2. Alexander

2

ALEXANDER

“ H ere, you look like you need this.” Liam’s eyes widened to a comical level as he handed me a cracker with caviar slathered over the top.

I batted his hand away. “Fuck off.”

Ethan’s bark of laughter covered Liam’s protest.

“You think Harrington’s sold?” I would usually bank my questions for later, but I trusted Ethan and Liam with every aspect of the company. It was a position I’d never afforded anyone but them. Our meeting with Harrington and Summit Group’s board left a bitterness in my mouth that told me we were missing something.

Liam, Ethan, and I had taken off to Tinsel Tandys to discuss our next step.

“It’s a big project.” Ethan picked a crumb from his sleeve and flicked it onto his napkin. We’d been seated the instant we arrived, and now we waited to see if Clara deigned to join us. “I’m surprised the board insisted on Clara.”

Her name swept through me like a hot summer breeze in the middle of winter. My body awakened, my pulse kicking up.

Liam turned his phone around. “I’ve been looking at her stats. She’s pretty impressive.”

“More like pretty and impressive.” Ethan’s brows slashed low, and he leaned forward to stare at Liam’s phone. “Not a single failed project. And she’s handled some tough contracts. That Booker and Cobalt deal was serious business.”

Like Liam and I, Ethan was rarely impressed, but Clara’s profile had all the right signs of an outstanding architect. All she needed was the prestige and publicity a project like Harrington’s would bring to the table. “But she’s a junior architect,” I reminded them. “Can we count on her to hold up under the stress?”

“One way to find out?” Ethan sat back and straightened his legs beneath the table. “We all started out like Clara. Look where we are now. I’m not going to make a judgment call yet.”

My phone buzzed, then buzzed three more times in quick succession. I rolled my eyes while retrieving my phone. “That’ll be Regina.”

“What’s wrong with this one?” Liam popped a grape in his mouth and followed it with a block of cheese that smelled like a dead man’s armpit. He held up a hand. “Don’t tell me. She said another man’s name during sex.”

“You’re an asshole.” But I laughed and blocked Regina. “Any chance you can hack her phone and remove my information? I never should have given it to her in the first place.” I gave Ethan my best pleading look.

“I’m not breaking the law. Not even for you.” He slapped my back. “Maybe stop fucking around so much.”

“Better yet, marry one of them and put the whole town at ease. Everyone in Silverbrook is anxious for you to put a ring on it,” Liam said with a perfectly straight face.

“If I ever meet a girl as pretty as you, I might consider it.” I patted his cheek. “Or would you rather I put a ring on you ?”

“Now you’ve done it.” Ethan grinned and held out a hand between us. “Before this devolves into a high school drama, you should know that Clara’s here.”

That straightened us the fuck up. My head snapped up and to the right, where the front door sat in plain view of our table. The rest of the restaurant faded away the instant I spotted Clara. Who the fuck cared about crystal chandeliers and Egyptian cotton tablecloths or the Olympic skier going down the slope to our left when a goddess approached? She removed her coat and scarf with a slow sensuality, almost like she sensed our attention. Long, chestnut hair hung in soft waves that framed her heart-shaped face and fell over her shoulders. The tips caressed the curve of her breast, and I imagined following the same line with my tongue.

She scanned the area, her eyes a color I’d never seen before except in paintings and art so fine it made a man want to weep. Viridian.

“Damn.” Liam whispered under his breath.

I agreed. Lifting my hand and half standing, I caught Clara’s attention and motioned her over.

She hurried toward us, the sway of her hips as tantalizing as the freckles dotting her cheeks. She wore a black skirt over tan leggings with knee-high black boots and a cream-colored sweater that accentuated her full figure. The woman possessed curves for days, in all the right places. If she was as smart as her profile suggested, I might be tempted to change my stance on marriage.

Ethan snapped his mouth shut with a click of teeth. He hadn’t said a word, but his face said it all to anyone who knew how to look. The man was as smitten as Liam and myself.

“Thank you for inviting me.” Clara swept her chair back and sat before any of us gathered enough brainpower to even attempt to hold out a chair for her. From the way she looked us over, she didn’t mind that we’d missed the social cue many considered obsolete. “Your email was rather brief, but I’m somewhat familiar with the ideas you’ve laid out.”

I snapped out of my stupor. “Are you familiar with Victor Harrington?”

