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Authors: Laura Storme

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BOOK: Breathless
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stay with her.
She didn't know that was what he
was doing.
He made it look good by going back to
the machine shop on occasion, but still staying close
to the office.
"What the hell," exclaimed Alex from the other
room.
James heard her yell, jumped from his chair and ran
into the office.
He found Alex standing at her
desk staring at the roses in her hands.”
"Where did those come from," James asked.
"I don't know.
I heard the door open and shut
quickly and when I went out to see who was here, I
found these," responded Alex holding out the
yellow roses.
James reached for the roses and removed the
simple card attached to the ribbon that bound them
together.
"I'm sorry if I scared or hurt you," read James aloud.
"James," asked Alex.
James heard the frightened tone in her voice and
wanted desperately to hold and comfort her.
As
he looked up, he saw that the color had faded from
her face and the scared tone of voice had moved to
her eyes.
"That's it, you're going home and you're not
working after hours anymore," James declared.
"You're here, I'm not alone and I refuse to allow you
to tell me what to do.
I will do as I please,
James.
I didn't lock the door after Morgan left and
that's my fault.
Obviously, whoever it was feels
bad about it and wanted to apologize.
I have to
admit that it's bad timing considering, but he may
not want to get into trouble or get fired.”
"He should be fired or worse, Alex.
He should
never have touched you.
I can make this worse by
taking it to Jeff again.
I don't want to have to
worry about you.”
"Then don't," interrupted Alex icily.
She stood
there glaring at James as if he was her attacker.
"I
don't want or need a babysitter, James.
I want to
be able to come and go and do my damn job.
If
you have a problem with that, then maybe you
should have been here when I was hired.”
The color had returned to her face and the fire in
her eyes should have burnt down the building.; he
thought she looked glorious standing there fighting
him.
He couldn't blame her for wanting to do
things her way, but he couldn't let her jeopardize
herself.
"I can't let you do it, Alex.
There's no way, I won't
let you stay after hours anymore.
Please don't
make me pull rank," James pleaded not wanting to
further isolate her from him.
Alex grabbed the flowers and threw them in the
garbage.
"That is how much, I think of this
subject," she spit out, pointing to the garbage, "I
will do what I want, when I want and I will not let
anyone dictate their rules to me again.
Do I make
myself clear, Mr. O'Reilly?"
James stood there in shock at the tone in her
voice.
He didn't know exactly what she was mad
about anymore, but it was clear that it just wasn't
about the attack.
Alex grabbed her coat and purse
and again charged out of the office, wishing like hell
she hadn't come to Ashmore Valley.
"Maybe Tad was right," she said to herself as she
got into her car.
Chapter 5
The phone was ringing off the hook when she
walked in the door.
A glance at the answering
machine noted three messages as she reached for
the cordless on the coffee table.
"Hello," she answered.
"Where have you been," asked the voice on the
other end.”
"At work, Tad, that's why I'm here. "
"You're there to escape me, I thought. "
"Tad, don't do this again," she pleaded, realizing he
had or was drinking.
"So, how is life in the primordial soup?"
"Not that you really care, but fine.
I'm really
enjoying myself," she lied.
"That's great, I guess you won't be coming home
anytime soon then.”
"Tad, look, we talked about this.
I really need this
time to branch out and be independent.
Why
can't you understand that?"
"Because I love you; and I don't want you so far
away from me.
You belong here, not in some
backwater town catering to some filthy, backwater
rednecks," he bit out acidly.
Alex sighed at the familiar argument.
She truly
didn't want to argue with Tad, especially over the
phone.
Tad heard the sigh at the other end and knew that
he was pushing the right buttons.
He truly didn't
think Alex should be independent from him and was
determined to get her back at any cost.
He down
his fourth glass of scotch and moved in for the kill.
"Alex, I'm sorry, if I sound selfish.
I always thought
we'd be together forever.
Not apart, in two
different cities.
Do you forgive me," he begged.
"Of course, I do Tad.
