Page 22 of Negotiating Tactics

“What the fuck does that mean?” Even though she was leaning forward, her face serious, her eyes twinkled with what I recognized as mock offense.

“Are you always this…tense?” I asked.

“I’m not tense, but I will confess it has been a hell of a day,” she said.

“What happened?” I asked, trying to decide if I should be concerned.

“My apartment got flooded. I have no idea how long it’s going to take them to fix it. And I—” She cut off, her eyes darkening.

“You what?”

“Never mind,” she said, taking a final bite of her lamb chop before pushing her plate away.

I did the same, then grabbed her hand and twisted her wrist gently, studying fingers that were long, feminine, but not slender. To my surprise, she didn’t pull away.

“Nice nail polish,” I said, nodding approvingly at the dull purple-gray color.

Alex gawked at me. “Did you just complement my nail polish?”

“I did. It looks good on you,” I said.

Everything would, though I didn’t share that tidbit.

“And you don’t need to worry about having a place. I’m not going anywhere, but you welcome to stay here as long as you’d like or need to,” I said, reluctantly releasing her hand.

Her expression had been neutral, but at my words, her face hardened slightly. She softened it, but I could see tension around her eyes that hadn’t been there before. “You and Birdie have already told me that, but I don’t believe in taking charity,” she said.

Something I understood well and usually agreed with, but not in this situation. “From what I understand, you and Birdie are practically family. That’s not charity.”

“Sure,” she responded, her tone placating and inauthentic. She clearly thought I was full of shit but had apparently decided against arguing the ins and outs of charity with me.

“So, why didn’t you go to your boyfriend’s house,” I asked, studying her face as I waited for an answer. I suspected I knew the answer but wanted confirmation.

She arched a brow. “Is that your way of asking me if I’m involved with someone?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She huffed out a laugh. “That wasn’t very subtle.”

I met her eyes, let my gaze drop to her lips, then looked back to her eyes. “It was more subtle than I usually am, but I can drop all pretense if you’d like,” I said.

She gave a slight quirk of her lips, which I couldn’t count as a smile. Then she nodded. “Yeah, I would.”

I locked my gaze on hers. “Alex, are you seeing someone?”

“What does it matter to you?” she countered, seeming unable to resist the impulse to challenge me.

I didn’t take the bait. “Answer the question.”

Then I went silent, determined not to say anything until she did as I asked.

It didn’t take long.

“No,” she said, her voice filled with a sound I could only call ambivalence.

I left a slow smile cross my face and breathed of a sigh of relief. “Great.”

She tilted her head in question. “Great for me?” she asked.

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