Amulet, p.14
Amulet, page 14
Val turned off the shower and dried himself with an extravagantly thick towel. Stepping into the bedroom with the towel wrapped around his waist, he turned on the television to distract himself while he got dressed.
He had been dressed and ready for almost twenty minutes, standing in front of the television in his dress pants and crisp white shirt to avoid any wrinkles while attempting to work out the plot from the actors’ actions and the few Hebrew words he could understand, when he decided it was time to go.
He turned off the TV and placed the remote on the nightstand by the bed. Then, grabbing his blazer and tucking his room key and wallet in his pocket, Val headed out the door.
Past girlfriends had lectured him about the evils of showing up too early to pick up your date, but he doubted Alex would mind that much. She was too good-natured. Plus, he reminded himself, Alex was his co-worker—most definitely not his date. As Val approached her room, he could hear the muffled sound of a television show in the background. Alex had probably been killing time, just like him. Taking a steadying breath, Val knocked three times on her door. A couple of seconds later, the door opened.
Alex was wearing a simple black dress with short sleeves and a neckline that dipped deliciously low. A small silver buckle connected two strips of black material above the plunging neckline, which emphasized the delicate bones in her neck and made a necklace unnecessary. The dress went down to her knees, hugging her hips in a most flattering manner. The strappy black heels on her feet made her legs look like they went on for miles.
This is not a date, Val reminded himself weakly.
Resisting another urge to look Alex up and down, Val focused on her beautiful hazel eyes, which seemed even larger and more seductive as a result of the eye makeup she had applied. Her hair hung in loose curls about her face, completing the picture of her beauty.
“Hi, Val,” she said softly.
“Hi, Alex. You look great.” It was as much as he would allow himself to say about how truly amazing she looked.
“Thanks.” Alex’s smile was hesitant. “I have a problem. Well, more of a slight wardrobe malfunction. Is it okay if you come in for a minute?”
All of Val’s Human Resources alarms sounded at the prospect of entering Alex’s room. It was a damn foolish thing for any man to enter the hotel room of a female employee or coworker—it screamed sexual harassment lawsuit, or worse. But Alex had asked so innocently, and she had already moved out of the way to let him enter. He stepped into the room without even having answered her question.
At the sound of the door clicking shut, Alex looked at him somewhat timidly. A rosy blush spread across her cheeks before she even said anything.
“I’m really sorry to put you in this position, but the zipper on my dress is stuck. I can’t move it up or down, and I don’t have another dress to wear. Do you think you could see if you can move it? I’m really sorry…”
Alex turned her back to him, and Val could see the silver zipper was only halfway closed, sitting stubbornly just high enough to cover the clasp of her bra.
Oh, good Lord. He moved in closer to investigate the cause of the problem.
“I’m just going to pull the dress away from you a little so I can maybe see if it’s stuck on something,” said Val, his voice lower than intended. His hands moved toward her, and he took gentle hold of each side of the unzipped dress and tried to flip the zipper out, so he could see the inside seam. The knuckles of Val’s thumbs brushed the smooth skin of Alex’s back in the process, sending every nerve in his body into high alert.
“It looks like there are a few threads stuck in here. I’m going to try to back it up and see if that gets them out.”
“Okay,” she replied quietly.
Val grasped the unzipped ends at the top together with his left hand, the backs of his fingers resting on Alex’s warm skin. With his right hand, Val took hold of the zipper and applied two firm tugs. On the second tug, the material came free, and the zipper moved down to just past her satiny black bra. Val swallowed hard. The sight of her exposed skin contrasting with the material of her bra and the warmth emanating from her body was almost too much for him to resist, but he gritted his teeth and moved the black threads that had caused this whole mess out of the way, grazing more skin in the process. He then gently pulled the zipper all the way to the top.
His mission accomplished, Val quickly stepped away before he could give in to the overwhelming urge to unzip the dress once more and plant kisses all over Alex’s exquisite back.
“Good, now we don’t have to cancel the dinner,” Val joked, trying to bring himself back to reality.
“I’m so sorry,” she repeated, turning to face Val and clasping her hands together. “Thank you for fixing it. My mother’s right, you get what you pay for. And I got this off the clearance rack.”
The color in Alex’s cheeks remained, but she smiled now and moved toward the stool in the kitchenette area to grab her shawl and purse.
Val took the hint and opened the door to the hallway, simultaneously relieved and disappointed to be out of there.
****
As they waited in awkward silence for the elevator, Alex concluded it was difficult to find a normal topic of conversation after making your boss fix the zipper of your dress while wearing it. She tried not to emphasize her embarrassed state by fidgeting, so instead Alex stood as still as a statue, clutching her purse demurely at her waist.
