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  "I will; Matt's playing soccer tonight. " "Tell him good luck for me," she said, remembering

  the chubby six year-old she had met recently at a

  barbecue that Jeff had at his house.

  "I will, Nancy will be bringing him by tomorrow for

  lunch."

  "Okay. Tell Matt that if he wins, I'll have a surprise

  for him.”

  Jeff shook his head in agreement, warned her about

  staying too late and left the office, again locking the

  door to the plant behind him.

  James sat in his office quietly, listening to Alex move

  around her desk and the office. He overheard the

  conversation with Allen and Jeff and wished like hell

  he could communicate with her on that level and

  not want her so badly to himself. His dreams last night had been filled with her and

  he was sure that the same would take place

  tonight. He had decided to stay late as she did and

  possibly avoid another attack, if another was

  forthcoming. He lit a cigarette, leaned back in his

  chair and listened to her humming to a song on the

  radio as she shuffled papers and typed labels for the

  files. James had sat there for a half an hour,

  feeling like a peeping torn.

  "Here I am, listening to her, instead of talking to

  her," he said softly to himself. James stood up

  decisively and tromped into the center office.

  Alex was working with her back to James'

  office. She had turned up the radio on her desk,

  removed her heels and the barrette that had held

  her hair back. James studied her for a moment, admiring the way her pants clung to her hips and

  the light played with the gold toned streaks in her

  hair.

  Alex was totally oblivious to James behind

  her. She was concentrating on getting the filing

  done tonight so that she could get other issues

  accomplished tomorrow. Occasionally, her

  thoughts strayed to the outer office and every now

  and then she peeked in to make sure she was

  alone. Alex was just finishing a file, when she

  turned and caught James staring at her.

  James saw the look in her eye when she turned

  around. He had obviously scared her. Silently,

  he cursed himself for not making his presence

  known to her before and for frightening her. "I'm sorry," he pleaded, "I didn't mean to scare

  you.”

  Alex sat down in her chair heavily, trying to calm her

  nerves.

  "It's okay. I shouldn't have had the radio up so

  loud. Was it bothering you," she questioned.

  "No, I was just, uh, coming in to check on you. I

  had gone into the plant for a moment and wanted

  to make sure you were okay," he lied.

  "I'm fine. You don't need to check on me. The

  doors are locked."

  "Okay."

  James hesitated before returning to his

  office. That had not gone well and he wasn't sure

  how to start over. He was just breaching his office, when he heard a knock on Francine's

  door. As he turned around, he saw Alex moving to

  open it and admit whoever was there.

  "Alex, wait," he said stumbling behind her.

  "Hi, are you coming with us?"

  James stopped in mid-stride and listened to the

  conversation.

  "I can't, Morgan, but thanks. I have a thousand

  things to do; besides I don't think it's a great idea.”

  "Why? I thought you liked us."

  Alex chuckled, "I do, I like all you guys. It's just

  that, urn, well, I," Alex fumbled for an excuse. She

  didn't know how to let him down and had never

  been faced with this situation before. She knew

  she had to be gentle, but also firm. "Look, Morgan, I really appreciate the offer, but I

  can't, I really have a lot to do and um, I'm not real

  comfortable yet with my new surroundings."

  Morgan looked at her a bit confused. He

  understood the fact that she was new here, but he

  didn't understand why she didn't want to go out

  with them.

  "Alex, are you scared of us?"

  Alex looked a little shocked at how he had been

  able to pick up on that feeling from her.

  "It's not that, Morgan," she hesitated, "maybe a

  little. You have to understand that this is very

  scary for me," she said, sitting down in one of the

  arm chairs, "I don't know you guys well enough to

  not know whether I should be scared of you or not.” Morgan looked down at her and shook his head in

  agreement. He sympathized with her feelings and

  understood the hesitation she felt. Morgan and

  Grayson had both been instantly attracted to Alex

  since they met a month ago. They both agreed

  that it was the hair and eyes that made her special,

  but also her ability to be a chameleon and interact

  with all of the shop employees on any level. Most

  of the guys in the factory were talking about the

  latest addition to the office staff and her instant

  chemistry with everyone. It seemed as if Alex cast

  a spell over the plant when she walked in the door.

  "Look, I know you're alone here," began Morgan,

  "but you don't have to be.” Alex looked up at Morgan and smiled. She knew

  he was just trying to be nice, but she was still very

  hesitant about going out with them.

  "I'm sorry, Morgan, I can't," she said finally,

  standing up from her chair.”

  "Okay, maybe when you're more comfortable with

  us," he asked hopefully.”

  "Maybe," she muttered.

