Stella in Stilettos (16 page)

Belinda literally growled. “If Stella was sitting here, would you be telling her the same thing?” She began a tedious whine about everybody thinking Stella was something special.

Stella
. She might have someone in her life, but it didn’t change the way he felt. He wanted her.

“Did you hear a word I said?”

“This has nothing to do with Stella.”

Belinda let the f-word slide out.

“This is about you and me, not Stella. It’s about friendship not being enough for you.”

Belinda sniffed like she was on the fringe of tears.

Grr
. “You can’t force chemistry, Belinda. It’s either there or it’s not. I’m sorry. For me, it’s not.”

Belinda dabbed at her eyes. Alex waited her out.

She pulled a tissue from her pocket and blew her nose. “We have chemistry. I see it in your eyes.”

Alex wanted to grab Belinda’s thick head and give it a good shake. Instead, he tried to drive home the truth. “No you don’t.”

She blinked at him. “I’ll make you a deal.”

Warning sirens blared in his head. “What?”

“The only way to find out is to test the waters. Give me a kiss.”

“No.” He’d rather get chummy with Maggie; and that wasn’t about to happen in this lifetime.

“If you don’t feel anything, I promise I’ll leave you alone. Forever.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re kidding yourself if you think there will be fireworks.”

“We won’t know until then. Now will we?”

“We’re not doing this. We’re going back to your car. End of story.”

A malevolent glimmer in her eyes said this wasn’t over.

* * * *

Trish was trying to lighten things up by calling Alex animal names, but Stella remained quiet.

It hurt to talk about Alex, or think about him.

“There has to be a logical explanation why they were together.”

Stella gave a miserable look. “Such as?”

Trish shrugged. “I thought maybe you could think of one.”

“I’ve thought of a hundred reasons, but only one fits. They were having a secret rendezvous.”

“A secret rendezvous? At the mall? Come on, Stella. You can twist it better than that. Say something really mean. It’ll fumigate your mood.”

Stella finally smiled. “How about this? Belinda is bottom-of-the-barrel and Alex is a bottom-feeder.”

Trish sparkled with agreement. “Ooooooo, Stella. Keep going.”

No. She wouldn’t keep going. Name calling was juvenile. Moping wasn’t mature either. “Thanks, Trish. I get the picture. I’m better now.”

“Knew it would help. Now it’s time to hop in the chat room. Let’s find out what Mr. Right has been up to.”

Stella double-clicked the icon on her desktop. Nothing happened. “Hmm.” She gave it another go. Still nothing. She tried her Internet Explorer, instant messenger, picture software program. Nothing.

Trish pushed her way in. “Let me check something.” She made a few clicks. “You’ve lost your connection to the Internet.”

“I’ve lost my connection all right. It’s a sign – to forget about men. All of them. I need coffee.”

In one short week, Stella could flick her overload-switch to the off position. The December sales madness would grind to a close. Belinda would most likely implode from bully-buildup. Maggie could clop around like a Clydesdale while knocking her irksome computer, Melvin, to the floor once and for all. And she’d be free from the man who was making her days…and nights…a living hell. She could focus on margaritas and sun block instead of watching her back and guarding her heart. Ah! Five blissful days free from chaos.

A reminder that she still had one unresolved issue to conquer before she could lick salt from her margarita glass made her crack her knuckles and stretch her neck from side to side.

She and Trish had messed with her computer for an hour and it had taken a techie from the help desk less than two minutes to identify the glitch. Geeks rule! She was back in business. Any second now she could click into her email account. Yep. Whenever she wanted, she could double click the icon. Stella tapped the computer mouse with her forefinger, not hard enough to give it a command.

Coffee! She needed coffee. A big cup. A really big cup so she could…stall?

Gah. Shouldn’t she be excited to confirm plans with Mr. Right?

Coffee.

Stella shuffled to the kitchen and made a pot of pumpkin spice, which was fast becoming her favorite. Since the flavor was seasonable, she could stash bags of it in her freezer so she could enjoy it in July too. Yes. That’s what she’d do. When everyone else was drinking regular coffee she could smile and let cinnamon and nutmeg tantalize her taste buds. She shook her head. Centering her attention on pumpkin spice instead of her email was a clear sign that she wasn’t as excited to meet Mr. Right as she should be. She puffed out her cheeks and blew out a breath of…frustration? Confusion? What? She couldn’t even identify her feelings. The stress of the last few weeks must’ve short-circuited her ability to care about anything but pumpkin spice.

Between slurps, she stared at the computer as though her email account would magically open itself if she waited long enough.

What was wrong with her? Yesterday, she couldn’t wait to hear from Mr. Right. Today, not so much. This was weird. Excitement one minute, hesitation the next.

The only explanation that made sense was the nonstop drama had spilled over to the last pure thing in her life – Mr. Right.
Grr
. The tiny rebel inside responsible for the thing she called a backbone made her stop being a wuss. She double clicked the email icon. Seven new messages popped in. Low and behold one from her…friend? Heart of hearts? What exactly were they? She opened the message and found a one-line invitation to join him in the chat room. Before she wussed-out again, she clicked into the room.

To her surprise, he was there. It took less than a second for a private message to center her screen. “Blonde1. How are you?”

Umm…more interested in coffee than whatever they might talk about.

She couldn’t say that. She needed to sound upbeat. Ready to meet him. Eager. She typed, “Excited.”

“To meet me?”

The question made Stella dig deep. She
did
want to meet him so she could put her curiosity to rest. “Most definitely.”

“Good.”

For what felt like five minutes there was nothing but dead air space. Stella sipped pumpkin spice. Lord only knows what he was doing.

