Her Alpha CEO

Then, “I don’t know,” she finally said. “I feel like Tristan hired Sabrina under false pretenses, and I don’t want her to work for Knight Gaming if that’s the case. I’d like her to be hired on the merit of her knowledge and potential, not because she’s acting as a corporate spy.”

“You could try to talk her into resigning,” Brian said.

She studied him in silence for a moment, wondering why he’d made the suggestion he had.

Was it because he wanted to be proven right? Or was he looking out for Nina’s best interests? Or was it simply because he wanted to stick it to Tristan Guidice?

Not long ago, she would have assumed it was either the first or last of those reasons. Now, however, she couldn’t help thinking maybe he really did want to help Nina do what was

best for herself.

“It will probably be a moot point,” she said. “If she decides I’m not going to be beneficial to her in the way she first thought, I wouldn’t be surprised if she manufactures some excuse to cut ties again.”

She raised a shoulder and let it drop, hoping the half shrug hid the turmoil roiling inside her.

What was weird was that the turmoil was less a result of the prospect of losing her sister again, and more the result of the way Brian continued to look at her.

He dropped his gaze into his glass again, swirling the dark wine around the sides of the bowl in thoughtful concentration. “Well, if she does decide to resign,” he began, “or if Tristan is stupid enough to let her go, I have a position at Guidice Games that needs filling.” He glanced up at Nina again, fixing his gaze on hers. “If you think she’d be interested. She’d

be perfect for it.”

For some reason, his offer of giving her sister her old job back didn’t rankle her as much as it might have, had he made it two weeks before. Maybe because this time he wasn’t being such an arrogant jackass about it. No, this time, his tone was solicitous, his body language inquisitive. This time, it was indeed an offer, not an order to be on her guard with her sister.

“I also meant what I said about working with you, taking you on as an employee, part time or full time. Your choice.”

But Nina was no more interested in accepting it now than she had been before. She

still wanted — needed — more than to be Brian Guidice’s assistant. She was too smart and too ambitious, and she wanted to do more — with her life and herself.

“Brian, I can’t just give up my job at the bookstore,” she told him. “We’ve been through this. I need something that will challenge me to be the best that I can be, and I love my job. I worked hard to build that business up and it’s important to me.”

“I’m not offering you a position as my assistant,” he told her. “I’m offering you a new one.”

Nina wasn’t sure if she should be suspicious or not. Ultimately, she decided on being

cautious. “What kind of position?”

He turned toward the deck railing and leaned over to prop his arms on it, then gazed up at the moon as he spoke. “There’s no title for it yet. But I’m getting ready to acquire a technology company that’s been failing due to mismanagement and carelessness. I’m going to need someone to work side by side with me getting it whipped into shape.”

Nina told herself not to make anything of his body language — that he was looking at the

moon and might be, figuratively anyway, offering her something that didn’t exist — and

consider what he was saying. “Tell me more about the company,” she asked carefully.

He did, describing its rise and fall and the problems that had led to its faltering. She nodded

as he spoke, turning over in her mind the possibilities and potential, and the various avenues

they could take to put the company back on its feet.

When Brian finished, she asked, “What’s the salary and benefits for this position?”

“Quadruple what you’d have made as my assistant,” he told her.

Her eyebrows shot up at that. That was twice what she earned running her bookstore with partners.

“Full medical and dental,” he added, “contributions to an IRA and 41(k). And, if you want, we can talk stock options.”

“I want,” she said readily.

By now he had straightened again and was lifting his glass to his mouth. But he stopped so abruptly when Nina said what she did that some of the ruby wine spilled over onto his hand. Hastily, he took the glass in his other hand and tried to shake the wine from his fingers, then looked around for something to wipe the rest of it off. Nina, snatched a serviette from the table and handed it to him. He set his glass down, wiped his hand clean, then crumpled up the serviette and tossed it back on the table.

When he looked at her again, he seemed agitated about something. But all he said was, “Then let’s talk.” Nina met his gaze levelly.

“Okay. I’m listening.”

*****

The coffee shop where Michael had scheduled their “morning meeting,” which he’d deemed

“unavoidable” on a Saturday because Nina’s “orientation” had “fallen behind” this week

— yeah, Michael, since some people blew off “essential dinner meetings” to instead chase

after breathtaking blondes — was located a couple of blocks away from her house. But it was every bit as quaint and charming as the restaurant he’d taken her to a few weeks back.

He’d made a point of keeping in touch with her, and she’d found herself relaxing into the old camaraderie they’d always shared, talking to him about her relationship with Brian, and the shock of bumping into Sabrina.

When he’d suggested that they meet, because he had a business proposal for her, Nina had been wary. Michael was a charmer, but he also liked get-rich quick schemes and they were dangerous.

Still, he’d insisted, and then stood her up the previous night and insisted on meeting this morning. Even though it was early — and also Saturday, in case Nina hadn’t mentioned that part — there were a number of people out and about, ambling down the walkways, waiting for the shops to open and sipping their morning lattes. But, unlike Nina, who was dressed in her usual business trousers and shirt — in this case beige for the former and cream for the latter — everyone else sported vacation clothes, mostly shorts and T-shirts or loose cotton dresses coupled with sneakers or sandals. Because they, unlike Nina, didn’t have to work today. On account of it was Saturday. In case she hadn’t mentioned that part.