Emma Darcy - The Billionaire's New Year Gift

P.J. was still laughing. “Maybe I should arrange for him to have some lessons.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Think so? Okay, then. I will.” Somehow she didn’t think her father was going to be pleased, but she had to hand it to Allison and Peter. They had guts.

“So what are you doing tonight?” Peter asked. “Got a hot date?”

P.J. snorted. “Yeah. Sure. Actually, I was just getting ready to join some of the guys from work at a local pub.”

“I won’t keep you then. See you next week, okay?”

They said their goodbyes, and P.J. finished clearing off her desk, then headed out the door. Fifteen minutes later, she walked into Jake’s Grill. Quickly scanning the crowded room, she spied the group from HuntCom.

Even as she told herself she wasn’t looking for him, her gaze traveled around the group to see if Alex was there. When she didn’t see him, she told herself she wasn’t disappointed. If anything, she was relieved.

But she knew she was lying.

“Hey, P.J.’ Bout time you got here.” This came from Mike Fields, who worked out at the docks.

Everyone scooted their chairs to make room for her, and P.J. grabbed an empty chair from another table and squeezed in between Carrie Wancheck and Chick Fogarty.

She motioned to a nearby waitress. “I’ll have a bottle of Beck’s, Jessie.”

“Sure thing, P.J.”

Carrie nudged P.J.’s arm. “You just missed Alex.”

P.J.’s traitorous heart skipped a beat. “Alex who?”

“Oh, c’mon, P.J. Alex Noble. Your new sexy employee. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh. Him.”

“Yeah, him. I tried to persuade him to go to Costello’s with me, but he had to leave.”

P.J. pretended indifference. “Maybe he had a date.”

Carrie frowned. “Think so?”

“A man like him? I don’t see him sitting home on a Friday night.”

“Shoot. You’re probably right. Well, I’m not giving up. Guys like Alex don’t come along every day.”

“You know, Carrie, he really is a lot older than you are. And you don’t know anything about him.”

“He’s gorgeous, he’s well-spoken, he smells good, and he has a fantastic smile. I mean, those dimples! ” Carrie sighed. “The only thing he doesn’t have is money.”

P.J. refrained from rolling her eyes. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, please. As if he’d be working as a picker if he did . I mean, come on, P.J.”

Not for the first time, P.J. wondered what her coworkers would think if they knew about her and her family. Then again, she knew what they’d think. It was the reason she’d decided to use initials instead of her first name, which was Paige, when she’d come to work for HuntCom.

P.J. wanted to be treated like everyone else, and if they’d known she was the daughter of Peter Prescott Kincaid and—until she’d repudiated it—heiress to a multimillion-dollar trust fund, there was no way she’d be one of the guys the way she was now.

“Well, money or not, he’s still too old for you,” P.J. said.

“He’s not that old. I’m guessing he’s in his early thirties.”

“Thirty-six.” P.J. had checked his application.

“So? That’s only fifteen years older than me. Big deal.”

“He might have an ex-wife and ten kids.”

“Oh, please,” Carrie said, rolling her eyes.

P.J. could see that nothing she said was going to head Carrie off. She had set her sights on Alex, and she wasn’t going to be persuaded otherwise.

And why should you care?

She didn’t care. As a thirty-year-old, more experienced woman, she just felt she should look out for the younger women at work, that’s all.

But even as she told herself this, P.J. knew she was lying to herself. For some reason, Alex Noble intrigued her. More than intrigued her.

Admit it, you’re attracted to him .

Even though there was something about him that just didn’t add up and even though she’d told Courtney she didn’t believe in dating an employee and even though she knew there’d be no future in it—how could there be, given her situation?—she knew ifAlex Noble were to ask her out, she would want to say yes.

But it would be madness. Absolute madness. Dating Alex Noble would do nothing but cause trouble for her.

So, regretfully, even if he were to ask her out, she would have to say no.

Now that he was almost home, Alex wasn’t sure he really wanted to go there. So what did he want to do? He was hungry, but he didn’t feel like stopping at any of the restaurants he’d seen and eating by himself. Nor did he feel like cooking tonight, although cooking was one of his passions.

Normally he loved cooking for himself, and he never minded eating alone. But tonight…tonight he wanted company.

Oh, hell, admit it. You’re lonely .

He wondered what his brothers would say if he ever admitted this to them. They all seemed perfectly happy to be single. Well, maybe not Justin anymore. Now that Lily, the mother of his child, was back in his life, he seemed different. Alex knew without being told that calling Lily when he first knew he had to find a bride quickly was one of the best decisions Justin had ever made. It was obvious that he cared about her. Alex didn’t know the background of the two of them—only that they’d been lovers at one time.

But J.T. and Gray? They were stereotypical, self-possessed and self-absorbed bachelors—J.T. with his island and Gray with his business interests.

Alex had always known he was different from his brothers, and this deep-seated loneliness had always isolated him even more. Part of Alex knew the loneliness would only be assuaged by having someone to share his life, someone who loved him unconditionally. He also knew he probably wouldn’t feel this way if he’d had that kind of love from either his mother or Harry.

Don’t go there .

Alex forced himself to stop thinking about what he didn’t have in his life. Long ago he’d made up his mind that he wasn’t going to feel sorry for himself. Instead, he would build the kind of life he wanted with the kinds of people he wanted to be around, and he would be content with that. But no matter how many times he’d reinforced his goals, he couldn’t seem to erase that bone-deep loneliness that always seemed to be waiting for him anytime he lowered his guard.

Tonight was one of those nights.

In an effort to put off the time when he’d have to face his empty apartment, Alex decided to stop at the bookstore he’d noticed in a shopping center a block over from his street. He was just about out of reading material and he knew Greg Isles had a new book out, one Alex was looking forward to reading.

After killing three-quarters of an hour and spending more than a hundred bucks on books, Alex’s stomach began to grumble. Time to head home. But as he walked out to the parking lot, he spied a Thai restaurant he hadn’t noticed before. He loved Thai food and hadn’t had any in weeks.

Abruptly changing his mind about going home, he switched direction and headed for the entrance to the restaurant.

Alex finished some really excellent hot and sour soup and an order of crispy egg rolls and settled back into his booth to wait for his entree. He was glad he’d decided to eat at the restaurant rather than getting takeout. Even though he was alone, he felt better here than he would have in his empty apartment.

He sipped at his Singha beer and idly watched the other diners: an Oriental family of four with exceptionally well-behaved young boys, a college-age couple who were obviously lovers, a middle-aged couple who kept smiling at each other, and a table of four seniors who were laughing and talking like old friends.