  Morgan smiled and watched the way her hair

  spilled around her face, framing it with the flame

  like tresses. His gray eyes pierced her blue ones,

  as he watched the concern over hurting his feelings

  fade from her features.

  "I gotta go. They're waiting for me. "

  "Okay, have fun. " Morgan left the office, James retreated into his and

  Alex returned to her desk to finish up. James was

  truly been afraid that she would accept and go out

  with Morgan and the rest of the guys that he hung

  out with. He could sense Alex's loneliness setting

  in. She had attended a few dinners at Jeff’s, but

  still kept herself at a distance. She would listen to

  Frank complain about his wife or Allen complain

  about his ex-wife, but she never talked about

  herself.

  James heard Alex closing her filing cabinets and

  settled into his chair to wait for her to finish up so

  he could join the crowd at the bar. Since her

  attack and refusal to continue to stay after hours,

  James had appointed himself guardian and chose to

  stay with her. She didn't know that was what he

  was doing. He made it look good by going back to the machine shop on occasion, but still staying close

  to the office.

  "What the hell," exclaimed Alex from the other

  room.

  James heard her yell, jumped from his chair and ran

  into the office. He found Alex standing at her

  desk staring at the roses in her hands.”

  "Where did those come from," James asked.

  "I don't know. I heard the door open and
shut

  quickly and when I went out to see who was here, I

  found these," responded Alex holding out the

  yellow roses.

  James reached for the roses and removed the

  simple card attached to the ribbon that bound them

  together. "I'm sorry if I scared or hurt you," read James aloud.

  "James," asked Alex.

  James heard the frightened tone in her voice and

  wanted desperately to hold and comfort her. As

  he looked up, he saw that the color had faded from

  her face and the scared tone of voice had moved to

  her eyes.

  "That's it, you're going home and you're not

  working after hours anymore," James declared.

  "You're here, I'm not alone and I refuse to allow you

  to tell me what to do. I will do as I please,

  James. I didn't lock the door after Morgan left and

  that's my fault. Obviously, whoever it was feels

  bad about it and wanted to apologize. I have to admit that it's bad timing considering, but he may

  not want to get into trouble or get fired.”

  "He should be fired or worse, Alex. He should

  never have touched you. I can make this worse by

  taking it to Jeff again. I don't want to have to

  worry about you.”

  "Then don't," interrupted Alex icily. She stood

  there glaring at James as if he was her attacker. "I

  don't want or need a babysitter, James. I want to

  be able to come and go and do my damn job. If

  you have a problem with that, then maybe you

  should have been here when I was hired.”

  The color had returned to her face and the fire in

  her eyes should have burnt down the building.; he

  thought she looked glorious standing there fighting

  him. He couldn't blame her for wanting to do things her way, but he couldn't let her jeopardize

  herself.

  "I can't let you do it, Alex. There's no way, I won't

  let you stay after hours anymore. Please don't

  make me pull rank," James pleaded not wanting to

  further isolate her from him.

  Alex grabbed the flowers and threw them in the

  garbage. "That is how much, I think of this

  subject," she spit out, pointing to the garbage, "I

  will do what I want, when I want and I will not let

  anyone dictate their rules to me again. Do I make

  myself clear, Mr. O'Reilly?"

  James stood there in shock at the tone in her

  voice. He didn't know exactly what she was mad

  about anymore, but it was clear that it just wasn't

  about the attack. Alex grabbed her coat and purse and again charged out of the office, wishing like hell

  she hadn't come to Ashmore Valley.

  "Maybe Tad was right," she said to herself as she got into her car.

  Chapter 5

  The phone was ringing off the hook when she

  walked in the door. A glance at the answering

  machine noted three messages as she reached for

  the cordless on the coffee table.

  "Hello," she answered.

  "Where have you been," asked the voice on the

  other end.”

  "At work, Tad, that's why I'm here. "

  "You're there to escape me, I thought. "

  "Tad, don't do this again," she pleaded, realizing he

  had or was drinking.

  "So, how is life in the primordial soup?" "Not that you really care, but fine. I'm really

  enjoying myself," she lied.

  "That's great, I guess you won't be coming home

  anytime soon then.”

  "Tad, look, we talked about this. I really need this

  time to branch out and be independent. Why

  can't you understand that?"

  "Because I love you; and I don't want you so far

  away from me. You belong here, not in some

  backwater town catering to some filthy, backwater

  rednecks," he bit out acidly.

  Alex sighed at the familiar argument. She truly

  didn't want to argue with Tad, especially over the

  phone. Tad heard the sigh at the other end and knew that

  he was pushing the right buttons. He truly didn't

  think Alex should be independent from him and was

  determined to get her back at any cost. He down

  his fourth glass of scotch and moved in for the kill.

