Breathless Page 7

  retrieved her address and phone number from the personnel files in Jeff’s office.

  Chapter 9

  Alex was just getting comfortable on the couch,

  when a knock resounded on the door. Still

  nervous from the scene in the bar, Alex placed her

  cup of tea on the table, looked out of the window

  and saw James standing on her porch. Adjusting

  her robe, Alex opened the door and let him in.

  "How did you find me," she asked as he made his

  way into her living room.

  "Personnel records and directions from a the deli

  employee down the road."

  "Oh. Coffee?"

  "Sure. " James followed Alex through the house to the

  kitchen where she made his coffee and another cup

  of tea for herself. James watched her closely as

  she moved about the kitchen retrieving cups,

  saucers, spoons and the coffee. He watched the

  way the satin robe clung to her form. The blue

  robe belted at the waist and James could see a

  matching nightgown hidden underneath when it

  gapped. He was sure she was naked underneath

  and the urge to pull her to him and kiss her deeply

  was at war with wanting to protect and comfort

  her.

  Alex was pouring the water into the cups, when she

  caught James staring at her. Her attention

  wavered slightly and she missed one of the cups,

  pouring the steaming water on her hand. "Damn," she said jerking her hand out of the path of

  the water and slamming down the kettle.”

  "Here run it under cold water," reacted James

  reaching for the offended hand and shoving it under

  the spigot as cold water spilled out over her hand.

  Alex tried to pull her hand away from James, but his

  grip on her wrist was too tight. His caress on the

  back of the burnt hand was like fire and even the

  cold water didn't help. Her eyes drifted up to his

  and she caught her breathe at the emotions that

  were conveyed. Shutting off the water with her

  other hand, Alex reached for a towel, accidentally

  brushing her breasts across his chest. James

  inhaled sharply at the intimacy.

  "Alex. . .," he whispered.

  "James, you should go. " "I should, but I can't. "

  "James, please, you don't know what you're doing.”

  "Yes, I do. Alex, please, I need you and I know you

  need me.”

  Alex stepped away from him and retreated into the

  dining room, she needed the space to clear her

  head. Her mind filled with thoughts of him and

  Francine and flashes of the attack. She also

  thought about Tad, which brought her to reality and

  made her realize how much she cared for

  James. Her feelings for Tad had waned in the six

  months that she had been at Hasani, but

  mysteriously, they had grown for James. She

  attributed to the fact that he was always there for

  her, never pushing her to do anything she didn't

  want to. She remembered when they shook hands the first time they met, that was when it had

  started.

  James followed Alex into the dining room, ignoring

  the cup of coffee and tea that were growing cold on

  the counter, and watched as the emotions crossed

  her face. He knew that she was waging her own

  inner war.

  "Alex, tell me you don't feel what I'm feeling. Tell

  me that and I'll leave and will never ask you about it

  again."

  "I can't do that," she whispered, turning her eyes

  away from him, "I felt it when our hands met six

  months ago and I feel it now. But it can't be."

  "Why? Because of this fiancée?" "His name is Tad and only partly. We know so

  little about each other, James. And what we do

  know wouldn't fill this room. There are other

  things too.”

  "What? Are you having these feelings for Grayson

  or Morgan?"

  "No," she said shaking her head, "You know I have

  the deepest respect for all of those guys and you

  too. But you're still feeling the effects of your

  divorce and you. . . James we can't, it's that

  simple. "

  Alex was going to tell him about her suspicions of

  him and Francine, but thought better of it. She

  didn't really want him to know she knew, she was

  embarrassed by it and didn't want to embarrass

  him. "Fine. When you're ready, let me know. I'll be

  there," James stated.

  "Don't wait for me, it may be a while. "

  James turned and left the house abruptly. He was

  confused and he didn't understand what her

  hesitation was, he wasn't sure he wanted to

  know. James thought partially that it had

  something to do with Francine.

  "Damn," he cursed, getting into his SUV and drove

  like hell home.

  Alex heard the door crash violently against the jam

  and jumped. She knew he was upset but it

  couldn't be helped. Francine had made it clear

  that she and James were an item, she had gone so

  far as to pull Alex aside and confide in her once or twice. Since they had cleared the air between

  them, they had become acquaintances, but never

  gone so far as to be friends.

  Alex walked into the kitchen and finished cleaning

  up the mess. She dumped James’ forgotten coffee

  down the drain wondering if she would ever be able

  to make coffee for him in private again. She had

  wanted so much to ask him to stay, but

  refrained. Reaching for the familiar vodka bottle,

  Alex made another screwdriver, shut off the lights

  and went to bed. She hoped the vodka would

  erase the touch, smell and sight of him but it

  hadn't. It had made her night pure torture.