In contrast, Val seemed totally at ease as he stood next to her with his hands in the pockets of his charcoal gray pants and the top two buttons of his smooth white dress shirt casually undone. As the elevator doors slid open, Val remarked on the weather forecast for the evening, and Alex replied. After a few similarly cautious exchanges, however, their normal easy flow of conversation resumed as they tried to anticipate what the mood might be at dinner with the wives present.
Unfortunately, as Alex settled in the back seat of the taxi and reached for the seat belt, her hand brushed Val’s as he reached for his own.
“Oh,” she gasped, drawing her hand back as though she’d been scalded. “Sorry.”
“You’re fine,” he replied, cool as a cucumber. “Did you find yours?”
Checking to make sure his hand was safely back in his lap after hearing the click of his seat belt, Alex groped the crease in the seat for hers once more. “Got it,” she answered, drawing the belt across her chest.
Then she folded her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead.
She was being ridiculous; she knew that. Completely ridiculous. Val had helped her zip up her dress—big deal. So what if his warm hands had touched her skin? So what if she had felt his breath on her neck? So what that she was acutely aware of his physical presence beside her, that each time he shifted his body, she felt the energy of that movement travel from him to her, like the ripples in a pond?
Val was a seriously attractive man—it was a factually objective observation. It was quite normal, then, that her skin would have tingled at his touch, as innocent as it was. He had been a complete gentleman with her, and neither of them had done anything wrong. And Alex certainly wasn’t replaying the three minutes Val had spent in her room, fixing her zipper, over and over again in her mind.
“You’re quiet.”
Val’s deep, low voice startled Alex into looking at him, and she prayed she wouldn’t blush.
“Billy hasn’t answered any of my emails,” she blurted out, even though Billy was the farthest thing from her mind. “I mean, he hadn’t, the last time I checked.”
“Oh,” Val replied. “Did you try calling him?”
“I shut my phone off. I don’t want to pay the extra fee every day for having international cell service.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I think that since your boss made you go to Israel with him, he would certainly pay any extra cell charges that were incurred.”
“I know,” she sighed, “but there’s no reason to pay for something I don’t need. Billy’s probably just caught up in back-to-back meetings. He’ll email me when he has a few minutes. I’m not worried about it.”
“You could just use my phone to call him,” Val suggested.
“It’s okay, really. But thank you.”
Val shrugged, raising his eyebrows.
Alex turned her head to stare out the darkened window as she exhaled a slow breath. It was going to be a long night.
****
They were the first to arrive at the restaurant by design. After checking in with the hostess, they went back outside to stand on a picturesque stone patio and wait for the rest of their party. It had been dark for a while, and it was somewhat hypnotic watching the lights from the cars as they went by and listening to the accompanying hum of their motors. Alex stood near him, leaning against the metal railing, and each time the breeze picked up, Val’s lungs filled with her scent. He knew it was just the hotel shampoo, but still, the smell of tangerine was intoxicating when it was coming from her body.
When their guests arrived a few minutes later, Val watched out of the corner of his eye as Alex shook hands with Gideon and Yaakov and warmly welcomed their wives. Alex was more talkative now, more relaxed than she’d been in the cab ride over. She had been worried about her boyfriend, apparently. Even from across the globe, this boyfriend of hers was irritating.
At the table, Val and Alex exchanged looks as he silently assessed the most strategic places to sit in an effort to include everyone in the conversation. With another glance in Alex’s direction, Val moved to sit at one end of the table, with Yaakov on one side of him and Yaakov’s wife, Mara, on the other. Gideon’s wife Ayala, who was a talkative redhead, was already in the middle of telling Mara and Alex the story of her life, so she sat down next to Mara. Alex, rather than sit at the other end of the table across from Val, sat down opposite Ayala, next to Yaakov, leaving Gideon to sit at the end of the table opposite Val.
Val made a mental note to thank her for so naturally allowing Gideon to have the other power position.
Throughout their dinner, Val found himself captivated by how charming and at ease Alex seemed. She had the charismatic demeanor of a diplomat, constantly wearing a warm, inviting smile and always knowing the perfect moment to deliver a witty comment, inspiring laughter, or emphasizing the importance of what someone had said.
At one point during their meal, Alex caught Val looking at her, and the curve of her lips changed from the polite smile of a hostess to the knowing grin of a confidante or co-conspirator. The acknowledgement that they were working together to seal this deal, even though it was in the form of an almost imperceivable change in the curve of her lips and the subtlest raising of her eyebrows, brought him such joy and comfort that for a few moments, Val couldn’t look away.
As the desserts were cleared and Val was signing the check, he again stole a glance in her direction. This time he found Yaakov, who was sitting beside her, leaning in to tell her something meant only for her ears. Val felt a jealous sting, which caused him to furrow his brow. Then, realizing the absurdity of the feeling, he quickly looked back down at the check in front of him.
The party stood up in unison, and Val turned first to Mara and held out his hand.
“Handshakes are for suspicious strangers,” replied Mara, hugging him.
