2

“Ah, I see. Well, then, Alex. I’ll be on the second floor if you need anything. Otherwise, Theo can help you with the stack of accounts and invoicing that I’m behind on. They’ll be moved to your new office. It’s got the best views of the alleyway. You’ll love it, I’m sure.”

“Delighted,” Alex said. “Lovely to see you again, by the way. I look forward to you paying me back someday, also.” “Excuse me?” I asked.

“You, me,” he said playfully with the most handsome smile, “that ex of yours and his girlfriend, who Jim had escorted out of his building this morning? It turns out her name is Haley Burns, and she was quite bold to show up to the gala without an invitation.” He watched my expression, and his eyes glistened under the lights of the room. “She and your ex practically snuck in through the back doors.” He slid his hands into his pockets, and his forehead creased in humor.

“Escorted out of Mitchell and Associates? She was fired?” I asked, knowing my expression that always gave me away probably had this liar ready to burst into laughter after he blasted me with another gotcha!

Instead, he simply nodded to confirm the woman was indeed escorted out. “On top of her attending the gala, we learned quickly that she was not an employee of Mitchell and Associates.” His eyes narrowed some. “Looks like she slipped under the radar over at Mitchell and managed to procure a job in some filing room. With her mentioning she was an employee of Mitchell and Associates, Jim had his high-tech security detail locate the woman as she attempted to sneak into his building. So, unfortunately, the ex-boyfriend and this Haley woman were sloppy, up to no good, and engaged in conversation with the wrong people.” The way he talked was so smug. “Looks like our covert operation to deflate the ex-fiancé did a little bit of good, I’d say.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I questioned. “I’m not surprised in the slightest Max would stoop to this level. He certainly didn’t act like the man I was engaged to when he behaved the way he did at the gala.” I rubbed my forehead. “And as you are well aware…” I paused and sighed. “I wasn’t quite acting like myself either.”

He smirked. “Well, if it helps, from my vantage point, it wasn’t you who showed up without an invite and through lies, of course.”

“But I was late. That’s almost as bad as sneaking in the back doors with lies.” I widened my eyes and chuckled.

“You were late, yes,” he grinned, “but sneaking in? Hardly. You stole the attention of the room from the moment you entered the building, Ms. Stone. In a good way, of course.”

“Of course.” I felt my cheeks flush and ignored it. “Well, I’m glad my unpunctuality didn’t raise issues for either of our companies.”

“Ms. Stone,” he said, his tone changing to that deep baritone rasp he used when he spoke business, “aside from the gala occurrences, I wanted you to be aware that we may be raising security some. Your ex and this woman were there without an invitation for a reason. The woman he was with didn’t seem as though she understood why her new boyfriend was insisting that she tell the entire room she worked for Mr. Mitchell’s

company after they seemingly snuck into the event.”

“Was this woman questioned?” I crossed my arms. Then I sighed. “Not trying to defend the man, but Max wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m not sure why he was there. He was most likely seeking revenge for the way I left him at the altar, as I mentioned to you that night. Instead of him acting like a fool to embarrass me somehow, I did that to myself.”

“The woman was questioned by security when Max and she made the mistake of approaching us, the two executives the gala was being hosted for,” he answered. “I’m only making sure you’re aware of that bizarre situation and what we learned.”

“I appreciate the information,” I answered. “I would have also loved knowing exactly who you were at the time that I dragged you into the middle of my charade that night. Why wouldn’t you have just told me that you were Alexander Grayson?”

“Not to add more insult to injury, but if you were on time to the gala, you would have known that it was Alexander Grayson who you wished to kiss in front of our employees.” He smirked.

My eyes widened, and then I exhaled. I encouraged Alex to follow me to a more private spot in the room. Theo had already been in conversation with Mr. Mitchell and some suits, so it wasn’t too conspicuous.

“That was the booze,” I quietly argued. “You understand that, right? I do not ordinarily behave like that.”

“That’s too bad because I was certainly hoping for that kiss as your new savior, of course.”

“You lied about who you were,” I said, trying to keep the conversation a little more proper to defend my actions.

“I withheld information.” He chuckled. “And let us not cast stones, Ms. Stone. You obviously didn’t do your research on your new partner as I had.” He crossed his arms and grinned.

Do not get lost in this man’s gorgeous looks, sexy smiles, and cunning words.

“We’re done here, Mr. Grayson. Enjoy your office at Stone Company. As I said earlier, Theo will bring an overwhelming amount of paperwork to your new office. I’ll be down on the second floor if you have questions or need my help figuring anything out.”

He smiled. “I believe I will manage just fine. However, are you sure you don’t want to go through this first part alongside me? Numbers? Spreadsheets? Expense reports? Revenue—”

“I trust you’re an educated man,” I said, cutting him off with a smile. “And if you must know, I did do a little research on your capabilities.”

“And I trust you were highly impressed?” He was flirty, and I was struggling to remain firm in my business frame of mind.

Alexander was the opposite. He was relaxed and somehow seductive, and I didn’t know if he was trying to charm me into some trap of his.

“Yes, I was impressed. I see it took three individuals to replace the one position you held at Mitchell and Associates. Not only that, but you’re

remaining on the board at Saint John’s Hospital as well?”

“That’s correct.”

“Well,” I said, “it looks like we’ll hardly be seeing each other at the firm. As partners, you’ll be doing your duties up here, and I’ll be doing mine two floors down. If what you said is true, you will be kept quite busy in your office and behind closed doors.”

I watched him eye me, but with the sound of someone walking over to join us, he opted to seal his lips instead.

“I see everything is working out between you two?” Mr. Mitchell said, joining our conversation. “Ms. Stone, it is great to have your artistic and creative dexterousness merging with Brooks Architectural Firm. This will be a monumental merge for both companies.”

“Thank you. Now, gentlemen, if you’ll both please excuse me. We are facing a deadline, and I’m sure you, Mr. Mitchell,” I politely smiled at him,

“would not be thrilled if we missed it.”

“Then I won’t be keeping you any longer,” he said.

“Mr. Grayson,” I studied his beautiful yet tricky eyes. “It was a pleasure to meet on a better day.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he answered.

“Theo,” I looked at my vice president, “if you don’t mind, please introduce Mr. Grayson and Mr. Mitchell’s team to my assistant, Nicole. She has information packets and everything else should any of you desire to take a full tour of the building.”

That’s when I took my exit. I rolled my eyes at how lame Max and I had both behaved, and Mr. Grayson officially had all that garbage and immaturity to throw in my face if he wanted to. I should have walked out with a good buzz and just went home. Now, Grayson had the upper hand, and I couldn’t allow that. I wasn’t allowing a suit to run my dad’s company with an iron fist. I knew this merge would suck; all company mergers did. Let’s hope the trickster of a man I’d met at the gala at least had a heart when it came to successfully merge the two companies.