Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Alexander
It’s been three days since I’ve seen Olivia.
I don’t buy into the idea that a man has to wait a prescribed amount of time to text or call a woman after a date.
I would have been fine calling Olivia as soon as I got home on Saturday night, but she needed space. The swift end to our date was proof of that.
She got in the taxi before I had to chance to kiss her goodnight.
I wasn’t pissed.
I went home and jerked off in the shower. I fell asleep with a smile on my face. I woke up Sunday morning on a high.
That carried me through the day as I hung out with Phoebe and Alvin.
I’ve been working since then. Long rehearsals have eaten up the last two days, but it’s been worth it.
The pride I take in guiding a talented group of musicians to the soaring heights of a piece of well-crafted music is unmatched.
I watch from my perch in the center of the stage as the orchestra thins. Each member has his or her own post-rehearsal routine.
Some of them dart out of the building; others take their time packing up their instrument.
Isla Foster falls somewhere in the middle.
She’s a petite blonde with a level of talent I’ve rarely seen.
Her love of the violin is evident in each note she plays.
“Good job today, Alexander.” She approaches me with her violin case in her hand. “You’re one of the best I’ve ever worked with.”
It’s a compliment I don’t take lightly. “Thank you, Isla.”
Her face softens as she smiles. “If I had a vote, I’d want you to stay on in a permanent capacity.”
I’ve heard the same from two of her colleagues.
New York has always been home to me. For years I wanted this job more than my next breath, but that’s not the case anymore.
“Gabriel can’t stop talking about opening night.” She rolls her pretty blue eyes. “My husband may be your biggest fan.”
“My sister would have something to say about that.”
“We’d let them argue that on their own.”
Before I can respond, her phone chimes. She glances down at the large black purse slung over her shoulder. “That’s Gabriel. He texts me after every rehearsal to tell me what a great job I did.”
I smile at that.
“I tell him that he has no idea whether I killed it or butchered it.” She scoops her phone out of her purse. Her eyes scan the screen. “My husband is predictable, but not in the ways that really matter.”
I read between the lines. They’re an affectionate couple. Both times I’ve seen them together, his focus has been on her.
She types something into her phone before she gazes at my face again. “I won’t keep you, Alexander, but I just wanted to say how much I love working with you.”
“I’m enjoying it too, Isla.” I give her a curt nod.
“There’s one other thing.” She studies her phone, not making eye contact with me.
“What’s that?” I ask with a quirk of my brow.
“You have perfect pitch.” She turns her phone’s screen toward me before she starts playing an Instagram video of me in the Pink Parlor, singing to my heart’s content.
“I try.”
She laughs. “I need to get Gabriel down there. Every time he sings in the shower, I melt into a puddle. I’d love to watch him on a stage like that.”
I huff out a laugh at the thought of Gabriel Foster at a karaoke bar letting loose.
“There’s another video that the Pink Parlor posted the other day.” Her fingers skim the screen of her phone again. “Gabriel said this woman works for him. Olivia Hull. She’s gorgeous and she can sing almost as well as you.”
I watch intently as the video captures less than ten-seconds of Olivia’s performance. Her body moves fluidly to the music. She’s stunning.
My cock hardens from the reminder of what I felt that night when I was watching her.
“Were you there together?” Isla asks as the video ends.
“Yes.”
She smiles brightly. “Next time you should do a duet. Something tells me it would be pure magic.”
An hour later I’m standing in the open doorway of Olivia’s office with two cups of coffee in my hands.
I decided to make the trip to Foster Enterprises after I left the rehearsal hall. I made a quick call to Sheryl, Olivia’s assistant, to find out how her boss takes her coffee.
One cream and one sugar.
I stopped at the café down the block from here, ordered the coffees and rode the elevator up hoping to hell that Olivia would still be behind her desk.
She’s not.
She’s standing, with her back to me, gazing out at the skyline of Lower Manhattan.
She’s wearing a navy blue dress and her hair is pinned up in a messy bun.
Her phone is to her ear. As she talks about lace bras, her ass sways a tempting beat I can’t ignore.
My cock can’t ignore it either.
The jeans I’m wearing don’t mask my erection. I don’t want to hide it. I want this woman.
I clear my throat to get her attention.
The sound lures her head back with a turn of her neck.
“Oh, I…” she pauses to smile at me. “I need to go. I’ll get in touch tomorrow morning to finish this up.”
She nods before she lowers the phone and places it on her desk.
“Alexander.” My name falls from her perfect pink lips. “Why are you here?”
I raise both coffees in the air. “It’s time for a coffee break.”
Her gaze darts to a clock on the wall. It’s past four p.m. and I have no fucking clue when she gets a break or if she even takes breaks.
“Have a seat.” Her hand waves in the air toward two white leather chairs that face her desk.
I advance into the room, kicking her office door closed with a push of my shoe.
It slams shut.
“Come sit next to me.” I point at the white chairs.
She looks at the office chair behind her desk. I imagine she spends most of her day in it, handling whatever issues come her way.
I can tell that she’s good at what she does and that she takes pride in it.
She rounds the desk, lowering herself into one of the chairs. I take a seat next to her, handing her one of the cups. “One cream. One sugar.”
Surprise flashes over her expression. “How did you know?”
“Intuition,” I lie through a smile.
“Sheryl,” she responds with a sigh. “Your attention to detail is impressive.”
I lean close enough to her that I can whisper in her ear. “The better you get to know me, the more impressive it becomes.”
Taking a sip from the cup, her eyes narrow. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’ll take the time to understand every nuance of your body, Olivia. I’ll make you come often. Intensely.”
She coughs on a swallow, shoving the cup back at me. “You didn’t just say that.”
I place both cups on her desk. Reaching for her, I rub a hand over the center of her back as she coughs again. “I did and I meant every word.”
She glances at my face, her breathing labored. “You’re so sure that I’ll sleep with you.”
I slide my hand up her back, to her neck. I run my finger along the soft skin. “You will.”
“You’re cocky.” She lifts a brow.
“Confident,” I fire back with a lift of my own. “I’m confident that you want me just as badly as I want you.”
Her lips part but she doesn’t reply. Instead, she picks up her coffee cup and takes another drink.
She’s flushed. Her nipples have furled into tight points beneath her dress. Her crossed legs are shifting restlessly.
“What are you doing tonight?” I rub my hands together. “We need to get to know each other better.”
That draws the corners of her lips up. “I have plans.”
“Don’t tell me that they’re with a man.”
Her shoulders relax as she lowers the cup to her lap. “I’m meeting Kate for a drink.”
“After that, you’ll meet me for a drink,” I tell her.
She tilts her head and pauses. “One drink.”
“One drink,” I repeat back. “You name the place and the time.”