LOGINShare
SO... WE MEET AGAIN
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56The next morning, while traveling to the city in a cab, Alanis was looking out the window, with a ferocious frown on her sweet, gracious face. Absently, she touched her thick briefcase, packed with papers for that morning meeting.
Brody McLean… McLean… The moment she walked into the cab to go back home from the gallery, she realized who the arrogant man was. Only the most powerful tycoon in the country… She should’ve known the name but she just hadn't connected it with ‘McLean Marine’.
The moment she got home and looked at the e-mails and all the data George and Michael sent her, Alanis had a shock. Yes, she had just given the brush-off to one of the most powerful men in the States.
‘Brody McLean&helli
Related chapters
HEAD OVER HEELS YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
No… No, she wouldn't, but she couldn't say so. Alanis knew Brody was going to tear all her ideas apart… He was going to get this revenge that would be incredibly satisfying for him and painful for herself, but there was absolutely nothing Alanis could do about it. She looked around and hid her frustration behind a very polite smile. Even if she was annoyed by Brody’s presence, Alanis knew she had put herself there.“Certainly, Mr. McLean,” Alanis said but she avoided his intent eyes as she lifted her briefcase onto her lap and extracted the night's work. “I've approached the concept from several different angles, actually, as I wasn't sure how formal or extravagant you wanted the launch to be. Now, this was the first idea I had…” As always while she
HEAD OVER HEELS ALWAYS ON MY MIND
John Dixon was ten years older than she and quite out of her reach, with his flashy red sports car and his succession of tall, model-type girlfriends that he seemed to change like socks. Their parents had been friends since they moved to Chicago. Alanis had loved John from afar, absolutely tongue-tied if they ever happened to meet around town, watching him like a lovesick puppy and hanging on his every word. When he had started to flirt with her was still a blurry memory. She had heard rumors that his last girlfriend, a sophisticated, leggy blonde with the face of an angel and the figure of a goddess, had thrown him over and that he was upset about it, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to believe the hearsay. Who in their right mind would reject John Dixon?
HEAD OVER HEELS WHERE DOES MY HEART BEAT NOW?
“Alanis. How nice to see you again. I trust you had a good flight?” The deep, dark voice poured over her like liquid fire.“It was fine, thank you,” she responded carefully. As Brody took her small hand in his, his large fingers swallowing hers whole, Alanis forced herself to betray none of the agitation that had taken over her as soon as he had stridden into the hotel's small conference room. On arriving in Germany, she had been met at the airport by an impressive limousine that had swept her in style to the luxurious first-class hotel where she was going to stay. There she had been received with such regard that had left her confused until she'd realized the place was part of a hotel chain that belonged to
HEAD OVER HEELS TO BE ALONE WITH YOU
While saying that last words, Alanis kinda lost her voice as Brody stood looking down at her, his silver-grey eyes gleaming in the dull artificial light overhead and his face perfectly still. Even if he wasn't speaking, especially when he wasn't speaking, the cold, compelling aura of the man was fiercely strong.“You don't lie very well… Unlike most of the other women, I might add,” Brody replied thoughtfully after a few tense moments had passed. “You'd really find my company so unpleasant? So difficult to endure?”“I-I… It's not that. I'm just…”“Tired?” He cut into her red-faced mutterings with cool composure as the elevator doors glided silently open, and Alanis knew her legs were trembling slightly as she stepped into the carpeted box.“Alanis, you are 28 years of age and free as a bird&he
HEAD OVER HEELS LET GO FOR TONIGHT
As they reached the ground floor and the elevator opened onto the luxurious reception area, Alanis smiled coolly, her back straight.“Of course, I relax,” she said. “Often.”“Wow, did I saw a smile?” Brody said looking at her and smiled back. Since she avoided looking back and didn’t answer his laconic remark, Brody kept going.“When?” he challenged quietly.“What?” This time, Alanis stared up at him as he brought her to a halt by turning her to face him, his large hands under her elbows.“When do you relax?” he asked patiently, his voice soft. “I mean really relax, Alanis.”“I… All the time.”
