Page 48 of False Pretenses

“I’m not sure.” She stood up and gathered her things. “Thanks for lunch, Trin, but there’s something I have to do.”

Trinity cast her a knowing look, which Alyssa ignored and hurried out of the restaurant. She tugged her phone from her pocket and headed down the street. Her cousin had informed her she’d taken the rest of the day off to spend time with Curtis on his, who usually worked on the weekends. With Trinity out, maybe she could run in to see Nathan. Not until she reached the executive suite of his company did she realize he might not be available, since even in the Caribbean he’d dealt with constant meetings.

“I’m here. I might as well go in, I guess.” She shifted her shoulders to relieve stress and pushed the glass doors open. When she reached Trinity’s office, she found another woman she hadn’t seen before sitting behind the desk. A moment of panic made her recheck the nameplate, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Trinity’s name still curled in etched gold letters on the plate.

“Good afternoon, may I help you?” the woman said.

Alyssa hesitated, still dealing with nerves. “Um, yes, is Nathan in?”

“Mr. Corde is in with someone right now. Do you have an appointment?”

Was it Alyssa’s imagination that she’d heard the emphasis on “mister” as if this heifer corrected her? “No, I don’t normally need one.” Now she was getting bold, which was laughable.

Offense radiated off the woman, and Alyssa couldn’t figure out her attitude problem. She glanced down at herself and then realized she’d shown up in a T-shirt and shorts. Damn, she probably looked a mess, but she’d been cleaning out some stock at the store and preparing space for new books and equipment. Trinity’s invite to lunch had come without notice, but she’d thought since it was her cousin, she didn’t need to dress up, not when she would go back to work and continue what she’d begun that morning. No way would she go in to see Nathan like this.

She started to turn away. “I’m going to give him a call later.”

Embarrassment made her steps awkward, and when a door opened somewhere behind her and to the right, she froze. A tinkling laugh that seemed familiar made her glance over her shoulder. Nathan filled the doorway to his office, and the skank Natasha laid a hand on his chest, too intimate for Alyssa not to stagger with a stab of pain to her midsection.

“You’re silly, Nathan,” Natasha teased.

“I wasn’t trying to be,” was Nathan’s sharp reply, and Alyssa looked into his face. Her eyes widened to catch a less than impressed expression at Natasha’s playfulness. In fact, he appeared more annoyed than anything. Still, she hurried to take her leave before he spotted her. She made it less than a couple yards from the glass doors.

“Alyssa.”

She halted at his voice, the deep timbre going through her and doing things to her body that brought to mind all the times they’d made love. Why had she come here? To face him took an eternity, one she wished would go on forever. Better yet, if she’d never stepped through the door, this insecurity wouldn’t choke her now.

“What are you doing here?”

For some reason she thought he’d show the emotion Trinity had claimed he’d been feeling missing her, but his expression remained closed. Nothing more than mild curiosity showed, making her wonder if her cousin had lied just to let Alyssa make a fool of herself.

When she could find no words, he continued. “Trinity took the rest of the day off.”

“Um, I know,” she muttered. “We had lunch.”

His brows rose, and he appeared about to say more when Natasha sidled up to him and clung to his arm, pressing her breast against it. A nasty sense of déjà vu came over Alyssa, and she gritted her teeth.

“Oh, it’s you,” Natasha simpered, “the little bookstore owner.” The way she said it made it sound like Natasha discovered a roach had crawled in from the street.

If Nathan had shown no emotion a moment before

, the floodgates opened in that second. He wrenched his arm from Natasha’s hold, almost knocking her to the floor. “Apologize! Now!”

Both Alyssa and Natasha gasped. Natasha pouted up at him and took a step in his direction. The piercing light in his eyes could have singed the hair off the woman’s head if it had the power. Natasha wobbled on her spiky heels and halted.

“I won’t repeat myself,” Nathan ground out.

Natasha spun to face Alyssa with moist eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

Like hell you didn’t. Alyssa didn’t say a word, and Nathan seemed to notice that as well, as if because she didn’t forgive the woman for her insincere apology, neither would he.

“Get out, Natasha,” he added. “And if you don’t leave without another word, I will call security to have you escorted from the building.”

Seeing the seriousness in his gaze, the woman almost ran for the door. When she disappeared through it, Alyssa cast a hesitant glance at Nathan. “I heard you were grumpy, but…”

“Not toward you.”

The simple sentence hung between them. She became aware the woman replacing Trinity for the day stared at them in her office doorway. Nathan took her hand and led her to his door. She passed through and heard the door click shut behind her. The nerves started up again, and she twisted her fingers together.

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