Pulse 3 (Pulse Series) (15 page)

All the while, I was off to the side, doing my part. When he needed information, I was there to provide everything he was looking for. And whe
n he needed to take a break and release some of his stress, I was there in that capacity, as well. We used every inch of his desk. He took me on the floor. Sometimes he would sit in his chair and just sit back and relax. I did everything I could for him. It got to the point that it was a regular routine and a regular part of his schedule. It wasn’t in my job description but Rafael and I enjoyed it just the same.

The deal was finally done. I could feel the sense of relief of everyone in the building. The rel
ief I felt was just from watching the stress finally leave Rafael’s face. It was a success on every level.

But a bigger deal than anythin
g Rafael managed to accomplish in his office is what would happen after. I convinced Rafael to finally step out of his office to celebrate. At the end of the workday, I stood next to his desk and waited for him to finish up.

“
Anything big on deck?” I asked him.

“
There’s always something on deck,” he replied. “Finish one deal then move on to the next one.”

“
The life of a CEO. It never ends.”

Rafael finally stood up from his desk. He stared at me as I straightened his tie out for him. I looked into his eyes a
nd couldn’t help but smile.

“
What’s funny?” he asked me.

“
Nothing,” I said as I caressed the side of his face. “I’m just happy to get to spend some time with you. Some
real
time with you.”

“
We’ve spent the past few weeks together. What’s the difference?”

“
The difference? Look in a mirror for one. You finally took the time to shave.”

“
So, you didn’t like the beard? Are you that superficial, Alice?”

“
No,” I said, laughing. “I like a little scruff. This is just… different. You know what I’m saying.”

“
I’m the same man.”

“
I’m not interested in spending time with my boss. I’ve had enough of him for the moment. Let’s just go out… Have some fun… Relax…”

Rafael leaned in close to me and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him, a
sigh moving from my mouth into his. Out of all of the kisses he gave me these past two weeks, none of them made me feel like I did at this moment. When we finally pulled away from one another, Rafael stared at me with a curious look in his eyes.

“
Speaking of different… You seem more relieved than I am,” he said.

“
It doesn’t seem that way. I am. I’m finally getting a chance to get away from this office… with you.”

“
You’ve made that quite clear to me. So, how do I look?”

I ran my fingers along his tie one la
st time and took a step back to examine him.

“
Perfect.”

* * *

I felt something as soon as I stepped into the restaurant with him. Every person at every table was looking at us. Some of them were less obvious with their staring but it was clear that the two of us were attracting attention. Rafael took a seat at the table with me. When I looked across at him, I could still feel the eyes of everybody surrounding us.

“
We seem to be attracting a lot of attention,” I said. “More than usual.”

“
I suppose it comes with the territory. After a big deal like this, word spreads quickly. But I don’t think that’s why they’re looking.”

“
Oh? And
why
are they looking?”

“
Because I’m with the most beautiful woman in here, of course.”

Rafael gave me a smirk. I looked down at t
he table and chuckled to myself. The embarrassment I felt from all of the people staring at us wasn’t helping matters. Before I could enjoy my moment alone with Rafael away from work and away from everyone else, a man walked up to our table who wasn’t our waiter.

“
Mr. Barnett,” the man in the suit said. “Congratulations on the deal. John Peterman is not an easy man to deal with.”

“
Thank you,” Rafael said as he shook the man’s hand. “We’re all happy with the results. It was a lot of hard work.”

The man walke
d away and disappeared back into the restaurant. I raised my eyebrows at Rafael.

“
Who was that?” I asked him.

“
His name is Austin Sweeney. He’s on the board of directors for a major computer company in the city. We haven’t dealt with him in a long time but we’re still aware of one another.”

“
I suppose you’ll introduce me when you’re on a video call with him.”

“
When it’s necessary.”

Another moment past and another man walked up to Rafael to congratulate him. It didn
’t stop. The waiter stopped by our table for just a few seconds to take our order. As soon as he was gone, he was replaced by another man, each one heaping praise upon Rafael. I sat there and watched Rafael the entire time. When our food arrived, the amount of excitement and enthusiasm everybody had seemed to die down.

“
How is your food?” he asked me.

“
It’s good… Very good.”

I poked at my food, my head down as I thought about all of the time Rafael just spent talking to everyone. It was a poor attempt at trying to
hide my frustration. A part of me was ashamed at my passive-aggressive behavior but it couldn’t be helped.

“
What’s wrong, Alice?”

“
Nothing is wrong. I just… I wanted to enjoy tonight.”

“
You’re not enjoying yourself?”

“
I am. I always enjoy myself with you. But I thought that it would be just us.”

“
It
is
just us. You’re not upset about those other people, are you? They’re just being friendly. Besides, it’s not like I can blow them off. I do business with these people. With all of them.”

“
I know…” I sighed.

“
What do you want, Alice? Do you want me to get security to keep everybody back?”

I looked up at him and saw that he was sorry about everything that just happened. It finally dawned upon me how foolish I was acting.

