines we want to profile.”
He’s leaving? They’re leaving? I felt the blood drain from my face. I immediately thought of Mark. Is this what he felt like? This sucks. What the hell is with Europe today? What a shitty way to tell us! Julie and I looked at each other and then back to Alex. Julie cleared her throat. “What would you like from us, Alex?” Her tone was a little clipped and the professionalism was starting to dissipate. I felt as if I was going to cry, and Julie didn’t look much better, which didn’t help me because she was the strong one.
Alex looked confused. He looked at Julie and then at me, and his expression went from confused to concern. “Let me rephrase what I just said.” Just then Brett walked in, and Julie looked as if she wanted to slap him.
“Hey, gang, are we all on the same page? It’s great, right?” Brett was beyond happy. He was practically bouncing on his feet. Was he excited to be leaving Julie?
“Brett, have a seat. I was just trying to explain to the ladies what we need to have happen. Let me try this again.” Alex cleared his throat. “Julie and Aubrey, Brett and I would like you to accompany us to Europe. We’ll be gone about two weeks. I’ve already spoken to Brian, he has cleared your schedules, and I’ve assured him the new contracts will be signed. You have them for me, right, Julie?”
What the hell? Julie and I sat there with our
mouths open. It finally registered to Julie. “Yes, the contracts are right here.” She handed them to Alex. “I really appreciate this opportunity, Alex.” She sounded thrilled.
Alex smiled. “You can dispense with the formalities and the business acumen for now and go hug Brett. Alex laughed and then turned to me. “Aubrey, are you okay? You do want to come with us, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course. I’m just a little surprised; that’s all. What about the club? Who’s going to take care of it?” The thought of going away with Alex made me delirious.
“Tyler will be in charge. Most of my staff has been with me for years. This place could really run itself.” He came around to the front of his desk where I was sitting. I stood up, he put his arms around my waist, and I reached my hands to his shoulders. “I was dying to tell you yesterday and then again this morning. That’s why I couldn’t wait to leave this morning. I thought I would slip and tell you.”
“Alex, you are an amazing man.” I reached up and kissed him. I wanted him so badly I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and feel it between my legs. We rested our foreheads together, and our breathing became ragged. God, I really wanted him. We finally separated, but he held on to my hand.
“Okay, now that we have all hugged, kissed, and agreed, why don’t we go out to dinner tonight and discuss our travel plans? We’ll leave on Monday. You both have passports, right?”
Monday? No way, that only gave us a couple of days to get everything together. We nodded. “Great, so dinner at let’s say six?”
I shifted in my seat; he wasn’t going to like this. “We have dinner plans. Can we go to lunch since we are already here and it’s almost lunchtime?” I could feel Julie’s eyes on me. Had she forgotten about Mark?
Alex looked at me. Yup, I was right; he looked confused. “Uh, sure, lunch is fine.” He sounded disappointed.
I felt as though I needed to explain, “We’re going out to dinner with Mark, and before you get any ideas, we’re taking him out because his girlfriend left him to go study in Europe and he is upset. We’re friends, nothing more.”
Alex nodded. He kissed me on my temple and said, “You’re a good person. Lunch it is.”
“You’re a great man, Alex. Thank you for understanding. You have to know that I don’t think of Mark as any more than a friend. He’s really hurting right now. I’d ask you to come to dinner, but I don’t want to show off how happy I am when he is so sad.”
“You’re that happy, huh?” He had a glorious smile, the kind you would see in toothpaste commercial.
I took his hands in mine. “I am beyond happy. What do you think about coming over later tonight? Do you have to work all night?” I looked into his navy eyes and ran my tongue over my lower lip in anticipation of his answer. His eyes were following it.
“I think I can come over.” He winked and his chest rose. I could tell his was as affected as I was.
“Good, I look forward to it. Now, I’m starving. How about that lunch?”
Brett and Julie were getting friendly in the corner of the office, so Alex not so gently bumped into Brett on the way out of his office to get his attention. Julie laughed and Brett punched him in the arm.
We went to a classic 1950s-style diner around the corner from the club. We all ordered as soon as we sat down. We had a lot to discuss and didn’t want to waste time.
Alex started telling us about our upcoming trip. “So, this is the plan. Our flight leaves from here to Tuscany, Italy, on Monday morning at eleven. Then we’ll tour the wine country of Northern Italy until Thursday. We’ll then board a plane and go to Sicily to discover the wines of the Southern region. We’ll leave Sicily on Monday and travel to France then fly out that Saturday to come home.”
Holy crap, we are going to France! My parents are in Paris. If I’m there and don’t see them, my mom will freak out. Was I ready to introduce Alex to them? I suppose I could say he is a client. I wonder if he remembers that my parents are there. We are spending most of our time there. He looked at me and must have noticed my expression. Julie decided to chime in, “Aubrey, we should go see your parents.”
Thanks, Julie. “Uh, sure . . . Okay, we can do that . . . I mean . . . if we have time.” Shit really? My heart started to race. I was prone to having anxiety attacks. I hoped I wasn’t about to have one, because that would be totally embarrassing.
Alex grabbed my hand. “Would you like to do that? Brett and I don’t have to come. We can hang back and you and Julie can visit.”
