Page 17 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

CHAPTER FIVE

Jill

“Is he in?” I asked Agatha.

She frowned and shook her head like she was disappointed in me. “That boy went out of his way to do something—”

“I know. That’s why I’m here, to apologize and to thank him.”

I didn’t need to hear it from her. I’d been beating myself up about my response to Alex all weekend.

I don’t know why I reacted so badly. I should have been grateful except…Except no one in my life, no one, had ever done anything so nice for me. Everyone, even my family, even the people closest to me, had assumed I could take care of things myself, that whatever happened, I was tough enough to deal with it and move on.

I’d always thought I loved that about my family and about myself. I was tough. I didn’t need anyone’s help. That was a good thing, the very best thing. And then Alex showed up with those pictures and it felt so good to see the payback that jerk had gotten, it felt so good to know Alex had stood up for me, that it had brought tears to my eyes. And no one, absolutely no one, ever sees me cry.

The guys I’d dated, the guys who’d hit on me in bars, they’d never done something kind for me without expecting something in return. Which sounds horrible, but I figured it was just the way the world worked.

A man buys you a drink, it’s because he wants your attention, he wants you to consider going home with him. A man buys you dinner, he wants to take you to bed, or he sees the two of you having a mutually beneficial relationship. I liked knowing where I stood, knowing the rules, because then I could never get hurt, I could keep being the rock everyone needed me to be. But Alex…He broke all the rules and I…Felt things when he was around, things that scared me. But none of that excused my rude behavior.

Agatha glared at me. “You be nice to that boy. It may not seem like it, but he’s got a soft heart. I don’t want to see him hurt again.”

I smiled, assuming she was joking.

Her frown deepened. She was serious.

She thought I’d actually hurt Alex, the guy who never seemed to take anything seriously. I’d have loved to blow off what she was saying, but Agatha was not a stupid woman and, gossip that she might be, I’d spoken to her enough to know she was perceptive about people. And that made my throat tight because I never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.

I’d always been the friend, the sister, the daughter people expected to make things right, to heal. I was the tough one who’d stare down bullies and chase away bad dreams, I wasn’t the person who hurt other people.

“Why do you call him a boy?” I asked. “He’s older than you.”

She finally smiled. “All men are just little boys on the inside, honey.” She picked up her phone, spoke into it in a low murmur that I couldn’t translate, and hung up. “You can go in.” She narrowed her eyes. “Be nice to him, before he gives up on you completely.”

I opened the door to Alex’s office and stepped inside.

He was on his feet, leaning against his desk, his grin all swagger and confidence.

I studied his face, and I didn’t see the hurt Agatha had claimed I’d caused.

“You finally decide to take me up on that offer to buy stock?”

The truth was, I’d be an idiot not to take him up on that offer. Financially, it was a no-brainer of a decision. But just like that drink in the bar, I knew Alex would expect a date to go along with that purchase and I wasn’t ready to be another one of his bed-mates, the short-lived obsession of a man who could buy whatever and whomever he wanted.

Except, he didn’t look like the Alex I was used to. His own eye was bruised, and it looked worse than my slowly-healing black eye.

“Do I need to toilet paper someone’s house?”

He looked confused for only a moment, before he reached up and gingerly touched the bruise around his eye. His expression darkened. “No.”

I was honestly worried for whoever had blacked his eye, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

The anger and the darkness vanished from his face, but his cocky posture returned, there was still a wall up between us.

“Sorry you won’t buy the stock?”

“Sorry that I reacted badly when you showed me those pictures. What I should have said was thank you.” My throat got tight for some stupid reason. “It was incredibly sweet of you to toilet paper that man’s house for me.”

---