Page 47 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

“Wait on me until the end of my vacation, tend to me and entertain me, or agree to buy a share of stock in the company and I’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

I should have taken the stock, but if I did that I’d have no good reason to turn him down, no realistic reason to not at least give him a chance. “Fine. I’ll help you out until the end of this week and then we’re done. For good.”

Something like actual hurt flashed in his eyes, but he recovered quickly and smirked. “I’m too much for you to handle, right? I get that a lot.”

I shook my head, but there was a tightness in my chest, because I’d been harsh, I’d been mean and that wasn’t who I was. Not really. He might be arrogant and entitled, but he’d been making a real effort with me. “How about we start by trying to be friends? No more flirting, no more seduction games, just be you and I’ll be me.”

The truth was, I didn’t have many friends and I definitely didn’t want Alex to be my enemy. Not as long as he was my boss. I might love my job at Owings Leisure, but Mom was right, I could leave if I needed to.

“Friends,” he said, rolling the word over in his mouth. “Okay, friend. I was just about to watch a movie, how about you climb up here on the bed with me, share some of those cookies, and keep me company?”

The last thing I wanted to do was sit next to him on that soft bed, his body close to mine, his scent and warmth wrapping around me, but I was serious about being his friend. Buying stock and dating him wasn’t an option and pushing him away wasn’t working, so I climbed onto the bed and sat as far from him as I could get.

I put the plate of cookies between us and stuck my legs out in front of me. I crossed my ankles and crossed my arms over my chest. Alex didn’t make any smart comment or move closer to me. He just grabbed the remote and started flipping channels, munching on a cookie as he perused the options.

“I’m sorry,” I said. It was hard getting the words out, so they weren’t very loud.

He heard, though. He clicked off the T.V. and looked at me. “Sorry for what?”

“It’s my fault you broke your ankle. If I hadn’t slipped…If I hadn’t gotten mad and stomped off through the woods like a child having a tantrum, none of this would have happened. So, I’m sorry.”

His expression softened. It hurt how handsome that softness made him look. If he was really the entitled jerk I thought he was, he wouldn’t be looking at me with warmth and kindness, he’d be smirking, asking me how I’d like to make it up to him.

The truth was, I didn’t know Alex, hadn’t taken the time or the effort to get to know him. I’d judged him and that made me as bad as all the jerks who’d ever judged me, starting with the jerk in college, who’d seen my only worth as arm candy, and continuing through all the guys in the corporate world who thought my being a woman, with delicate features and blond hair, meant I was an idiot who couldn’t add two numbers together.

“It’s not your fault,” he said. “I could have paid attention to the trail, and the snow made everything slippery as hell out there. We fell. It could have happened to anyone.”

I nodded, surprised. I stared at the T.V. waiting for him to turn it back on, but he didn’t. Somehow, I didn’t mind. I felt comfortable with him, light. My worries and anxieties faded away.

“What would you like to do on a date? What’s your idea of fun?” he asked. He grabbed a cookie from my plate and chewed it as he waited for my answer.

“I saw a sign for a ropes course about a mile out of town that looked like fun. I’ve always wanted to try one of those.”

His eyes widened. “That might make a good day date if you had a death wish. If it was a night date, though…I’ve always dated women who wanted to go out to the swankiest restaurant, the hippest club, to be seen. I’d love a date that was a quiet night in, dinner, and watching a movie.”

I rolled my eyes, but warmth filled me, whether from his spicy scent, his nearness, or his words I couldn’t tell. “How domestic of you.” The truth was that it didn’t sound bad. I’d never been in a relationship long enough to get to that point of just hanging out around the house and it had always sounded so…Cozy. Just nice.

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, grinning like he knew I was pulling his chain. “What would you choose?”

“I don’t know. There’s a ton of cool stuff to do in the city, great local music, fun restaurants, poetry readings, or that artsy outdoor festival they have downtown. There’s so much great stuff happening, why sit at home?”

I usually had sat at home, because I hadn’t wanted to go alone. Why hadn’t I just gone anyway? What had I been so afraid of? Was I really going to sit around, putting off what I wanted to do because I was single? How had I become that person?

I grabbed another cookie, without realizing what I was doing. I was thinking too hard. In the past, I’d had the excuse of putting all my time and energy into the family business, but I no longer had that excuse and it was time to quit getting in my own way.

“I want to see more, you know?” I said, thinking aloud. “I want to be more involved in the community and…” I didn’t know how to express what I was feeling. “Just live in all the colors, you know? Experience every bit of life I can.”

He’d finished his cookie and reached for another one. “That sounds so much more real than a fancy dinner out.”

“Fancy’s not always bad,” I said. “Luxury is sensual, safe. For those of us who never had it growing up, it’s pretty darn exciting.”

“What was it like for you? Growing up? I get you weren’t rich, but what it was like?”

I shrugged, ready to brush it off like it wasn’t any big deal, but there was an earnestness in his gaze that made me feel like telling the truth. I wanted him to really know me in a way few people did. “It was hard sometimes. Some nights I went to bed convinced my internal organs were eating each other because I was so hungry.” I smiled, like it was a joke, but Alex didn’t smile or laugh. “Mostly, we had enough food. We just didn’t have our parents around, so Noah and I got to be the parents. My brothers and sisters are amazing, and I loved getting to spend so much time with them.”

“You just never really got to be a kid yourself.”

I shrugged, but my mind replayed his words in a sort of slow motion slog and I wondered if he was right. Had I missed out? “I got to be a kid. I played with my siblings and did all the kid things with them all the time.”

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