Worth the Scandal (16 page)

She laughed and closed her eyes. “You’re about to do so right now if you keep touching me like that.”

“Would you like it if I did?”

Tessa opened her eyes and said the words, the closest she would come to revealing her true feelings. “I would love it,” she whispered.

Chapter Eleven

Tessa tossed and turned throughout the night, unable to sleep for longer than an hour or two at a time. Too worried over how Alex might treat her upon their return to the office in the morning.

He’d been quite the ardent lover their last night together in London, never letting her sleep, doing things to her body that were probably illegal in many states and plenty of countries. On their flight back to New York they utilized the private bedroom, lying in the small, cozy bed beneath the thick velvet coverlet naked. Stroking each other, teasing each other until he’d finally wrapped his big hands around her waist and hauled her on top of him.

She proceeded to ride him for long, glorious minutes, sliding up and down his length so slowly he’d growled in frustration and shown her exactly what he’d wanted her to do.

Two different times.

Alex had driven her to her Brooklyn apartment personally, kissing her for long, delicious minutes before he’d finally urged her out of the car. She’d let herself into the quiet apartment and collapsed into bed, where she’d slept twelve hours straight. When she’d woken up, her luggage had already been delivered along with a note, slipped inside one of her suitcases:

Rest this weekend, kitten. I’ll see you Monday morning.

Alex

No love, Alex, of course. But there’d been no indication of the possibility of seeing each other the rest of the weekend either. Which was fine, really it was. She was so tired. She’d spent the rest of her Saturday lounging around, fielding questions from her curious roommate about her European trip. They’d even gone out to dinner that night, laughing and talking and having a great time.

Sunday she’d spent the morning doing laundry then found herself trying on an endless amount of clothes at a little boutique, trying to find something new to wear for Monday.

For Alex.

She found shoes. Black, peep toe, four-inch heels that elongated her legs and made her feel sexy. She’d strode into the Worth building with confident steps Monday morning, tossing back her hair while waving at the security guard, ever present behind his desk. The office was quiet for she was early and when she arrived at her desk, she was pleasantly surprised to find Alex already there. Within in his office and on the phone with the door closed.

He’d caught sight of her through the window that faced her desk. Their gazes met and he offered a quick closed mouth smile before he returned his attention to whomever he spoke to on the phone.

Fighting disappointment, she settled at her desk, sighing when she saw the endless list of unopened emails she needed to go through. She didn’t want to pick up the phone, the number of voicemails she knew were waiting for her too overwhelming to contemplate.

It was going to be an even busier Monday than usual. Really, what had she thought would happen? That he would greet her at her desk with a tender embrace and a warm kiss? Ask her to go to lunch with him with promises of a quickie during the noon hour?

She was completely ridiculous if she really believed something like that could happen. Alexander Worth was above all else, pure business.

He never once came out of his office the entire morning, so wrapped up in various phone calls he rarely moved from his desk. Didn’t even send her an email or a brief text message to let her know he was thinking of her, much to her disappointment. He had to be just as swamped as she. She knew this, but it felt like a sort of rejection.

It stung.

Her phone rang just before lunch, the human resources manager asking if she would come see her right away. Perplexed, Tessa took the elevator down five floors to the human resources offices and knocked on the manager’s open office door.

“Come in, Tessa,” Becky called.

Tessa entered the office, stopping short when she saw Hunter sitting in one of the chairs. He was just as tall, almost as broad as Alex and his commanding presence filled the tiny office. He offered her a smile in greeting but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Sit down, Tessa.” His voice was firm, and not very friendly.

Unease slithered down her spine and she sat in the chair next to Hunter’s. When Becky stood and shut the door with a quiet click, Tessa immediately sensed something was up.

She felt as if she’d done something terribly wrong. Had they found out about her affair with Alex? Was she going to get in trouble for it? Alex was just as guilty, and why would he allow her to get in trouble? Didn’t he care about her—at least a tiny bit?

