Page 113 of Devil in a Tux

“That’s fine dear,” Sydney said. “But we should at least invite him to dinner as well.” He was looking at me. “What do you think, Alexa?”

I didn’t have any choice but to say what they expected. “I’ll ask. I think he’d like that.”

Bringing my boyfriend to dinner with the Perlmutters? This was getting my two lives more tangled than I’d counted on. I’d always thought I could go to work in the morning as the normal Brooklyn girl on her way to her CPA and go home at night across the river as the girlfriend of the Manhattan businessman people called the Shark of Wall Street.

They traveled in completely different circles. They didn’t talk the same, dress the same, or even eat the same way. When we started dating, Evan even used silverware on pizza.

Rita had been won over by Evan’s penguin knowledge, but Sydney’s distrust of what he called ‘slick downtown types’ ran deep, and Evan clearly fit in that category.

After they were done thanking me, I closed myself in my tiny office and dialed.

“What did you do? I mean how did you do it?” I asked as soon as he picked up. “We just got the lease extension. Thank you for helping. This means the world to them.” I only took a breath after I got it all out.

“Good morning, to you too.”

“How did you manage it? It hasn’t even been a day.” I blurted out like I was looking for the answer to a magic trick.

“Ah, yee of little faith. It was a part of our deal, and I always come through on my promises, gorgeous.”

I closed my eyes for a second and let his low voice ooze out of the phone and over me like warm chocolate.Why does the word gorgeous from his lips still do that tingly thing to my insides?

The lease extension had been part of our deal. But, that didn’t make it less impressive or any less helpful for the Perlmutters.

A second later, I backed up to remember my manners. “Good morning dear boyfriend. I’m doing very well, thank you. How are you this fine morning?” I really needed to pick a better phase thandear boyfriend.

“Much better now that I get to hear your wonderful voice without an erection joke.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too used to it. Now that we’re done with the fluffy stuff, how did you manage the lease extension? Rita said it just showed up. I thought you were going to go with Sydney to help negotiate it or something.” When he didn’t answer I wondered for a second if we’d all jumped to the wrong conclusion. “You did get involved, right?”

“I only have one thing to say. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“That’s not an explanation.”

“I told you before, I fix problems. That’s what I do. My Gramps, had a saying. You can’t help everybody, but you can help somebody. You asked me to help them. They are important to you, so that makes them important to me. That’s all there is to it.”

At least I hadn’t made a fool of myself. He had done something. It seemed I wasn’t going to get any more out of him for now. “Please don’t laugh at Rita when she says she’s getting you a membership to the aquarium so you can see the penguins.”

“That’s very thoughtful of her,” he said with zero sarcasm in his voice.

“And they want us to come over for dinner. I’ll figure out some excuse later, tell them you’re busy buying Luxembourg or something.”

He laughed. Are you afraid I’ll embarrass you?”

“No. Not really.”

“A dinner would be lovely.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d expected him to decline. The Permutters were pretty much the opposite of his kind of people. Sydney told me once the only suit he owned didn’t fit, but it didn’t matter because he only wore it to funerals.

I got off the phone with an excuse that I had to work while what I really had to do was contemplate my man. My feelings for him had gone from hate, to intrigue, to infatuation, and admiration. Where I’d once dreaded how long I might have to endure him to earn the second million for the children, I was clearly in different territory now.

Gwen had warned me that Evan was a player and he’d move on. Did that include from me? Page Six said I’d already lasted longer than most of his women. Now I could only wonder how long I’d get to stay the McAllister Minx.

Evan had originally said I wouldn’t have to play his girlfriend for more than a few months. What signs would I see that he’d grown tired of me, signs that Gwen, who knew a lot more about men than I did, was right?

The pit in my stomach from those questions told me an awkward truth. I’d fallen for my enemy.

An hour later, when I ventured out of my office and by Rita. I got the shake of the head and the evil eye. With her it didn’t pay to wait, so I asked, “What did I do?”

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