Double-Cross My Heart (26 page)

Watching his friend as he spoke, Alex was aware of a growing sense of unease. It was crazy. He and Bryan and the rest of his team had it down to a science, this buy-and-sell process. It was really just a high level garage sale, taking parts that weren’t profitable when combined, severing the individual components and offering up each unit to other businesses.

There was no reason to question the process now. He’d been phenomenally successful. In a down-turned economy like they’d been seeing, he found more opportunities than he had the resources to act on.

“…and there are two or three entities who’ll bid for the cosmetic formulations,” Bryan concluded, now shoveling a stack of papers into his briefcase.

“Good,” Alex said, saying nothing about his doubts regarding the project. What would Eden have to say when she picked him up tonight? Would she think about the way they’d made love just forty-eight hours ago?

Maybe she’d expect him to be pushy about the sex. He hoped he’d made it clear that he was a man in control of his urges, no matter how much just being with her made him hard. Truthfully, she pushed his self-control like no other woman. He’d manage to contain himself.

There were bigger goals in front of him than simple physical gratification. He’d always been able to keep focused on goals. This wasn’t a woman he just wanted to screw a few times. He wanted it all. For one thing, he wanted to understand what the heck had happened to her when she’d overheard his thoughtless remarks to Keith. Why had his words about Keith’s employee mattered so much to Eden?

There were things going on in her head that he didn’t quite understand. Alex wished he could dismiss the uneasiness in his gut regarding the Michele project and Eden, but he couldn’t.

Her situation at Michele Cosmetics wasn’t good before he’d come into the picture. It wasn’t like she’d had it really great and he’d charged in knocking down her accomplishments. Michele and Wendi had started making her life hell before he’d jumped into the situation. Still, he felt guilty.

Dammit, Wendi and Michele were shoving her out of her career before he’d moved in on the situation, he thought angrily. He wasn’t the one who started this!

Eden’s peace of mind had become very important to him, he realized, sitting in silence as Bryan concluded his recitation of project issues. Was he failing Eden?

Ever since he’d woken that horrible night to the strained face of his mother’s nurse, he’d hated failing someone he loved. Hell, that was part of the reason he went out of his way to make his employees working life good. Part of the reason he wanted to chase down Lauren’s bastard ex-husband and make the jerk visit his kids.

Alex hated even the possibility of failing Eden.

Why were relationships so damned hard?

“…so, is that all for this evening?” Bryan asked, picking up his overcoat.

Alex looked at his friend. He and Bryan had never really talked about the other guy’s obvious feelings for Lauren. Out of Alex’s reflective mood, this seemed an appropriate moment. On some level, they were both wandering around like idiots in the relationship area.

“Why haven’t you asked my sister out?” Alex said abruptly.

“What?” Bryan looked up at him in surprise, pausing one arm into his coat.

“It’s obvious you have a thing for her,” Alex told him. “So why don’t you ask Lauren to go out with you?”

“What do you mean, ‘its obvious that I have a
thing
for her’?” Bryan temporized as he pulled on his coat. “You think I act like some kind of lovesick puppy when she’s around or something?”

“Yes,” Alex answered with brutal candor.

The look of consternation on his friend’s face prompted him to say, “But you make a very nice lovesick puppy.”

“Thanks,” Bryan huffed.

“So why don’t you ask Lauren out?”

Bryan fussed with the collar of his overcoat. “Well, she’s so busy…what with the single-mom thing and working-- She doesn’t have any time for dating.”

“Bullshit.” Alex smiled at his friend.

“I guess I’m a wimp,” Bryan said after a brief pause. “Lauren is smart and beautiful and she handles everything so damned well. She doesn’t seem like she’s interested….”

He looked up, honesty in his face. “I’m scared shitless she’ll reject me. I know from some of the things you’ve let drop that she was pretty hurt by her ex. I guess I’m just afraid she’s—“

“A ballbuster?” Alex inserted.

Bryan shook his head. “Not really. I’m just not sure she’s interested in dating.”

Alex glanced at his watch and then at the street in front of the building. Eden’s car should be pulling up soon.

“Lauren told me last week that she, in fact, does date. She just hasn’t found anyone she wants to see much of,” he said, switching off his desk lamp and getting his coat out of the closet.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “And even if she didn’t want to date, she ought to. The trouble with you, my friend, is you’re too timid with this sister of mine. You’re not hesitant with anyone else, certainly not in your work or I wouldn’t keep paying you.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Bryan said with a grin.

“You should.” Alex switched off the office overhead light and pulled the door shut after him.

Proceeding him to the elevator, Bryan said, “So what exactly are you telling me I should do?”

“The same thing you’d do with any other woman who interested you. I’ve seen your smooth moves a few times, remember?”

“Lauren’s not just some woman,” Bryan muttered.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Alex told him as they stepped onto the elevator together. “But she
is
a woman. Remember our motto? You have to grab what you want in this world. Hell, at least take a shot at what you want.”

Bryan’s sidelong glance was questioning. “You think I should call her and ask her out?”

“Absolutely,” Alex confirmed as the elevator door opened. “Go for it.”

“Okay,” Bryan said, looking a little white around the gills.

“Do it soon,” Alex recommended as his friend headed for the parking garage with a wave.

The building foyer was empty except for the security guard sitting behind his desk reading the paper.

Standing in front of the big glass doors, Alex waited. He’d pumped Bryan up good, but he knew he had a few problems of the heart himself. Things with Eden weren’t simple. Far from it. He couldn’t just grab what he wanted.

Shit, was he supposed to climb into her car and spill his guts? Just flat out tell her what a damned worm he was?

