Her Alpha CEO

“Oh, well… uh, white wine, I guess?” Nina found herself shrugging at the empty room. What did one usually drink with fried chicken and collards?

“Great! I’ll see you soon. And Nina?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He cut the call, leaving Nina standing in the middle of the lounge feeling as though a tornado had just swept through and deposited her in Oz. She stared into space for a long moment, a million and one thoughts swirling through her mind as she replayed Brian’s last sentence.

“It’s creepy, right? A bit stalkerish?” She bit her lip and walked through to the kitchen, still talking to herself. “Either that, or he thinks it’s romantic. Jenny did say he was a massive geek.”

Pots banged as she pulled them out of the cupboard and slammed them onto the counter.

“A drop-dead-gorgeous, pathetically wealthy, geek, who brings wine to a homemade meal.”

The greens were rapidly chopped up and thrown into the pot, along with onions and vegetable stock.

“Nina Jacobs, if your mother could hear you talking to yourself about a man while you cooked him a meal… she’d be so proud.” Her sense of humor taking over, Nina laughed and vowed, for the second time that day, to stop worrying about what Brian Guidice thought of her.

*****

When Brian rang the doorbell promptly at seven o’clock, Nina was ready for him.

“Wow, something smells amazing!” he stepped into her house with a grin, and Nina couldn’t help smiling up at him in response.

“Thank you. Welcome. Come on through to the kitchen. I’m just putting the finishing touches on the dessert.”

“Are we starting with dessert?” he looked so hopeful, Nina laughed.

“Didn’t your mother teach you that you don’t get dessert without eating all your dinner?”

“She tried, but she failed to take into account the extreme nature of my sweet tooth. Particularly,” he waggled his eyebrows and leered at her, “where chocolate is involved.”

She rolled her eyes and led the way through to the kitchen. “Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“Cut me some slack. I’m distracted by the smell of food, and the sight of the most beautiful woman in the room.”

“I’m the only woman in the room.”

“Well, that’s exactly my point.” He winked at her then glanced around her kitchen and walked unerringly over to her cutlery drawer. Pulling out the corkscrew, he turned to lean against the counter while he opened the bottle of wine he’d brought with him. “Glasses?”

Nina frowned at him suspiciously. “How did you know where I kept the corkscrew?”

Brian appeared puzzled for a moment, then laughed. “You only have a single section of drawers in your cupboards. It seemed like the logical place to store it.”

“Ah, of course. Logic.” She rolled her eyes again, pointing at the glass-fronted cabinet behind him. “In that case, logic dictates that the glasses are behind you, since you clearly can’t see them.”

Brian didn’t appear at all embarrassed as he peered over his shoulder into the cabinet. “Would you look at that? Glasses!”

He placed the wine bottle on the counter and reached into the cupboard, pouring them both a glass while Nina finished slicing strawberries and placing them around the chocolate cake.

He placed the glass near her and tried to steal a strawberry. Nina slapped his hand and he snatched it back.

“Is that any way to treat a guest?”

“When the guest is trying to spoil his dinner by stealing dessert first, yes. Hands off, mister.” Brian backed away, laughing.

“Okay, okay. I’ll behave.”

With an increasingly warm feeling in the center of her belly, Nina issued instructions to Brian who helped with setting the small table in the dining room, and then carried the plates of food through. When they were both seated, he looked at the spread in front of them in awe.

“This looks amazing, Nina. I can’t believe you cooked all this.”

Nina smiled with pleasure, taking his plate to dish up for him.

“I’ve always loved cooking but living alone makes a girl lazy. It’s nice to have someone to cook for, for a change.” She handed him his plate and he nodded his thanks.

“If this is how you always cook, I’ll come eat here every night.”

Nina paused for a moment, spooning collards onto her plate. Brian, who was waiting for her to start, noticed the hesitation, but decided to ignore it. They ate in silence for a moment, only the delighted mumbles of Brian’s appreciation filling the room.

Once their initial hunger had been satiated, conversation resumed, with both Nina and Brian sharing stories of their week at work, laughing as they discovered their common dislike of instant messaging and social media.

The wine flowed quickly, topped up by Brian throughout the meal, and the conversation swung between light-hearted teasing and deeper flirting that left Nina feeling as though she’d drunk far too much. When he held up the bottle with the last few drops in it, Nina shook her head.

“No, thank you. I can’t believe I’ve drunk so much. I don’t usually like wine.”

“Now she tells me!” Brian rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, placing the bottle back on the table.

“What was I supposed to do? Tell you not to bring wine because I don’t like it that much?”

“Yes, actually.”

Nina pushed back from the table, a sudden burst of temper sparking in her eyes. Brian was on his feet in front of her. She poked him the chest, each point punctuated by her stabbing finger. “I’m sorry I was raised with a few more manners than that, Mister Guidice, but if you don’t like it–”

“I do.” He cut her off, his hand grabbing hers as she reached to prod him again. “I like it very much.” His voice was low, filled with a subtle message that drew Nina’s gaze to his like a magnet.

“Brian…”