Judy Hubbard - Our First Embrace

She wanted Alexander’s respect and maybe even his admiration. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, and the little scene she had just caused probably hadn’t helped things. She half expected him to barge out of his office, tell her off in front of everyone and order her out of his company, but thankfully, he didn’t. Apparently she was still employed at her dream job—for the time being anyway.

Resting her chin on her hands, she silently reprimanded her unruly tongue, which had caused her far too much trouble so early in the morning.

* * *

The next time Nicole saw Alexander was in the late morning. He was walking around the designers’ workstations peering over shoulders, making suggestions and giving out compliments when he deemed warranted. After their confrontation this morning, she held her breath, praying he would bypass her. Of course, he didn’t.

He reached her station and sat down beside her. She had removed her jacket, leaving her arms bare. When he slid his chair close to hers, the sleeve of his jacket brushed against her bare flesh, sending tremors through her.

“Settling in?”

“Yes.” She managed a slight smile. “Monique is great.”

“She is,” he agreed. “You seem startled. Why?”

“You know why,” she softly accused.

“You’re right. I do.” He paused before adding, “I apologize for talking about you behind your back. I shouldn’t have 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.

Chapter 4

Around noon, Nicole had finished one of Monique’s requested revisions of her sketch and was starting on the second when the hair on the back of her neck stood up in rapt attention. Instinctively, she knew Alexander had entered the designers’ area. It was uncanny that she could feel him before she saw him.

He stopped to answer a question from another designer. Nicole heard him laugh heartily, which was a sound she could really get used to. She held her breath involuntarily, praying he wouldn’t stop by her station, which, of course, he did.

He stood beside her desk silently for a few seconds, willing her to look at him. She knew she couldn’t ignore him and slowly raised her eyes to his.

“You’re not using Victor’s design software?”

“I’ve played with it, and it’s fabulous,” Nicole carefully began.

“But?” Alex smiled slightly. At her hesitation he ordered, “Be perfectly honest.”

“But when I first create a design, I have to do it with my charcoal pencil and paper.” She shrugged. “It allows me to feel the design. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“You explained it perfectly,” Alex assured. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Nicole sighed in relief that she hadn’t offended him. “You, too?”

“Yep.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only weird one.”

“Hardly.” Alex winked, pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. “May I steal of piece of your paper?”

“Of course.” Nicole tore off a couple of sheets from her pad and handed them to him, along with a charcoal pencil.

“I’m going to start a design.” He began effortlessly sketching. “And you’re going to finish it.”

Nicole’s heart jumped into her throat at his casual, terrifying statement. Was he serious? The walls started closing in on her, and she gulped in air. She glanced down at his hands as they expertly glided over the paper, and the formations of an elegant beaded blouse began to take shape. Oh, Lord, please let me remember how to sketch, she silently prayed.

“Okay.” He handed her the paper and charcoal. “Your turn.”

Nicole cautiously took the pencil from him and held it between her shaking fingers. She willed her nerves to subside; however, they persisted mercilessly.

“I’m not sure what you want.” Nicole’s terrified eyes stared into his serious ones.

“I want you to revise my design any way you see fit to make it better,” he elaborated.

“You want me to make your design better?”

He chuckled at her incredulity. “Yes.”

“Okay,” she nervously agreed. “I’ll try.”

How was she supposed to improve on Alexander James’s design? She swallowed her apprehension, took a calming breath and started revising as requested. After hesitating endlessly, she finally added jeweled cuffs to the sheer sleeves to match the neckline, which she changed from the square design Alexander had created into a sweetheart one. Last, she lengthened the blouse by an inch.