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “What am I saying? I’m being selfish. This is a big deal. You worked too hard for this. You should be celebrating. I just wanted to be the one you celebrated it with.”

“
Alice, I couldn’t have done this without you. You had a lot to do with this deal getting done.”

“
I just… did my job.”

“
I know. And you did it well. Maybe tonight you can remind me how well you do it.”

He raised his eyebrows at me and gave me a smirk. I stuffed a bite of food into my mouth and chewed to hide the s
mile on my face. Just as stupid as I was acting a few moments ago, the thought quickly left my mind. I was with Rafael. And we were out of the office. That was enough for me.

“
Why am I complaining about everything not being perfect when it already is?” I said.

Dinner with Rafael was a little calmer than it had been earlier. There were still groups of people greeting Rafael and congratulating him. Every now and then, Rafael would introduce me. But for the most part, all of the praise was his. As the CEO of t
he company, that’s how it should have been. I was in no position to complain.

When the meal was finally over, Rafael leaned back in his chair and exhaled a deep breath. I was just as satisfied as he was with the food.

“The night is still young,” he said. “What else is there to do on a night like this?”

“
I can think of something. What do you say we go back to your suite and just enjoy the peace of the night to ourselves? When is the last time we actually spent the night together like before?”

Rafael thought
about it for a moment.

“
Not since I came back,” he said. “It hasn’t felt like that long.”

“
I’ve been giving you a few reminders here and there of what it’s like. But a mattress is much more comfortable…”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and stared at him. The amorous feelings I had for him were always there, whether or not he actually took the time to remind me. Now that there was literally nothing left on our plates, I grinned at the thought of fi
nally getting to enjoy him in my own way.

“
What do you say?” I asked him. “We can retire to the hotel…”

Before I could finish, a bald man appeared with a petite blonde woman next to him. Rafael and I both looked up at them and their familiar faces were both
wearing smiles.

“
Congratulations, Rafael,” Everett said to him. “I just heard about the deal with Peterman. Very impressive.”

“
Thank you,” Rafael replied. “It was a lot of hard work.”

“
I can only imagine. Word on the street is that you were working on it for weeks. You were competing with a lot of people. It’s good to see that you finally got it done.”

“
I’m just glad you finally got out of the office,” Bridget said to him. “And it’s good to see you, too, Alice.”

She smiled at me and I did the same. There w
as something about their presence that unnerved and intimidated me. I dealt with executives and their wives before but Everett and Bridget had a youth that differentiated them from everyone else. It was as if I could relate to her. At the same time, I felt like I was trying to live up to enormous expectations.

“
So, what do you have planned for tonight?” Everett asked us. “You’re out celebrating the night. What do you say we take you out for a round of drinks?”

Rafael and I looked at one another.

“Well, Alice and I—”

“
Come on!” Everett interrupted him. “You don’t have any other plans, do you? Besides, I have some interesting news you might want to hear.”

“
Oh?”

“
That’s right, Rafael. I’ve got the inside scoop on a few companies that are panicking at the moment. We’re talking acquisitions before they even hit the market. We have a few drinks. We exchange some info. How about it?”

The truth was that I
’d prefer to spend the evening alone with Rafael. I’d made it clear to him. But he still hesitated to respond. And when he did, Bridget joined in on getting him to change his mind.

“
Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll keep Alice company. I’m just dying to know what it’s like to be with a man who just struck such a major deal.”

She smiled again at me. I turned to Rafael and
slowly started to nod my head.

“
All right,” Rafael said to the two of them. “Drinks. Sounds like a good time.”

“
Don’t worry,” Everett said. “I know that you just made a few hundred million but I’m still willing to pay for it. Besides, this might be the start of something bigger. We’ll meet you at the bar in a few minutes.”

I watched as they walked back through the restaurant and headed to the bar.

“We can still do something tonight,” Rafael said to me. “It’s just that Everett usually has a lot of inside information and—”

“
Rafael, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I’m just happy to be with you. You know that.”

“
Right… Thank you, Alice. I don’t know where I would be without you.”

Our plans for the evening had changed but I didn
’t let it put a damper on my mood. I would get my opportunity with Rafael eventually. I just had to wait a little while longer.

Chapter 17

Rafael worked while he relaxed for the rest of the night. He discussed the latest business happenings with Everett in a way that made me wonder if there was actually anything new for them to talk about. It didn’t take long for the two of them to be joined by other executives who worked in the city. News of the deal Rafael made with John Peterman spread faster than the papers had a chance to print a story about it.

I spent some time with Rafael but I never actually got him alone to myself. Instead, Bridget h
ad my ear. She told me all about what it was like to be the wife of a man who was in charge of a major company, as well as asking me about my own personal experience with Rafael. The line between millions and billions was blurry to me but these men worked in a way that made it clear they knew the difference.

While it wasn
’t what I expected, Bridget’s insight wasn’t completely lost on me. All of the things she talked about, I was experiencing for myself. Men like Rafael and Everett were successful because they worked so hard. They were just wired that way.