Page 22 of Exposed

“What do you mean?” Alex asked pointedly. He stroked her hair, calming her to take a breath.

“The morning I came in to interview, we full-body slammed into each other and he spilled his spiked coffee all over me.”

Alex’s expression fell as he cleared his throat. “You don’t say.” His face winced as he tried looking more concerned than culpable.

“I had to go into the executive suites of D.G.I. with no blouse under my blazer, just my camisole ... and interview with Gina. I’m sure you can picture how that went.”

His sigh was audible. “I can imagine your frustration,” he said, head held low, as he motioned her to the contemporary settee. He opted for a seat on the corner chair, ensuring they were face to face.

“I honestly can’t believe I got the job after that.” She was ready to let her emotions run wild, when she caught Alex’s expression of angst. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to dredge up more.”

“No, It’s not that.” He clenched his jaw, gazing back at her with regretful eyes. Hands clasped, he asked, “Madison, remember I asked if you recalled our first encounter?” Madison simpered, curious that the big reveal was upon her. “Seaver didn’t spill the coffee on you.” His bated breath deflated. “I did.”

“You?” Madison wrinkled her nose, hardly believing him, but Alex persisted.

“Yes, me. Specifically, it was a Woodford and Sumatra.” His explanation began spilling out. “I was cranky and irritated that morning when my car didn’t show up.” He stopped himself. It was now or never to come cleaner than that. “But, the truth is, I was an asshole of epic proportions because ...” He wasn’t sure he could get the words out.

“Because what?” Madison wasn’t letting the moment of truth slip by. “Whatever it is you’ve been keeping bottled up, it’s time to let it out.”

Alex lowered his gaze, wringing his hands as if squeezing it out, drop by drop. “I had a hard time dealing with the past, Madison. And sometimes, I—I still have a hard time. There are days when everything seems to crash in around me all at once, and I just have to get away. In those moments, I have to isolate myself. Or I . . .” he paused, the recollected his thoughts. “Anyway, that morning, I could feel it coming on. Taking over. I tried the spiked coffee to take the edge off, but it didn’t work. I had to get away.” He slid his hand around hers timidly, as if she might tear hers back, and storm out. But, she didn’t. She put her free hand atop, sandwiching his. With her attentive gaze fixed on him, he had to continue. “I was too preoccupied to see you, right in front of me.” His hand squeezed. “And, at the risk of sounding crazy, or crazier, I kept feeling like you were coming into my life. Like we would just, well, bump into each other.” He paused as her eyes squinted. Did he really just say that? “The point is, I had you right there, like you were gift-wrapped and hand delivered, and what did I do? I berated you and stormed off.”

Madison held his hands a little tighter, but taunted him amusingly, “I believe your exact words were ‘watch where you’re going.’”

Alex’s smirk replaced his uneasiness, and he nodded. “That sounds about right. And I believe you astutely singled me out as a jack-hole.” But his joking spirit waned, and he pulled his hand from hers, tersely tending to a developing knot in his neck. “In that very moment, I nearly lost you.” His expression wasn’t just apologetic. Madison could see he was more than sorry. He was tormented. “And today, I nearly lost you again, and all because I didn’t just tell you everything up front. Madison, I’m so sorry. I swear I’ll never keep anything from you again.”

But Madison realized something in his words. He knew I called him a jack-hole. Her curiosity piqued, and she postured to pull back the rest of the covers. “You know, I’ve spent a lot of time wondering how I was lucky enough to land this job. I mean, maybe I wasn’t unqualified, but I was certainly underqualified. And I looked like I was at the audition call for office floosy number two. On top of which, I told the VP of Human Capital that I wanted to shove my heel up her executive butt. And yet, I was hired.” She leaned towards him, her fuzzy pajama interrogation in full swing. “You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you, Mr. Drake?”

An affirmative nod.

Madison stood. Alex tried to stand as well, gentlemanly as always, but she placed her hand on his shoulder, the gentle touch of a handler commanding he stay. He relaxed back until she removed her hand. Pacing and piecing together the puzzle that’d been hidden in plain sight, the image was now recognizable. “And those gorgeous shoes. You knew about my broken heel because ...” she studied him, eager to see the truth reflect back in his eyes, “... you saw my heel break. There’s a camera in Gina’s office, isn’t there?”

“Well, there are three, actually.” Madison froze mid-pace. Alex fidgeted, uncomfortably aware she might have the wrong impression. “Gina insisted. We’ve had a few disgruntled employees. She wanted to ensure she could capture everything on video. They’re in the top corners, in full view.” He nervously tugged his collar, as if releasing a build-up of steam.