HEAD OVER HEELS WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
“Red it is, then.” When another waiter handed her the menu, she was immensely thankful to see that it was printed in German, French, and English, although even so most of the dishes were unknown to her. “If I may… I would recommend you the lobster and avocado salad,” he spoke after she had been eyeing the list for a few moments, his voice casual as he kept his eyes on his own menu. “That sounds wonderful.” Alanis nodded her approval, and as Brody spoke swiftly to the waiter in rapid German, the wine waiter came back, his face wreathed in smiles as he poured a small amount of what was clearly a very expensive wine for Brody to taste. Once they were alone again, Alanis forced herself to speak lightly as Brody settled back comfortably in his chair, his strange silver-grey eyes narrowe
HEAD OVER HEELS THE NIGHT WHEN EVERYTHING STARTED
“I didn't say that.” ‘Oh, hell! Why can I keep my big mouth shut?’ Alanis thought despairingly. She was going to look like an idiot however this conversation went.“I see... So, you were just enquiring about my ego’s level for the sake of the conversation?” Brody drawled mockingly. “Your own special type of after-dinner conversation, I presume?”“Well… I-I… It…” Alanis had been right. She was looking like the biggest idiot in the Universe. It was time to calm down, bring her stammering voice under control, and straighten her back against the leather seat.“Mr. McLean…”“Seriously, Alanis? Again with this Mr. McLean thing?”
HEAD OVER HEELS HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME
Brody’s voice was grave and Alanis didn't dare glance at his face, keeping her eyes shut as she settled into the car seat, pretending to be very tired. The truth was she had never been more awake in her entire life. Every nerve, every muscle was screaming for release. She kept absolutely still for several minutes until Brody spoke again, his voice silky and cool in the darkness.“Cows I can take, and even the fact that I've put the car in a ditch in the middle of nowhere… I can even get over the fact that there's an important call coming through from Japan to the hotel at midnight, that I won’t be able to take. But what drives me out of my mind is the fact that you're near me, and you’re as rigid as an ironing board. What the hell do you think I might do to you? I thought I'd reassured you earlier that rape isn't my thing!”&
Latest chapter
HEAD OVER HEELS ALWAYS BE MY BABY
“Don't you understand that? The price of having me for your wife would be too high, Brody. You would never see your child born, hear its first cry, hold it in your arms. Never search a tiny face, seeking to find a little bit of me, a little bit of you. Never be able to say 'my son'…”“I know, Alanis. I know all that.” If he dodged the issue now, he would lose her forever, Brody knew that. Just as he had known, the moment she lost control, that she loved him. But he might still lose her, and that wasn't an option.“No, Brody! You don't, not really.” Alanis was gasping now, her body shaking in his arms, and, slowly, he lowered her to the ground, to sit on the beach. He was facing her with his hands cupping her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.“I really do, sweetheart. I understa
HEAD OVER HEELS I'M NO GOOD FOR YOU!
After that evening, Alanis barely survived. For the next few weeks, the strain of keeping her pain hidden by trying to maintain a bright, efficient image at work, brought her near to breaking point. And the last week of October, when she was due to fly out to France to oversee the launch was even worse. She hadn't seen or spoken to Brody since the night of her birthday. All their communication had been through e-mails, texts, and his icy PA, although she had had the strangest feeling more than once that a pair of unseen eyes were watching her every movement. It was stupid, Alanis knew it was stupid, but the sensation persisted right up until the day she flew out to France, alone. She had reserved a room in a fairly mediocre hotel for the duration of her five-day stay, along with a hire car to be delivered t
HEAD OVER HEELS SLOW DANCING IN A BURNING ROOM
Brody smiled and invited her in.“Frequented by a resident housekeeper and her handyman husband along with several cats, in case you're worried you will be all alone with the big bad wolf,” Brody drawled mockingly. “Mrs. Clancy has been in the kitchen all day preparing for tonight, so don't run away now,” he added warningly. The interior of the house was stunning, as she had known it would be, from the uniquely beautiful galleried entrance hall to the large, high ceilinged reception rooms, right through to the massive olde-worlde kitchen, where Alanis met the impressive Mrs. Clancy, all flushed and trying to put the last touches on their dinner. Every corner of his house was absolutely amazing. Alanis never thought she could see such a place in Chicago. She loved it all, but then she had known sh
