Beauty and the Brooding Boss / Friends to Forever: Beauty and the Brooding Boss / Friends to Forever

“You don’t need to be concerned.”

“I know I don’t have to. Maybe I—”

The low sound of jazz music interrupted. Her phone. As expected, the moment the song rang out, Alex backed away leaving her hand hovering in the air. Balling her still tingling fingers into a fist, she reached into her skirt pocket with the other and fished out the phone.

“Frutti de Mar.”

Between the static and the non sequitur, it took her a moment before she recognized the voice. “Tom?”

“Looks like I made as good an impression as I thought.”

“We parted company less than an hour ago. Kind of hard not to remember.”

She turned her back. Feeling Alex’s probing stare burning holes in her spine, she tried her best to sound casual. “What can I do for you?”

“I told you. Frutti de Mar. Best gourmet seafood around, at least for this area. I find myself with a table for two and only one chair filled. I was hoping you could fill the other.”

“You want to have dinner? Tonight?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Alex walk away, their moment from before a distant memory.

If there had even been a moment. She could have imagined the whole thing. Just like last night’s spark in the dark.

Or the way she was imagining the air cooling with his departure.

“Seven o’clock okay?”

“What?” Her attention had been on the man disappearing into the trees.

“For dinner. Does seven o’clock work for you?”

“I, uh …” It’s not like she had any other plans. Tom was a nice guy. A pleasant guy who wanted to take her out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. But for some reason, she couldn’t work up the interest.

Her eyes drifted back to the tree line. “Can I take a rain check?”

She’d give him credit. The rejection barely fazed him. “Sure. But so you know, I have every intention of holding you to it. We will have dinner one of these nights.”

“If you say so.” But she already knew she’d turn down the next invitation as well.

They talked for a few more minutes, basically polite chatter so her refusal didn’t feel too unfriendly, before Kelsey went to work. For the next few hours she immersed herself in transcription until her brain couldn’t take the dark subject matter any longer and screamed for a break. Then, unable to look at the screen another second, she saved her document, grabbed her coffee cup and headed into the great room.

What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

CHAPTER FOUR

ALEX sat by the French doors.

Actually slumped was a better description. Kelsey rushed towards him.

“Are you all right?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Eyes closed, face paler than before, he was leaning forward with a hand cradling his forehead. His walking stick lay discarded by his feet. “It’s your head, isn’t it?”

“Go away,” he groaned through motionless lips. “I’m fine.”

“Liar. You look like you’re ready to pass out.” He looked up at her with glazed eyes, proving her point. “I’m calling your doctor. What’s his name?”

“No doctor.”

“Are you crazy? This could be a complication from your injury.” Like a blood clot or something. Her insides froze at the thought he could be seriously hurt and she hadn’t realized.

“It’s not a complication, it’s a migraine.” His eyes closed again. “I just need to sit for a while. Regain my equilibrium.”

From the looks of him, that might take a while. Kelsey didn’t think a person could look more miserable if they tried. She remembered when Rochelle, her second foster mother, would get migraines. She’d kick all the kids outside for the day, no matter the weather. “And no making noise either,” she’d order.

At her worst, Rochelle had never looked as miserable as Alex.

Remembering Rochelle made her think of something else. “Do you take anything? Some kind of prescription?”

Alex made a rumble deep in his throat. “Upstairs. In the bathroom.” He continued speaking that stiffjawed manner, as if the mere act of talking hurt.

“Do you want me to help you upstairs,” she asked, reaching for his elbow, “so you can take—”

“No!” He said the word forcefully, so much so he winced immediately, and dropped to a whisper. “I just need to sit. Alone. Please leave.”

“And let you suffer? I don’t think so. Where upstairs do you keep your prescription?”

“My bathroom medicine cabinet.”

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

She dashed upstairs, making her way to the bedroom next to hers. Alex’s room was exactly as she expected, chic and dark and very masculine. Rust, beige and brown, like a fall landscape. Magazines and books covered what looked like an expensive, king-size bed.

She walked into the bathroom, momentarily envious of the airy modern style. The scent of wood and clove hung in the air telling her Alex had been there recently. A plastic sleeve, presumably worn to keep his cast dry, hung from the shower rod and the mat in front of the shower stall was still damp. Suddenly she was assaulted by the image of Alex standing under the stream, water cascading down his body …

Blushing from the inappropriateness, she shoved the image away. Now was not the time to start some kind of weird, useless fantasy. She found the prescription bottle in the medicine cabinet. Grabbing it and a glass of water, she headed back downstairs.

Alex hadn’t moved. If he hadn’t shifted uncomfortably when she walked back into the room, she’d have thought him asleep. “Probably a little late for this to kill the pain completely, but it might help a little. Hold out your hand.”

He grumbled, but did what she asked.

Kelsey smiled at her victory. “Now, how about you lie down? Do you think you can make it to the sofa?”

“I’ve got a headache—I’m not paralyzed.”

Good to see the headache didn’t spoil his charming demeanor. She watched as he eased himself into an upright position. Body bent, shoulders and head stiff, he shuffled across the floor like an arthritic old man. It was all she could do not to wrap her arm around his waist and help him. In fact, if she wasn’t certain he’d bite her head off, she would have.

Instead, she followed quietly while he made his way across the room and eased himself onto the sofa.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to your room? You’d be more comfortable in a bed.”