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Alek suddenly turned his head to eye her, as well.
Alessandra kept her face nonchalant. “Can I help you with something, Alek?” she asked, rising to come around her desk and pull back her chair to claim her seat behind it. Her hand was as unsteady as her pulse as she picked up her favorite Aurora fountain pen.
“There are whispers in the air that you are proposing working on a deal to shift the firm into shipping,” he said, moving over to stand in front of her desk.
Alessandra glanced up at him, purposely dismissing him with her eyes as she pretended to focus on the files and forms before her. “Whispers, Alek?” she said mockingly. “I would think a man like you was above listening to...whispers.”
“A man like me, Alessandra?”
She allowed herself a moment to close her eyes at how his tongue seemed to caress her name. Dropping her pen, she leaned back in her chair and looked up at him. “Your first day back and we’re picking—no, no, no—you’re picking up right where you left off,” she said with a disapproving twist of her lips.
“My feelings haven’t changed since my last day here,” he assured her, his eyes locked on her.
“Your feelings about me, I assume?” Alessandra rose to her feet, hating the feeling of him looking down on her.
“Exactly.”
She felt affronted. “And your issue with me is?” she asked, deciding to be just as bold as him.
“Your refusal to step down from a position not suited for you,” he instantly shot back with ease as if the words had been sitting perched on the tip of his tongue.
“It’s too bad you feel that way, Alek,” she said, her voice firm. “Because you’re mistaken.”
His eyes took her in. Her hair. Her face. The fit of the embroidered satin shirt she wore with a formfitting pencil skirt. A warm appreciation filled the dark depths.
In the years since she blossomed into a swan, she had learned to pick up on the unspoken cues of a man. She felt desired at his perusal, but his demeanor toward her was weakening her desire of him.
Alek reached across the desk dividing them to stroke her hair. “I like your new look. Playing dress-up?” he asked, slightly mocking.
She held his stare as she coolly raised her hand to brush away his touch. “Change is good, Alek. Particularly change of times. Why don’t you and your outdated chauvinistic thinking join the rest of us in the current year.”
“This should be fun,” Alek said, nodding his head and smiling.
“Games are not a part of my day, Alek,” she snapped. “I will not be undermined in this business by you and your return. I have earned my MBA from your alma mater. I have worked my way up inside this business. I have implemented deals that have generated ADG a steady influx of money. I have proved my worth. And, most importantly, Alek, I own the same number of shares as you. We are equals. And I’m not going anywhere.”
He wiped his mouth as he eyed her with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “We’ll see,” he said simply before turning to walk out of her office.
Even as his arrogance burned her gut, her eyes took in his smooth stride until he disappeared from her line of vision. Forcing herself to relax, she dropped down into her seat and swiveled to look out the window at the Manhattan views as she attempted to release her anger and her desire.
Chapter 2 (#ud62d9db4-8489-5592-852c-5ff7a6070cb6)
What a difference five years makes.
Alek picked up his crystal glass of water and closely watched Alessandra over the rim as she spoke to the board members from her seat at the opposite end of the conference table. Where once she had been an ineffectual woman who seemed afraid of her own shadow, her slender face buried beneath a ton of curls and so thin that the wind could shift her like a leaf, she had transformed herself both physically and in temperament. The dull caterpillar had become a jewel-toned butterfly.
Her dark tresses were bone straight and expertly styled to complement her heart-shaped face and caramel-brown complexion. Makeup highlighted her almond-shaped eyes of brandy, blush contoured her high cheekbones, and gloss made her full lips poutier and succulent. Her height was average but the curves of her toned shape were not. She wore a dark gray chiffon blouse with sheer sleeves and a plunging neckline that was just deep enough to allude to more without revealing it. She paired it with wide-leg pants that fit close against her hips before falling straight to the floor and flaring. Her outfit was professional with a sexy edge.
His eyes dipped down to her mouth as she spoke. He liked the way the tip of her tongue caressed the small dip in the center of her bottom lip. Her oxblood lipstick gave her a dramatic flair that was hard to ignore.
Alek took a deep sip of water as he forced himself to look away from her. To not be drawn into her, into everything she had become: a mix of cool confidence and simmering sex appeal. He definitely enjoyed the look of her more than what she was saying.
“Alek... Alek...your thoughts?”
He blinked away a vision of undoing every button of Alessandra’s shirt to bury his head against her breasts as he pressed her body down onto the conference table. His eyes shifted to Aldrich Brent, the president of the corporation and executive board member. “I’m not impressed,” he said dismissively, rising to his feet. He smoothed his double-knotted silk tie before buttoning the jacket of his custom Tom Ford pin-striped suit. “It’s clear that Alessandra is naive and amateurish in business. I am disappointed she felt competent in presenting this venture to the board.”