“Of course.” Her smile pulled her plump lips taut over straight, even teeth. “Victor Harrington is an icon, a legendary figure known for transforming spaces into functional works of art. He’s a renowned real estate mogul. Demanding and has incredibly high standards.” Her eyes brightened. “We’re working a project for him?”

When I nodded, a breath slid between her teeth.

Ethan motioned a waiter over. “Order whatever you’d like. We’ll be here a while to discuss matters.”

Clara blushed a delicate shade of rose. “That’s really not necessary. I’d rather talk business.”

“Oh, we will.” Liam pushed a menu beneath her hand. “You should eat. This is just the appetizer.” He flicked his fingers toward the caviar and wine. “Help yourself.”

Indecision warred on her beautiful face before she reached some kind of internal decision and rattled off an order as impressive as her resume. We all followed suit and waited for the man to walk out of earshot before coming back to the task at hand.

“Victor Harrington wants to take Hidden Crest and redevelop it into a multi-facility space with luxury residential apartments, high-tech office spaces, upscale retail stores, and recreational facilities.” I tapped a finger for each point. “And it all has to be high-class and green enough to grow trees in political asses.”

“As much shit as politicians put out, we could have a forest.” Clara deadpanned the expression while pouring wine. “But I get your point.”

“She has a sense of humor too?” Ethan whispered in my ear while Clara was distracted by the food arriving.

I elbowed him back to his seat. “Focus.” Easier said than done.

“Environmentally friendly can be tricky to pull off. One of the main aspects you want to hit is people’s hearts. Give them a reason to want the facilities there. You’re already in a good spot considering Hidden Crest is a disaster on the brink of becoming a crime scene. You can’t just go in and clean it up. Find what people in the area need and cater to that. For example, there are three times more stray cats and dogs in that area than anywhere else in the state. Which means we need an animal shelter.”

It occurred to me to contradict her because I’d never considered that option and it rankled me. I held my tongue. “What else?”

Ethan and Liam appeared relaxed, but the way Liam tapped his hand beneath the table and Ethan popped his knuckles said they were locked in.

Clara looked around the table. “Did you bring me here for my ideas or to ask me to join the project?”

“Joining the project depends on your ideas.” I cut into my steak and ate a single piece, relishing the flavor and how Clara watched me with her lips slightly parted. “Please continue.”

“Well.” She set her fork down beside her plate. “There are always the basics. Solar panels, food festivals that emphasize locally grown ingredients, which means incentivizing the locals into gardening and creating a farmer’s market.”

“Those are the basics?” I questioned her for the pure hell of it to see how she’d react.

“Yes, Mr. Thorne. That’s the bare minimum you should put into the proposal. You need more to impress a man like Harrington, but that’s a start.” She cut into her food with a sudden viciousness that made me think I’d offended her.

How strange. What could she have taken offense to? “Why an animal shelter? Why not pick up the strays and cart them off?”

She glared at me with enough heat to melt the snow off the slopes outside. “Because an abandoned pet should not be punished for their owner’s cruelty. It’s not their fault they’re out there alone. Anyone who would abandon a pet is one of the worst kinds of people.”

Passionate. Demanding. Clara had a clear sense of right and wrong that intrigued me. “I take it you like animals. How many do you have?”

Her indignation evaporated between one blink and the next. “None. I’ve been meaning to adopt but haven’t had the time.”

We spent the next several minutes eating in relative quiet. Liam and Ethan let me do all the heavy lifting in the conversation, but they would be the ones writing up the proposal. I gave Liam a silent nod, and he switched from drinking his wine to tapping on his phone.

“We appreciate you coming by on a Sunday.” I broke into the quiet and offered a smile.

Clara took the figurative olive branch with dignity. “Missing my Sunday afternoon movie is worth the chance to get in on a project like this.”

Liam gave me a thumbs-up beneath the table. “Harrington would like to meet with the four of us tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.” Clara sat back with a satisfied smirk. “I look forward to hearing more details about the project.”

We wrapped things up, said goodbye, and parted ways. I’d never felt the desire to linger with a woman the way I did with Clara. Which meant I’d better get my ass out to the bar. I rushed home for a change of clothes, swapping my suit for a more casual pair of jeans and a cashmere sweater nearly the color of my eyes. I’d been complimented on the similarity more than once and knew how to use it to my advantage.

The parking lot outside the bar was packed with an assortment of vehicles, but I managed to pull my Bentley into a space and slid out into the crisp night air. My breath fogged in my face. Brian—the bouncer who’d been employed here as long as I could remember—let me in with a nod and a grin. “Liam’s tending bar tonight.”

