He shook his head. “Not with Malone’s terms. Too low.”
“I’ll make it higher,” she declared. “Look me in the eye and tell me I don’t have the skills to do it.”
If he had to be honest with himself, the deal was very tempting indeed. And as much as it regretted him to admit it, Alex did excel in charming people and making them agree to her demands, as ridiculous as it seemed sometimes. She had this certain…aura around her that he couldn’t figure out.
Logan sighed. “Fine. There will be a renegotiation. On two conditions.”
“Name them first before I agree.”
“First, you stop being late. And picking a fight over every little thing.”
Alex glowered. “Only if you stop being up my throat for every little thing.”
“Fine. Second, do not give him more than our budget.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Truce?” He extended his hand.
Warily, she shook it. “Truce.”
From the pantry’s open door, Lucy stared and wondered how long the truce would actually last.
She’d give it three days, tops.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Sam Thompson wondered what was going on. Perhaps it was a realization. Perhaps it was a miracle.
They were sitting at the meeting room table, all five of them: him, his sister Alex, Lucy, Jack Malone, and Logan. Lucy and Jack were casual enough, trading conversation about his latest movie and keeping the atmosphere light. Logan was his usual collected self, and beside him, Alex was practically vibrating with pent-up energy. Sam stared at them.
They were sitting beside each other. That never happened.
The so-called renegotiation went on, with Jack easily getting into an intro of how he wanted to produce what could be the biggest video-game-to-movie adaptation of the year. It would be his first dabble at producing, and he wanted their team to trust him enough to give him a shot at this.
Alex began turning on the charm as soon as Jack finished, alternating between light flirting and smart questions. He remembered her being so shy months ago, charmingly so, and was sometimes still amazed at the transformation into her confidence. Slowly, like it wasn’t a big deal, she laid down their demands, telling Jack what their team expected to get out of this.
It was so detailed and so accurate, Sam had a suspicion who it came from.
Nice one, West.
Back and forth they went, Jack setting standards for his own and Alex either negating or agreeing – all with Logan’s subtle nudging or slight change in facial expressions. Sam pitched in whenever he could. Lucy simply scribbled down everything. Finally, when a deal was settled, they all turned to look at the siblings for the final decision.
Alex nodded. Sam shrugged.
The deal was made.
Lucy escorted the very pleased Malone outside, with Sam saying he’d be out in a minute. He looked suspiciously at the two left behind and observed as Alex grinned at Logan freely, and Logan merely nodded.
Something was amiss.
“Is something going on that I should know about?” he asked.
Alex’s eyes widened.
Logan merely raised a brow.
“Nothing special, trust me,” Alex replied, laughing at the absurdity.
“Nothing indeed,” Logan intoned at the same time, all unruffled.
Sam gave them one more puzzled look, then a shrug. “Well. Good. Logan, thanks for the input. See ya’, sis.”
He left the room with a feeling that the storm was just brewing, and trouble was right around the corner waiting to pounce.
---
It was Alex’s and Nick’s tenth-month anniversary, and they decided to celebrate it by having dinner at their favorite restaurant facing the ocean. It would have been romantic, with great food and jazz music, and Alex was hungry and ready to happily tell all her orders to the waiter.
She wished Nick would hurry up.
It wasn’t exactly late, but she had been waiting for quite a while now, with only a short text from him that he was on his way. Having nothing to do at the moment, she decided to slip off her sandals and trek the shoreline down to the beach, loving the way the ocean breeze made her dress flutter gracefully, and her own skin warm. The moon was out, a beautiful glowing thing that made her appreciate everything all the more. It made her want to do something reckless.
She couldn’t wait to tell Nick the good news of their video game offer. Her body was still abuzz with the excitement of it all, and tonight she wanted to talk about it with Nick, share her eagerness and fear during dinner, and take a stroll with him on the beach afterwards. Perhaps a kiss here and there. And lots of romantic moments when they get home.
“Aren’t you a vision in red?”
The voice startled Alex out of her thoughts, its familiarity putting an automatic smile on her face before she realized that it wasn’t the voice she was expecting.
Her smile froze in her face as she stared at the man standing beside her.
“Mr. Malone.”
“Ms. Thompson.”
Jack Malone was wearing a light blue shirt and khaki shorts, a very casual outfit that she didn’t expect he owned. His light blond hair was carefully tousled in the wind, and he had on ridiculous sunglasses even at night. He looked like an ordinary man (save the sunglasses) – one who was devastatingly handsome and knew it.
Immune to his charms, she let the comfortable silence settle over them as they stared appreciatively at the crashing waves.
“So did you get stood up, too?”
The question had Alex staring at him again – a common occurrence for him, probably, since he was usually ogled by thousands of fans. Not wanting to act like an idiot, she cleared her throat and turned her stare back to the sea. “What makes you say that?”
The smile on his voice was clear as he said, “You’re too beautiful to be standing here, all alone.”
The compliment made her smile, despite trying not to. “You flatter me, Mr. Malone.”
