She clenched her jaw. What would she tell Jay if she weren’t on this mission? If she’d just accepted the job at the spa for no reason other than she was well-suited for it.
Alexandra Leon was undeniably sexy. It wasn’t just her beautiful face and the easy power she exuded. She had this air about her. She was deep, still water Charlotte found herself compelled to cut through . . . or maybe drown in.
Jay would tell her she was crazy either way, she realized.
And maybe she was. Getting close to Alex, even if she could, would complicate everything. There were a thousand reasons not to, yet Charlotte had already decided on the tack. It would take years to get close enough to her otherwise, and they didn’t have that kind of time.
Ugh .
Charlotte’s body ached, but she heaved herself to her feet.
She would’ve been happy to lay in the grass, wallowing in her discomfort like an ant under a cruel child’s magnifying glass, but her skin was starting to burn. Even a heavy coating of sun block couldn’t last against the south Florida sun. She had no interest in another farmer’s tan. It had taken weeks to even out the last one.
As she ambled slowly to the car, her thigh muscles quivered. She checked the line of her tank top. The uncovered skin around it had turned red. She thought of her mother, remembered her naturally tanned skin and resented the pale asshole who’d knocked her up at a college party thirty years ago.
Charlotte beat back the rush of memories. She hated thinking of her mom. No matter how nicely the thoughts started, they always ended up in the same place. The slow, painful decay of illness that stole not only her mother’s life but Charlotte’s too.
As she neared the parking lot at the edge of the park, she resisted the urge to run. Her body was too sore to hold her, but even if she was as fresh as she’d been hours earlier, she could never outrun the bitter sadness. She’d been trying to do it for years without success.
It’s almost over . By this time next year, she’d be training alongside other FBI agents in Quantico, Virginia. All she had to do was keep her head in the game and stay focused.
When the steering wheel was no longer as hot as molten lava, Charlotte pulled out of the parking spot. As she drove, she became lost in the night with Alex again. She re-lived their conversation until it sparked an idea.
Instead of heading home, Charlotte made a U-turn. At work on Monday, she was going to present Alex with a little gift. Something to remind her of their dinner and hopefully set the precedent for more time together.
CHAPTER 12
ARRIVING TO WORK A LITTLE EARLY, Charlotte concealed a small, brown gift bag under her purse and lunch bag. She exchanged pleasantries with Paola but didn’t stop to chat like she did most mornings.
Instead of heading to the end of the hall, she made a quick right into the waterfall hallway. With each step toward the frosted glass door, her heart crept higher up in her chest.
By the time she had her hand on the lever, it was well and truly pounding in her throat.
Charlotte glanced at the little gift bag tied with a twine bow. Would she think this was corny? Or that she was trying too hard?
Before she could overthink it, she pulled on the handle.
When it didn’t budge, her pounding heart dropped.
Are you freaking kidding me?
She’d risked a coronary for nothing. Charlotte debated waiting for Alex but thought it might be weird to loiter in her doorway like a creep.
As she languished in uncertainty, heels clicking on stone joined the echo of cascading water.
“Can I help you?” Stephanie, Alex’s assistant, asked as she slipped her cell phone into her trouser pockets.
Charlotte dropped her dithering and straightened. “I was just going to leave Alex something, but I’ll—”
“She’ll be in soon. Here, I’ll give it to her.” Stephanie extended her arm and reached for the gift bag Charlotte was clutching.
The crispness in Stephanie’s tone gave Charlotte the impression that she wasn’t her favorite. Had Alex said something about their dinner? Alex didn’t strike her as the gossipy sort.
With a tight smile, Charlotte started to politely decline, but Stephanie was too impatient. Her lips pressed into a hard line. “She has meetings all day,” she insisted, opening and closing her hand as if to say come on already; give it here .
Charlotte gripped the bag tighter as she held Stephanie’s gaze. She was attractive and well put together with her black hair pinned back and her lean, athletic body in a chic, tailored dress. They had to be around the same age, but she possessed an imposing severity that made her look older.
It would benefit Charlotte to befriend her too if she was trying to ingratiate herself to Alex. Reluctantly, Charlotte turned over the gift she was already regretting.