A Deal with Alejandro Page 7

  Each morning, Alejandro gave her a different brief. She clocked off late in the evening by presenting him with a carefully typed-out report.

  He never invited her to dine with him in his private dining room. He never offered her a lift home.

  She told herself she was glad about that. Very glad.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ALEJANDRO READ THE message on his phone for the fifth time as he stood before his window on Monday morning. For the umpteenth time, he wondered if he’d been right in contacting Gael in the first place. What had seemed like a sound idea—calling his brother to warn him he didn’t intend to lose—in the early hours of Sunday morning coated his mouth with distaste a few short hours later.

  He hadn’t expected Gael’s quick response, nor had he expected the request contained within his brother’s email.

  Gael wanted a meeting.

  The stark request sounded more like an order. Clearly, his estranged brother hadn’t lost his renowned arrogant swagger. As for the caveat that the meeting take no longer than fifteen minutes...

  Pursing his lips, he dialled the number attached to the email. It was just after 6:30 a.m. on the east coast, which meant the middle of the night in California. With an unhealthy amount of relish, he pressed the phone to his ear.

  It was answered on the fourth ring. ‘Aguilar.’

  His name on another’s lips threatened an influx of memories. Memories that revolved around why his brother existed in the first place. Ruthlessly, he pushed them back.

  ‘If I’ve disturbed your beauty sleep, just say the word and I’ll call back at a more appropriate time,’ he said.

  He received a scoffing grunt in return. ‘The only thing you’ve interrupted is a hearty breakfast, followed by a proper greeting of the woman currently warming my bed, both of which I intend to get back to in less than sixty seconds since I don’t anticipate this call lasting any longer.’

  ‘You make a habit of eating breakfast in the middle of the night?’

  ‘The great thing about not having to answer to anyone is that I can do whatever the hell I want, when I want. But as it so happens, we’re in the same time zone, mi hermano, so your concern about my digestive system is touching, but unwarranted.’

  Alejandro gritted his teeth at the familial term, wondering why Gael insisted on taunting him with a past he was sure they both wanted to forget. He’d never bothered to confirm the rumours behind Gael also leaving his childhood home in Spain the moment he’d reached adulthood, but they’d involved their father.

  And yet, Gael never missed the chance to remind him they were related.

  Dismissing the baited response, he carried on. ‘About this meeting tomorrow—’

  ‘I’ll stretch it to half an hour if you wish. But no longer than that. I have back-to-back meetings in New York in the afternoon that I need to fly straight back for.’

  Alejandro’s mouth twisted. ‘A face-to-face meeting needn’t take place at all if you see reason and back off. Now.’

  Terse silence greeted him. He knew the line hadn’t dropped because he could hear Gael’s steady breathing.

  ‘Need I remind you that you contacted me?’ his brother eventually snapped, a throb of annoyance in his voice.

  Alejandro started to shrug, then stopped at the futile action. Unbidden, Elise’s voice sliced across his mind.

  The looking-into-the-whites-of-their-eyes approach...

  It annoyed him greatly that snippets of their conversation darted into his thoughts when he least expected it. Even greater was the despised thought that perhaps one of those snippets was what had fed his desire to contact Gael. A decision he regretted with each passing second. ‘I was mistaken to think you would pay better attention if we were face to face. But that would be disrespecting you. You can hear me just as succinctly over the phone. This has gone on for long enough.’

  ‘And it will keep going until I win the merger. I’ll be at your offices tomorrow as scheduled. I advise you to be there.’

  ‘You’ll do well not to issue threats, Gael.’

  ‘Or what? You’ll up sticks and relocate again?’ There was a gruff note in his brother’s voice that made Alejandro’s brow twinge in a brief frown.

  ‘I have no intention of going anywhere. What I’ll do is pull out all the stops to end this if you don’t back off.’

  Gael laughed. ‘I look forward to hearing all about it when I arrive in Chicago tomorrow. And don’t bother sending your jet for me. I have one of my own.’

