Stella in Stilettos (14 page)

“I’ll drive you home,” he said.

Stella offered a nervous smile. “Not necessary. My car’s right outside.”

Alex was insistent. “That’s what I meant. I’m driving you home in your car.” He didn’t wait for her to approve the suggestion. He handed Steve his keys. “Will you two be okay?”

Steve grinned with conspiracy. “It’s all good.”

Trish winked at Stella. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Then she mouthed the words “thank you”.

The prospect of being alone with Alex made her shiver from both fear and joy.

A blast of Arctic air hit them the minute they stepped outside. A slick spot by the door sent Stella’s feet skating out of control.

Alex latched onto the front of her coat to keep her from falling. “That’s one way to get you in my arms,” he said.

Stella blinked up at him. “You’ve saved me twice tonight.”

Alex caressed her chin with his thumb. “It was a mutual saving.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Who wants to be stuck with Benson all night?”

“Trish,” she said offhandedly.

“Right.” He guided her to the passenger side and leaned her against it before capturing her mouth with a soft kiss. Fire shot through Stella, prompting her to kiss him back. There was nothing soft about her kiss. She claimed his mouth with hot lip-lock action that left them both panting.

Alex’s eyes went wide with surprise. “He was dead-wrong.”

It took a few seconds to catch his meaning. Stella grinned shyly.

Alex lunged at her mouth again and Stella trembled in his arms.

“Alex, I…,” she kiss-whispered against his mouth.

He pulled away a fraction of an inch to put his forehead on hers. “I need to get you home before we get arrested for making love in the street.

The wind was showing off and blanketing an already icy roadway with a fine layer of frozen sheen. Before they reached the interstate they got to experience a bit of winter madness firsthand when the car did a three-sixty spin. When it came to rest, they were inches from a parked car.

For a little added spice to an already simmering pot of nerves, an old rusty pickup truck almost hit them when the driver lost control at a red light.

Alex’s eyes doubled in size. “Too close for comfort. If you don’t mind we’re going to follow a snow plow the rest of the way. I don’t care if it is only going eight miles an hour.”

Stella nodded in agreement, her body slowly unclenching from the near miss.

By the time they pulled into her parking lot at two in the morning, they were exhausted and edgy. To their surprise, Steve and Trish were standing under a street lamp throwing snowballs at each other.

Steve patted the hood of Alex’s four-wheel drive. “This baby’s a dream.”

Alex gave him an ominous look. “Where was the dream a half-hour ago?”

Steve replied with a toothy grin. “Right here. We killed time by making out.”

Alex yanked the keys from Steve. “By the way,
why
are you here?”

Trish answered. “Since the roads were nasty, we wanted to make sure you made it without any problems.”

“If you were so concerned why didn’t you call my cell phone?” Alex’s chest heaved with anger. “I almost wrecked Stella’s car.”

Trish and Steve looked at each other, and they both said, “Damn,” at the same time.

Stella sighed inwardly. The weather was a wrench in what could’ve been one of the most uninhibited nights of her life.

* * * *

Stella walked into the office and Alex put his hand to his mouth to hide the pleasure of seeing her. Last night he’d glimpsed the real Stella. If the weather would’ve cooperated, he would’ve gotten more than a glimpse.

Belinda stepped in front of him to block his view. He frowned and moved her out of the way. She closed the gap again.

Her nearness made him cough and wheeze. “What are you wearing? Bug spray?”

Belinda’s polished lips turned into a pout. “It’s my new perfume. You don’t like it?” She lifted her wrist to his nose.

No. He didn’t like it. And she was marking her territory with that nauseating scent. Hell, she might as well just pee on him and get it over with. He straight-armed her to make her back up. “Do you mind?” His eyes bounced back to Stella.

Belinda turned to see what had his attention. “Figures. When Stella’s around you turn into a jerk.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure I do.” She put her hands on her hips. “I feel I must warn you. She’s keeping tabs on you for Maggie.”

Alex scoffed. The notion was as ridiculous as the bug spray. “Sure she is.”

Belinda casually looked at her fingernails. “Fine. Don’t believe me.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “What would be the point of keeping tabs on me?”

Belinda lifted a shoulder. “No idea, but she is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The only things that came out of Belinda’s mouth were artificial sweetness and lies, and he wasn’t in the mood for either one. He gave her a look of loathing. “I have things to do. Go stink up your own cubicle.”

He looked at Stella again. Now her scent he didn’t mind.

Belinda made a whimpering noise.

Damn. He thought he’d shooed her away. Hints weren’t working, so he laid it out in plain English. “Go away. I’m not interested.”

Belinda scanned him from head to toe. “You’re just playing hard to get.” Before he could refute the claim, she put a finger to his lips. “Shh.” She made a sexy exit by wiggling her bottom.

The woman was an irritating, cold dose of reality; an irksome reminder to keep his personal life and business life separate.

He glanced at Stella. No way was she a spy for Maggie. The woman he kissed last night didn’t have a complicit bone in her body. Even if she did, what would be the end-game?

* * * *

Something was wrong. She could feel it. Alex had been all over her last night. Kissing. Touching. Almost making love to her. Today, he hadn’t spared her more than a cool, detached nod. He couldn’t have been more impersonal if he tried. She’d hurried to work – actually, she drove faster than she should have given the road conditions – thinking they could pick up where they left off. Somewhere in the five and a half hours since they parted, something happened. Stella propped against her desk, trying to piece things together. Was he miffed he didn’t get to home-base? She followed up with a worse thought. Maybe he had enough time to regret last night altogether.

