Free Hold On by Hilary Wynne Page A

take me to my appointment. When he sees the
     frown on my face he asks if the time doesn’t work.
    “The time is fine. I told you the other day though, I feel bad you’re driving me all
     over the place. If we leave then, you will have to wait for me. It’s lame.”
    Julian shakes his head at my choice of words. “It’s not lame and we could solve all
     of this if we didn’t go back and forth.”
    I get his implication. He really thinks I should move in. He’s crazy.
    I take a deep breath and tilt my head to the side. “Julian, really? You think we’re
     anywhere near a place where we should be talking about living together?”
    He starts to open his mouth and I cut him off. “On second thought, don’t answer that.
     We’ll only get into an argument and I have to be in a good mood to deal with Serena.”
     I lean in to kiss him again and he holds me to him.
    “Yes.” As in yes, he thinks we should be talking about this? I pull away and open
     the car door before he says more. “See you later, handsome.”
    I hear him chuckle and mutter under his breath. “Va a pasar, Lexie.” It’s going to
     happen.
    Work is fine. I can’t wait until we officially open in a little over two weeks. I’m
     bored here and because there isn’t much to do, I’m constantly in danger of being near
     Serena. She brings out the worst in me. Thankfully she isn’t in the mood to get into
     any conversations with me today and stays away.
    I’m surfing the internet, looking at shoes, when Evelyn comes in and drops something
     on my desk. I pick it up, read it, and see it’s an invitation/announcement for the
     grand opening of The Promenade in two weeks. It’s on a Friday night and by the looks
     of the card, it’s a swanky affair. I didn’t know anything about it. I started working
     at The Towers after the opening and this is the first new property I’ve been at.
    “Thanks Evelyn. I didn’t know this was happening. It looks like a big deal. I’m assuming
     we all go?”
    “Yes, we all go and it’s a big deal. Over two hundred people are invited.”
    “Who goes?” Evelyn has been with the company for years and I’m sure she has been to
     other events like this.
    “Real estate people, potential clients, the big spending ones, and other property
     development people. Your man is invited.”
    “Julian?” I’m surprised by this; he’s the competition.
    “Yes, Julian. Other companies send people. They like to see the competition.” Evelyn
     walks out of my little office and I read the card again. I’m sure I’ll pretty much
     be working but it sounds like a good party. I get a little nervous when I think about
     Julian being there. We don’t mix business with personal so I’m not sure how I feel
     about him going. I decide not to bring it up and hope this isn’t his thing.
    Around two, I get a call from him.
    “Hey you.”
    “Hey you, what’s up?”
    “How’s your day going?”
    “Okay. Boring. I can’t wait until we open. There really isn’t anything for me to do
     here.”
    “Enjoy the quiet. In a few weeks you’ll be so busy you won’t have time to breathe.
     And speaking of the opening, were you planning on inviting me as your date?”
    I should’ve known he’d know about this before me. He knows everything first. “I just
     got the invite an hour ago. I didn’t know anything about it. You want to go?”
    “I wouldn’t miss it.”
    “I think I have to basically work. I’m not sure it’ll be much fun for you.”
    “Are you trying to convince me not to come, because it kind of sounds like that?”
    “I don’t know, maybe. I just know we haven’t really been out in the business world
     together, so to speak, and unless you plan on ignoring me there, it might be obvious
     we’re together.”
    There’s silence on the other end. After a minute I make sure he’s still there. “Hello?”
    “Alexa, am I completely clueless here?”
    Alexa. On purpose. Crap. “What do you mean?”
    “We