Chapter 3

Alexa lifted her shoulders, rolling them back to ease the tension that knotted her spine. She looked at the clock and realized she hadn’t stood from her desk in over an hour. Picking up her laptop, she moved to her standing desk facing the window wall of her office.

She stretched her neck over both shoulders and settled herself in front of her favorite view of Seattle with Mount Rainier and the cityscape stretching wide before her with glimpses of the water through the hills. Well, it was her second favorite view. Her favorite was from Lake Union Park where she had coffee and read on the weekends at the harbor. The mountains were beautiful, but her heart was drawn to the water.

This view from her office—the buildings, the sky, the mountains—was stunning in a way she could appreciate in her business mind. The hustle and bustle of this city had fascinated her from childhood. Her father often brought her to work with him at Caliber, Inc. when she was young and he was still building the power tool production company, and she’d been content to read her books in front of the window in his office while dreaming of the far reaches of that scenery that stretched before her.

Now, she had her own office in the Caliber headquarters high-rise. Fortunately, she could still admire the same view she grew up loving. When she’d proven herself and climbed her way up the company ranks, she’d chosen the office next to her father’s.

The view was only one reason she’d wanted this space. Being the COO of Caliber meant she needed to have easy communication lines with the CEO, her father.

A lot of good that had done her. All her company-conscious decisions might not be enough to secure her future with Caliber. She was certain that Aiden wouldn’t have a place for her here if he were to be chosen for the CEO position. He’d always seen her as competition.

Irene, her father’s assistant, buzzed her phone. “Alexaa, Mr. Salvatore Bradford is on line two for you.”

Panic flooded her body. Salvatore never called her. Their quarterly meetings were set up through their assistants. She grabbed for the phone with less grace than normal.

“This is Alexa Black.”

“Good afternoon, Alexa. How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you for asking. And yourself?” Her hand trembled as she waited to find out the reason for his phone call. Her chest was tight, and she gasped for air. Afraid he’d hear her hyperventilating, she pulled the phone an inch from her ear.

“I’m doing well. I was calling to see if you could meet with me today. I have something I would like to discuss with you.”

“Of course. Is everything all right with the proposal I sent over this morning?”

“Certainly. This isn’t about your proposal actually. It’s more about… mine. It’s more of a personal matter. Could we meet outside the office?”

She didn’t understand what he meant, but her curiosity was running wild. “Would you like to meet at Lake Union Park?” It was a short walk from her work, but about a twenty-minute drive for him.

“Perfect. Would you meet me at the café in the museum at three o’clock? I’d love to buy you coffee, then we could walk and talk.”

Did he know she had coffee there every Sunday morning before church? She was a creature of habit, and she loved walking the park paths.

She looked at the clock to see that it was two thirty. What could possibly be important enough to warrant such a quick meeting in the middle of work hours? “That sounds lovely. I look forward to our meeting.” She hardly ever left work in the middle of the day, but Salvatore must need something important to call her directly, much less schedule a meeting outside the office.

Hope bloomed in her chest as she realized his demeanor was friendly. Surely, the news was good, but what could it possibly be?

“I look forward to seeing you as well.” He sounded hopeful, and Alexa found it hard to believe he had bad news. Perhaps she was overreacting.

She ended the call and looked up to see her assistant, Lorie, standing in the doorway with her arms folded over her sleek blouse. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Alexa was still stunned from the unexpected phone call.

“Mr. Dreamy bypassing me to get straight to you. You never take your own phone calls.” Lorie stepped into the office and closed the door behind her.

Alexa turned away and busied herself on the computer. “He asked for me directly. He’s an important client.”

“I know that, but what was he calling about? He’s never called here. He always has his assistant call.”

Alexa gathered her hair over one shoulder. “I really don’t know. He wants to meet me at Lake Union Park in a few minutes.” She had a ten-minute walk and needed to get going.

“Did something happen on your date last night?”

“For the last time, it wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting, and nothing happened.”

Alexa felt the blood drain from her face as she remembered telling him about her father’s decision to step away from the company. Surely, this wasn’t about that. He’d said it was a personal matter.