“First off, you didn’t do anything wrong, Tessa.” Becky smiled reassuringly, her voice soft and soothing.

Tessa clasped her hands in her lap, trying her best to remain composed. “What is this about?”

“We had some—issues unfold while you were in Europe with my brother.” Hunter leaned forward, his gaze locked on her face. “Now that you’re back, we need to talk to you.”
 

“What happened?”

“Information is being leaked, private information regarding Worth and we believe it’s an inside job.”

She stiffened. “I wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“We’re just wondering if you’ve seen any suspicious activity,” Becky added.

“Regarding anyone within the office? Not that I’m aware of.” Tessa glanced from Hunter to Becky. They didn’t appear particularly impressed with her answer.

“Has there been any unusual activity on your computer?” Hunter asked. “Has anyone ever asked to use your computer? Have you ever given your password to anyone?”

“No, never. Of course not.” It was against strict company policy to share login information. She wasn’t about to break the rules. She valued her job too much.

“Have you seen someone enter Alex’s office without permission? Ever caught anyone lurking about? Even a stranger?” Hunter’s questions were rapid fire.

Tessa shook her head. “I’ve seen no strange behavior.”

“What about you?”

“Hunter,” Becky chastised, sending Tessa a sympathetic smile.

“I need to ask this, Becky.” He turned to Tessa, his gaze direct, his mouth a thin, tight line. Looking so much like his older brother but not nearly as handsome—at least in Tessa’s eyes. “We need to make sure we can trust you. You work extremely close with Alex, and you’re privy to certain information that would—damage the company greatly if it would ever get out.”

Tessa stood, indignation coursing through her so strong her entire body shook. “How dare you accuse me of such a thing?”

He remained calm, gazing up at her with cool eyes. “I never accused you of anything, Tessa.”

“No, he didn’t,” Becky added quickly. To cover their butts, no doubt.

“I’ve worked for Worth Luxury for over three years, seven months of it here at the corporate headquarters. I just came back from assisting Alexander Worth while he was in Europe touring the remodeled stores. If you can’t trust me, if you have even an ounce of doubt in my loyalty to Worth, then you may as well just fire me now.” She was so angry she was fuming.

“We don’t want to fire you. We never said that. That is, unless you’ve been engaged in—questionable activities?” Hunter goaded her. She knew it.

And it worked.

Infuriated, she turned on her heel and exited the office, ignoring Becky’s calls for her to stop so they can explain. Hunter said nothing. He probably believed her reaction was too over the top, proving that she must be at fault, hiding some sort of deep, dark secret.

The only secret she had to hide were her feelings for Alex. Which were silly considering he probably put his brother up to this so he wouldn’t look like the bad guy.

Her entire body ached with pain at his betrayal, especially her heart. How could he do this to her?

A sob caught in her throat and she fought it off, trying her best to remain composed while in the elevator with five other people. The minute the doors slid open at her floor she slipped out, walking briskly toward her desk.

Toward Alex’s closed office door.

Without knocking, without even a hint of warning she slammed the door open and stalked into his office, her breath coming in irregular spurts, a hard knot of sorrow lingering in her throat. She stopped just before his desk and swallowed hard. Couldn’t miss the look of surprise mixed with irritation that crossed his handsome face.

“Let me call you back,” he said into the phone, his gaze narrowed as he studied her. “It appears I have an urgent matter to attend to.”

He quietly hung up the phone and rested his clasped hands on top of his desk. The consummate picture of cool, calm and collected, it irritated her further. “What’s the problem, Tessa?”

“You think I’m a spy.” Her voice shook. She sounded on the verge of tears but she didn’t care. “You believe I’m disloyal enough to sell out Worth Luxury and all its secrets. How dare you!”

“Sit down and calm yourself,” he ordered and she did so without thought, immediately angry at her easy capitulation. “What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” She breathed deep, trying to calm her racing mind and heart. “I was just called into the human resources manager’s office. Your brother was there. They questioned me. Hunter basically accused me of being some sort of leak of Worth information. Why didn’t you tell me this was happening? Do you think I’m some sort of traitor? Do you not know me that well?”

