The Magnate's Manifesto(43)
Or not.
“And then there’s the dark and dangerous Alexander…” Barbara mused. “Uncatchable, say the tabloids.”
Bailey wondered, for the millionth time, why he was fixated on her. Surely the man could have any woman with his looks and fortune?
Jared asked her a question, claiming her attention with a touch of his hand on her arm. It was a gesture that did not escape Alexander’s attention because he had been watching her like a hawk all night. Bailey leaned into Jared and contributed her thoughts on the changing retail climate. Alexander tracked the movement. That she heartily enjoyed the constant touching when she was supposed to be hating Jared was a matter she didn’t care too examine too closely. It was all an act for Alexander’s benefit, of course.
Dinner stretched on, Parisian-style, with course after course of delectable French food. More bottles of twenty-year-old wine were consumed than Bailey could count, accompanied by enough business talk to make the night worthwhile, but not so much it impinged on the very civilized French way of taking the time to truly savor a meal. Talk turned to port when a cheese plate was placed on the table to finish. Davide and Jared, both huge fans of the intensely flavored wine, were invited down to the cellar by the owner to choose their selection. While the Gehrigs went out for a smoke, and their VP left to make a call, Bailey excused herself to use the ladies’ room rather than be alone with Alexander.
She took her time, but when she returned to the table, Alexander was still its only occupant. Jerking her head around, she found the Gehrigs chatting to a couple at another table.
Alexander stood. “Sit down, Bailey. I don’t bite.”
Yes, you do, she wanted to say. But rather than cause a scene, she did. Alexander picked up his wine, lowered himself into his chair, and took a sip. “How did your strategy session go? Ready for Tuesday?”
She nodded. “I think you’ll be very happy with the final plan.”
“Good.” He set the glass down. “Jared may be a maverick but his vision is right.”
Her gaze met his warily. “I’m glad you realize that.”
His slate-gray eyes glittered. “Why didn’t you take me up on that offer in Vegas, Bailey?”
She swallowed. “It wasn’t personal. I never fraternized with customers.”
“Yet you fraternize with your boss.”
Warmth flooded her cheeks. “Jared and I don’t have a relationship.”
“Oh, come on, Bailey. You’re infatuated with him. If you’re not sleeping with him now, you will be.”
Her blood pressure skyrocketed. “Pick a more appropriate topic or I will leave the table.”
“It’s fine, you know,” he continued. “I only want one night. Think of it like this, my Vegas proposal, except this time, you don’t get fifty thousand dollars, you get to save your boyfriend’s deal.”
Her jaw dropped open. “Why? Why me, Alexander? You could have any woman you wanted.”
He nodded his head toward Jared’s chair. “I want what he has. I want what I’ve wanted from the beginning.”
She shook her head at the direct, unhesitating stare he leveled at her. The man was a sociopath.
His gaze narrowed. “For a woman who stripped for a living you are very naive, Bailey. I want the fantasy. I want what you were selling on that stage—but I want it for me. To know when I sink myself into you, I have what none of them had.”
Bailey stood up on shaking legs. “You are insane.”
“No,” he said underlining the word, “I know what I want.” He nodded his head toward the back of the restaurant. “Sit down. They’re coming back.”
She turned and saw Jared and Davide winding their way through the tables, Jared’s gaze pinned on her. She sank back into her chair.
“Don’t make a mess of this for Jared,” Alexander murmured as the din of the restaurant buzzed on around them. “Think about it.”
She wasn’t actually sure what happened the last hour she sat there in a frozen state. The port was consumed, the cheese eaten by connoisseurs other than herself, and somehow the evening ended.
Alexander offered to drive them back to their hotel and rather than be rude, Jared accepted. When the Frenchman had dropped them off and they were in the elevator riding up to their rooms, Jared crossed his arms over his chest, the hot and bothered look to him suggesting he wasn’t so under control.
“What happened with Alexander at the table?”
She leaned back against the wall of the lift, her head spinning. “He told me if I took him up on his offer from Vegas, I could save your deal.”
His head jerked back. “What?”