  James stomped into the house and slammed the

  door shut. Sheba and Sasha immediately started

  barking at the intrusion of their sleep. James quieted them down, opened the sliding glass door

  to let them out and grabbed a beer from the

  fridge. He checked the messages and found that

  Grayson had called to let him know that they found

  Dan and took care of him. James appreciated the

  effort they put forth for Alex. He knew that

  Grayson had ulterior motives, specifically the

  passion that Grayson was cultivating for

  Alex. Morgan also felt something more than

  friendship for Alex, but with Melissa in his life would

  never pursue her. He would carry the torch and

  flirt, but he wouldn't cheat.

  Sitting down heavily on the couch, James waited for

  the dogs to lumber back into the house. He

  thought briefly of calling Alex, but thought better of

  it. She would only rebuff him again and he didn't

  need any more rejection tonight. The dogs came back into the house and James got up to close the

  door. After divesting himself of his clothes, he

  removed the last three beers from the fridge and

  took up a post on the couch. Naked and staring

  out at the darkness, James envisioned Alex walking

  to him in her blue negligee, removing it casually and

  then making love to him all night. Sasha looke
d up

  briefly at the sound of the beer bottle hitting the

  floor and rolling towards her. She licked up the

  spilt beer and joined her master on the couch to

  sleep.

  James muddled through the weekend working on

  the house and finished hanging the dry wall in the

  living room. Occasionally, his thoughts drifted to

  Alex making him take his anger and frustration on

  the drywall itself. He couldn’t believe how stupid

  he had been to bare his feelings for her on Friday night. The fact that she hadn’t laughed in his face

  was a relief. On the flip side, however, she also

  felt their consuming attraction and that was torture

  to his soul. She couldn’t or wouldn’t acknowledge

  anything.

  Alex took the weekend to escape from Ashmore

  Valley, headed up to Boston to listen to her favorite

  musician play. Dan Lavoie was an up and coming

  solo guitarist with a smooth as glass voice. He

  played pop, rock and soul that would make an angel

  cry. It was nice to escape and just visit her old

  haunts. A brief stop at the cemetery left her less

  than convinced of anything in her life. She missed

  the warm voice of her family who would listen and

  offer advice. Now, she had nothing close to a confidant that could help her out. .

  Chapter 10

  Spring officially erupted on Monday with another

  thunderstorm, delaying the loading of one of

  Hasani’s machines for transport. Normally,

  inclement weather would never deter them,

  however, the lightning played a catch twenty-two

  with the metal of the machine and the chains to

  hold it down. Nobody wanted the loading crew

  electrocuted.

  Dan Reynolds didn’t show up for work on Monday,

  calling off sick. After several days, it was apparent

  to all that he would not be coming back to Hasani.

  James had given Jeff the blow by blow from Friday

  night and Jeff was mildly pleased that Alex’s stalker

  was out of their lives. Another Friday rolled around and Alex avoided

  contact with all of her co-workers even the ones

  who hadn’t been at the Standing Ovation. She

  especially avoided James not wishing to inflict more

  pain on either of them. She denied an invitation

  from Grayson for a party at his place instead

  electing to work late. Since Dan was no longer a

  threat, she could again do as she pleased at the

  office.

  Monday, however, brought another surprise for

  Alex as she arrived at the plant. Francine

  immediately informed her that she was needed in

  Jeff’s office. Dropping her gear on her desk, she

  moved into Jeff’s office with some trepidation.

  Her year was almost over and discussion for

  another, longer term commitment hadn’t begun. “Adam,” Alex exclaimed upon seeing one of the

  occupants of Jeff’s office. Forgetting herself for a

  moment, she gave the newcomer a brief hug and

  peck on the cheek.

  “Alex, morning girl, you look good. What are you

  doing here,” Adam answered returning the hug and

  kiss.

  “I work here. I gave up Washington almost eight

  months ago. When did you get transferred?”

  “Two months ago, this is my first field call.”

  “Here? Is this a scheduled or reported

  inspection?”

  “Reported,” Adam answered.

  “Jeff, would you like me to take Adam around the

  plant? I have my boots under my desk.” Jeff smiled. Somehow, he was sure that Alex

  would have the connection with the OSHA inspector

  that they needed to pass a reported inspection.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’m expecting a few calls.”

  Alex nodded her head in assent, knowing full well

  what Jeff needed her to do. It was kind of a motto

  at Hasani; “cover thy own ass.” Leading their

  guests to her desk, she changed her shoes into her

  steel toed work boots, offered them coffee and

  talked about old times while they made their way to

  the back of the shop.