But you know our
agreement.
Give it a year.
I'll be home then,"
she promised.
"No you won't," he said petulantly.”
"Yes, I will Tad.
This is just a breather. "
Tad gulped down another shot of scotch and stared
at a picture of Alex.
He remembered how furious
she had been the night she left.
"I have to go, Tad.
I just came in the door and I'm
starving.
I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Tad reluctantly said good bye and hung up the
phone.
He moved around the empty condo
remembering and cursing her in intervals.
Tad
refused to think that she wouldn't come back, but
had a feeling she would remain in Connecticut
forever.
It was her home and as much as she tried
she never really liked Washington.
Tad
remembered the night Alex had told him about the
job.
"How can you do this to me, Alex? You know what
you mean to me, how much I care about you.
I
just don't understand," demanded Tad.
Alex moved out of the bed and crossed the
room.
She and Tad had just finished making love
when she told him about the job offer and her
acceptance.
"It's only for a year, Tad.
They gave me a contract
for one year.
At the end of the year, I'll be home.”
"And what if they want you to stay? Or you want to
stay? What becomes of us then?"
"Tad, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I
won't make any promises to you.
I also will not
allow you to change my mind because you don't
want me to go.”
That set Tad back on his heels.
He had thought he
would be able to control Alex and so far he had
accomplished that.
She was doing what expected
of her.
Alex had been fed up with Tad for months.
He had
set up an interview that she didn't want with
Senator Adler's office after losing her lobbying
position.
The picture that had been taken of them
had cost her her job at American's for a Brighter
Future.
After that, Tad had taken control of her
life, moved her into his condo and groomed her to
become a political hack in Adler's office.
But Alex
hadn't wanted that.
She really did like her position
at ABF.
Losing her job there had come as a hard
blow to her.
"We agreed that this was sex and business, Tad.
I
never wanted anything emotional. "
"Bullshit, Alex.
You dredged up the
emotions.
You begged and pleaded with me to
feel something for you.
And now that I do, you
want me to turn off those feelings and let you ruin
your career by going to work in some
manufacturing company in the middle of
nowhere.
How are you going to work your way
into the White House staff from Smallville?"
Alex was truly furious with him when she turned
around.
The color had risen to her face and her
breasts heaved as she took large gulps of air to calm
herself down.
"I never wanted to work at the White House,
Tad.
You know I was perfectly happy at ABF
before that stupid picture was taken and got me
fired.
John Adler didn't fire you for associating
with a lobbyist! I want to do some good with my
skills, Tad and I don't think I can by working in
somebody's political machine," she yelled.
Alex grabbed her clothes from the floor and put
them on quickly.
She had to admit that she had
first accepted the position with Hasani to spite
Tad.
But at the interview, Jeff and Forrest
McGuire had made it more than appealing to
her.
She felt that she could truly grow with this
company and be a success.
Alex had finished
dressing and was in the process of locating her keys
and purse, when Tad sprung from the bed and
grabbed her arms.
"Please, Alex, don't go," he pleaded pulling her
against his hard body.
"I want to do this, Tad.
I won't let you stop me,"
she said finally and released herself from his grasp
and left.
Alex hung up the phone and listened to her
messages.
It was just as she thought, Tad had
called her three times before she came in the
door.
Alex was still fuming about her argument
with James and the flowers.
She didn't know who
was doing this to her or why, but she wasn't happy
about it.
If it wasn't for the fact that Tad would
never let her live it down, Alex would have packed
up and left for Washington that night.
But she
knew that Tad would make her remember this
mistake forever and decided to tough it out.
James was concerned about Alex.
He left the
office in a rush, trying to catch up to her and explain
his motivations, but he was too late.
He decided
to stop into the bar where Morgan and the rest of
the guys had gone for a few drinks.
He couldn't
imagine going back to the empty house.
He would
only think about Jean or Alex.
"No, what I need is a night out," he muttered to
himself as he started his car.
The Standing Ovation stood invitingly before James
as he thought about maybe not staying.