  Alejandro braced one hand on the window, welcoming the cold glass’s fractional calming of his turbulent emotions. Slowly he breathed out. ‘Gael, I don’t wish to go to war with you.’

  Another pulse of silence ensued. ‘This only ends one way, brother. With one of us walking away. And I don’t intend it to be me.’

  Alejandro closed his eyes against the morning sun’s glare. Behind him he heard the door open. He didn’t need to turn around to know Elise had arrived, at precisely 6:45, as she’d done all last week. He also knew that he’d spend the day with his senses attuned to her every movement in her office, although his interactions with her would be clinically brief because those charged ten minutes last Tuesday morning had deeply unsettled him. To the point where he had still remained perplexed at his own behaviour hours later. To the point where he’d questioned his own sanity.

  He’d almost kissed her.

  Had almost dared her to kiss him in payment for obtaining her services. Even more deplorable, for those insane minutes, he hadn’t cared about the potential damage he risked with his actions. Hadn’t cared about the ‘once bitten, twice shy’ warning that had been the dogma of his professional relationships for a decade.

  The need to taste her had been unrelenting. Consuming. He remained disconcerted that just beneath the surface of his interactions with her, the need still fiercely burned.

  ‘Do you wish me to repeat that in Spanish, hermano?’ Gael’s voice brought him back to earth. To the room. To the click of heels drawing closer.

  ‘Muy bien, if this is the route you wish to take, then so be it.’

  He ended the call and turned around.

  Elise eyed him from her position before his desk. ‘Good morning.’

  He nodded tersely, then made a concerted effort to shake off the barrage of unwanted sensations evoked by his brother and Elise. ‘Buenos días. I trust you had a good weekend?’

  Her eyes widened, no doubt because his cordial tone was unexpected. ‘It was okay, nothing life-changing.’

  ‘How unfortunate. Weekends that aren’t life-changing ought to be stripped of their title and renamed Pointless Days.’

  Her head tilted to one side. ‘Is that your attempt at a joke, Alejandro?’

  ‘Since you’re not laughing, I must respond firmly in the negative,’ he replied, his tone bone-dry.

  Her mouth twitched, then she smiled. It was transformative enough to deliver a punch to his solar plexus, causing his breath to snag and the hairs on his arms to rise in near alarm.

  Alejandro had dated women who could command the covers of fashion magazines with a snap of their fingers. And yet he was certain none of them could hold a candle to Elise’s smile.

  All the same, he shouldn’t be this enthralled.

  And yet...

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Of course. Why should I not be?’ he quipped.

  Her smile dimmed. ‘No reason. I just...overheard a little of your conversation. Something about not wishing to go to war?’

  Any trace of mirth disappeared. ‘Eavesdropping, Elise?’

  ‘Not intentionally.’ She glanced at his phone. ‘Was that your brother?’

  Her lack of fear when it came to him should’ve aggravated him. Sure, he tolerated the underlings who challenged him, but it was what he paid them to do.

  Elise challenged him because she couldn’t help herself. When she wasn’t irritating him, Alejandro had found himself almost...refreshed by her.

 
But not right now.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied, paradoxically going against his better judgment of telling himself he owed her no answers.

  A soft look entered her eyes. ‘And?’

  His mouth twisted. ‘As predicted, he refuses to listen to reason.’

  ‘So he’s just like you, then?’

  Alejandro stiffened. ‘Excuse me?’

  She shrugged. ‘You’re both determined to win.’

  ‘You say that as if there’s something wrong with winning.’

  ‘What’s wrong is you gripping that phone as if you’re about to crush it. You want to win, yes, but I’m guessing not if it’s costing you this much.’

  He glanced down and visibly unclenched his fingers from the handset. ‘You guess wrong. Pain and the cost of winning only affect you if you give them the power to,’ he replied, then froze at the words that had left his lips without permission.

  Elise’s eyes rounded. ‘Unless there’s a mind trick you picked up along the way to dull it, no one is immune from pain.’

