I touch my cheeks gingerly. He’s right. The skin is much more relaxed than it was a bit ago.
“You’re right- and thank you for the idea. I hadn’t even though of it. Maybe you should have been a doctor.”
“Ah, but then I would have had to see na**d women all day at work, you know- without their underwear and stuff. Oh, wait! That happens to me now!” He laughs as he watches my face. My face, obviously, explodes into flame.
“I’m kidding,” he tells me. “I shouldn’t find it so funny, but I can’t help it. I hope you don’t find it inappropriate. You have to admit that this entire situation is hilarious.”
I nod miserably.
“I know. It is,” I admit. “Lately, with every stupid stunt that I pull, it feels like I’m having an out of body experience. Like I keep watching someone else do all the dumb stuff that I keep doing.”
Alex just chuckles. “Don’t worry about it. I had a period after my divorce when I went a little crazy too. It will pass and things will get back to normal again.”
I nod because I know he’s right, but the trouble is that I don’t even know what normal is. I’m going to have to find a new normal, I think. I walk him to the door and thank him for coming to get the file and apologize once again for ruining his crotch.
“Of your pants,” I add, stammering.
He grins.
“It was good to see you today, Alli,” he smiles. “Really.”
And he’s gone.
And I’ve only made it to my hallway before he’s back, grinning sheepishly as he pokes his head in the door.
“Um, my car won’t start,” he says with a shake of his head. “I’m going to call a tow-truck. Then do you mind if I wait here with you?”
I stare at him. “Your car won’t start? What in the world do you drive?”
I walk to the window and glance out onto my drive to see a gleaming black BMW. It’s clearly brand new.
“Hmm. Well, even the best things break,” I say as I turn around. “Of course you can wait in here. Would you like that drink now?”
Alex nods. “That would be great.”
He finds a tow-truck company on his phone and then calls them while I pour him a glass of wine. And then one for myself. I motion to him that I’ll be right back and I make my way to my bedroom to get dressed.
I have to force myself not to put on something sexy.
I am startled by that inclination.
I want to look sexy for my boss?
But my boss is drop-dead sexy, I remind myself.
So of course I want to look sexy too. I pull on a pair of yoga pants instead and a t-shirt. It’s a snug, v-neck t-shirt, but it’s still a t-shirt. And the yoga pants do make my ass look good, but they’re still yoga pants. I glance into the mirror. My face looks a little better, but it’s still not phenomenal. But at least the Elephant Man look is gone. It definitely didn’t suit me.
When I return to the kitchen, Alex is off the phone.
“You look better,” he announces, looking for all intents and purposes like a GQ model as he turns away from the windows and smiles at me.
“Well, getting dressed will do that to a person,” I answer. When I smile now, my face doesn’t feel tight from the swelling. That’s got to be a good thing.
“Okay,” I say as I gaze around my kitchen. “Pretty much the only things that I have to eat are chocolate, popcorn and a bunch of frozen vegetables. I’m hungry though. Want to call in some Chinese while we wait for the tow-truck? I’ve got them on speed-dial.”
Alex laughs. “I thought your kitchen was too clean to actually be used. I’d love Chinese. I know it’s only 5:00, but I skipped lunch today since I had to duck out early.”
I shrug as I reach for the phone.
“I’m not that much of a cook,” I tell him honestly. “But I can bake a frozen pizza with the best of them. And I’m excellent at dialing the phone.”
He laughs again as I order our dinner. I then pour us two more glasses of wine and we settle onto the patio to wait.
“So, how did you decide to come to Zellers?” I ask, making polite small talk. I am purposely ignoring the way his stomach is wash-board flat. The only ripples on it are from muscles. And I can practically see them through his tailored shirt. I feel a hot flash coming on from the mere thought, so I keep my eyes trained upon his.
He drums his fingers on the patio table and I look at them. They are long and slender, but very manly at the same time. He’s got sexy hands. I sigh. Why would they be anything else? They’re attached to a sexy body.
Focus, imbecile! I reprimand myself. And I fixate on his eyes again.
Which of course doesn’t help because he’s got gorgeous eyes.
But I keep mine focused on them and ignore the way his full lips move as he speaks.
“Well, one of my good friends is a recruiter. And when he saw this position, he thought it would be a perfect fit for me. He knew that I’d been wanting to make a change. I really kind of wanted a complete and total new start.”
I stare at him.
“Are you from here?”
“Yes,” Alex answers as he takes a drink of wine. “But after my divorce, I moved across town and sort of changed my life in every way. I’ve started some hobbies, made some healthy changes… stuff like that. Sometimes, when you’re married, you forget to grow as an individual because you’re so focused on being part of a unit.”
“How long ago were you divorced?” I ask curiously. For some reason, I had it in my head that it had been awhile.
“Eighteen months,” he says. “And I’m all the better for it.”
I sip at my wine, too. God, I love wine.
“What happened? Why did you divorce?”
“We grew apart,” he shrugs. “I thought we were fine, and apparently, my wife was fine… but she was fine with her tennis instructor. So…we divorced. I’m not one of those freaks who likes to share my wife.”
He grins wryly and I want to hug him suddenly. I certainly know what it feels like to get cheated on. But who in their right mind would cheat on Alex Harris?? Holy cow, what a silly wench his ex must be.