A Cowboy in Disguise (11 page)

She sighed deeply and sunk down on the bench. Romance and business never mixed, she repeated for the hundredth time.

David stepped out into the courtyard. “Alex, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

She put on her best smile. “I just needed a little air.” Even in the mild winter air, she felt a little warm, maybe even a little flushed.

“You danced up quite a storm in there,” he said. “Meet anyone interesting?”

She patted her little handbag stuffed with business cards. “A whole stack. Sending out the ‘it was nice to meet you’ notes should be enough to keep Sarah away from the water cooler all week.” She gave David a soft smile.

David looked at her more closely. “I’ve never seen my vice president without a glint in her eyes before tonight. Is something wrong, Alex?”

“Honestly, I’m feeling a little sick to my stomach right now.”

Scott appeared from out of the ballroom and stopped beside David. Alexandra looked away.

David patted the younger man on the shoulder and said, “Connie and I are going to drinks with the senator. Oh, the tales I imagine he could tell. Should be an interesting evening. Here, take my car and drive Alexandra home if she’s ready.” He tossed the keys to Scott and walked away with his arms wrapped around his wife.

Scott and Alexandra were silent on the way home. “You aren’t speaking to me?” Scott asked. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry. Was there something you wished to discuss?” That rolling feeling in her stomach wasn’t going away. Maybe she’d finally succeeded in giving herself an ulcer.

Scott pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to her. “Look, Alex. I’m sorry. I really wanted to tell you about Mackenzie. I tried to, in fact.”

“Your personal life is none of my business, Scott.” Her back was rigid against the seat. “That’s not it at all.”

“I don’t have any feelings for Mackenzie Stevens. Not any positive ones, anyway. I promise I’ve never lied to you.” He lifted back that strand of hair that always seemed to fall across her face.

“I can’t talk to you about this now,” Alexandra whispered, placing one hand over her stomach.

“Alex—”

“No, really. I can’t.” Alexandra fumbled with the handle, swinging the door open just before she leaned over in her seat and became extraordinarily ill onto the pavement outside.

Chapter Seven

Scott knew a case of food poisoning when he saw one. After a trip to the emergency room, the wee hours of the morning had already come around before Scott pulled David’s car safely into Alexandra’s garage.

Stomach still on edge, Alexandra leaned heavily on Scott as he walked her inside, stopping now and again to catch her breath and curse the existence of all shrimp puffs in general. She couldn’t remember having ever felt so sick in her life. Why did it have to be in front of this gorgeous man?

Her insides convulsed and rebelled, and a fever caused by the bacteria made her feel light-headed. Her entire body ached for that matter. The doctors had given her an I.V. at the hospital because every time she tried to take a sip of water, her stomach rejected it. If she’d felt any better, vanity would have kicked in. But right now, she needed Scott there with her no matter how bad she looked.

He helped her unzip her dress, and though tempted to peek, he turned politely away while she slipped into a purple nightshirt with script across the front.
Cats. Books. What else is there?

He shook his head. She didn’t have any pets, did she? And he’d also have to ask his father to remind him of exactly what the benefits of being a gentleman were when watching a woman as stunning as Alexandra undress was at stake.

Scott stretched out on the bed beside her and smoothed back her hair. He ran a cool washcloth along her hot forehead as she drifted off into sleep. Not sure if she even knew he was still there, he kissed her sweetly on top of her head.

Alexandra smiled. “If you wanted to get me into bed, there had to be an easier way than this,” she murmured.

Scott laughed and watched over her while she slept. Her thick hair had come out of its style and cascaded softly around her shoulders. Her makeup had long since been wiped away and her face was flushed with fever. Yet even with all that and her obvious lack of minty fresh breath, Alexandra was still the most dazzling woman Scott had ever seen. He couldn’t stop looking at her as she slept. Never once had he felt that way with Mackenzie. In fact, looking back he realized that though he had initially been struck by her cool brand of beauty, the good times he spent with her had been shades of gray compared to even the simplest conversation with Alexandra.

The contrast was remarkable. Mackenzie feigned warmth, but in reality was the equivalent of a human iceberg. Alexandra feigned reserve to mask the warm, sensitive woman she truly was.

He brushed his lips against her forehead and said what he couldn’t say when she was awake. “What did I do to deserve you?” he whispered. “I think I’m falling for you, Alexandra Hunter.”

•

Mary let herself in the next morning and found Scott, still in his tuxedo shirt and pants, asleep on top of the covers beside Alexandra. Her fingers wrapped securely around his hand as she slept.

Mary tapped Scott on the shoulder and whispered, “I got your message.” She tilted her head toward the bathroom and tossed him a T-shirt and pair of sweat pants. “Sorry, those were all I could dig up. Go take a shower and get cleaned up. You don’t smell so good.”

Scott crawled stiffly off of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Mary shook her head in amazement. There was no way a man would stay with a woman through a night like that if he didn’t have some very real feelings for her. And from the look of Alexandra, she hadn’t exactly been a prize catch these past few hours.

Alexandra rolled over in the bed and squinted at Mary standing there. “Scott, you look worse than I do in the morning.”

“Very funny,” Mary hissed. “Do you know that man stayed with you the entire night?”