  A note in her voice tweaked his flaring senses. ‘When have you known pain?’ he asked, then realised he was holding his breath for her answer.

  Her gaze flicked away from him. ‘I’m human. I feel pain.’

  The thought that she’d been hurt shouldn’t have abraded his equilibrium. And yet it did.

  ‘You seek specifics from me, yet generalise about yourself.’

  ‘I was just pointing out you’re not the only one with issues, professionally or personally.’ She jerked towards the drinks trolley and picked up a bottle of water.

  Alejandro frowned. ‘You have a professional issue with me?’

  She looked up from toying with the lid. ‘What? No. I mean... I like to think our differences have been aired successfully.’

  The slow drag in his groin as his gaze landed on her lips informed him his success in that department was distinctly lacking.

  ‘Then what do you mean?’

  Nerves clearly fuelled her sudden twitchiness. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

  An answer that birthed further burning questions. ‘Did something happen to you?’

  Her cheeks lost a little colour, but her face closed mutinously. ‘Nothing I want to reprise. What’s on the agenda today?’ she hurriedly asked.

  It took a huge dose of the willpower he was renowned for to step back from demanding answers from her. Even then, he needed a minute before he tracked properly.

  ‘Since we’re biding our time till our next call with the Ishikawa brothers, I’d like your help on another matter. Are you free this evening to accompany me to a client dinner?’

  She blinked. ‘Uh...yes.’

  ‘Good. Reservations are for seven. Feel free to leave early today if you need to. I’ll pick you up from your apartment just before seven.’

  ‘Okay. Will the purpose of the dinner be damage limitation or image enhancement?’

  ‘A little bit of both. I’m meeting a client and his wife for dinner. She’s taken to overt displays of affection whenever I’m in her company. He’s chosen to encourage it in the hope that I’ll do business with him. My patience is wearing thin but I’d like to put a stop to both without jeopardising our business relationship. You think you can handle that?’

  Her relief at the changed subject turned to shock, but she rallied after a few seconds. ‘Sure. Of course.’

  Alejandro nodded briskly, despite his continued mental state of flux. He needed to emulate her, and regroup quickly. Gael’s imminent arrival should be what commanded his entire focus, not the banked anguish still shadowing Elise’s eyes.

  Heading for his desk, he provided her with the client names and watched her walk away. The suit she wore today was feminine and stylish. Beneath the edge of her jacket, the trousers cradled her pert backside and emphasised her curvy hips. When she shed the jacket upon reaching her desk, he caught a glimpse of her trim waist and the full swell of her breasts.

  A sound, rough and unwelcome, punched up from his throat.

  She started to look his way.

  He dragged his gaze away and focused on the pile of work on his desk. She was off limits. And even outside the scope of their professional relationship were he to consider her for an affair, he would still reject the idea.

  Because Elise Jameson exhibited signs he’d hitherto not encountered in a woman before—she had the potential to get under his skin.

  He reminded himself of that fact as his chauffeured limo pulled up to her apartment building that evening, an irritably large proportion of him anticipating her presence.

  Her smile...

  He shook himself free of the low sizzle in his stomach and stepped out. Seeing the unlatched main doors, a different type of irritation surged. He pressed her buzzer none too gently.

  ‘I’ll be right down.’

  Since he wasn’t sure whether the lift functioned with any efficiency tonight, he kept his attention between it and the stairs, flatly refusing to acknowledge the rising thrum in his blood.

  Heels on the stairs alerted him to her mode of descent. She arrived at the top of the last flight of stairs and his heart rate increased.

  She wasn’t smiling.

  In fact she appeared distinctly nervous.

  Yet, she was captivatingly breathtaking.

  Her chocolate-brown hair was swept to one side of her face and pinned at the back in a loose style that left several tresses falling free to caress her neck. Her knee-length dress, made of dark green material, skimmed her hips but hugged her breasts and left her shoulders bare. A simple necklace drew attention to her slim neck. In one hand she held a wrap and purse, her other hand clinging to the rail as she came down. He wasn’t aware he’d moved until she paused on the stairs. Her gaze met his as she slid her hand into the one he held out.

