Wonderlust (Steel Roses #1) (2 page)

“There’s been some sort of misunderstanding,” I stressed, moving away from Alex.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be consulted about this? It’s
my
PA, after all.” He sounded like a sulky child, and this guy was in his thirties! I tried to hide my snigger.

“Alex, you put a
model
on the list of final candidates. I don’t think you’re capable of making any kind of rational decision about this. Natasha works for Flavour Records, she is one of the reasons I wanted to have interviews in London too, and I just watched her stand up to your whoring ways.” Oh, Alex put Blondie through. Now it all made sense.
What an idiot.
I may have been star struck the first moment I saw him, but that was fading fast. The guy was a complete joke. It was true; real life events never lived up to the fantasy. All my daydreams in the past about Alex had never been like this.

“I was
not
whoring around,” he snapped.

“You pulled your dick out. I’d classify that as whoring around,” I pointed out with a smug smile. It was easier standing up to this absurdly sexy man, knowing he was an idiot. I had to mentally give myself a high five for that response, though. He shot daggers at me while Gina chuckled. “I should go, Gina. This has been a
huge
mistake. Thank you for your time, though. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Don’t leave, Natasha. I think this will work.”

“I don’t want her as my PA!” I stopped in my tracks. How dare he. He came onto
me
and thought he could treat me that way!

“Aren’t you used to strong women, Alex? Believe what you want, but not all women will open their legs for you.” How was I able to be myself around this man so easily?

“I beg to differ,” he challenged, stepping closer toward me.

“You really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

“Yep, and I have a huge cock. I’m happy to prove that any time you want me to.” My mouth fell open. Did he really just say that?
Pick your jaw up off the floor, White. You can win this!

“It didn’t look that impressive a moment ago,” I lied, letting my eyes wander down to his crotch. “I’d keep it in your pants. Maybe it has something to do with the temperature in this room, though. It
is
a little cold.” I thought I heard him mutter the word bitch under his breath, but I couldn’t be sure.

Gina clapped her hands, sniggering. “Oh, Natasha, please consider working with us. You are just what we need.”

“Fuck this shit!” Alex yelled as he turned and stormed out of the room, mumbling to himself. He was pathetic. I didn’t want to work for this guy.

“You could have warned me,” I sighed, looking at a still grinning Gina.

“It was wrong of me, but I wanted to see how you handled him.”

“That was a test?”

“His bark is worse than his bite. You’ll get used to him.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Alex doesn’t know it, but you’re just what he needs. Please think about it. Sleep on the idea tonight and give me a call in the morning.” I wanted to protest, but I was still reeling as I thought about Alex. What right did he have to act that way?

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” I took her business card as she handed it to me.

“Claire will see you out.”

“I can manage, thank you.” It wasn’t difficult to find the lift. It was just outside the room.

“I hope to see you soon, Natasha.” Gina shook my hand and finally let me leave.

Breathing out in frustration, I waited for the lift. Too much had happened in the last few hours for me to even begin to wrap my head around it. Who did Alex Harbour think he was? I pitied the poor woman that ended up working for him. It sure as hell wasn’t going to be me!

“I’m glad to see that you’re leaving.” His arrogant voice came from behind me. “You really aren’t the right person for this job. You’re too straight laced for me.”

“Well, there are plenty of women willing to lie on their backs and spread their legs for you downstairs, Mr. Harbour,” I seethed, catching my breath as I turned to stare into those piercing, cool blue eyes again. Why did he have to have such amazing eyes?

“I’m more than aware of that, Natasha,” he gloated. “I’d say it’s been a pleasure to meet you, but that would be lying so I won’t.” God, he was so rude!

Words began to fall out my mouth before I could stop them. I was boiling with rage at this point. “I’ve worked for men like you before, Mr. Harbour. You act as if you have the world at your fingertips, when really you’re just wasting away, knowing you have no
true
wealth. Money is nothing without respect. I can see now why your band mates from Steel Roses want nothing to do with you! You are just an empty shell!”

“I suggest you leave before I get security to throw you out.” His voice was barely a whisper.

“Oh, I was leaving. Don’t worry about that. Have a wonderful day.” Stepping into the elevator, I gave him my sweetest smile as the doors closed. M
e
,
straight lace
d
?
I showed him.
What a fucking asshole!

Walking outside the hotel, I began to regret what I’d just said to him. What right did I have to judge him? I didn’t even know the guy. It wasn’t like me to explode like that, but he’d been goading me since the moment we’d met. I shook off those thoughts. It didn’t matter what happened; I wasn’t taking the job anyway. Alex had made it clear that he didn’t want me as his PA, and I sure as hell didn’t want to work for him. I needed to pretend it was all a bad dream and move on. It was lucky that I'd stopped listening to his music years ago.

“What’s bugging you?” Liv asked, taking her wooly hat off and straightening her light blonde hair with her hands. We always met up on Friday nights at the pub near my apartment on the outskirts of London. Liv was my oldest and dearest friend. We’d known each other since primary school. Alex Harbour’s old band had been a big part of our friendship in the early years.

“It’s been a stressful day.”

“Weren’t you off today?” she frowned.

