She burst out laughing and held up her hand. “I promise you.”
He looked at his watch and winced.
“You need to get back to work,” Jamie said. “Before you’re late.”
“Actually, I was late twenty minutes ago.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Dad! Why didn’t you tell me? We could have cut this short.”
He shook his head. “I have been too wrapped up in work. It’s about time I make some time for my family. They can handle me being late now and then.”
Jamie shook her head and then smiled. “Thanks for taking me out. I’ll see you next week. My treat next time.”
Her dad chuckled. “Then I’m definitely ordering dessert.”
After they parted company, Jamie managed to hold it together until she got into the elevator in her office building. Then she started to cry. She loved her family. She cried harder than she had in a long time. She didn’t even know that the elevator doors had opened until she felt someone’s strong arms around her, comforting her, rubbing her back and holding her close. She buried her head in the stranger’s chest, just thankful someone was willing to hold her. It felt good, even though she knew she would be embarrassed soon enough.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Alex murmured.
Her head shot up in surprise. She stepped back quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t realize—”
Alex pressed the emergency stop button. “Tell me what’s wrong so I can make it better. Is it Stephen?”
She wiped her eyes. “Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “Everything is perfectly right.”
“Then why are you crying?” He handed her a handkerchief from his suit pocket.
She accepted it and blew her nose. “My father’s proud of me,” she said, and then started crying again. He pulled her even tighter to his body and she breathed in the scent of him. He smelled like pine. “He actually said he was proud of me today. We went out for lunch. He’s not mad at me at all.”
He smiled and rested his chin on the top of her head. “Good,” he murmured. “I’m glad.”
She hiccupped. “It was so out of the blue that he asked me out for lunch. I still can’t believe he did. And then he said that he was proud of me.” She felt the tears welling up again.
“How could he not be?” He smiled at her.
She inhaled a deep breath and stared down at her hands. “Thanks. Sorry about the crying. I don’t usually do that.” She went to hand him his expensive handkerchief back.
“Keep it.” He laughed and scrunched his nose. It made his face look adorably cute.
Jamie giggled and stuffed it in her pocket. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“I think I can afford to lose one.” He chuckled, probably happy to see she wasn’t crying anymore and then pressed the emergency stop button again for them to go up.
Jamie bit her lip when she realized that they had been stopped for over twenty minutes. “Oh no,” she said. “We stopped the elevator for that long?”
“It’s okay,” Alex said. “It’s my
private elevator to my office. Only you and I use it, remember?”
She nodded and smiled. “Right,” she said. “Still, wouldn’t people notice?”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter,” Alex said. “We weren’t doing anything indecent, and even if we were, it would be none of their business.” He hesitated momentarily when he said indecent.
Jamie felt her cheeks warm. “I can’t exactly blame them for thinking that we are sleeping together. I mean, we have in the past.”
“Yes. But it is still none of their business.” Alex frowned. “Anything I, or you, do outside of the office doesn’t affect our professional lives. We still work together well.”
“Then why don’t you want to have a real relationship with me?” Jamie blurted out. Then she flushed. “Sorry,” she said. “You don’t have to answer that.”