Beautifully Twisted (38 page)

Scott rubs his chin. “You like it?”

“I do. It’s a nice change.”

“Good to know,” he says, winking at her as they walk through the door held open by James. Oswald jumps to attention and opens the car door for them as they approach.

“Your coffee is waiting, Miss Drake,” he says. “Yours too, Mr. Patrick.”

Scott nods and smiles. “Thank you, Oswald,” Alexa says and slides into the car. She watches as Scott has a brief word with Oswald and the two men shake hands. He gets in beside her.

“What was that about,” Alexa asks.

“I wanted him to know you were safe with me. He’s very protective of you. You have a lot of good people around you, Alexa.”

“You’re one of them, Scotty.”

He smiles and lifts her hand to kiss it. They ride to her office quietly. Words are not necessary in this moment. As the car approaches the office, she grips Scott’s hand and smiles. “I’m glad I’m here. It’s where I belong.”

“Yes, it is. We’ll make it work, baby girl.”

“I know.”

They ride the elevator to her floor and step out into the lobby. As she turns the corner to enter the office she peels off her coat and removes her sunglasses. Everyone looks up as she enters the room, and she swears she hears a small gasp. She smiles and notices the almost shocked expressions across the room.

“Good morning, everyone. If I could have your attention for just a moment, please?”

It’s quite unnecessary to ask for their attention. She definitely already has it. Martina stands in the doorway to her office smiling, Brett standing behind her.

“I want to start off by thanking you all for your hard work and dedication while I took care of some personal business.” She glances up at Scott, who stands in the back of the room, his arms crossed, smiling at her. “I want to let you know that I am most definitely back and that there will be some changes. Positive changes. I’ll be making plans for the New Year starting very soon and sharing those plans with you shortly. Until then, thank you very much and carry on.”

Alexa turns to walk towards her office and then hears a quiet voice. “Miss Drake?”

She turns and sees Patricia and another girl, Carol, standing up. “We’re glad you’re back.” The women start to clap and the entire office follows.

Alexa is surprised and incredibly touched that her employees care that much about her. She places her hand over her heart and bows slightly towards the group. “Thank you. I’m glad to be back.”

Alexa walks to her office–Scott, Martina, and Brett follow her. She steps behind her desk and sits down, motioning to the others to do the same. “I have something to say before we get started.” She looks down at her hands. “Thank you both for caring about me and helping to bring Scotty and me back together. And… I love working here and hope to do so for many years.”

Brett smiles. “You were meant for this job, and you were meant for Scott.”

Martina wipes a tear from her eye. “I’m so happy. This is exactly how things are supposed to be right now.”

Alexa smiles and looks at the sweet girl that has come to be her friend. Her eyes shift to Brett, who watches Martina with an adoring expression. Finally, she looks at Scott, her Scotty, and her heart swells just a bit more from the love she feels for him. “You know, Martina, I couldn’t agree with you more. Now, should we get started? We have much to discuss.”

Martina stands. “I’ll get the coffee and tea set up. This is so exciting,” she says, giggling.

Brett watches the bubbly girl and Alexa notices the sweet expression on his face.
Maybe it is a good thing.

Scott speaks first. “We need to find a way to make it work so that Alexa and I can work together.”

Brett nods his head. “I assumed. I think we can make it work. Technology these days makes it easier to manage offices across oceans, if need be,” he says.

Alexa smiles, listening to the two men discuss the future of Patrick Collins Media. Her future. The one she would be entering with Scott Patrick by her side. For the first time in a long time, she knew that she was exactly in the right place. She looks across the desk at Scott and grins as he winks at her. She feels her guard sink just a little bit lower and her heart open just a little bit more.

“What do you think about that, Alexa? Co-managing London and New York together. Do you think we can make it work?” Scott asks.

“Yeah, Scotty. We can do this.”

“You’ve reformed me, baby girl.”

~ Scotty

“Not entirely I hope. I like my dirty, edgy Scotty.”

~ Alexa

“Lexi, are you almost ready? Oswald will be here any minute now,” Scott calls to Alexa who’s in the bedroom.

“Be right there,” she calls back. Alexa finishes brushing her hair before joining Scott in the living room. “It’s your fault I’m always running late these days. You keep me up too late,” she says, winking.

“You should get used to that, baby girl,” Scott says, holding her jacket out for her. She slides into it, as he leans forward and kisses her neck. “Are you excited for today?”

“Very. We’ve worked hard to get to this point.”

“That we have. I think it will work. We’ll make sure it does.”

“Yes,” she smiles and kisses Scotty’s cheek. “Shall we go?”

Scott places his hand on the small of her back and walks her out, closing the door behind them. They ride the elevator down, hand in hand, and greet James as they head out for the day. Today, their new office will be ready. The entire staff moved up a floor in their building to make room for the extra staff and the combined office shared by Alexa and Scott. Martina is getting a swank new space and her own assistant to help manage the international couple’s calendars. It was hard to tell who was most excited about all of this.

Oswald stands outside the car, waiting to open the door for Scott and Alexa. He has warmed up to Scott over the last three months, after he realized he was a good guy after all. He was happy Alexa didn’t quit and he retained his position as her driver. She’s a hell of a lot nicer now too.