“I had a job interview and met a complete asshole.” I really wanted to tell her about Alex, but bursting her bubble about him not being the perfect man would only hurt her in the long run.

“You didn’t tell me that you had an interview today.” Her blue eyes widened in confusion.

“It was last minute and a total waste of time. It doesn’t matter now, anyway.”

“Let me get us a bottle of wine and you can tell me all about it,” she soothed.

Two bottles later, I was feeling much better about the whole situation.

“It’s not like you to lose your cool with someone, Nat. Was this guy hot?” How did I answer that? It was Alex
freaking
Harbour. Hot didn’t even cover it.

“Yeah, I guess you could say so…” Liv’s mouth fell open as she gawked at me. “What?”

“It was sexual tension. Oh. My. God! You liked him! That’s what all of this is about.” This situation was impossible! I couldn’t tell her the whole story, and now she was getting the wrong idea.

“He was a player, and those aren’t my type. You know this.”

“Oh, please. David is the biggest player I’ve ever seen and you’ve been lusting after him for six years!”

“You should be grateful the interview was awful. The job was in LA.” Liv choked on her on wine while I tried to steer the conversation away from David.

“Why the bloody hell would you want a job in LA?”

“It was an amazing opportunity. I’ve been at Flavour Records for six years now. I thought it might be time for a change.”

“You’re struggling with your feelings for David now that he’s engaged, aren’t you?” Damn her! She knew me too well. “You can’t run from it, Nat. I mean, you had a few flings with him over the last three years. It’s not like the two of you ever actually got together. It was just sex.”

“It was great sex,” I mumbled into my wine glass.

“Take a look around. You have plenty of other men to choose from. Do you want me to get his number for you?” She motioned toward a sexy blonde guy in the far corner of the room. “He’s been eye fucking you since he walked in.”

“No!” I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Let’s get another bottle of wine so I can forget about the dickhead I met today.”

“Does Mr. Dickhead have a name?”

Crap. A name. I needed a last name! I looked around and noticed a heater in the far corner of the room. “A…Alex Heater.”

“Alex Heater? What a weird name. Does he make heaters?” she laughed at her own joke.

“No, he’s a music producer.”

“Something else will come up, Hun. If you think it’s time to leave Flavour Records, go for it. As long as you stay in the music sector. I’m still hoping one day your contacts will get me a meet and greet with Alex Harbour.” Ground swallow me up now.

“I’ve heard he’s a complete moron, Liv.”

“I don’t give a shit. He is sexy as hell. What I’d give to be in a room alone with him.” I couldn’t help but wonder if Alex would have jumped Liv if she’d been in my place. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he would have. Liv was stunning. She was petite and slender, with shoulder length blonde hair that had a natural wave, cool blue eyes, and a cute button nose. She was the perfect blonde. I was a slim brunette, complete with chocolate brown eyes and olive skin. The Italian gene was strong with me because of my mother. Liv and I made quite the duo on nights out.

My phone began to ring just as I was about to give her a snarky comment about being too easy. It was an unknown number, but I answered anyway. It could have been David calling from a different phone. He’d done that a few times before.

“Hello,” I answered, covering my other ear so I could hear. The pub was getting quite rowdy.

“Straight Lace, is that you?”
Straight Lace?
Who was this? “This is Alex Harbour.” I froze, trying to clear my head. This had to be a joke. How did he get my number?

“How can I help you, Alex?” I fumed, standing up to go outside. I gave Liv a nod to say I’d been back after the call.

“You are so formal on the phone. Or are you still pissed at me?”

“What do you think?”

“I’m sorry about earlier. You caught me off guard. I hadn’t really been up long. Jetlag is a bitch.”

“Oh, you make a habit of sexually harassing women you don’t know when you wake up, then?” The bastard was laughing at me on the other end of the phone. “None of this is funny, Alex. Why are you calling me?”

“Gina is right, I need structure. Milly was like that to a certain extent, and since she left it’s all gone to shit. Will you consider working for me?” Holy crap! He was offering me the job! “Are you still there, or are you steaming at the ears with rage at me even asking you?”

“You don’t want me working for you, Alex. You should hire that blonde model, Maddison.”

“I need someone to organize my meetings and events, not someone to suck my cock on demand. You’re the woman for the job. Don’t let the events from earlier taint your decision. That’s why I’ve calle
d
—
to apologize for before.
Gina is emailing the contract over to you as we speak. Take a look tonight and give her an answer in the morning. We’ve added a three month trial so you’re not tied in for the entire year.” Who was this man? This wasn’t the Alex I’d met earlier.

“I…I…um…” He’d left me speechless.

“Read the contract, then sleep on it, Natasha.” The way he said my full name was making me weak at the knees. Damn him! Alex hung up before I could argue.

“Who was that on the phone?” Liv asked when I walked back to the table.

“That was Mr. Dickhead. He’s offered me the job,” I gasped, slumping down into my chair. “Get a few shots of vodka in. I need them!”

“If this is the job of a lifetime, you have to take it, Nat. Most people hate their boss anyway. You’ll be fine.” She watched me down my third shot of vodka. It would have been easier if she knew the whole truth, but until I’d signed my contract, I couldn’t say anything.

“B…but it’s LA!” Why was I trying to talk myself out of this?