Free Stella in Stilettos by Jan Romes Page B

high-heels clicking toward them made Alex utter a low growl. “Tell me it’s not her.” They looked down the hall simultaneously. “Damn. It is,” he grumbled and tried to roll his chair into Stella’s cubicle. “Hide me.”
    Stella laughed freely. “Where would I put you?”
    Alex’s blue eyes shimmered with mischief. “There needs to be escape-hatches installed around this place.” His eyes quickly turned a murky shade of violet when Belinda congested the area with her presence.
    Belinda smiled like she couldn’t get enough of Alex. When she looked at Stella it was a poison-tipped frown all the way. Red fingernails adorned with flecks of silver ran across Alex’s shoulders. “Hi, Alex,” she purred.
    Alex shrugged from the unsolicited contact, and Stella thought about Francis’s cat-in-heat comment.
    “Do you need something,” he asked.
    Belinda ignored the question with one of her own. “Are you having coffee?”
    Alex looked at the cup in his hand. “I think we are.”
    Belinda tunneled her gaze to include Alex only. “I need to talk to you.”
    “What about?”
    Haughty brown eyes glanced at Stella. “If I wanted it to be a group conversation, I would’ve said so.”
    For the love of Pete, this was not seventh-grade. Stella bit her bottom lip to keep from biting Belinda with the surly thought.
    “Do you mind if I steal him for a few minutes?”
    Alex didn’t belong to Stella and never would. He was being friendly or was bored to death and wanted company. “That’s up to him.”
    Alex shuttered his eyes at Stella as though she was handing him over to the enemy. He followed up with a pearly-white grin and lifted his foam cup. “I owe you one.”
    The man had absolutely no idea the effect he had on women. He tossed that grin around like it was candy and those sexy eyes promised nothing but pleasure.
    Stella watched them leave over the edge of her cup.
    Alex turned around; his eyes sparkling with silent laughter. Belinda looked back too, her eyes glistening with silent meanness.
    * * * *
     
    Belinda perched on the edge of Alex’s desk and began to ramble about having tickets for the Bengals’ game on Sunday. He couldn’t hang with the blah, blah, blah. His thoughts were situated twenty feet away. Those few minutes with Stella had been incredible. And they seemed to be on the same wave-length, at least where Belinda was concerned.
    Belinda leaned toward him with a spicy smile. “So you’ll pick me up at ten?”
    Alex creased his forehead so tight he could feel the lines. “What?”
    “The game. Hellooo. Weren’t you listening?”
    Of course not. His subconscious pieced together enough words to realize what she wanted. He was a huge Bengals fan; in no way would he taint the sport by going with Belinda to see them. “Sorry, I can’t go.”
    Belinda messed with his tie and swept her lashes slowly across her eyes. “I have a proposition for you.”
    This ought to be good , he thought derisively, while crossing his arms to block further access to his tie. “What is it?”
    Brown eyes shimmered with secrecy and she worked closer to his ear. “It wouldn’t be just you and I. There would be six of us.” She lowered her voice. “All women.”
    Alex drew back and fixed a bead of are-you-kidding on Belinda. “No. And hell no.” The offer wasn’t just ridiculous, it was flat out stupid. “Not happening.”
    Belinda relocated her attention to her fingernails. She held her hand out to inspect them. Pushed back the cuticles. And hit him with the rest of the deal. “A hotel on the riverfront. A little wine. Six women. Need I say more?” She tendered a telling smile.
    He’d met some forward women but this one took the prize. Alex was shocked; although he shouldn’t be since Belinda didn’t pretend to be anything but a hussy. “I’m not going to a Bengals game or anywhere else with you and your friends. I keep my work life and personal life separate. And that’s the way it’s going to