I could only imagine I looked like a broken coin operated machine. My eyes were stuck wide open, I was leaning crookedly to one side, and my mouth was held ajar, but speechless. Four contracts at $250,000 a year? Were the Foxxes offering me a one-million-dollar-a-year salary? I looked at each of them, searching for any snicker or sideways glance that would suggest that they were kidding, but they each looked back at me with a stone-cold serious expression.
“Can I take this to mean you accept?” Harley asked, a smirk sewing between his cheeks.
I didn’t want to seem too eager, but where was the line when someone was offering you a million bucks? “I do.”
“Great.” Harley lifted a pile of manilla folders that were sitting on top of his desk and handed them over to me. “The top folder is your employee paperwork to be filled out. The four below it are descriptions for your job at each of our four companies. Read them well. You may think that this is all some gimmick, but we have every intention of putting you to work. Your skills are well known around here and we expect to see them.”
Play the game. “You’ll see them twice over,” I responded.
Rogan’s smile grew and I was realizing it was probably a rare sight. I nodded an affirmation back at him, and threw one to each of the other brothers for good measure. Harley stood up from his desk and held a hand out with all of his brothers eyeing me slyly from behind him. “Then welcome to Foxx, Miss Storm.”
I shook his hand, suddenly unable to shake the feeling that I’d just said goodbye to an old version of my life I’d never see again. “Thank you.”
Harley walked around his desk and over to his door. “I’ll walk you out.”
Maverick stood up and stomped a foot. “I wanted to walk her out.”
I stood up from my chair. “I’ll babysit you next time, Tiny.”
Harley’s ‘Great Gatsby’ demeanor shattered in an instant, as he doubled over laughing. Jett sputtered out a few laughs, trying to hold them in, and even Rogan was snickering. Play the game and one up them. It was just like Axel said, I was competitive.
Maverick pointed a finger out at me. “Hey! I’m not short where it counts, sweetheart.”
“Oh, believe me, I’ve read the stories. I’m just not interested.” I whipped around and walked past Harley through the office door.
“Quit while you’re ahead, bro,” Jett croaked out between attempts to catch his breath.
I could feel Harley on my heels as I made my way down the hallway, and just before I reached the elevator, he passed me up and pressed the button. “You like to leave an impression.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It’s no fun otherwise.”
The elevator announced its arrival with a ding and then parted its doors to allow us on. We boarded it and Harley pressed the button for the main floor. His office was on the 18th floor of Foxx Towers, so we had quite a ride down.
“Level with me,” I said as the elevator moved along. “Did you really want me for my credentials?”
“Did we hire you just for your looks?” Harley asked. “No. My brothers and I are all very impressed with your experience and expertise. Someone like you is hard to find.” He glanced down at me, a sly knit to his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t like looking at you.”
My skin covered with goosebumps. He was just like the Harley in my dream, the one whose hands took a cross-country trip across my body. “Well, just don’t look too hard. I’m not afraid to hunt a Foxx.”
As Harley looked away, I could see the dimples that bookended his smile. “What do you do if you come upon a Foxx that likes to be hunted?”
I didn’t answer the question, I knew what he was getting at. I couldn’t give in to any innuendos or attempts to make our relationship anything other than professional. I could get a good-looking guy from anywhere, I didn’t want the Foxxes to think I was a ‘casting couch’ anchor.
The elevator made it to the main floor and the doors opened. My attempt to bolt from the elevator, and my growing arousal, was interrupted by someone standing waiting for the elevator. I’d seen women like her walking runways all over the country. She had hair that tickled her waist and honey-golden eyes I felt like I could jump into. As she took me in, her indifferent expression faded to something more sinister.
“Hello,” she greeted. “And who might you be?” She stepped back, allowing Harley and I to deboard the elevator.
“Um,” I held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Alexa Storm. The new… um.”
“She’s our new company liaison and the head anchor at Foxx Media,” Harley replied for me.