  "Alex, I'm sorry, if I sound selfish. I always thought

  we'd be together forever. Not apart, in two

  different cities. Do you forgive me," he begged.

  "Of course, I do Tad. But you know our

  agreement. Give it a year. I'll be home then,"

  she promised.

  "No you won't," he said petulantly.”

  "Yes, I will Tad. This is just a breather. " Tad gulped down another shot of scotch and stared

  at a picture of Alex. He remembered how furious

  she had been the night she left.

  "I have to go, Tad. I just came in the door and I'm

  starving. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

  Tad reluctantly said good bye and hung up the

  phone. He moved around the empty condo

  remembering and cursing her in intervals. Tad

  refused to think that she wouldn't come back, but

  had a feeling she would remain in Connecticut

  forever. It was her home and as much as she tried

  she never really liked Washington. Tad

  remembered the night Alex had told him about the

  job. "How can you do this to me, Alex? You know what

  you mean to me, how much I care about you. I

  just don't understand," demanded Tad.

  Alex moved out of the bed and crossed the

  room. She and Tad had just finished making love

  when she told him about the job offer and her

  acceptance.

  "It's only for a year, Tad. They gave me a contract

  for one year. At the end of the year, I'll be home.”

  "And what if they want you to stay? Or you want to

  stay? What becomes of us then?"

  "Tad, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I

  won't make any promises to you. I also will not

  allow you to change my mind because you don't

  want me to go.” That set Tad back on his heels. He had thought he

  would be able to control Alex and so far he had

  accomplished that. She was doing what expected

  of her.

  Alex had been fed up with Tad for months. He had

  set up an interview that she didn't want with

  Senator Adler's office after losing her lobbying

  position. The picture that had been taken of them

  had cost her her job at American's for a Brighter

  Future. After that, Tad had taken control of her

  life, moved her into his condo and groomed her to

  become a political hack in Adler's office. But Alex

  hadn't wanted that. She really did like her position

  at ABF. Losing her job there had come as a hard

  blow to her. "We agreed that this was sex and business, Tad. I

  never wanted anything emotional. "

  "Bullshit, Alex. You dredged up the

  emotions. You begged and pleaded with me to

  feel something for you. And now that I do, you

  want me to turn off those feelings and let you ruin

  your career by going to work in some

  manufacturing company in the middle of

  nowhere. How are you going to work your way

  into the White House staff from Smallvill
e?"

  Alex was truly furious with him when she turned

  around. The color had risen to her face and her

  breasts heaved as she took large gulps of air to calm

  herself down.

  "I never wanted to work at the White House,

  Tad. You know I was perfectly happy at ABF before that stupid picture was taken and got me

  fired. John Adler didn't fire you for associating

  with a lobbyist! I want to do some good with my

  skills, Tad and I don't think I can by working in

  somebody's political machine," she yelled.

  Alex grabbed her clothes from the floor and put

  them on quickly. She had to admit that she had

  first accepted the position with Hasani to spite

  Tad. But at the interview, Jeff and Forrest

  McGuire had made it more than appealing to

  her. She felt that she could truly grow with this

  company and be a success. Alex had finished

  dressing and was in the process of locating her keys

  and purse, when Tad sprung from the bed and

  grabbed her arms. "Please, Alex, don't go," he pleaded pulling her

  against his hard body.

  "I want to do this, Tad. I won't let you stop me,"

  she said finally and released herself from his grasp

  and left.

  Alex hung up the phone and listened to her

  messages. It was just as she thought, Tad had

  called her three times before she came in the

  door. Alex was still fuming about her argument

  with James and the flowers. She didn't know who

  was doing this to her or why, but she wasn't happy

  about it. If it wasn't for the fact that Tad would

  never let her live it down, Alex would have packed

  up and left for Washington that night. But she

  knew that Tad would make her remember this mistake forever and decided to tough it out.

  James was concerned about Alex. He left the

  office in a rush, trying to catch up to her and explain

  his motivations, but he was too late. He decided

  to stop into the bar where Morgan and the rest of

  the guys had gone for a few drinks. He couldn't

  imagine going back to the empty house. He would

  only think about Jean or Alex.

  "No, what I need is a night out," he muttered to

  himself as he started his car.

  The Standing Ovation stood invitingly before James

  as he thought about maybe not staying. It had

  been a second home to all of the Hasani employees

  at one time or another. It had seen more than its fair share of fights between the co-workers and

  their wives and the co-workers themselves.

  James finally gave up the battle walked into the