If he had doubts or worries as to where this thing might be headed, it was understandable because she was dealing with the same gamut of emotions. She rather hoped they could talk their way through them. She sent him a hopeful look; his expression said “stay away”.

A faint thread of hysteria tried to work her over, she shoved it aside by telling herself she was misreading him and that his aloofness didn’t have anything to do with her. But, she had to know for sure.

Belinda vacated his cubicle, Stella bravely took her place. “Good morning,” she said, trying to keep her anxiety from showing.

Alex looked at her without the sparkle and shine from the night before. “Good morning.” His demeanor was tight and closed off, and there wasn’t a speck of intimacy in anything about him.

Stella tried to chip away the frost. “Any problems getting home last night?”

“No,” he said flatly.

One word answers were never a good sign. She tried a Belinda-move and sat on the corner of his desk. His eyes didn’t follow. They seemed to be attached to a manila folder which he was curiously holding upside down.

Stella quietly appraised him. His usually generous mouth was thin and moody, and the grip he had on the poor folder were signs he didn’t want her there.

Her heart fell to her toes. Hurt and anger surged its way through her. To hell with him and to hell with last night. Tears formed in the back of her eyes and she looked away so he wouldn’t see.

Alex’s phone rang. Stella slid off the desk and hurried back to her desk, but she could still hear his end of the conversation.

“Alex Clay,” he said gruffly. “Yes, I saw her. Yes, she is. You can kiss my…” He leaned out of his cubicle with the phone glued to his ear.

Their eyes met and an unspoken range of emotions zipped between them.

Mr. Wrong
, she thought cynically. Trish was right. Alex was one-hundred percent wrong for her, and she was thankful nothing more than kissing and groping took place last night.

* * * *

Stella ripped the lettuce like it was the source of her bad mood. “My life is constant turmoil. One minute things are on an even keel, and the next, chaos sets in. What am I doing wrong?”

Trish put down the knife she was using to cut up tomatoes, towel-dried her hands and wrapped an arm around Stella. “You’re not doing anything wrong. It’s just that you’ve played things safe for too long. Welcome back to the real world.”

“I like the safety-zone.”

Trish released Stella and put her hands on her hips. “If I have to be out here, so do you. So toughen up.”

Stella smiled weakly. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“We balance each other out. You’re lovable and slightly neurotic. I’m brave and outrageous. And we’re both freaks.”

Stella made a face. Last night, the word was oddly helpful. Tonight, not so much. “Whatever.”

Trish refilled Stella’s coffee mug. “You need this. Drink up.” Then she took a sip from her wine glass. “I know this is a sucky time to talk about Steve, but I can’t help myself.” She fluttered her eyelashes and put a hand over her heart. “I think he’s the one.”

“Steve’s a sweet guy.” Remembering how Trish and Steve connected last night was awesome. Trish appeared completely smitten.

“I feel like hell talking about Steve while you’re hurting.” Trish sat on a kitchen chair. “Let’s iron out a few things about you and Alex.”

Stella fanned her hands outward. “There’s nothing to iron out.”

“Yes, there is.”

Stella deliberately slurped her coffee, which was a much better sound than delving into a discussion about Alex. “You have a knack for reopening subjects I try to close.”

Trish peeked innocently over the edge of her glass. “You said I have a gift.”

“I lied.”

“Maybe Alex’s strange behavior wasn’t about you. Maybe he has some other stuff going on. Or maybe, he’s struggling with the same things you are, like dating a co-worker, and that stupid…” She growled loudly. “…job promotion.”

Stella shrugged. “Why do you keep insisting that Maggie’s going to give him the VP job? I mean, seriously. I don’t see it. They barely tolerate each other these days.”

Trish didn’t mince words. “That, my dear girl, is strategy.”

“What?”

“You are too close to the situation. Here’s my take on things. Maggie is being chilly to you on purpose. She’s keeping her distance from Alex too. This way, when she hands out the job, no one can accuse her of playing favorites.”

Stella made a swipe for Trish’s wine glass. “You drink too much. It’s killing your brain cells.”

“Maybe.” Trish deliberately guzzled a mouthful of Merlot and went back to making their salads. She topped the lettuce with tomatoes and drizzled Italian dressing over the top. “Here’s something else to think about. Despite his detachment today, there’s something brewing between the two of you. I’m not just talking about the hot, lustful attraction from last night. I think there’s a genuine friendship growing.”

“Pfft. Right.”

Trish teased her with mean-eyes. “Stop butting in. Maybe it goes even deeper. Maybe you and Alex are on the fringe of love.” She gave Stella a full-face grin. “He helped you out last night. He built you up to be a vamp and shooed the armadillo back into his hole. I’m telling ya, he’s fighting for the best-friend slot. He can’t have it though because I’ve already filled the position.”

Stella motioned for them to take their salad and drinks into the family room. She sat cross-legged on the couch. “Would a friend worm his way into the job he knew you wanted?”

“I was getting to that.” Trish took a forkful of salad and chomped it while Stella waited impatiently. “Sorry. I’m starving. Anyway, maybe he had his eye on the job before you plucked him out of
his
safety zone. Maybe it’s why he’s acting all pissy now. He’s hot for you, but there’s the job to consider too.”

“But…”

“One more thing.”

“Getting a little long-winded, Trish.”

“That’s nothing new.” Trish drizzled more dressing on her salad. “I have a feeling Maggie’s going to give him the job; which means, if you want to explore this thing with him, you’ll have to swallow your pride and be happy for him. Even if you choose not to explore it, you can’t let your disappointment eat away at you until it’s a festering boil of pus.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“My point exactly. You can’t let things get ugly.”