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“Actually, yes.” His eyes burned into hers, green spotlights.
Fire? When? How? She struggled for a response, her anger knocked sidewise by his simple statement. “What?”
“I’m not going to talk about it. You have a decision to make. Go make it because until you do, you can’t be here.”
“I’m not a dog, you can’t just order me out of the room.”
“I’m asking you to leave,” he said. “I have things to do to make sure Will Sutter doesn’t get his hands on your precious Saints, and like I said, until you make up your mind then you can’t be involved in those things. Much as I’m sure Sutter would love to know everything I’m planning, I’m not going to give you any more ammunition.”
“You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Do what? Get back to work?”
“Alex, listen to me. I walk out that door and you and I are done. Regardless of what I decide. I might come back and work for you but that will be it. Understand me?” Change your mind, she thought desperately. Ask me to stay.
He nodded. “I understand,” he said tightly. “That’s your prerogative of course.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Her throat had gone tight, her voice sounded distant in her ears.
“I’m not sure what else I can possibly say that’s not going to make this situation worse,” he said. “I can’t let you be involved in anything to do with the deal until I know that you’re staying with us. If you can’t accept that that’s a business decision, then I don’t see how I can change your mind.”
“Must be nice to be a man, able to compartmentalize things so neatly.”
His mouth twisted. “Trust me, right now, it’s not nice at all. But that’s what business is about, Maggie. Sometimes you’ve got to upset people to do the right thing.”
“No wonder you and Dad get along so well,” she said. “You’re exactly the same.”
“In some things, yes,” Alex said. He started to say something else, then shook his head and looked at the door, then back to her. “I’m sorry but there are people waiting for me. Call me when you know what your decision is.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all there can be,” he said. He walked over to her, stared down at her with eyes that revealed nothing. “Good-bye, Maggie.”
And then he strode past her and left her standing alone in the middle of the empty office.
Maggie made it back down to the street, carried on a tide of righteous indignation. Alex fucking Winters. Why the hell did he have to be such a stiff-minded, unyielding bastard? She kept reliving the fight in her head, hearing his words over and over again. Spoiled little rich girl. Someone’s got to tell you the truth. Not ready. Business not personal.
Screw that. It was personal. It was her life. The anger coiled and fizzed in her stomach, and she focused on it. Part of her, the part she was keeping ruthlessly pushed away right now, was reeling with a sense of loss and pain. Alex.
She’d told him it was over. Which was the right thing to do, yes, because she really couldn’t see how she could be with someone who had to have everything his way. But still … Alex.
Alex with his arms around her. Alex kissing her with laughter in his eyes. No. Stop it. No nostalgia. It wasn’t like they’d even been together, really. This was business. She was going to make her choice and then, regardless of what that choice was, she was keeping Alex Winters firmly in the sort of box he wanted to keep her in. The “only one thing” box. Business not pleasure. There were plenty of other guys anyway, but there was only one thing she wanted to do with her life. So this had to be about that, not about him.
Damn it.
Pity it was too early to start drinking. Today had almost been a tequila-worthy day. Which was a pretty sad comment when it was only closing in on eleven A.M. So, no, no drinking. Just thinking. She decided to walk home. It was cold but not as bad as the past few days, and she had her coat and her boots were warm. Home the long way along the Hudson and the Highline. That might clear her head and let her think.
She headed toward the river, feeling the cold against her face. It was comforting in a strange way, a contrast to the burning anger in her stomach. Her legs had found a rhythm by the time she reached the water and she walked without paying much attention to her surroundings, other than the minimum necessary to avoid collisions with the cyclists and joggers and other fitness enthusiasts crazy enough to brave the elements. She’d gotten as far as the Intrepid when the sound of her name made her stop.
She twisted around, half hoping to see Alex. But no, that was foolish. He wasn’t the sort to come chasing after a woman. Not when he had his deal to do. No, the tall man loping toward her, dressed in shorts and compression tights and several layers of sweatshirts, wearing dark glasses and a fleece beanie pulled tight over his dark hair, was Ollie.
Ollie doing incognito, but she knew his face and the way he moved too well to be fooled by stubble and glasses and a hat.
She waved at him and smiled, bouncing on her toes as the cold bit now that she’d stopped moving. “Hey,” she said as he reached her. “What are you doing out here?”
Ollie’s New York apartment was all the way up on the Upper West Side. He’d chosen it for its proximity to the park, which was his favorite place to jog when he was in town.
He pulled a face. “Too soggy in my neighborhood,” he said. “I felt like a change of scenery.” He cocked his head. “I could ask you the same question. I thought all you management types would be cooped up today trying to work out what to do about Sutter?”
