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“Thanks, Alexandra.”
“You’re welcome,” I told him as he stood to leave, but he paused by the door. “Do you need something else?”
“I was just wondering if you’d like to grab a drink after work.”
For the last two months, Ralph had been asking me out at least once a week to have that proverbial drink, but every time I honestly did have something else going on. He was a nice man, a little older than me, and attractive. I knew he was divorced and had three kids, but I didn’t know much else about him. Maybe it was time to change that.
“I think tonight might actually work, Ralph.” He looked happily surprised. I think he had started wondering if I was just politely declining to avoid him, but I really wasn’t.
“Okay, great. Did you need to go home after work first, or do you want to do a happy hour right from here?”
“I should probably head home first, but I can meet you someplace around six if that’s alright.”
“That’s perfect. I’ll let you get back to work, and we can decide on a place later.”
“Okay,” I told him as he lifted a hand in goodbye.
As I pulled out the file for the new program we were going to be starting, I frowned as Alex came to mind. Yes, I was attracted to him, but he wasn’t the type of man that I wanted to get involved with. The fact that he had been in the military should have been enough for me to brush thoughts of him aside. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, though. Was it wrong to have a drink with another man, when Alex was in my thoughts, too?
I admonished myself as I pulled up the spreadsheet for the finances; it wasn’t like Alex and I were dating. We’d had some casual flirtation, and that’s it. We hadn’t even kissed, so there should be no reason for me to not go out with Ralph.
I had a sandwich delivered and worked through lunch, updating everything, printing copies of the projected costs, and making sure that I had all the bases covered. A few minutes before one, I collected everything and made my way to the conference room. There were already several voices inside as I neared and when I got to the door, my feet stuck to the floor as I heard one distinct voice.
Four men turned to me, having realized I was there, and my gaze skimmed the first three before landing on Alex. I gulped as the memory of my note flashed like a neon sign in my head, and a broad smile slipped over his mouth.
“Well, hello, Lexi, I didn’t expect to see you here.” He held his hand out, and I juggled my laptop and other stuff to my other arm so I could shake it. I sure as hell hoped that he couldn’t feel the instantaneous quiver in my hand as he held it just a moment longer than necessary.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Miller.” He gave me an odd look when I called him by his last name, but I turned my attention to the other two men with him, dismissing him quickly.
“Hi, I’m Alexandra, I’m the accountant assigned to this project.” I shook their hands as they introduced themselves, then I scooted around them to the far side of the table to set up my things. It was also to get as far away from Alex as I could, and I had no doubt that he noticed.
In fact, as they began to get seated, he came around the table and took a seat directly beside me, leaning slightly toward me as he lowered his voice. “Glad the carrots came in handy for someone.”
I gave him a droll look before turning back to my laptop and signing on. He didn’t seem bothered by my look and laughed huskily as he shifted in his seat. The sound of his voice brought back memories from last night, and I felt my cheeks begin to warm.Oh, please, don’t think about that!I admonished myself.
There were a lot of people at the meeting, and we had to squeeze in as close to one another as we could to fit all twelve of us around the table. Sadly, that meant I was close enough to Alex that I could smell his aftershave every time he moved. As the meeting got underway, I tried to forget he was there, but once in awhile, he’d shift in his seat, and his elbow would brush mine, or his thigh would push against my leg.
Each time he did that, my train of thought went right out the window, and I was back to last night on the stairs with his arm wrapped tightly around me, and his lips only an inch from mine.
When I had to add something to the conversation, I could feel his gaze on me as if he were touching me, and I forced myself not to look in his direction. It was only as he began to talk about the training that the employees would undergo that I found myself drawn to stare at him.
He was wearing a dark-gray suit, with a black and silver tie, and the jacket made his shoulders look more extensive than I knew they were. His focus moved around the table from time to time but mostly stayed directed toward Ralph on my other side at the head of the table, and Tony, the assistant to the program. As I watched his profile, and the way his mouth moved as he spoke, I found myself oddly turned on and wondering what his lips would feel like on mine.
He turned to me at one point, locking eyes, and a small, sly smile began to slip over his lips as my cheeks began to warm. It was like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and I wanted to crawl under the table and disappear.