“Whatever. A romantic dinner with Mr. Money sounds like a date to me. How often do women get to have dinner with a handsome billionaire? In case you were wondering, the answer for me is never.”

It was no secret that Lorie thought Salvatore Bradford was the hottest bachelor in the Pacific Northwest, and she often forgot her professional demeanor when the man’s name was brought up in conversation.

Lorie was intelligent and career-driven enough to impress Alexaa’s father, despite her young age. She was fresh out of college with her bachelor’s degree in computer science, and Martin Black hadn’t been able to let her leave her first interview without a job offer.

Alexa adored Lorie and Irene, her father’s assistant. When Alexaa’s work became her life after college, her work friends became her only friends.

Irene and Lorie’s desks were adjacent to each other in the open space outside the corporate offices. The three women worked well together, and her father was pleased because they never caused drama in the office. He’d gone through dozens of assistants over the years before he’d found Irene. She was personable, in her late forties, and loved the company as much as the family.

“It really wasn’t a date, and you need to stop using nicknames for him before someone in the office hears you.”

Lorie waved her off. “Irene is the only one who could hear, and she won’t tell.”

“Plus, he was dating Vanessa Calloway just a few months ago,” Alexa reminded Lorie. “He dates A-list actresses, not corporate executives.”

Alexa had heard the stories of how Vanessa Calloway had publicly cheated on Salvatore with her current costar. As if breakups weren’t terrible enough, his had been televised and on the front of magazines and home pages of celebrity information websites for weeks.

No, she certainly shouldn’t have any expectations for her meeting with Salvatore. He was a billionaire who dated leading actresses. She hadn’t been on a date in weeks. Granted, it was her own decision to forgo dates right now. She’d been on too many first dates and not enough second dates, and her confidence with men was shot. She just needed a break for a while. After all, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different result.

“What does that matter?” Lorie asked. “She was a snake. You’re much better than her.”

“You don’t even know her.” Alexa waved her hand in the air and turned. “It doesn’t matter. I need to get going. I really don’t know what he called about, but I would tell you if I could.”

Alexa grabbed her small purse and pea coat before leading Lorie out into the open space where the assistant’s desks were located.

Alexa was locking her office door when she heard Irene buzz her brother. “Aiden, Mr. Rochester is on line three for you.”

Alexa didn’t care to linger to hear what her brother had to say, but Aiden’s voice echoed through the speakerphone immediately.

“I’m a little busy, Irene. Tell him I’ll catch up with him tomorrow.”

Irene didn’t miss a beat. “You would do well to remember he’s an important investor. Plus, you might not be so busy all the time if you made it to the office before ten in the morning.”

Irene wasn’t one to sugarcoat the truth. At least someone reminded Aiden that his responsibilities were waiting for him before noon. Alexa couldn’t imagine working half days and being able to get through her workload. She opted to come to work around six in the morning so she could leave early enough to make her evening yoga class with Lorie and Irene at seven in the evening three times a week.

Aiden paused, and she could tell he was practically biting his tongue. “Fine.” He disconnected the intercom, and Irene smiled up at Alexa. Irene was accustomed to Aiden’s attitude, and she threw hers right back at him.

Where Alexa had chosen the office connected to her father’s, Aiden had been adamant about an office on the other side of the building.

Alexa and Aiden weren’t really close for siblings. Their parents divorced when Aiden was six and Alexa only four. She’d begged to live with their father, while Aiden had stood beside their mother—abandoned and scorned.

It’d been years since Aiden had come to work for the company, but it was clear his work ethic was lacking. Or maybe Alexa just had high expectations for Caliber employees, especially those in the C-suite—the CEO, the COO, the CIO—they needed to be at their very best at all times.

Alexa had been the Chief Operating Officer for over a year now, and her position was second only to her father. Aiden was the Chief Information Officer, which wasn’t anything to scoff at, but she often wondered if their father had given him the position to make up for the trauma of the divorce.

“I’ll catch up with you tonight at yoga.” Alexa waved over her shoulder at her friends as she stepped toward the elevators.

Lorie called to Alexa the doors closed. “I want all the juicy details!”