Moonlighter (The Company, #1)(72)

And I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my life as this creature who’s tugging on a nail, cheeks flushed, belly bumping against the wall.

“Alex,” I say softly.

She whirls around, hammer out, ready to strike. And when she spots me, she only relaxes part way. “Where did you come from?”

“Duff let me in. Actually, he called to tell me that you might need some dinner and a hug.”

Her expression softens. “Did he mention that I’d fired him?”

“That might have come up.” I’m still parked against the doorframe because if I leave this spot, I’m probably going to take that hammer out of her hand and kiss her senseless.

“I was having a moment,” she says, pulling herself up to full height. “But I’m fine now. I’m not losing my mind, I swear.”

“Nobody said you were,” I lie.

“Maybe I was a little tense. But I’m not actually in danger. I just accidentally handed ten years of corporate secrets over to an unknown thief. It could happen to anyone.”

“It could,” I agree.

“But everything is fine now. So I’m finishing the day with something productive.”

“Uh huh. Want to take a break from…” I look around the room. There are wooden pieces in two different colors, plus hardware scattered everywhere. “What are you doing, exactly?”

“Putting up some shelves. It’s nice of you to come all the way over here, but I need to get this done. Isn’t it cute?” She moves a flap of packing paper and shows me a wooden bookshelf that’s framed in the shape of a crescent moon. And there’s another one in the shape of a star.

“Fancy. Want some help?” I ask, in spite of Duff’s warning. “Maybe you could use an extra set of hands?

“No!” Her eyes go a little wild. “I need to do this myself.” She squats awkwardly toward the floor, reaching for a molly. But her belly is in the way. Every particle of my being wants to grab it for her. But I resist, because I think she’d just fire me, too.

Eventually her fingers close around the plastic part, and then she heaves herself up again.

Now I understand Duff’s pain. “Listen,” I say gently. “At least take a five-minute breather to help me with all this food I brought from Eli’s. It’s in your kitchen right now. I could bring you a plate.”

“Food?” She perks up a little. “What kind?”

“Oh, all kinds. They had those Korean meatballs. And spicy samosas. Tandoori chicken. Bagels with smoked salmon.”

She swallows. “Maybe I could take a short break. Thank you.”

“Right this way,” I say, turning around so that the victory won’t show on my face. “There’s also a cherry pie.”

I’m only about three paces down the hall when Alex passes me, galloping toward her kitchen.





Ten minutes later, every surface of that marble kitchen is covered with open food containers. I’ve filled my own plate twice already. But Alex is like the Tasmanian devil of gourmet food, doing laps around the kitchen island, sampling everything again with each pass.

“I need to get a grip,” she says, shoving a meatball in her mouth. “But my life is a dumpster fire. Did Max tell you? Someone stole the data off my phone.”

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “I heard that.”

She shoves an olive in her mouth and sighs. “Someone broke into my apartment, Eric. He repelled off the roof into my kitchen window. Then he swapped my phone charger for a spy device. And did I even notice? Nope! I just plugged in my phone last night. And when it asked me if I wanted to install a new peripheral, I just clicked right on through. Then I went to sleep.”

“Okay, wow,” I say softly. “Must have been creepy to realize that someone invaded your space.”

Her cheeks are bright pink. “I screamed like a horror movie cheerleader. The guard wasn’t in his chair where I could see him, and the phone was unplugged. I was positive that the zombie apocalypse had begun without me.”

“That sounds like a fun morning.”

She nods, chewing. “And how was your day?”

The samosa I’m holding pauses on the way to my mouth. It’s weird, but I haven’t thought about my own dumpster fire since I picked up Duff’s call. “My day was okay, I guess.” I clear my throat. Alex waits for me to answer, one hand on her rounded belly. And I just want to take her straight to bed. Is it weird that her pregnant body is making me crazy? “I have some big decisions to make pretty soon,” I admit.

“Oh.” Her face falls. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not even a little bit.”

She regards me for a moment. Then she sets her plate down with a contented sigh. “I ate a lot. Even for me. Thank you for being a good friend.”

Ouch. Back in the friend zone again. “I did it for Duff, honestly. He’s polishing up his résumé out in the hall right now.”

She rubs that belly. “I’ll apologize to him. I apologize a lot lately.” She carries her plate to the sink and rinses it off.

I start closing up all the packages we opened. “I hope this all fits in your fridge. Where is your fridge, by the way?” Every gleaming red panel looks the same.