“Great.” Liam’s family owned the bar, and though Liam had no need to bartend, he enjoyed it and had a deft hand with the cocktails. “How many women have hit on him tonight?”

“Three.” Brian chortled and closed the door behind me.

Three. Odds were pretty good then. Someone had cranked the music, so I made my way through the crowd of surging bodies. I ended up at the bar and sank onto the stool. When most people thought of bars, they envisioned dank, musty places with deer horns on the wall and men with beer bellies hitting on girls barely old enough to be legal. Not Liam’s place. Liam and his family brought the bar into the luxury realm with swanky lighting, a full stage for local performances, and not a single deer head in sight.

About the time Liam passed me a beer, a woman in a red dress sidled up next to me. Her breast brushed over my shoulder, the move so intentional a blind man would see it. She tossed straight black hair over her shoulder and sat beside me. Long, slim legs crossed at the knee, which pulled her skirt up her thigh.

She caught me looking and raised a brow.

This was why I came to the bar. Women at Liam’s came with low expectations and even lower inhibitions.

“Not a bad night.” She raised a fruity cocktail to her lips and swallowed, watching me over the rim.

I shrugged and propped my elbow on the bar so that the left side of my face was aimed in her direction. A test I forced every woman to pass before I took her home.

“Looks like that hurt. What happened?” She leaned in toward me, eyes locked on the scar cutting across my cheek.

“Bike accident.” I picked up my beer and drank deep. “What brings you out tonight?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it.

“Seemed like a good night to have a little fun.” Narrow shoulders moved up and down in time to the music. “What about you? Bad breakup?”

Did I look like the kind of man who drank after a breakup? I scowled around the mouth of the bottle. “Not a chance in hell.” That should’ve notified her that I didn’t do lasting relationships, but she flicked a glance at my left hand when I raised it at Liam to let him know I needed another drink. Cautious then. Even better.

“You know, whatever it is that’s bothering you, I bet I could make you forget.” Sliding off the stool, she stood beside me. Her tits bounced with the sudden landing, and her skirt had ridden up to her ass. More than one man shot me a dirty look full of envy.

Any other night, I’d have her halfway out the door already. “I’m sure you could.” I lingered over a soft smile that melted most women on the spot. “But I’m meeting someone in a few minutes.”

Liam passed me a beer. His eyebrows rose a bit when he caught the conversation.

“You sure?” She practically purred in my ear, and her hand slid down my chest toward my cock.

I moved away just enough to keep her at bay. “Positive.” I hooked my chin toward a man in the back corner eyeing us from a booth. “You could ask him, though. Jack’s a good guy. He’ll take care of you.” I’d never passed a woman over to another man before, but looking at this stranger and imagining us in bed together sat sour in my stomach.

Pouting, the woman followed my line of sight. Seeing Jack, she grabbed her drink and winked. “Good call.” She sauntered away.

Liam snorted. “Pretty sure she thinks you’re gay now.”

“Let her.” I drained the first beer and started on the second. “I’m not going to talk about this, Liam.”

He had that look in his eyes, the one that always came over him when he felt like he needed to watch out for me. He’d been that way since my fiancée slept with my best friend.

Liam palmed the bar, his face expressionless and collected in a way I envied sometimes.

Fuck. I sighed. “It’s been a long time since I felt the way I did this afternoon with Clara.”

Liam understood. I’d bounced from woman to woman for years. The night I found my fiancée in bed with my former best friend stopped my heart cold. I’d never gotten over it, never let my heart feel again so I’d never be betrayed.

“She’s something.” Liam turned and grabbed the good vodka from the high shelf as Ethan dropped onto the stool beside me.

“Who’s something?” Ethan spread his hands on the bar and swiveled around to scan the room. “Surprised you’re still here.”

“Alexander is smitten with Clara.” Liam passed Ethan a glass of vodka and coke.

Despite the noise throughout the bar, I felt the sudden silence between us, it weighed on the air with a pulsing intensity I’d never experienced around them before.

“Yeah.” Ethan broke first and drained his glass. “He’s not the only one.”

“You’re fucking with me.” I pushed his elbow

Liam refilled Ethan’s drink and cracked open a new bottle for me. “Not in the slightest.”

Ethan picked up his glass and swirled the ice around. “Guess there’s only one question then.” He took a swig. “If it comes down to it, would we share?”