It had
been a second home to all of the Hasani employees
at one time or another.
It had seen more than its
fair share of fights between the co-workers and
their wives and the co-workers themselves.
James finally gave up the battle walked into the
building.
He was soon greeted by a round of
applause that he could have done without.
He
knew it had been a while for James.
He had
avoided the place during his fight with Jean, so as
not to give her more ammunition, but since she was
gone there was no harm in him being
there.
James smiled as he made his way to the bar
and ordered a beer from Vickey, the bartender.
"Hey handsome, how are ya," she asked as she
brought the beer to him.
"Fine, you're looking great," he responded with a
crooked smile.
Morgan sat beside James smiling at the ongoing
banter.
It was no secret to the inner circle that
Vickey and James had had a few dalliances.
"Glad you came, James," said Grayson leaning close
to him and ordered another beer for himself.
"Yeah, well, Jean finally moved out and the house
seemed too quiet."
"Even with those damn horses you call dogs there?"
"Even with them.
How long ya'll staying?"
"For a while; Melisa is in Pawling visiting her
mother, so Morgan will be here for a while.
Beth
has let Dave out of his cage for a bit too.
So we're
here."
"Great, just like old times," smiled James."
”So what do you think of our red-head, James?"
"I try not to.
Her and I have been doing nothing
but butting heads for two days now.
I don't
understand it.”
Morgan laughed at James and shook his head.
"You're trying too hard, buddy.
Relax and be
yourself.
She's cozied up to us just fine."
James turned and gave Morgan a hard look, "Well,
we all can't be perfect, can we?"
James stepped off his stool and walked over to the
dart game in progress in the comer.
It appeared as
if Joey was winning and Bert Foster, the shop
supervisor, was not happy.
Bert who stood six feet one inch and weighed about
290 could have broken Joey in half.
James had to
smile at the battle between the two.
Poor Joey
was only five feet nine and weighed 125 on a good
day.
Bert could break him in half if he wanted
to.
James leaned against the wall and watched
Joey beat the pants off Bert three times.
The side
betting had been hot and heavy and several of the
guys came out losers as they continued to bet on
Bert.
Luckily, James had held onto his money and
spent it wisely on beer instead.
Chapter 6
James was with the last group of employees as they
trickled out of the bar around 11:30.
By then, Alex
had crawled into her bed and drifted off to
sleep.
She had ordered herself not to dream
about James, but that proved impossible.
The
dreams came anyway and this time they were
interspersed with visions of Tad and their last night
together.
James thought the alarm clock was a cruel practical
joke as it went off beside his head.
He had left the
bar at 11:30 but then went to Grayson's for a little
more partying.
He had finally stumbled in about
1:30 a.m. to two angry dogs.
His drinking last
night had done little to ease the empty feeling of
the house or relieve his growing desire for
Alex.
She had floated in and out of his dreams
torturing him with imaginary kisses and touches.
James roused his tired body off the couch and
stumbled upstairs to kick start his mind and body
with a hot shower.
He scrubbed down quickly,
trying to not be late for work.
He wanted to see
Jeff first thing and tell him about the flowers that
somebody had left Alex last night.
By no means,
did he want Alex working late anymore.
James
stepped out of the shower and tracked a wet path
to his bedroom.
James was drying himself off,
when the phone rang.
"Hello," he answered.
"Morning, bud," said Grayson on the other end.
"You're awfully cheerful. "
"Yeah, I know.
Listen I can't seem to get my car
started.
Can you pick me up?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm on my way out the door.
You're
buying coffee though. " Grayson agreed and James
left the house to pick him up and go to work.
"Alex, could you come in here, please," she yelled
from the center office.
Francine was waiting for
her at Alex's desk, when she stepped in.
She had
just walked in the door and not divested herself of
her coat, when Francine pounced upon her.
"Who are these from," she asked stepping aside to
reveal a vase of yellow and red roses.
"I just came in the door, Francine.
How would I
BOOK: Breathless
6.86Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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