The thought made his chest tight.

It had seemed so simple, six months ago, to arrange a more personal relationship through which to secure her assistance with the take over. He’d never intended an harm. Hell, people got together and disconnected with no apparent emotional entanglement. Hadn’t he done the same himself before.

But what appeared expedient when he was planning the Michele takeover, was now assuming the proportions of a huge betrayal. Just the thought of telling her the truth now—tonight—made him queasy.

Eden was already struggling. He hated the thought that he would make it worse.

Standing there in the drafty foyer, he knew he couldn’t, wouldn’t tell her. Not here and now.

She was already fragile, he rationalized, hating the cowardly clutch in his gut. Eden, stressed to the max by the necessity she faced to work against her one-time mentor, would only be hurt by his admission.

He had to find a way to come clean, at some point. When this damned deal was done, he’d find the words. Maybe they’d take a trip together to some secluded getaway. Maui or the south of France. Then, he’d tell her the truth.

Later, much later.

In the meantime, he’d do his best to get her through this rough time. He’d help her cope. Somehow, he’d make this okay for her.

With this focus, Alex found himself wanting to know more about her. The incident at Natalie and Dan’s party had stirred his curiosity about Eden’s background. How did she end up working for Michele Cosmetics when her uncle was in the same business? Eden had never talked about her family, her childhood, her goals and dreams. The one goal, of course, he knew. She had wanted to make it to the top of the very company he was about to take apart.

With the fierce Chicago winds howling past the door, he acknowledged to himself the hard truth. After her disappearing act the other night, he feared Eden was slipping away from him…and maybe for good reason.

It was at this moment, Eden’s sporty little BMW Z4 pulled up in front of the door.

Waving to the guard, Alex went out into the frigid night. She was here now and he was damned sure going to make the most of it.

“Hi, beautiful,” he said, sliding into the car’s low-slung bucket seat.

“Hi,” she said, her breath frosting from the cold air he’d brought in with him. “Thanks again for the Payday delivery.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, searching her face in the dimly lit car. She was here, but he still didn’t know exactly why. “How are you?”

Eden sent him a quick smile, as thin and glittery in the dim light as a sheet of ice. “Fine. Busy as usual. You were late at the office.”

“Yes,” Alex said, very curious. He sensed she needed comforting, but did she know that? Following her lead, he responded casually, “Bryan and I had a few things to attend to. The work load is a little heavier because one of our staff members is out with a sick mother.”

Conscious of her slender hands gripping the steering wheel, Alex went on, talking about Leticia’s mother’s surgery and how Leticia’s job impacted everyone in the office. As she drove, Eden glanced his way every now and then.

Without discussing it, she headed toward his apartment. Although she drove with care and skill, she seemed taut and fragile, all at once. Her stress was obvious, but she said nothing other than an occasional response to his words.

For once in his extroverted life, Alex couldn’t think of the right thing to say. Nothing that really mattered, anyway. Pushing hard to disconnect from his awareness of his own responsibility for her distress, he studied her, striving to glean some way to comfort her.

They parked her car and she got out with him, heading up to his place with him without comment. Stepping into the elevator, Eden watched the changing floor numbers without speaking.

Unable to help himself, he glanced at her face several times, still waiting for her to give him a direction. Why was she here tonight? She’d said she needed him to ”feed” her. While he was more than willing, he needed to know if she was talking about Chinese food or the Kama Sutra. A backrub or a shoulder to cry on.

He also wanted answers to the questions in his head about her. In her note the other night, she’d said she needed to sleep alone until the situation with the company was finalized. Yet, here she was, late at night, headed to his place. No comment, no clarifying of her intent. Of course, people could just sleep next to each other without having had sex.

The thought of sleeping next to Eden was both sweet and excruciating.

He had to get her to talk to him. People were generally the best puzzles, but while a certain amount of intrigue made things fun, too much made a relationship crazy. Eden, for all her openness and honesty, was in some ways still a mystery to him. It made him crazy and added to his sense of inadequacy. If a man loved a woman, shouldn’t he know what made her tick?

When they got to his apartment, Alex closed the door behind them, automatically clicking the lock into place. Only two days ago, they’d been here in his bed, naked and lost in each other, finding euphoria.

He was okay with just holding her all night long, but she had to tell him what was happening with her.

Following her into the living room, he saw her standing next to the couch. She’d shed her coat and gloves, her slender body clothed in a beautifully expensive, well-cut suit.

“I want to make love to you,” Eden said bluntly, coming toward him, her arms reaching up.

Hardening automatically at her words, Alex received her into his arms, her mouth soft and hungry beneath his. She felt soft and firm, rounded and tempting, but he knew she didn’t need just sex from him. He wasn’t sure if she was aware of the fact.

He certainly needed something more from her.

Allowing himself the softness of her tempting kiss, his heart rate kicking into overdrive, his erection straining its confines, Alex struggled to focus. As the kiss ended, he managed to say in a low voice, “Tell me something.”

He took a breath to slow his rushing blood. ”What was up with that note you left me the other night?”

“You want to talk about that now?” she said, her head tilted up to him, her luscious mouth just inches away from his.

With her arms around him, her breasts pressed to his chest, her hands stroking his ass, Alex struggled to stay clear. “Yes, now. I can hardly wait to make love to you again, but I don’t particularly want to wake up to find you gone.”

Eden straightened abruptly at his words, her movement putting a distance of inches between them. He could see her expression shuttering, the hot expression of arousal being cloaked. As much as he wanted her body at that moment, it annoyed him to be shut out from her mind.