  Adam Griffin was an old friend from Alex’s college

  days having attended Boston University with her

  and her roommate, Pam. Adam had eventually

  dated and married Pam straight out of college, with

  Alex being the maid of honor. “So who called,” she asked as they entered the

  paint area.

  “I can’t tell you,” Adam smiled, “you know that.

  “Okay,” she smiled back and watched as he took

  notes. She knew they were in trouble but didn’t

  know how bad.

  James watched the pair from the machine shop and

  took immediate notice at the closeness they shared.

  The way she laughed and touched him made James

  wince inwardly. Silently, he wondered if he would

  ever share that with her. Dismissing his brain as

  having gone off the rails, he walked back into the

  office to find Francine waiting for him.

  “Who is that man with Alex,” he asked casually. “Adam Griffin, OSHA. Jeff had her tour with him

  because they’re old friends.”

  “Really? Does that mean we’re going to get a

  discount?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care,” she remarked

  flippantly. “Hell, if she screws him, maybe we’ll

  get off with a light penalty.”

  “Francine, Alex isn’t you,” he remarked bitterly

  returning to his own office.

  Alex and Adam were making their way back to the

  offices when James approached.

  “Afternoon, James O’Reilly, assistant plant

  manager,” he said introducing himself with an

  extended hand. “Adam Griffin, OSHA inspector,” he replied taking

  the proffered hand.

  “So how’d we do?”

  “Not well; twenty violations in excess of

  $15,000.00,” Alex responded.

  James whistled; he didn’t think they were that bad

  off.

  “Let’s go into Jeff’s office and talk about these, shall

  we?”

  James led the way and Alex was about to detach

  herself when Adam requested she stay with them.

  Alex continued into the offices and closed the door

  behind them as James explained the situation.

  “Adam, what can we do about these? Obviously,

  your inspection was a surprise and I know we’re supposed to be within code at all times, but still any

  suggestions?”

  “Alex, I know. But the fact of the matter is that

  Hasani Industries is a government contractor and

  twenty violations is bad news on that front.”

  “Okay, so what would it take to get up to code?”

  “About two weeks of work,” replied Jeff.

  “Is it a question of manpower?”

  “Yes. Basically, we can’t really spare anyone right

  now with production the way it is. The contracts

  have to be fulfilled.”

  Alex sighed and looked at James and Jeff, “What if

  we hired somebody strictly for maintenance

  purposes? Could we justify the cost of an employee to keep us on OSHA regulations and

  maintenance versus getti
ng hit with the fines?”

  “I’m pretty sure Hasani will agree,” Jeff answered.

  Alex commented to Adam, “Can you give us two

  weeks before filing your report?”

  “Alex, how often have I said no to you since we

  met,” Adam said smiling, “Hasani has never had a

  bad report so we could say this is a warning. You

  have two weeks from today to get up to code. I’ll

  do another tour then and whatever I find then

  you’re stuck with.”

  “Deal,” Alex said shaking Adam’s hand. She

  escorted him to the door, hugged him for old-time

  sake and said good bye. “Say hello to Pam for me. She should come with

  you in two weeks and we’ll have lunch.”

  Adam nodded his agreement and promised to see if

  he could get her to come then before leaving the

  plant. Alex stood in the doorway of the factory,

  watching him leave then strolled back to Jeff’s

  office.

  “Alex, you saved our collective asses,” Jeff

  announced as she entered the room, “Thanks.”

  “No problem. But Adam’s serious when he said

  we have two weeks. We need to get somebody in

  here ASAP.”

  Jeff and James interviewed past applicants and

  settled on Eric Marshall to fill the maintenance

  position. He was hired on the spot and began the next day. The hard stuff was tackled first including

  rewiring the two ton jack, installing circuits in the

  weld shop and replacing the frayed extension

  cords. They had just finished when Adam

  returned. This time he had brought Alex's college

  roommate Pam and the two had reminisced over

  lunch and then dinner after Adam declared the

  place up to date and gave Hasani a clean bill of

  health. Grayson knew Alex was in a better

  mood. She had stopped in the machine shop

  several times and had lunch with them on Friday

  afternoon. He decided to give it another shot and

  invite her to a party at his house that night.

  "So Alex," he smiled, "what do you say? Tonight,

  we’re partying at my place, Morgan, possibly

  Melissa, a few others. . . " Alex knew it was coming, Grayson had been smiling

  too much. She chuckled and wagged her

  eyebrows at Joey just to make him blush.

  "Okay, how do I get there?"

  Grayson almost fell off the bench. He expected

  another rejection, but since the OSHA inspection

  had gone so well, she had cheered.

  Morgan smiled at Gray's reaction, drew Alex a map

  on the back of her tablet and wrote a time there.