Finally, another line of text materialized.

“I think I should warn you that lately I seem to be saying all the wrong things.”

The information made Stella lower her coffee cup and sit up straight. “Care to talk about it?”

“No. Tonight is about us.”

Hmm. “Okay. But if you need to vent, I’m a good listener.”

“I’m trying to leave work at work. Do you mind?”

Ouch
. He was the one who brought the subject up. “No problem.”

“The only thing I’ll say is that I upset someone I care about.”

The man obviously needed to talk. They both did. And if they could get a dialogue going about real things like they did when they first met, maybe she would feel the same excitement as she did then. She chose her words carefully. “I can be objective.”

“You’re not going to give up are you?”

Stella drew back at the cyber-reprimand. “Sorry.”

“Let’s just say I handled things like a self-absorbed jerk.”

This guy needed sun and surf worse than she did. “Did you at least apologize?”

Mr. Right cut her off short again. “Let’s talk about Key West.”

“Good idea.”

The next fifteen minutes was lighter. They talked about how great it would be to in the Gulf of Mexico enjoying eighty degree temperatures instead of zero like it had been the last couple of days in Ohio. He promised to have a drink with her to start things off and they would see what happened from there. Without warning, he said goodbye and clicked out.

Stella looked around, not focusing on anything in particular. “That was different.” Their conversation felt forced tonight. Something had changed, for them both.

Without flipping on the light, Stella traipsed to the bedroom and flopped on the bed. In the quiet darkness, she let her thoughts untangle. Alex had clearly distanced himself from her today. It felt as though Mr. Right had done the same thing just minutes before. And it seemed as though Maggie no longer cared about
background music
. A small whimper echoed in the abyss of her room. How had her life gotten so out of control? After Jace left, she vowed to make better choices; to keep her heart out of harm’s way. That promise was about as solid as a snowball in Fiji. As soon as Alex came to the department, her heart and brain tilted sideways. Trish talked her into meeting Mr. Right and she tilted a little more. Factor in Maggie Watkins and Belinda, and it was a wonder her addled brain could send impulses to her heart to keep beating.

A powerful thought made Stella sit up. In the midst of all that mayhem, a transformation had taken place! Stella shook her head as though she couldn’t quite believe it. But it was true. Something great happened – she wanted to embrace life instead of hiding from it. And…as dangerous as it was to give someone her heart, she wanted to be in love again. Neither would happen without a game plan.

* * * *

Alex pretended to be absorbed in work when Stella walked in, but he hawk-eyed her every move. She gave the group standing by the copier a happy smile, before bouncing by Corrine with a bigger one. She looked cheerful, but her tight, guarded posture said otherwise.

He recognized the façade because it mirrored his own. Beneath his smile was a man torn a thousand different ways; although, only one mattered – the attraction he had for Stella. He couldn’t accept the possibility that she had someone else in her life. Stella had kissed him with more passion than any other woman ever had and now, she dominated his thoughts and his heart. In the process of trying to figure things out, he’d hurt her and it was killing him.

Alex waited until Stella was situated in her cubicle before strolling by. He turned around and dialed down his usual flash and cockiness. “Good morning, Stella.” With pulse-pounding uncertainty he waited for her reaction.

Gorgeous green eyes widened behind her glasses.

Good. He caught her off guard.

Their gazes connected for a second, but she quickly looked away. “Good morning, Alex.”

When he continued to stand there, Stella allowed her eyes to drift back to him. An awkward lapse of silence zipped between them. And for the first time in forever, he was lost.

How he ended up in the lobby of his stepdad’s business, he had no idea. His stepsister, Kelly, met him at the elevator. Her hazel eyes lit up and she threw her arms around his neck. “Bro.”

“Missed me?” Alex laughed.

“Always,” she said directly. “Have you finally come to your senses?”

Alex put her in a gentle headlock. “Don’t bug me or I’ll mess up your hair.”

Kelly snorted in the crick of his elbow. “Release me, ya goon.” Alex complied, but she kept the mischief going. “Dad has a room all picked out for you.”

Alex made a move like he was going to resume the wrestling hold. Kelly flinched out of the way. “Is Dad in?” he asked.

“Nope. Flew to Houston this morning.”

“Are you hungry, Kel?”

Kelly listened for an hour. She gave her honest opinion – it was time for Alex to quit the lingerie company. She told him to stop being stupid with Stella and hook up. It was exactly what he wanted to hear, yet it wasn’t.

Now he was in Steve’s office. Of course, Steve was nowhere to be seen. Alex turned to leave. He had to get out of there before Jett spotted him. He was almost to the door when a familiar head of blond hair and goofy grin made him stop.

“It’s about time you wandered back to your real job.”

“Funny,” Alex replied blandly.

Steve looked him over. “What’s up?”

“Nothing’s up. Does something have to be up for me to pay you a visit?”

“Yessss.” Steve threw his coat over the back of his chair and sat down.

Alex put his feet up on Steve’s desk. Paybacks. “I’m here because I’m bored.”

“Mmm-hmm. What about the work you always say you have to do?”

Alex changed his mind. There was no way Steve could help. He removed his feet from the desk and was about to remove them from Steve’s office. He ran a hand over his face.

“What is it?”

“Hell, Steve, I don’t know.”

“Does this have anything to do with Stella?”

“No,” Alex projected with lightning speed.

Steve arched a knowing brow, and Alex wanted to tug the damned thing back down.

“Lie to everyone else; even to yourself, but give it to me straight. There’s something wrong between you two. Yesterday she had the same look.”