Alessandra mumbled under her breath.
He offered her a brief glance as he reached for his briefcase and pulled a stack of twelve black folders from it. “I would like to offer an alternative that is viable,” he stressed, walking around the table to place a report before each of the ten board members flanking the table and then Alessandra sitting at the end opposite him.
She took it from him with a hard stare.
He came to stand next to his seat at the end of the table. “Anyone with an iota of business acumen could ascertain—”
“Enough of the insults, Alek,” Alessandra requested calmly.
He feigned confusion. “Insults?” he asked.
“Yes, less of them and more of your proposal is all that I’m asking,” she said.
Only the fire in her eyes revealed her rising ire at him.
“Do you need a moment?” he asked, his tone mocking as he egged her on.
Her mouth tightened into a thin line and her jaw was clenched so tightly that he was sure she could bite a nail in half with ease.
Alek cleared his throat. “The interest of ADG would be better served with a move into commercial aviation,” he said.
“Commercial aviation,” Alessandra snapped, tossing the folder on the table where it spun like a top until it hit against a board member’s glass of water.
“Yes,” he answered, his gaze leveling on her. Her annoyance with him caused her eyes to shine brightly. He forced himself to look away from her as he felt his usual cool composure wane. When did she become so beautiful?
“And we’re supposed to believe this is not just a last-minute stunt to gun for my venture idea?” she asked coldly.
“Yes.”
Alessandra swore, and then winced in regret. Such language wasn’t appropriate, no matter the impetus.
The chaotic energy around them seemed to whip loudly in the air with the force of lightning.
“Really?” Alek asked, his tone scolding.
“My apologies, but as you all can see nothing has changed between Mr. Ansah and me since our last meeting in this boardroom five years ago,” she explained, her tone calm and composed.
The board members and the secretary taking the notes stirred in their seats as Alessandra and Alek cast each other cold glares.
“Very unprofessional, Alessandra,” Alek said with a smugness at her losing her equanimity. He wasn’t finished. “The boardroom is no place for histrionics.”
She jumped to her feet and stalked down the length of the table with the board members’ heads all turning to follow her. “Histrionics?” she spat, as she pointed her finger into his chest.
“This board does not have time for your trivial pursuits, Alessandra,” he countered, looking down to take in her brown eyes lit with the fire of her anger.
“Nor your inept attempts at trying to capture the queen in a chess game you’re not fully equipped to play,” she said coldly.
Alek reached up and lightly captured the finger she pressed into his chest into his hand. “When it comes to business, you’re no queen, my dear,” he said, his voice low in the small space between them as he instinctively stroked her soft palm with his thumb.
His eyes squinted in surprise when he thought he felt her shiver.
She snatched away from his grip and stepped back from him. “Then why are you so intimidated by me?”
Alek threw his head back and laughed wholeheartedly. “Me? You? Intimidated?” he said in between chuckles.
“Enough!” Aldrich said, jumping to his feet.
Alek and Alessandra looked to the older man, his thin lips still quivering in frustration and his face now reddish with annoyance.
“Do you think your fathers would be proud of your behavior?” he asked, his English accent clipped.
“Yes,” Alessandra answered unequivocally. “Yes, I do.”
Alek looked disbelieving.
“My father wanted me in this position. He believed I could handle this position. And I have proven—even at the detriment of my own personal happiness—that I can thrive in this position,” she said, stalking back to her seat. “And so, if it means standing up for myself to this archaic-minded jackass and his chauvinistic mind-set then, yes, I believe my father is in heaven not only standing up and applauding, but wishing he could interject and give some more of the same.”
Alek’s eyes darted to the up-and-down motion of her breasts as she deeply breathed through her anger at him. His desire stirred. This woman who defied him with such fire and authority was not the mousy little Alessandra of the past. This was a different woman. And he wanted her with an intensity that surprised him. He bit back a smile as he calmly unbuttoned his blazer and reclaimed his seat.
Aldrich gave them both stern looks as he took his seat. He had been with the conglomerate since the early days and both thought of him as a family friend. It was respect for him, his position with the company and his friendship with their fathers that stopped the sparks flying between them.
“Do you both have companies in mind set up for an acquisition to become a subsidiary of ADG?” another of the board members asked.
“Yes. My team and I have been narrowing the field for the past couple of months in preparation for this being my first major act as co-CEO. As shown in the reports I gave you all, we have a strong contender,” Alessandra said.
