Oh crap! How the hell had he got all the way up here?
“Right, okay, I’ll just…” Alyssa pointed to the office Terry had exited moments earlier.
Straightening her shirt, Alyssa approached the door to the office, which was slightly ajar. Voices mumbled inside, and Alyssa couldn’t help but overhear. Ms Crawford did not sound happy at all.
“Christ, I hope whoever this bloody Ms Fox is has some sodding answers. I’m about ready to commit murder.” Alyssa heard Ms Crawford say. That was her cue to enter.
“I hope I’m not the one you’re going to off. I’m Ms Fox, the one with some sodding answers.” Alyssa had clearly taken the woman—who was downright stunning—behind her desk by surprise. So much so that Alyssa had to stop herself from laughing when the gorgeous Ms Crawford almost fell out of her chair.
Whilst the grumpy CEO straightened herself out, Alyssa took a moment to drink her in. Ms Crawford was the epitome of elegance and good taste. Her perfectly styled blonde hair sat just above her collar, tucked behind her ears, shining like gold rays of sunshine. Diamond studs twinkled from either lobe. Hazel eyes, so rich they looked like pools of chocolate, bored into Alyssa as she studied the woman.
Heat rose in Alyssa’s body. A heat which had been absent for far too long. The top two buttons of Ms Crawford’s shirt teased Alyssa’s imagination. If the swell of her breasts were anything to go by, Alyssa knew that the body underneath the shirt was breathtaking.
Swallowing thickly, Alyssa cleared her throat. No point ogling the woman, not when the CEO was so clearly pissed off.
“Ms Fox, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Ms Crawford stuttered. “Please come in and take a seat.”
Alyssa took a step towards the empty seat directly in front of Ms Crawford, but stopped when she saw Bug sitting by the window. Her instinct was to scoop him up and squeeze him.
“Where have you been?” she whispered into his ear. Bug gave her a quick sniff before licking her face. Alyssa giggled. Oh shit, I just giggled like a child in front of Ms Crawford and whoever that other woman is.
Releasing Bug, Alyssa turned back to the women and smiled. “Sorry about that. I was just worried, we’ve been looking for him for a while now.”
“Right,” Ms Crawford stated, studying Alyssa.
“So, you said you needed some answers?” Alyssa took the offered seat and waited.
“Indeed Ms Fox. You can imagine my surprise when I found that little one sitting in the middle of my office floor.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Bug likes to wander.”
“Bug?”
“Yes, the dog.” Alyssa pointed to Bug, who had resumed his perusal of London City.
“Right. So can you tell me why there are twenty-six of your dogs wandering around my office building?”
Alyssa didn’t like Ms Crawford’s tone at all. “I assumed your father would have filled you in.”
“My father?”
“Yes, Richard Crawford.”
“I’m well aware who he is, thank you.”
Wow, snarky much?
“Then you should know why I’m here with my twenty-six dogs. I don’t make a habit of turning up uninvited, you know.”
“Well, you have today,” Ms Crawford shot. A different kind of heat was taking over Alyssa’s body now. Gone was any kind of pleasant feeling towards the uptight cow sitting on her stupidly expensive-looking chair and ostentatious desk.
“I assure you, Ms Crawford, I have not. May I suggest you call your father and talk to him?”
“I’m talking to you, Ms Fox.”
“No, you’re being a condescending arsehole to me, Ms Crawford.” With that zinger of a sentence hanging between them, Alyssa stood, scooping Bug into her arms, and left the office without another word.
Well, that could have gone better.
