Page 104 of Devil in a Tux

“No complaints. Alexa said you were tall, but the word doesn’t do you justice. Do you like penguins?”

That explained how she knew my name. The penguin question signaled that Brooklyn office etiquette was different than Manhattan. Maybe a password phrase to be allowed in?

I had no idea what the correct response was.

Finally I had a use for one of my brother’s long winded stories. “I think they’re quite cute and I particularly admire the Emperor Penguin, because it is the male who incubates the egg for two and half months, balancing it on the tops of his feet and holding it against his brood patch for warmth while the female goes out to sea to feed. It’s a shining example of fatherhood for the rest of us.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Rita agreed. “You men have it too easy if you ask me.”

I gestured at the roses. “Nice flowers.”

Rita stood. “Sydney gets them for me every month. Sydney should be free in a half hour or so. We don’t have much space. You can wait in Alex’s office. If you’ll follow me.”

“Very thoughtful,” I commented before heading down the hall after her.

I followed her to the tiny cubbyhole she indicated.

“Can I tell Sydney what it’s about?”

“The lease extension.”

Rita studied me for a moment. “Hmm.” Maybe Alexa hadn’t prepped the Perlmutters like she’d promised.

“But first, I’d like to talk to Alexa if I could.”

“I’m sorry that Alexa’s in a meeting with a client now.” She checked her watch. “It’ll be about twenty minutes.”

“I was hoping to catch her before she finished. Could you please tell her that her banking consultant is here?”

Her eyes narrowed and her head head cocked slightly. “Banking consultant, huh?”

I lowered my voice. “Yes. I’d rather not use my name. She’ll understand. And, ask her to bring the paperwork, please.”

“Banking consultant,” she muttered under breath as she left.

I sat down to wait in the tiny space.

Alexa had described her office as being closet-sized, but she hadn’t prepared me for this. The desk was child size and it was a tight fit to squeeze around to sit behind the desk. The visitor’s chair had to be sideways to the desk, or it wouldn’t fit, and forget about a file cabinet or credenza. How did people work like this?

Alexa had her two diplomas from Columbia framed on the wall, and several small inspirational posters.

If the plan doesn’t work change the plan but never the goal.

I liked that one. She’d had several goals and achieved them. I had a goal as well, getting back to my acquisitions job. We were more similar than she liked to admit. The second poster was similar.

Ambition is the first step to success. The second is Action.

The third was different.

Hurt me with the truth, but never comfort me with a lie.

I liked them enough to snap a picture of each with my phone. Perhaps I needed something like them in my new office. It was pretty bare.

This space was pure Alexa. It was about goals and pride in accomplishment just like she was. Yes, she was the whole package, looks, brains, and ambition. She was so much more than any of the women I’d dated before. She was what I hadn’t known I’d been missing and it wasn’t just the phenomenal sex.

That thought made my cock twitch. I’d fantasized about taking her over her desk, but that had been before I’d seen it. I’d have to shift my fantasy to a different, but no less risqué location.

I’d always chosen from the same pool of Manhattan socialites all of which had the same ambition, a gold plated life-style and a nice pre-nup. If they didn’t land you as a potential husband they counted it as a win just to get some publicity with you that made them more attractive to the next potential husband bed-mate.

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