Alexa slides into the car and looks out the window as Scott climbs in beside her. She notices how beautiful the day is, the sun finally shining brightly. Spring has settled in London and she was starting to feel at home there. Scott pulls out his phone and checks an email.

“Brett’s plane arrives later this afternoon. You know he’s taking Martina on some romantic getaway this week,” he says.

Alexa laughs softly. “Um, yeah, I know. It’s all Martina has talked about for a week. She’s beyond excited. Who would have thought the two of them would hit it off like that?”

Scott shakes his head. “Certainly not me but good for them. They make a great couple. I just wonder what we’ll do when we have to let her go.”

Alexa sips her coffee. “What do you mean by that?”

“Lexi, at some point they’ll make more permanent plans. Martina will probably move to Spain. You haven’t been thinking about this at all, have you?”

Alexa frowns. “I think I’m in denial.”

“We’ll figure that out. It’s early still.”

Alexa nods as the car rounds the corner to their office building. The couple has spent the last three months figuring out how to manage two offices, how to live in two different countries, how to spend every moment of their day together, and how to share a living space. Alexa glances over at the man beside her as he sends a few emails off from his phone. She admires the business man that he is and has come to feel safe and calm in his love. He looks up and smiles, “What are you looking at, baby girl?”

“The man I love,” she says softly.

Scott reaches over and rubs her cheek, amazed as always at her incredible beauty. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night and rolled over to stare at her as she slept. He couldn’t believe she was his, that she loved him, and that they were living their lives together.

“I’ll never get tired of hearing you tell me that, Lexi. Never.”

“That’s good,” she grins, “Because I’m going to tell you often.”

Scott’s phone buzzes again and he looks down at it. “Oh, it’s an email from the property management company in New York. They want to know how often we think we’ll be there. That’s something we still need to talk about. Do we want to sell my place and buy something else in New York? Something that the two of us picked out?”

Alexa considers his question again. It’s come up a few times since they reconciled. Alexa hasn’t been back there since the last time she walked in on Scott and the scene in The Garden. Part of her felt a little sad to let the place go. She became a woman in that house, grew into the person she is today because of the time spent with Scott. They had long talks about her career and about handling the challenges she would face. The Garden became her favorite place in that house. Just like he promised it would.

“What are we going to do first, Scotty?” I ask, terrified yet oddly excited to get inside the special room he calls The Garden. I’ve heard him speak of it many times, preparing me for what was beyond the imposing leather door. I ran my hand over that door many times, so tempted to peek inside, but I had promised Scotty I would wait for his introduction. He knew I was ready now.

“You trust me, Alexa?” Scott asks me as he turns the crystal knob.

I nod. I assume I appear calm on the surface but every nerve in my body is on fire. Scott told me how once I went into this room, my pleasure would be limitless. I would never want to leave. I didn’t know how things could possibly be any better between us.

A month ago, I was a nervous girl walking into Scott Patrick’s office. Now, I’m a woman, fully immersed in his world. I look up at him to search his face, longing to see some emotion, something other than lust. I couldn’t understand how he stayed so detached. I assume he must like me on some level since I spent every night in his bed. He even suggested I start bringing a few things to leave there so I didn’t have to go home for fresh clothes so often. Yet he never uttered a single word about his feelings. Nothing. He confounded me.

I watch as he pushes open the door and leads me inside. The room is dark but very warm. Scott flicks a switch and a soft, ambient light suddenly illuminates the room. My eyes scan my surroundings. It’s not at all what I expected. It looks like a very luxurious, albeit masculine bedroom–almost fitting for a medieval castle. The furniture is made of dark, heavy wood with iron details. A large four poster bed dominates the middle of the room, with gorgeous deep green bedding. I find myself walking to it to run my fingers over it. It’s incredibly soft. I look back at Scotty, who stands near the door, a smile on his handsome face.

“Do you like it here, Alexa?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say. “I don’t see how it’s different than any other bedroom though. Other than the fact that it’s very beautiful.”

Scotty walks towards me, grinning. “I’ll show you why it’s different in here. Sit down.”

I climb up on the tall bed and sit at the edge, expectantly waiting for what, I’m not quite sure. As my eyes scan the room, I see a massive wall of wood covering most of the wall to my left. It appears to have metal loops at the corners of it. That is also when I notice a large, wood chair across the room from me, a chair that a king would sit in. Oh, this is no ordinary bedroom after all.

“Take off your robe, Alexa. I want to see your body,” Scotty directs.

I shrug out of it and wait, saying nothing. I already knew he preferred me without my clothing on. He bends down and lifts a black velvet box from the floor, placing it on the bed beside me. As he does, I admire the muscles that define his amazing torso and arms. Damn, this man is spectacular.

“What’s in there, Scotty?” I ask, already so curious I can barely sit still.

“These are the things I’m going to use on you tonight.”

“Things?”

“Yes, things. You’ve done so well, Alexa. You fit me like a glove. Your sexual appetite is impressive and I’m going to feed you something very different tonight. I know you can handle it. You just have to promise me that you’ll trust me and let me guide you through this.”

“It sounds a little intimidating, to be honest,” I say, softly.