He could only watch as Madison mentally thumbed through the memories of that day. “And when I was making my, well, illustrious escape, Gina’s phone rang. I thought it was security, but it was you. You hired me.”

“I heard you tell Gina off. I heard every word of you recounting my deplorable behavior. I knew I had to make it right.” But this tidbit took Madison by surprise.

“So, you didn’t hire me because I was Jack’s sister?”

His head shook. “It wasn’t until Gina called out your name after I told her to hire you that I realized it might be you. I even asked Paco to check it out, but he literally took forever. Like he was trying to blow me off.” Madison shifted her eyes away. “He didn’t confirm my suspicion until after our first night, when I asked him to look after you that morning. Madison, from the way you stood up to Gina, and protecting Joe from those thugs, and even standing up to me when you thought I might hurt him, you were the woman I’ve been waiting for, Jack’s sister or not. The whole month I was away, I couldn’t get you out of my head. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you. About the coffee. And the gifts. And Jack. I thought that if you got to know me better, good and bad, you’d have more context to understand because, well ...”

They said in unison, “it’s complicated.”

Madison nodded as she imagined how that awkward conversation might have played out. Hi, I spilled coffee on you and was a total d-bag, so I hired you to make it good, and, by the way, I was in that whole explosion that killed your brother Jack, but that had nothing to do with why I’m chasing you.

“I held out because, best case scenario, it would be a remarkable meet-cute story that few would believe. And worst case, I’d get to hold you a little longer before . . .” he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders, unable to end the sentence. His eyes rejoined hers. “But Madison, before you make up your mind, you need to know everything else.” He looked down at his clasped hands, his fingers tightening. “There are times when I’m not well. When I have a really hard time dealing with everything that happened.” He breathed a determined promise. “But I do deal with it, and I can shield you from what I’m going through.”

Her heart swelled at the offer. He’s always trying to protect me. “Shield me? So, you can continue concealing how deeply it affects your life, even though it is your life?” With her gentle tone, she exposed him like a kid who’d denied eating the chocolate cake, though their deceptive lips were prominently slathered in frosting. “You think I don’t see it? Don’t see you running at midnight? Or pushing paperwork until 3:00 a.m.? You can’t shield me from who you are, Alex. And I wouldn’t want you to.”

Her gaze drifted off. “After Jack passed, and my parents’ divorced, I was put on meds to deal with my anxiety. My mom thought it would help. Help me sleep. And eat. And be around people. And breathe. Because, God forbid, I deal with what I was feeling. So, I hid it. I didn’t let anyone know, not even my dad, because I figured it was my issue to deal with.” She shut her eyes and crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly. “The only thing that got me off the meds was getting into track. Running isolated me. Gave me a reprieve from the unrelenting feeling of my heart pounding out of my chest.” She looked over to him, a wry smile emerging. “But I still break out in hives every now and again, and I still work out when my pulse jumps ahead of me. Can I hide that part of my life from you, Alex? Would you want me to continue to deal with it all on my own?” His shoulders dropped, and his brow lifted.

She moved in front of him, her tone reassuring. “And by the way, I’m not going anywhere. You might be the guy who was a total ass to me,” at which point Alex looked away, “but you’re also the guy who gave me a chance at a remarkable job, rescued me from a pretty scary situation, and cared for me like no one ever has.” She pulled his face towards her, encouraging his eyes to meet hers. “And you might not be the guy who was able to save Jack’s life,” she sniffed back a tear and gently blew out the rest, “but you are the guy who nearly died trying.” She kissed him, and whispered, “Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.”

He stood, aching to take her into a tight embrace, stopped only by the palm of her hand pressing against his solid sternum. She needed one last answer, and was ready to toss him a fiery and frisky red-hot coal of a question to get it. “Oh, you’re not off the hook just yet,” she said with a sprightly scold. He remained standing, open armed, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I’ve been replaying what happened that day, and something about it is really making me wonder. Tell me something, Mr. Drake ...”

He swallowed hard. “Anything Ms. Taylor,” he begged.

She crossed her arms, looking up at him with a bewitching smile. “If you hadn’t spilled the coffee on me, and I’d been wearing my button-up-to-my-neck blouse beneath that blazer when I was interviewed by Gina, and had my hair up and away from my face, similar to how it is now, would you have been watching so intently, hanging on my every, um, word?” Between the arch of her eyebrow and her suggestive tone, this was the Madison he adored. She was toying with him, daring him to join her game. He was ready to playfully pounce back.

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