“Sucha pain, but he’s worth it. Sleep tight, Fin. Later.”
Fin pocketed his phone, grabbed the keys to the apartment, and locked the door behind him. The porch light at Alex’s back door was on, so he headed that direction instead of around front.
Fin knockedon the back door. A muffled response came from somewhere inside the duplex. He opened the door and stepped inside.
“Alex?”
“In the kitchen,” she called.
He slipped off his sandals and left them by the door. The cool tile soothed his feet as he made his way down the short hallway. Alex stood at the kitchen counter. She wore loose cotton pants and a large, oversized t-shirt. Her damp hair was pulled up with a bright orange band of material and her feet were bare. Music played softly in the background and she moved in time with the beat, her ponytail swishing back and forth.
“What are you doing?”
She turned and grinned at him. “I know we ate at Rally Up, but I’m starving. I’m putting together some cheese and crackers for us. Or would you rather have fruit?”
“Cheese and crackers are fine. What can I do to help?” Fin asked.
“Pour our drinks? I’ll have a glass of the Riesling in the fridge. I have soda, more wine, water—again, no sparkling water—and iced tea. Oh, and if you want something stronger, I have liquor up there.” She nodded towards an upper cabinet on the left.
Fin pulled out the wine and poured her drink then moved to inspect the contents of her liquor cabinet. “Ah, you have a superb Scottish whisky up here. I approve.”
Alex grinned. “I’ll let Gabe know. I’m more of a spiced rum girl myself, but I keep that here for him.”
“Nice,” Fin replied as he found a glass and poured himself a drink. He watched her making the snacks and examined the cheese tray. “What is the white cheese with the red and green in it?”
“That, my friend, is jalapeño Havarti. It’s delicious.”
“Jalapeño?” He raised his eyebrow. “In cheese?”
“Oh, yeah. Texans put them in everything. You should try jalapeño cornbread. It’s to die for. Here, try some,” she coaxed as she held a piece of cheese up to his lips. Fin opened his mouth and took the bite. The spicy flavor of the pepper blended surprisingly well with the buttery sweetness of the Havarti cheese.
“That’s scrumptious,” he commented as he licked his lips. His gaze caught hers and held it. Alex blushed and rubbed her lips together as if she could also taste the cheese. He found himself leaning closer.
She cleared her throat and said, “Let’s go sit down.”
“Right. Shall I carry the drinks?”Cue the sexual tension, he thought with a grin.
She picked up the tray while he held their drinks and followed her to the living room where they made themselves comfortable on the couch.
Alex watchedas Fin situated himself. The t-shirt he wore stretched tightly across his chest. His hair was still damp from the shower and she wanted to run her fingers through it. Instead, she raised her glass and waited for him to raise his.
“Tonight, we are celebrating. Last week in London, I was invited to submit a project initiation request for something I’ve been pitching for a while, and today I officially submitted it.”
Fin clinked his glass to hers and raised his glass. “Congratulations. What did you propose?”
Alex sipped her wine and explained, “I want to set up a single department to manage all administrative and IT projects within the company, rather than having them managed by whomever proposed the idea. This would standardize and streamline so many things for us. And leading this team means my position would move up a level from manager to director.”
“Wow, that sounds like a significant opportunity.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m so excited. I’m looking forward to the challenge, but at the same time, it’s a bit daunting. If they approve it, I have a shit-ton of work to accomplish in the next two months. Lots of overtime.”
She assembled a cracker and cheese sandwich and shoved it in her mouth, pausing as she took in his grin. “What?” she asked, her mouth full.
“Your sayings amuse me. ‘Shit-ton?’” He paused for a drink and continued, “Sounds ambitious.”
She swallowed her bite. “It is. Anyway, I wanted to get that out of the way before we talked about your current living situation.”
Fin cocked his head as a new song came on. “Whatarewe listening to?”
