Page 21 of A Powerful Attraction
“Hey, hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” Rashad came fully into the office. “Wanted to see if you still want to grab lunch together.”
“Sure.” Alex glanced at his watch. He’d lost track of the time. “We can get back to work after lunch,” he said to Sherry, keeping his voice neutral.
She nodded, careful not to give even the slightest hint of what they’d been up to only moments before.
“Care to join us?” Rashad asked.
“No, thanks.” She picked up her notepad and a few files. “I’m going back to my own office to make a few phone calls before I leave for lunch myself. Alex, I’ll see you later this afternoon.”
She exited and quietly closed the door.
Rashad turned slowly to face Alex and shoved his hands into his pockets, rolling back onto the balls of his feet. “Why do I get the feeling I interrupted something?”
Alex tapped the eraser end of a pencil on the stack of papers before him. “That’s your imagination.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. This is me, and it’s not like you didn’t already tell me my absence at La Tavola got you laid.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you owe me a steak dinner.”
“Come on, man. You should be taking me out to dinner, as a thank you.”
“Of course you’d see it that way,” Alex said dryly, though he didn’t completely disagree. If not for Rashad, he’d still be in the same work, home, hospital cycle before Sherry became a part of his life and changed his outlook.
Rashad had bailed on him after one of his out-of-town lady friends flew in unexpectedly and asked to see him. Over the years, Alex had come to realize the importance of women in Rashad’s life. Chocolate-skinned and with a smile worthy of a toothpaste ad, Rashad looked like the kind of guy who should be headlining movies. He parlayed his good looks and flamboyant dress—a diamond in each ear, and today a dark red pinstriped suit that only he could pull off—into the bedrooms of more women than Alex could keep track of.
“So the two of you still pretending you’re not together?” Rashad asked, as Alex stood.
“That’s the way she wants it.”
“You mean that’s the way you want it.”
Alex closed his computer and gave his friend his undivided attention. “It’s for the best, for both of us. For now.”
“And how long are you planning to keep this secret? The two of you have been running around town together, going on helicopter rides and hiking and shit, and then you come into the office and pretend there’s nothing going on.”
“It hasn’t been that long.”
“Your head’s been messed up since the first night you spent with her. Not to mention you’ve been carrying a boner for her ever since you hired her.”
“You’re exaggerating.” Alex went behind his desk and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. As he slipped his hands through the sleeves, Rashad crossed his arms and looked at him like a disapproving father.
“I have never seen you like this, not once, over any woman. Before you even slept with her, all you did was talk about how sweet she was and her smile and all that shit. Come on, Alex. How do you really feel about her? Because you’re right, she’s sweet. She’s a good woman. She’s not playing games, and you have to know that, because I can see it just by the way she carries herself in the office.”
Alex absorbed the truth of Rashad’s words and sank onto the edge of the desk.
“She’s the One,” he answered without reservation or embarrassment. He’d had plenty of time to consider his feelings, and he had no doubt that Sherry was the woman he’d been looking for all along. The reason every other relationship didn’t work. He wanted to lock her down. He wanted to make her his until the end of time.
Rashad’s eyebrows rose. He might have suspected that Alex had feelings for Sherry, but he didn’t expect them to run so deep.
“Tell me you’re kidding, bruh. The One? No such thing exists. That’s some nonsense women invented to tie us down. Besides”—his voice lowered—“there’s that little situation with you and Heather.”
Alex immediately sobered. “I know.” He ran a weary hand down his face.
“I can’t tell you what to do—”
“Since when?” They’d known each other since they were eighteen years old, and just like blood brothers behaved, neither was known for holding his tongue.
Rashad chuckled. “Okay, I can tell you what to do, but that doesn’t mean you’ll listen.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets again, a serious expression on his face. “Listen man, Sherry seems great, and maybe what you feel for her is genuine.”
