Free A Cowboy in Disguise by Victoria Ashe Page A

dinner with you. I’ve put the brakes on where you’re concerned, Scott Falconer. Not that they were ever off. Okay, maybe they were off a little.” She took a breath to collect herself. “If you’d like to stay here and work on the presentation with me, we can order in pizza or something.”
    “Alex, I said I’m sorry and I meant it. I’m not typically that intense and I don’t want to talk about Colorado any more. But I also don’t want to think I damaged what had started between us. You felt it back on the side of the road that first day. I know you did—even then.”
    “I know you’re sincere. And it’s fine, really. But business is business and we agreed to keep it that way. From here on out, that is.”
    Scott sighed. “Dinner? A long conversation? How about a drive down the freeway until we get another flat?”
    Alexandra put up her hand and fought to hide a smile. “I don’t want to hear any more propositions. Not now. Maybe after the presentation.”
    “Really? I’ll have to add a couple things to my list then.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and smiled.
    “I just mean we can talk after the presentation, if you still have the burning need to.”
    “Oh, I imagine I still will.”
    •
    They worked on the presentation endlessly, sitting side-by-side in front of Alexandra’s enormous computer monitor. Scott rolled his chair away when Alexandra signaled he was getting too close, and time after time they jumped when their hands accidentally touched. Reaching across the desk for the stapler or a paperclip took on a level of tension that wouldn’t have existed between two other people in the same situation.
    “Alex …” he would start to say in that softened tone she now recognized so well.
    “Back to the numbers,” Alexandra would instruct without looking up from her desk.
    Once while she was typing, Scott looked at her with such an expression of amazement and desire that she almost lost her resolve. His entire being seemed to jump into his blue eyes when he looked at her like that. Pretending not to notice, Alexandra excused herself and walked to the restroom where she locked herself in one of the stalls and stayed there until her hands stopped shaking.
    She found tiny gifts hidden in random places throughout her office. A truffle wrapped in red foil was tucked into her tape dispenser. She found a tiny African violet in a new pot beside the other plants on her window. A set of four floating candles shaped like tires miraculously appeared in her filing cabinet. Where in the world he’d found those, she could only guess. Of course, Scott denied any knowledge of the continuously appearing surprises.
    He was courting her, she realized. Did men even do that anymore?
    On a Friday when everyone else had left the office, Scott turned to Alexandra and said, “Come to dinner with me, Alex. I’m hungry. I mean no harm. And I’m sick to death of pizza.”
    Alexandra studied him for a moment. “Let me get this straight. We’re alone in a dark office building, locked away in my office, and you want to leave? Go to a crowded, public restaurant and talk business? I guess that’s an indication of your good intentions.” She reached for her purse.
    “You’re flirting with me, Alex.” Scott reached out and covered her hand with hers. “Does this mean you’re going to let me in again?”
    “Do I have a choice?” Her fingers burned where his hand rested on them. “We have to work together.” She had nearly forgotten her intent to remain detached from him—so easily forgotten that it scared her.
    “Let’s date, Alexandra. Let’s become involved.” He grabbed her roughly by the waist and pulled her against him.
    “Are you crazy?” She felt her cheeks sting as her face threatened to redden. She was infuriated that this man had made her blush more times in the past week than she had in her entire life. “You can’t keep bringing up this subject while we’re working.” She