done that.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re apologizing to me?”
“Yes, I am. Do you accept my apology?”
He had completely flabbergasted her. Where was the anger and outrage she expected from him? This man was truly hard to figure out; she never knew what he was going to say or do next.
“Of course I do. Thank you.” She magnanimously added, “I’m sorry for barging into your office.”
“It’s already forgotten.” He waved her apology away. “You may have figured out that I can be very demanding, Nicole.”
“Yes, I had noticed that,” Nicole quickly agreed around a smile.
“Right.” Humor lit up his gorgeous eyes. “I’m going to be hard on you, but I promise to give you a fair shot.”
“I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
“Truce?” He offered his hand.
“Truce.” She placed her hand in his momentarily, but that was long enough for needles of awareness to shoot through her. “I’m looking forward to working here, Alexander.”
“And work you will,” he assured before standing and leaving her staring after him.
Seconds later, Monique walked out of her office to perch on the edge of Nicole’s desk. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey.” Nicole tore her attention from Alexander’s retreating back and focused on her colleague.
“You and the boss looked rather cozy.”
“He was just showing me something.”
“Really?” Monique grinned. “Do tell, what?”
“Something about work,” Nicole said with a shake of her head.
“Oh, okay.” Nicole raised an eyebrow at her skeptical tone. “You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?”
“He’s—” Nicole paused, unsure of how to finish that sentence. Finally, she ended, “—very complicated.”
“Truly,” Monique agreed.
“I never know what he’s going to do or say.” Nicole glanced around to make sure he wasn’t within earshot. “He’s so...temperamental.”
“He definitely is. I think it’s the artist in him. He’s also very fair.”
“I hope so.”
“Trust me, he is.” Monique couldn’t resist adding, “You’ll find that out soon enough.”
“Here’s the sketch you asked me to revise.”
“Nice subject change.” Monique took the sketch from her and studied it. “Very good. I like it a lot.”
“I’m glad.”
“You’ve got talent, girl. I see why the boss hired you.”
Nicole placed a hand on her hip in fake outrage. “Did you ever doubt it?”
“Never.” Monique smiled. “Work me up two variations of this sketch—one with a longer skirt and the other with a different top.”
“I’m on it.” Nicole flipped to a clean page in her draft book. “When do you need them?”
“How does tomorrow around noon sound?”
“Perfect.”
“Great. I’ll let you get back to work.” Monique stood. “If you have any questions, holler.”
“Will do,” Nicole agreed, reaching for her charcoal pencil and bending her head to study the sketch on her desk.
Her hand froze in midair as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She felt rather than saw Alexander’s eyes on her. Slowly glancing up, she found him standing across the room at Crystal’s desk. He was nodding as though listening to something she was saying, but his eyes were glued on Nicole. She returned his intense stare for a few seconds before lowering her eyes back to her sketch, pretending interest in her design when she was really wondering what that look was all about.
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