“Alek?”
“Yes.”
“Liar,” she mouthed at him.
That tongue on the dip of her bottom lip thing is really hot.
“I believe it would only be viable to explore one of these suggestions at this time,” Aldrich said, looking from Alessandra to Alek. “The majority vote of the members of this board would constitute the breaking of a...tie.”
Alek’s and Alessandra’s eyes locked across the distance.
He blinked and looked away from her. A craving to kiss her wouldn’t release him.
Aldrich cleared his throat. “I suggest you both present your full proposals at next month’s meeting and we will hold a vote to settle the matter once and for all.”
His fellow board members gave approving nods.
“Fine,” Alessandra said, picking up her pen to rotate it between her slender fingers.
Alek remained silent. He was stunned the board was even open to her proposal. And in truth, during her presentation they had been attentive. Respectful, even. It’s time to get more acquainted with Miss Dalmount.
Over the rim of round, bright red spectacles, the board’s secretary, Iris Dennis, eyed the board members from her seat next to Aldrich. “Shall we move on? The meeting does coincide with the thirtieth Jubilee celebration next month to be held at the Lake House. The meeting will be that Thursday and we have confirmed use of a conference room on-site. I would like to quickly review the final preparations for the events that weekend.”
Alek tilted his head in acquiescence to Iris as he continued to watch Alessandra closely and find that he liked the look of her. She was stunning. Sophisticated and polished. Poised. She had this subtle sexy that was understated and made a man want to see more. He wanted more.
* * *
“I would like to make a formal offer to buy you out, Alessandra.”
Long after the board meeting had ended and the members had left the conference room, Alek and Alessandra remained in their seats at opposing ends of the table. Moments ticked by and silence reigned.
Alessandra took him in. His low-cut hair, his handsome face, and the broadness of his shoulders in his tailored suit that he wore with such ease that she was sure he owned a hundred or more of them. Physically, everything about him intrigued her. Traitor.
“It’s time you realize that there is a woman—a qualified woman—sitting at the table in the boys’ club, Alek,” she finally said, tapping the tip of her nail against the top of the polished wood conference table. “No more running to London to hide from the truth.”
Tap-tap-tap.
“And do you like being in the company of men, Alessandra, pretending to be one of the boys?” he asked.
Alessandra arched a brow. “Are you questioning my femininity, Alek?” she asked, her voice soft but with an underlying steely edge.
He shook his head and turned his lips downward. “No, of course not,” he said, rapping his strong knuckles against the table. “Femininity has nothing to do with sexuality.”
Alessandra sighed and leaned back in her chair as she tilted her head to the side to look at him. “Perhaps having women with more looks than intellect fawning over you has distorted your idea of women and what we want, Alek. But please let’s be clear that, although I completely understand why a woman would want to be rid of men in every way, including sexually, I am not a lesbian.”
“You’re not?” he asked in feigned surprise.
She rolled her eyes. “Surprise, surprise, Mr. I Can’t Keep My Personal Life Out of the Tabloids. Not every straight woman flings herself at your feet. Some of us have more discretion—and taste.”
Alek leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. “Perhaps if you stopped playing businesswoman and focused on finding a life of your own, you wouldn’t have time to watch mine.”
Alessandra fought hard to keep her composure. Gone was her nervousness, replaced by the fire and indignation his attitude evoked. She enjoyed their banter. She even felt rallied by his challenge. “And perhaps your life entails such a long string of women because you’re incapable of satisfying one well enough to stay around,” she said, and then offered him a tip of her head. So there.
Alessandra rose and gathered her files and folders before turning to walk to the door without another look at him.
“Perhaps if you were my type I would show you how well equipped I am at satisfying a woman.”
She froze just as her hand closed around the cool brass of the doorknob. She released a short breath as if a pressure valve had been briefly turned. Allowing herself a five count, she turned and walked the length of the spacious conference room to stand before him. She reached down to grip the back of his chair, bringing their faces just inches apart. His face within a lick of her oxblood-tinted lips, she said, “Physically I am your type, Alek. I am very much your type...and you know it. Humph, it’s only my brain and my backbone that you think are a turnoff.”
His face was a mask of boredom, but his eyes dipped down to her mouth, and Alessandra saw it. Her breath caught and she rose, backing away from him at the truth of her words in his eyes. She knew desire when she saw it. She turned and quick-walked to the door, trying to hide how much he flustered her.
“Qui s’enfuit maintenant?” he asked smoothly in French.
He must have known she spoke it fluently. “Who’s running away now?” he’d asked.
Me. I’m running. Running fast and hard and not stopping one damn bit.