HEAD OVER HEELS I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN... AND IN MY HOUSE
The next week passed, and then the next, and the only contact she had with Brody was by telephone or in brief meetings where he was very much the remote tycoon and kept everyone on their toes, bossing everyone around. Alanis flew out to France twice in the next few weeks but made sure her schedule could be accommodated in day trips which didn't necessitate more than a day and a half. She informed Brody's PA each time she planned to go, but Brody didn't join her as she had half expected… and wanted. The period was pretty stressful. She was eating less, sleeping less, working harder, and more confused than she had ever been in the days following the accident. August came, blazed brightly, and left, and in the second week of September, Alanis woke up one morning to the knowledge that it was her twenty-ninth birthday and she was
HEAD OVER HEELS TOO GOOD AT SAYING NO
Thursday was a day she endured with gritted teeth, both dreading and longing for the moment when she opened the door that evening. There was a mountain of work waiting for her concerning the ‘Sea Hawk’ project when she got into the office, but the chaotic pace helped overall, although the lack of sleep the night before had her light-headed by the time Alanis left office at 5. And the apartment was empty. Sickeningly, stomach-wrenchingly empty. Alanis forced herself to make a sandwich that went straight in the bin, swallowed a couple of aspirins for her blinding headache, then went to lie down on the bed to rest her aching head before she started ringing around some neighbors. Alanis had found that the only way she could function that day was to blot all thoughts of Brody out of her mind, and now, as she slippe
HEAD OVER HEELS I CAN HEAL THE PAIN
The damn cat! He'd wring its neck himself when he found it! “I promise,” she said shakily. It felt strange to be worried over… Alanis hadn't had anyone show any real concern for what she did for so long that she had forgotten how good it felt. “Okay, Alanis. Now, give me the torch you used and I'll go looking for an hour or two,” Brody said quietly, narrowing his eyes and noticing the exhausted drop of her shoulders and the downward tilt to her mouth. “I… I haven't got a torch,” she admitted guiltily, expecting a further lecture on the seriousness of her crime. But Brody merely stared at her for another moment without speaking, shaking his dark head slowly as though he was lost for words, before turning to leave. “Brody, please… I want to come too…” “No.” &nbs
HEAD OVER HEELS DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT A THING
The day after, their breakfast together was a cool affair, with Brody standoffish and cold behind his newspaper after a superficial good morning and a sharp, penetrating glance at her white face and shadowed eyes. Their journey to the airport, the long flight to the States, the car ride through Chicago to her apartment… all were conducted in the same distant, remote silence, broken only by a casual, impersonal word exchange about the ‘Sea Hawk’ project. When they drew up outside her house, Brody gestured to his chauffeur, who had been waiting at the airport, to remain in the car, and carried her suitcase himself, despite her insistence that she could manage. The tall, commanding tycoon in the designer-cut suit and hand-made Italian shoes
HEAD OVER HEELS TONIGHT I WANT TO CRY
Alanis must’ve slept in the warmth of the evening sun, but some sixth sense suddenly brought her awake to find herself staring straight into Brody's eyes where he lay propped on his lounger watching her. She couldn't remember falling asleep… Certainly, she hadn't intended to as she had lain there stiff and taut, her mind exploring endless possibilities and explanations that would contest what her heart was telling her. No, she couldn’t be in love with him… This was pure madness. And besides, she didn't want to! She didn't want to love anyone, least of all Brody. But… she did. Utterly, madly, and helplessly. And certainly hopelessly.“Sleeping Beauty…” He smiled lazily as his eyes caressed her face.&l
HEAD OVER HEELS LOVE... THY WILL BE DONE!
“What?” Alanis stared at him, unable to believe she was hearing right.“And don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you at all. You know exactly what I’m talking about, Alanis. He knows about your past life, your old boyfriend, this John… What is Jacques Benoit to you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yet, I'm left standing there like a fool under the sun. Oh, to hell with it!” Brody ground out the words through clenched teeth.“What does it matter anyway?”“But I don't know Jacques Benoit,” she said confusedly, utterly bewildered by the rage darkening the rugged features.“Exactly! He’s a stranger to you, a complete stranger, yet he knows more about you than I do. How do you think that made me feel?” Brody asked furiously, his eyes slits of silver.“I&h