“I think with our upcoming working relationship, you may as well call me Jack,” he murmured.
Turning to look again, she saw that he had removed his sunglasses, and those hazel eyes were now in full view – in fact, they were directed at her with a very appreciative male glint.
Alex laughed. “Will you always flirt with anyone who has a skirt?”
His expression turned sober. “Not all. I also flirt with those who wear pants, shorts, underwear or nothing at all.”
Alex laughed again – this time a huge sound that tinkled the air with cheer. She shook her head at his obvious flirting, thoroughly amused. “Well, if you insist, Jack. Then call me Alex.”
“Not Alessandra?”
“Just Alex,” she said firmly. Alessandra was reserved for Sam, and Nick when they were in the throes of passion.
Remembering Nick made Alex frown and wonder where he was. To distract herself, she turned a curious glance at the action star beside her.
“You said too. Are you telling me you have been stood up? The great Jack Malone?”
Jack shrugged. “No big deal. My manager always does this when he gets a date.” He smirked. “I never get stood up by women, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Alex grinned. “I’m going to ignore that second statement and focus on the first. Hmm, good for your manager. All in the name of love, I see.”
“More like all in the name of sex.”
A playful smile on his lips, Jack volleyed the question about being stood up back to her. Hastily, Alex explained that Nick was just running late and would be here any minute now. He asked their agreed time, and she absently told him, keeping the worry at bay.
“Any minute now?” Jack arched one golden brow in disbelief. “Your guy is two hours late.”
Surprised, Alex took out her phone and stared at the time. Jack was correct, and there was no follow-up text from Nick at all. She called his number, but on
ly got his voicemail after a few rings.
Her happy mood turned to sheer disappointment coupled by worry, but she masked it as she turned a bright smile at the man in her presence, ready to excuse herself and just go home.
“Have dinner with me.”
The invitation stopped the words from coming out. He must have mistaken her silence for refusal as he added, tone casual, “While you wait for your date, if he ever shows up. Perhaps you might like to keep my lonesome self company.”
She snorted at that, unable to stop herself. But Jack held out his hand, and she hesitated.
She was hungry. Plus she was pretty sure Jack meant nothing about this – just a casual dinner between friends. Hesitation vanishing, she took his hand and let him lead her.
Alex texted Nick during dinner to let him know where she was, but still received no response. Still worried but not wanting to think the worst, she let Jack entertain her with stories of his job and its funny moments. He was a natural conversationalist, and a blatant flirt – but he kept it light, allowing her to see only a glimpse of the danger simmering underneath the surface of his easy, carefree smile. That smile told women to either stay very, very close or stay far, far away.
He insisted on taking her home after dinner, and even walked her to her apartment door. Surprised that she had such a good time, she warmly bid him a good night. She expected him to simply say it back and go, but he surprised her again when he took her hand and slowly kissed it, all while directing that intense hazel stare at her.
There was nothing light about it now.
“I hope we can do this soon, Alex,” he murmured, voice husky.
Her cheeks warmed even as she grew uncomfortable at the unwanted attention. When he finally left and was out of her sight, she put a hand to her heart, feeling a pulsing beat as she admitted to herself that perhaps another dinner with Jack wasn’t a very good idea.
Once she was in her pajamas, she dialed Nick’s phone again. He answered on the fifth ring.
“Babe, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” He began apologizing profusely and telling her he’d been detained on a very important meeting. He promised he’d make it up to her. Then he bid her goodbye, just like that. No monthsary greeting.
“Nick, I lo—”
Again, he hung up the phone before she could finish.
With a sigh, Alex put down her phone and prepared for bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
A few weeks after the deal and things in the office were still running as smoothly as possible. Since the video game launch was mostly over and they didn’t need to go to work daily now (this was just a part-time job, anyway), they didn’t really see each other that much often – meaning they didn’t get into each other’s nerves as much, Logan deduced. Alex must have thought the same, because she even went so far as to greet him every time she came in the office, and remain punctual every single time. Not one to hold a grudge, Logan would casually greet her back and go on with his work, which mostly involved calculating their actual profit and projecting their future one, minus the daily expenses and Alex’s marketing stuff.
Alex, in turn, would usually stay inside the unused meeting room, bringing all her materials with her and humming tune after tune after tune. She would come out with paint splattered on her shirt, or her leggings, and would go the pantry and do her cleaning up.
Sometimes she came up with nice hand-painted bookmarks and posters – other times she’d have a frown on her face as she muttered under her breath about playing video games being easier than this.
Sometimes, she’d turn that weirdness in his direction – and he would simply toss it back with a sardonic reply of his own, which she’d laugh at before she’d turn back to her humming.
On the last week, things spiraled downward.
---
Lucy wasn’t in today, and there was no coffee.
There was no coffee because the cafeteria was out of stock and their office coffeemaker was broken. It would have been okay if she’d bought coffee in advance, but she didn’t, because she was almost late and stopping for coffee would make the difference between being almost late to late.