Alexandra nodded, still feeling like she was getting over a case of the flu. “I remember.” The recollection of her gastrointestinal pyrotechnics flashed through her mind and she rolled over and moaned. “What a horrible party.”

Scott emerged from the shower wearing a pair of sweats that were far too short. “It’s alive,” he announced and then shot Alexandra another tentative look. “Sort of.” He ducked a flying pillow and continued, “I’ve got to get David’s car back to him. I’ll stop by the office and pick up your mail and faxes. How about I bring them by later in the morning? I hope you weren’t thinking of trying to come in.”

“I think I’ll stay put for another day.” She dropped her head back against the firm mattress, regretting she’d thrown her best pillow at him.

When Scott had gone, Alexandra stumbled into the bathroom and examined herself in the mirror. She thought of the beautiful, blond Mac Stevens from the evening before.

“Oh, Alexandra,” she said to herself, “what a nightmare.”

•

Scott stood in front of the fax machine that Monday morning, scarcely believing what he’d just read. He held in his hands a memo from Mac Stevens to all of the shortlist presenters. That woman was a real piece of work, he thought. She’d certainly wasted no time distributing the memo after the party. In fact, it looked as if she’d sent it just after he’d left with Alexandra. He considered crumbling the paper up in his hand and pretending it had never arrived.

The fax announced that the presentation had been postponed yet another two weeks, but that wasn’t the part that troubled him. Alexandra’s role had essentially been wiped out with one simple, manipulative, premeditated request. It seemed Rio Safari wanted to hear only one presenter speak from each company—the most senior ranking member of the team. No one else would be allowed in the room. It was to be Scott facing the review panel without Alexandra. If Rio’s board of directors had known what Mackenzie was up to, they would have never agreed to something so unprofessional.

He again fought the urge to squash the fax and throw it into the wastebasket. This wasn’t a business decision by any stretch. This was one-hundred-percent Mackenzie Stevens eliminating what she perceived as the female competition—as if Mackenzie could even begin to compete with Alexandra.

“Sarah,” he called out as he rounded the corner, “could you get Mac Stevens on the line for me?” He tossed her number on Sarah’s desk. “I’ll take it in Alexandra’s office.”

“Scott, darling,” came the sultry voice on the other end of the phone. “I knew you’d be calling.”

“I need to see you, Mackenzie.” He shut the door to Alexandra’s office. “We need to talk about this fax I just received.”

“What’s there to talk about? Some of the Board members and I thought it best to keep the presentation as uncluttered as possible. That’s the way it is. Unless you’re not up to the challenge?”

“You know that’s not why I called. I know your old moves, Mackenzie, and this one seems very familiar.”

Mac made an unconcerned little noise. “If you’re prepared, then I can’t imagine what your concern might be, darling. And you know it would be a conflict of interest to meet privately with you at this stage. But, I’ll see you before the presentation and hopefully after …” Her voice held an unwelcome suggestive tone.

Scott slammed down the phone, picked up his jacket, and headed out to do the inevitable—break the news to Alexandra.

•

Alexandra was out of bed and feeling much improved when Scott pulled up in her driveway. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken a day of sick leave and just relaxed. But, when Scott came to the door with a single fax in his hand instead of a pile of mail, a feeling of foreboding crept over her.

His hair was rumpled from where he’d run his hand through it too many times and his expression was far too serious. He tossed his jacket and the fax onto her sofa and pulled Alexandra into his arms, burying his face in her hair.

“I should never have joined this project. I never should have said yes. I should have known she wasn’t capable of professionalism. What you were afraid of has happened, and I—”

“Scott …” she started to say as his mouth came down over hers. Her knees weakened as he kissed her until her strength dissolved.

“Alexandra, do you know what you do to me?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her body moving of its own accord tighter against him. “I couldn’t stand seeing her touch you like that,” she whispered. As soon as the words were spoken, a tiny voice in the back of her mind wondered why she’d confessed that. She pulled slightly away and fought to catch her breath.

“I would
never
hurt you, Alex. Never.”

She leaned in to kiss him again and he moved away reluctantly, remembering the reason he had come before she pushed him past the point of being able to think at all. He traced her lips with his finger. “I hate this. I really do, but you need to take a look at this fax.”

Still shaking from his touch, Alexandra drew another deep breath and picked up the fax. Slowly she scanned the words on the paper, scarcely believing what she read with her own eyes. There in black and white, her greatest fear from the beginning had taken shape. She’d let down her guard, and somehow, somewhere along the way, this man had infiltrated her project and taken away something she’d put half a year of her life into.

She sank down onto the sofa. “Get out of here,” she said calmly. “I need to be alone for a while.”

It all made sense to her now. She remembered Scott and Mac Stevens together at the party. The too-familiar touches, the secret discussion in the corner, their laughter—all of it fit together. Had they intended from the very beginning what she now suspected? Scott knew that securing a multi-million-dollar contract with Rio would be a feather in the cap of any executive. But to steal her project away from her, all the while professing feelings of love? It was unimaginably cruel, this scheme he and Mac must have planned.

Scott looked at her in confusion. “I knew you’d be angry, which is why I wanted to tell you as soon as I could. We’ll figure out a way to either get around this or fix it. Somehow.”

His words rang hollow inside her cloud of hurt. “Well, I hope you and the presentation will be very happy together,” she said.

“Alexandra, surely you don’t think I had anything to do with this?”