  ‘Thank you,’ she murmured.

  ‘De nada. Breaking your neck before the first course is served would be extremely bad form.’

  A hint of a smile appeared. ‘Wow. Two jokes in one day. Do we need to notify record keepers in some obscure office?’

  He found his mouth curving. ‘Best not. We wouldn’t want to incite any unnatural disasters.’

  A full-blown smile appeared. Something vibrated in the region of his chest. Keeping her hand in his, he led her to his car, choosing not to mention the state of her lobby security. Or lack thereof.

  And if a part of him suddenly wished their dinner involved two less people, he brushed it away under the guise of it being a temporary aberration.

  * * *

  They arrived at Millennia, one of Chicago’s most lauded restaurants, ahead of Jeff and Mindy Stoneley, for which Elise was just a tiny bit grateful. It gave her a chance to gather herself. To deliver a much-needed pep talk that involved not getting carried away with what was happening tonight.

  This wasn’t a date.

  It was business.

  She was doing work for which she was being paid.

  PR work held many facets. Fact. When she was a newly employed member of Jameson, her parents had inundated her at all hours with absurd requests before she’d finally put her foot down.

  ‘You’re frowning. Is the venue not to your liking?’

  ‘What? Oh, no. It’s not that. This is great!’ She noted the gushiness in her voice and dialled it down. ‘I’m sure your clients will appreciate it.’

  Alejandro’s narrow-eyed speculation didn’t abate. ‘But something disturbed you just then.’

  She tried to wave it away. ‘I was just remembering some of the things I had to do when I started working at Jameson.’

  ‘Are you referring to the incident you didn’t wish to speak of before?’ he asked, still narrow-eyed.

  Her heart missed a beat, the thought that she’d nearly spilled her guts to Alejandro earlier today stabbing discomfort through her. Determinedly, she pushed it away. ‘No. I meant something else,’ she murmured, fervently hoping he’d let the matter drop.

  ‘Something th
at doesn’t compare favourably to this?’

  ‘Are you kidding? Dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant beats getting up at two a.m. to go rescue a client’s dog from the airport because our paparazzi-fleeing client had left it behind.’

  He frowned. ‘You’re serious.’

  ‘As frostbite.’

  ‘Isn’t that more of a minder’s job?’

  She shrugged. ‘It is. I found out later.’

  ‘How?’ he asked.

  Her mood dimmed further at the recollection. ‘My parents were trying to teach me a lesson.’

  ‘A lesson? Or punishment?’ He cut through the excuse.

  ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Sí. It does. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a one-off event?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Why did they do that?’

  ‘They found out that I had graduated with two degrees, not one.’

  ‘Surely that’s a cause for celebration?’

  Her heart lurched. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you?’ she muttered. Realising they’d arrived at another subject she didn’t relish probing too deeply, she cleared her throat, intending to steer him away from the testy issue of her parents, but Alejandro beat her to the punch.

  ‘You only list one degree on your résumé.’

  ‘Because it’s the only one that’s relevant to my present job.’

  ‘Or it’s the one that invites the least scrutiny?’

  Her gaze rose from where she’d feigned interest in the place setting and met shrewd green eyes. ‘You’re digging, Alejandro. I may be tempted to dig back.’

  ‘Will you be divulging anything that isn’t already public knowledge?’

  ‘No...but that’s not what I meant.’

  One shoulder lifted. ‘You can tell me or I can unearth the truth myself.’

  ‘Okay, it was an art degree.’ Elise wasn’t sure why admitting that stirred a deeply buried hurt. Probably because a once-precious dream had been desiccated while she’d been scrambling to be done with her current reality.

  ‘Impressive. And do you use it—’

  ‘There you are. Apologies for being late, bello! Please say you’ll forgive me? The car service was atrocious. I’m never using that firm again. Oh...I didn’t realise this would be a foursome.’