Being a reasonable person (at least she thought so), Alex did work as usual. She sketched some ideas, chatted on the phone with Sam to get his input, and sketched some more. Then she painted, painted and painted until the colors swirled and the ideas they came up with together took shape.
One hour and five wasted posters later, Alex’s body was buzzing with the lack of caffeine. Or chocolate. But yes – caffeine. Because the nearest coffee shop was a long way off and she absolutely needed one pronto, she went to the pantry and took off her shirt, glaring at the coffee machine. Then she proceeded to tinker.
If she was the top scorer and boss of video games, why not channel her talent to this?
Half an hour later, her mood took a nosedive as leftover coffee spilled on her front shirt. Muttering nonstop, she ignored Logan’s sighs every now and then and kept on tinkering, desperately hoping she could fix it, or it would fix itself, or it could just go to hell—
“You’re just going to destroy that if you keep it up.”
Logan’s disapproving tone floated from the pantry entrance. He said it mildly, but it didn’t stop her from giving him a sullen look as he stood there with his perfect posture and his arms crossed.
“Can you not? You can pretend I don’t exist and get on with your math thing.”
He shook his head. “I would, except your muttering is penetrating my head and not allowing me to calculate correctly.”
Alex merely rolled her eyes at his calm tirade. “That’s what doors are for. Shoo.”
She heard shuffling behind her but kept on ignoring him as she continued her thing, images of coffee (God, and pizza!) already filling her brain. When a large hand came and removed the screwdriver from her hand, she turned to him and opened her mouth, prepared to give him a verbal smack down of how he’d better leave her alone or prepare to meet her wrath.
The words died in her throat as her head was met with the sight of skin – golden, glistening skin.
His necktie was gone, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top part – just like hers before, except instead of cleavage there was all that skin, and more skin as he kept on unbuttoning, finally removing his stark white shirt and hanging it on a nearby chair.
He wasn’t thin. Not the least bit.
He had broad shoulders like she’d observed before – what she hadn’t observed was the definitive way it tapered down to a narrow waist. Muscles. Muscles everywhere. Smooth abs that looked hard to the touch, and absolutely firm. Those arms moved down and those muscles shifted in her vision, causing something inside her to shift uncomfortably as she was rendered speechless at the sight.
Okay. So he was attractive. He was okay underneath all the prim clothes.
His hands settled on his belt and slowly, ever so slowly, he removed it. The ping the stud made as it bumped on the chair he’d hung the shirt on echoed in the room and made her catch her breath.
“Alex?”
“You work out,” she blurted out, unable to stop herself. She was staring at his chest in morbid fascination, even when she sensed a glimpse of a smile ghosting his lips.
“Taekwondo,” he murmured.
“Nice,” she murmured back. The soft rise and fall of his chest distracted her for a second before she looked up at his face.
Dark eyes looked back at her, absolutely expressionless.
He stepped even closer, and an alarm singed in her brain warning her to move – while another was screaming to stay in place, to see how this would pan out—
“Alex?”
“Yes?” Her voice came out slightly breathless.
“I need you to move. So I can fix it for you.”
The statement startled her out of her foolish thoughts. Automatically, she moved to the side in record speed, earning a raised eyebrow from him (his particular favorite expression) even though he didn�
�t say a word. She kept on staring as he took time to arrange his clothes, then went to the coffeemaker then…bent down at the torso as he reached for something, showing her a perfect view of his firm butt.
She fled the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
“You are now my favorite person in the world.”
Her appreciative noises as she sipped the coffee he made had Logan smiling slightly as he scribbled some last minute notes, noting down the figures Lucy had indicated. Schooling his face into a more stern expression, he gave her a light hmm and ignored her for the most part.
“Seriously, Logan. You’re my new best friend. Best coffee ever.”
She obviously was in a good mood. Shaking his head, Logan simply told her not to get used to it, and let her chatter.
The front door opened, and Alex’s gray eyes lit up. The person who came in had a box of chocolates in one hand and a huge bouquet of flowers, and a grin that was focused on Alex.
Logan frowned.
Nick handed her the gifts and openly kissed her, not minding that they had an audience. Once they were done, he turned to Logan and gave him a friendly once-over.
“Hey, man.”
Logan merely nodded, keeping silent as they flirted in front of him. When Nick tugged Alex into their meeting room to discuss some things, Logan still kept silent and continued noting down his figures.
Perhaps they were really just gonna discuss things. Perhaps.
He’d give Alex the benefit of the doubt this time.
---
“Happy Anniversary, Alessandra,” Nick murmured as he bit her ear, already halfway through removing her clothes even while she tried to stop him.
“What the – Nick –”
“I can’t wait to be inside you,” he rasped, releasing one breast from its bra confines and immediately flicking her nipple.
Momentarily distracted at the heat that slid down her core, Alex allowed him a few seconds of touching before she fought her desire and moved away, laughing as she did so.
Best Friends To Lovers Romance Series: Complete Series Boxed Set Romance Page 25
