Beyond 10 Nights (12 page)

The conditions he attached to the
end of his offer at least made the situation tolerable, even if it was still
one she would have preferred to avoid. After thinking about the situation for
several long minutes, while he waited patiently for her to respond, Leah
nodded. “I’ll pay you back for all the help though, with interest,” she told
him, feeling the need to attach her own condition. “Hopefully I won’t need to
stay with you for long, I have some money, so I could stay at another hotel,
but I admit being worried my funds would run out before I am financially
stable.”

“If that is what you wish.” Interest
was not something he would have ever considered suggesting in this situation,
and it certainly wasn’t something that mattered to him, he doubted any expenses
incurred would be enough to trouble his wallet, let alone his bank balance.
Despite that, he realized it was probably a good idea; it would help to keep
things on a professional level between them. “I’ll get a contract drawn up with
all the details, that way we both know where we stand.”

“As long as you’re sure I won’t be
in the way.”  It hit home again how vulnerable a place she'd allowed
herself to get in by not being able to support herself. If she learned nothing
else from this experience, she thought, the one thing she would take out of it
was the need to take care of her own needs in the future.

“Believe me; I plan on using your
talents to my advantage while I have you with me, Leah.” He smiled, thinking
that with her living with him, even for a short time, he would have a personal
assistant at his beck and call, in some respects that was likely to make things
a lot easier for him.

“Um, could you explain what you
mean?” She didn’t want to sound ungrateful but just when he had her convinced
that everything was on the up and up, he left her worried that he was talking
about something other than business.

Sensing the cause of her sudden tone
of concern, Alex fought back a grin. “Not what you’re thinking, I assure you,”
he said, not quite able to keep his lips from twitching with the ghost of an
amused smile. “I simply mean that as long as you are here, I can get you to do
paperwork and such as needed. It will be an excellent learning experience for
you, and will save me a great deal of time and hassle. Trust me; I would never
even consider getting involved in a personal relationship with an employee,
unless she made the first move that is.”

Leah flushed bright red. “I’m so
sorry; I didn’t mean to suggest that you intended anything like that.” She was
mortified that she had thought that was his intention. He hadn’t done anything
to suggest that he found her sexually attractive.

“Please, don’t apologize. You’re a
lovely young woman, and I would be honored to know that you found me
interesting enough to consider such a thing, but you are engaged to a friend of
mine, and have just taken a job working for me. Given the circumstances it
would be completely inappropriate for me to even think about getting involved
with you, let alone suggest such a thing.” He hoped she understood what he was
trying to say; even to his mind his words sounded confusing.

She was very lovely, beautiful in
fact, and under other circumstances he might well have been tempted to try and
make something happen between them. He had a strict policy of not taking
advantage of women however, and with her current situation, that put Leah very
much off-limits to him.

“My hope is that we can become
friends. I’ve discovered that people who get on well socially, tend to work
together better, and I would very much like that for us.”

“Of course, I would very much like
us to become friends, and I’m sure there is much I could learn from you.” Her
phone buzzed then, her old phone, not the iPhone Rhett had bought her, and
seeing the message was from Janie she opened it, her heart in her mouth as she
wondered what her friend was going to say.  The message was brief, and
simply said that she was sorry and Leah should come by any time so they could
talk.

Alex could see by the expression on
her face that something had upset her. “If you need to talk, Leah, I’m here for
you.” He wasn’t sure why he was so concerned by her apparent pain, he barely
knew the woman, but for some reason he was.

“Thank you, you’ve already done so
much for me though.” Determined to keep her emotions under control, at least
until she was alone, she got to her feet. “I’ve got something I need to take
care of today, so unless you need anything I’m afraid I need to go out for a
while.” It felt strange to be asking him for permission to leave, but that’s
what it felt like to her.

Alex stood as well, fishing a
keycard out of a pocket. “I had the front desk provide a second key this
morning in the hopes you would accept my offer, so you can come and go as you
please. Until we make other arrangements, or you manage to sort things out for
yourself, I want you to consider this your home too.”

There were a few things he could
have asked her to do for him, since he was meeting with a real estate agent
that morning to begin the search for a new home, but he realized she was better
off spending the day organizing her affairs. “If you need anything,” he took
out a business card and handed it to her, along with the keycard, “just let me
know and we can add it to your account.”

“Thank you again, I truly do
appreciate everything.” When she reached out a hand to accept the keycard and
his business card their fingers touched, for the briefest of moments, and she
felt a spark leap between them. Surprised, and a little alarmed, by the spark,
she hurriedly turned away and headed for the bedroom to retrieve her purse.

Before leaving the suite she wrote
down her cell number on a piece of hotel stationary and gave it to Alex. She
wasn’t entirely sure why she had done that, but rationalized it by telling
herself that if she was going to be working for him, he might need to get hold
of her.

She hadn’t had anything to eat since
lunchtime the day before, but she was too keyed up to think about breakfast.
She wanted to get things patched up with Janie, if she could, and her mind
remained focused on that, rather than her empty stomach all the way from the
suite to Janie’s condo.

Pulling into the parking lot outside
of Janie’s condo building she wondered if there would ever come a day when she
didn’t feel nervous about something. Since meeting Rhett her world had been
turned upside down at every turn, and it didn’t seem like it would ever feel
like a normal life again.

Her stomach tensed in nervous
anticipation as she finally reached her friend’s door. She knocked and then
waited; she could have used the key Janie had given her but it didn’t seem
right.

The door had barely opened before
she found herself being pulled into Janie’s arms, where she was held tight, her
breathing almost cut off. “Can you ever forgive me for being such a bitch? I’m
so sorry; if you want to be with Rhett then damn it, it’s not my place to tell
you what to do with your life.” Janie spoke hurriedly, feeling like utter shit
after their argument the day before.