No, he really didn’t know her that well, but he wanted to. His desire for her grew every minute that she wasn’t near him. The weekend had been a torturous act, one he’d put upon himself. He’d wanted to prove he didn’t need her, was immune to her.

Those long two days without her had been some of the worst of his life. He’d been eager to return to work. Had arrived early to get a lead on everything he knew would be waiting for him. He hadn’t expected the overwhelming workload and regretfully had no chance to really talk to her. Look at her.

Touch her.

Now she sat in his office practically vibrating with anger. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes blazed. He couldn’t help but think just how glorious she was, even in her fury.

“Well?” she asked when the silence stretched between them far too long.

Dread filled him. He’d asked Hunter to inform him when he was ready to talk to Tessa, but he’d been distracted. On the phone all morning discussing the London location, straightening out the final details for the paperwork.

Even spitting mad, she was gorgeous. Tessa looked ready to both chew him up and fall onto her knees sobbing, all at the same time. He wanted to comfort her, tell her it was just a routine procedure that Hunter insisted on carrying out. Maybe he could discreetly pull her into his arms and kiss her. Hug her and hold her close, stroke her slender back with his fingers, press a soft kiss to her forehead…

His phone rang and he picked it up, growling when he realized it was his brother on the other end. “I told you to call me prior to your questioning Tessa.”

“I take it she’s already in your office?” Hunter chuckled though he sounded more frustrated than anything.

“I don’t find this matter amusing.”

The chuckling stopped. “Trust me, I don’t either but your girlfriend is a little spitfire. No wonder you’re fucking her. I imagine she’s quite the wildcat in bed.”

“That’s enough.” If he could reach through the receiver, wrap his hands around Hunter’s neck and throttle him, he would do it, he was that pissed. “I’m not going to tolerate your bullshit any longer.”

Tessa’s eyes widened at his choice words but he ignored her, focusing instead on letting his brother know just how furious he was.

“My apologies,” Hunter said curtly. “If you want to believe some random woman you’re fooling around with over me, fine. Bring the demise of the company down upon our heads. I don’t give a damn.” Before Alex could utter another angry word the line went dead.

His bastard brother had hung up on him.

“I have never spilled a word of private information about Worth, Alex. You must know this.” She paused and released a shuddering breath. “You trust me, don’t you?”

“Of course I trust you,” he murmured. He did.

But her reaction, how angry she was…did it have everything to do with embarrassment and indignation over being accused of such a thing? Or was it fear at potentially being caught?

His mind spun with the possibilities. He hated the doubt that lingered. Hated even more that he couldn’t be rational about any of it, too distracted by the length of her legs, the sexy shoes she wore. Her skirt was short, her legs bare and the urge to run his hands up their silky length was so strong he clenched his hands into fists to control himself.

“I don’t know why Hunter had to say such things.” She shook her head, wiping at the corner of her eye with the tips of her fingers. If she started to cry, he’d lose it. He didn’t know how to deal with a crying woman. “He was just so—mean.”

“He’s notorious for being a killer in the boardroom.” Alex paused, his tone softening when she looked at him with liquid brown eyes. “I think you might be overacting just a bit. Don’t take it so personal.”

“It felt terribly personal.” Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “If you don’t trust me enough to work for you, Alex, tell me now and I’ll leave.”

Panic filled him. He couldn’t imagine Worth without her. “I don’t want you to leave, Tessa.”

She lifted her chin, staring off into the distance. “You’ve ignored me all morning.”

The hurt in her voice was too much for him to withstand. He stood and went to her, kneeling before her and gripping the arms of the chair. “I’ve never ignored you. It’s been a busy morning. You’ve been swamped as well.”

Her gaze met his and held. “This is all too confusing. I don’t know how to act toward you,” she whispered.

That made two of them. “I’ll take you to lunch. We can catch up.”