Page 23 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

“Come on. I’ll buy you a drink.”

He said hello to every employee we passed, but he didn’t stop or talk to any of them. He wasn’t any more sociable with his employees than I was, but they didn’t flinch when he approached the way they did when they saw me.

Did they expect such distance from a male boss, but fear it from a female one? Or was I over thinking something simpler?

“What are you drinking?” he asked.

“Water. Perrier if they have it.”

He raised his brows. “You don’t drink.”

“I don’t drink around colleagues.”

He ordered my water and a coke. “You don’t drink?” I asked, when he handed me my water.

“I don’t drink.”

I nodded. I wasn’t curious. It wasn’t my business. “Why not?” The words popped out like they had a mind of their own and little feet to aid them in jogging full speed past my filters. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t. . .”

He waved a hand, his smile oddly smug. “It’s fine. I choose not to drink because I prefer to keep a clear head and I hate hangovers. It’s as simple as that.”

“Oh.” Once again, he’d shocked me and left me speechless. “That makes sense. I just…You really give every part of yourself to this company, don’t you?”

He ran a long finger around the rim of his glass. “I do. But it’s not just about business. It’s also about enjoying every moment, fully aware, none of my senses dulled.”

His words and the way he was caressing that glass made me think of a much more sensual setting and my body heated as though I’d been lost on the frozen tundra and had just stepped in front of a raging bonfire. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “I guess we should mingle.”

“Sure.” He looked nervous for the first time since I’d known him. “Just don’t leave me alone.”

I would have laughed, if he didn’t look so serious and honestly worried. Not at all what I’d have expected from the cocky, self-assured man. “Okay. I won’t leave you alone.”

His unease vanished, and his cocky smile returned. “Then let’s mingle.”

We worked our way around the bar and talked to every employee of Owings Leisure that we saw.

Alex let me do most of the talking, but he took a moment to offer a word of praise to each member of the accounting department for saving the company so much money. He knew each of their names. Most of them suggested I was the one to thank and praised me, which shocked and touched me. I may have even gotten a bit choked up, which never happens.

And I began to understand why Alex hadn’t wanted to be left alone. He appeared to be entirely incapable of making small talk and uninterested in talking about anything personal. Because I’d almost never seen Alex except in a working environment, I’d assumed his cocky charm carried to every aspect of his life, but at the bar, he seemed wooden, uncomfortable, a moment away from running out the door.

We stayed until everyone else had left.

“I should get home,” I said. “We’ve got an early meeting tomorrow.”

He swallowed the last of his coke and spun on his barstool to face me. “Can you stay out a bit longer? I want to show you something.”

“Um, okay.”

I should have said no, but he looked so earnest, the cockiness gone, that hint of vulnerability creeping in. I was no longer merely attracted to Alex, I was curious about him.

He grinned and hopped off his barstool. “It’s just down the street. You up for a walk? Or do you want to drive?”

I was exhausted.

What I wanted was to be carried from that bar and tucked into bed, but the idea of being alone with him in the tight confines of his car, to smell his clean, masculine scent with no way to escape, was a situation I’d rather avoid.

“Let’s walk. Maybe the cold air will wake me up a bit.”

I pulled a sweatshirt from my bag, put it on, and followed him out into the night.

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