Leah held her friend just as tight,
needing to feel like she belonged somewhere just then; knowing that Janie
didn’t hate her made the world seem a little brighter than it had before the door
opened. Once the tears started, it was like there wasn’t a shut off valve, and
she couldn’t stop them, all she could do was sob helplessly.

“Hey, everything is going to be just
fine.” She knew their argument had been horrible, but for her friend's emotions
to be so wrought because of it made her feel even guiltier than she already
did.

“I’m not sure anything is ever going
to be fine again.” Leah sniffed, trying to gain some control over her emotions.
In two weeks her entire life hadn’t just been turned upside down, it had rolled
over and over like a car in a Hollywood action movie. It wasn’t good for her;
she didn’t just crave stability, she needed it.

“Of course it will, honey.” It was
so unlike her friend to react in such a fashion, though she knew it had become
almost normal since Leah had become involved with Rhett. It was clear that
Rhett was a negative, possibly even a destructive, force in her life, but she
kept her thoughts on that to herself.

After their argument she had spoken
at length with David, and knew she had done more than simply step over the line
of suitable behavior. By the time their conversation was over he had made her
feel as if she had acted in as controlling a manner as Rhett had. It was a
feeling she hated, and which had brought her up short and made her take a good
hard look at her behavior.

“I left him, Janie.” She feared that
her friend would gloat, and knew she couldn’t really blame her if she did,
though she wasn’t sure she could deal with it if Janie did feel the need to, not
when the wounds were so fresh.

“Um, wow.” Janie wanted to say thank
god, but reminded herself that her friend didn’t need her to get involved in
her relationship again. “Are you okay?” Her friend’s feelings, not her own
personal satisfaction, were what mattered. She just hoped Leah had given Rhett
a swift kick in the ass on her way out of the relationship, though once again
she was careful not to voice that thought.

Knowing that they were never going
to agree on anything to do with Rhett, Leah stepped back and wiped her eyes,
sure that she looked like something out of a horror movie. “I’ll be fine,
eventually. Hey, on a positive note, I got a job.” She forced herself to smile
as she gave her friend the one piece of good news she had.

“That’s great, Leah, you’ll have to
tell me all about it after we get you settled back in.” She was so excited to
have her friend back, and couldn’t wait for things to get back to normal. The
last few days had been horrible for her, and she could only imagine what they
had been like for Leah.

“Well,” Leah paused, not sure how to
explain her new situation, “I’ve kind of agreed to move in with Alex until I
get back on my feet.” She could see the confusion in Janie’s eyes and it
brought the first genuine smile to her lips for some time.

“Wait a minute, back up. Who is
Alex? And what does he have to do with you leaving Rhett?” It was clear a lot
had happened with her friend in the last couple of days and she moved over to
the kitchen island, where she sat herself on a stool to wait for the story.

Joining her friend in the kitchen,
Leah set her purse on the counter and settled herself on a stool. After a
little prompting she began her story, starting with her evening in the dungeon
and her meeting Rhett’s friend, Alex, and finishing with the agreement they had
come to that morning. Her description of Alex, when Janie managed to drag it
out of her, provoked a laugh and a sigh.

“Wow, just wow!” Janie shook her
head as she laughed. “You have been one busy lady.” It sounded to her as though
Leah found, Alex, Rhett’s friend and the new guy in her life, to be rather
impressive. She also thought it sounded like Leah had the beginnings of an
attraction to him. She realized, though, that it was best for her to keep that,
and the notion that this Alex might be the one to get her away from the
destructive force that Rhett was bringing into her life, to herself.

“Yeah, I start work officially on
Monday, as an intern, but I’m also going to be working as Alex’s assistant,
when we’re not at the office so I guess he could need me to start that before
then. I have to admit, I’m really excited about this. I never thought I’d get a
job like this one, the money is amazing and it’s a great opportunity to learn
about the advertising business.” It was a huge relief to be able to talk with
her best friend again. It also felt great to stop worrying and smile.

“Well, honey, you’ve always got a
place to stay if things don’t work out, or it gets awkward, you living with
this Alex. I’m really happy for you.” Janie refused to admit that she was
disappointed her friend wasn’t going to be moving back in; it was apparent
after their talk that Leah needed to find her own way and she was determined
not to be a selfish person and stand in the way of that.

“As long as you don’t hate me,
Janie, I think everything else will work out alright.” She meant that, just
talking with her friend, and knowing everything was alright between them, made
everything else seem must better and easier to cope with. “I’ll have to
introduce you and David to Alex soon; I think you’ll both like him.”

The two of them talked for hours,
spending the entire morning rebuilding their friendship, until David arrived at
lunchtime. He took them both out to eat, treating them to an expensive lunch at
an exclusive restaurant to celebrate the reunion, even though they had only
been separated for a couple of days. After that Janie and Leah packed up her
things and the three of them loaded the boxes into Leah’s and David’s cars for
the trip to the hotel.

Alex was back at the hotel, after
his morning search for property, when they got there, and he and David hit it
off immediately. The two of them enjoyed coffee and chatted, mostly about
business and their different approaches to the lifestyle they enjoyed, while Leah
and Janie unpacked what they could of the boxes. By the time they were finished
the room Alex had given her in the suite seemed more like home than a room in a
hotel.

The phone call from Rhett, which
came as they were all sitting down making plans for dinner, caught Leah by
surprise and she found herself struggling not to hyperventilate as she excused
herself and headed into the bedroom to take the call. “Hello,” she answered the
phone after closing the door and taking several deep breaths to calm herself.
She did her best to keep her voice free of emotion, but wasn’t sure how
successful she was.