I shook my head. “No, I want you to meet my parents and for them to meet you, unless that would be weird for you; then we don’t have to. I’ll leave it up to you.” Yup, here it comes. I am officially rambling and feel as if my chest were going to explode or get crushed. “Can you excuse me, please?” I stood up to go to the restroom, but not before I bumped into the table and almost knocked over my chair. I rushed across the diner and hurried into the ladies’ room. I looked in the mirror and noticed I looked pale and splotchy. Great, Alex probably thinks I am a total freak. I wet a paper towel and blotted my face. I ran my hands under cold water and held them on the back of my neck to try to calm down.
He must have followed me, because he was waiting for me when I came out. He looked pale as well and very concerned.
“Are you okay? You don’t have to introduce me as your boyfriend if you don’t want to.”
“I would like nothing more than to introduce you as my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure how you felt about it.” And that was the God’s honest truth.
He moved toward me, reached his hand out, and held my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tipping my head up so our eyes could meet. “I’d love nothing more.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “Come on. Let’s get back to the table.” As we walked through the diner, I noticed the women appreciating my boyfriend. That was something I needed to get used to.
Julie was talking on the phone. “Yes, sir, that’s correct . . . Yes, I have them . . . We’ll be back in about an hour. Oh, okay . . . Thank you . . . Yes, I’ll tell her.” She looked up at me. “Thank you, Brian.” She tossed her cell in her purse. We were all looking at her. She looked around the table and then at me. “That was Brian.”
We all laughed.
“Yes, I gathered that much.” I rolled my eyes and smirked as to say, “Really, Julie?”
Julie just looked at me with this mischievous look in her eyes. “He said after we drop off the contracts we can have the rest of the week off to prepare for our trip.” She was bouncing up and down. “This totally rocks, Aubrey. We’re going shopping.”
I remembered I needed to buy a gown for Saturday night, and I could definitely use some new items for the trip. I thought a trip to a lingerie store would be in order. Then I had a thought. “Alex, where are we staying when we’re in Europe?”
He looked at Brett, who looked at Julie, who looked at me. “I rented a villa in Tuscany and Sicily, and we’re staying at a hotel in France.”
Okay, that wasn’t what I really meant. I really was wondering what the sleeping arrangements were. I looked over at Julie, who had an I-am-going-to-have-so-much-sex-on-this-trip look in her eyes, and I totally knew that she would be sharing a room with Brett. I was sure they’d had sex from the comments that she’d made about him and the way they were so familiar with each other. I must have had the opposite look on my face.
Alex whispered in my ear, “Aubrey, you can have your own room if you’d like. This is a business trip, and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
Oh, yeah, I was uncomfortable, not with the sleeping arrangements but with this conversation. I needed to change it. Brett was looking at Julie as if she was wearing a French maid’s outfit and at me as if I were wearing a nun’s habit. I had to change the subject, but thankfully, our food arrived, so the crisis was avoided. The guys and Julie were talking about the marketing plan, and I had thoughts of sex in my head. I really wanted him. What if he didn’t want me? I was really hoping that something woul
d happen tonight. Should I initiate it? I had a hundred thoughts running through my head.
“So what do you think, Aubrey?” I faintly heard my name. I looked up and everyone was looking at me.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Alex laughed, “Did you hear anything that we said?”
Can I just die right now, please? “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t. I was thinking of everything I need to do before we leave.”
“Well, why don’t you girls take off? Brett and I will pay the check and see you girls later.”
I slid out of the booth and Alex followed me. He walked in front of me and turned around so I would have to stop. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Alex, I am. Sorry, I’m just distracted. I have a lot on my mind right now.”
“I hope I’m part of that.” He smiled at me.
I was breathing heavier. “You’re most of it.” Julie walked up to us and grabbed my arm to pull me away from Alex. “I’ll see you later.” I blew him a kiss since I was halfway out the door. He smiled and went back to Brett.
Chapter 11
Dinner with Mark and Julie was nice. I really hoped that we took his mind off Jessica, even if only for an hour or two. I felt a connection to Mark. Even though I had only known him for two weeks or so, I was comfortable around him. He was easy to talk to and a genuinely nice guy. I was really angry with Jessica, and I didn’t even know her. I never understood how someone could just walk away or in her case fly away without a second thought. I wish I knew someone to set him up with.
Julie and I felt horrible about talking about our impending trip to Europe. We weren’t going to say anything, but since Mark was in the meeting with Brian, he asked us how it went. He seemed happy for us, but I know as soon as he heard “Europe” he thought of Jessica. I told him we would bring some wine back for him and get together with him when we got back.
I was out later than I thought I would be, and I needed to put my purchases from my shopping excursion with Julie away. I think I spent everything that I had made so far at Walker-Stone. I bought some lingerie, sundresses, comfy shoes for the trip, and some lingerie for tonight, just in case. I also found a gorgeous one-shouldered, sapphire-blue, chiffon gown for the benefit. According to Julie and the salesperson, it brought out my eyes. I guess that was a good thing. I looked at the clock, and it was getting late. I wondered when Alex would be over.
Unexpected Chance Page 8