Across the table, Val saw Alex embrace Gideon before turning to Yaakov, who seemed more than eager to receive the same treatment.
Although the men did not embrace each other, Gideon shook Val’s hand with both of his and delivered an encouraging smile, even as he held Val back from the rest of the group to speak more privately.
“Val, it will not come as a surprise to you that I was greatly disturbed to hear Kurt was leaving to join Pierce.”
“Yes,” Val nodded, “I know, and believe me, I understand.”
“But the fact that you came here to Israel to give me your assurances in person, and the fact that I can see for myself you are more than capable of attracting the best talent to work for you—” At this, he gestured toward Alex several steps ahead of them. “—well, that speaks volumes. I now give you my personal assurances that when the board meets in two weeks to take the final vote, I will recommend to them that they proceed with the acquisition of Span Global. There are no guarantees, of course, that they will vote in accordance with my recommendation, but I can’t remember the last time they did not on a matter of such importance.”
Val had not expected to have such positive feedback as instant gratification for their efforts. The best he had hoped for was his own and Alex’s assessment of how the meetings had gone. Val shook hands with Gideon once more, thanking him.
Gideon and Ayala got into one car, and Yaakov and Mara got into another. Val and Alex stood back and waved as they drove off. It would be a few more minutes before the cab they had called from the restaurant arrived. As soon as their guests were out of the parking lot, Alex turned to Val with a huge smile on her face.
“Well, how do you think it went?” she asked, her excitement obvious.
“How do you think it went?” Val asked back, mirroring her expression.
“I think it went as well as it could possibly go,” Alex replied. “I think they really like you, and, more than that, they trust you. Gideon mentioned more than once how much he appreciated us coming all the way out here for one day of meetings with them.”
“Yes,” said Val, still smiling. He enjoyed seeing her so happy and animated.
“You look like you know something I don’t know. What are you hiding from me?”
Val’s smile grew larger as the cab they were waiting for pulled up to the curb.
“I’ll tell you in the cab,” he said finally, giving in under the weight of her stare.
They got into the cab, and Val leaned forward in his seat to ask the driver to take them back to the Ritz. When he relaxed into his seat once more and looked over at Alex, the impatient look she gave him made him laugh out loud.
“You’re making me want to drag this out even longer,” he teased.
Alex hit his arm playfully with the back of her hand. “We’re in the cab—now tell me!”
“Okay, okay. As we were leaving the restaurant, Gideon told me he would recommend to the board that they proceed with the acquisition of Span Global.”
“Oh my gosh! That’s great!” squealed Alex, clapping her hands. “You did it! You won—you beat Kurt Donovan at his own game.”
“We can’t declare victory yet, Alex. The board votes in two weeks, and they can vote however they wish. Nothing obligates them to follow Gideon’s recommendation. It’s just that—a recommendation.”
“So, they could still vote against the acquisition? Is that likely?”
Val paused, letting his own enthusiasm take over for a moment. “Well, although it is definitely possible for them to vote contrary to Gideon’s recommendation, Gideon said that they’ve never done that. They’ve always gone with what he recommends.”
Alex’s face lit up once more. “That’s so wonderful, Val. I’m so happy for you. Even though I know you won’t know for sure for a couple of weeks, I think we’re in the best position we could possibly be in, given the circumstances. And chances are you’re going to get some really good news in two weeks.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.”
They were both quiet for a few moments. Alex turned her head slightly to look out the window. Then she turned back toward him and said, with a mischievous grin, “I noticed Mara was pretty eager to hug you goodbye.”
Val chuckled. “Really? Is that what you noticed? Because I noticed that her husband was even more eager to hug you goodbye.”
She laughed. “It would seem the Israelis are a very warm people.”
“Yes, especially when it comes to embracing attractive young women under socially acceptable settings. I was rather jealous of our friend Yaakov.”
This last comment had come out of his mouth unfiltered, and Val immediately knew he had crossed a line by insinuating that he, too, wanted to hug Alex. Especially since he wanted to do much more than hug her.
To Val’s surprise, she smiled coyly at him. “The night is young. You may get your chance yet.”
While Val was still pondering, somewhat in shock, what exactly Alex meant by her statement, she clasped her hands together and looked at him conspiratorially. “I think we should do something to celebrate our success tonight. Don’t you?”
“I think that’s a great idea. What do you have in mind?”
“Nothing in particular,” she replied. “There’s a trendy-looking bar in the lobby of the hotel. We can start there.”
When they arrived at the hotel, they agreed to go upstairs and change into more comfortable clothes, then meet back downstairs in the lobby. As Val unbuttoned his shirt and pulled a dark blue sweater on over his t-shirt, he felt almost giddy. He couldn’t remember the last time he looked forward to seeing anyone, or doing anything. It was borderline ridiculous, the sense of anticipation growing in the pit of his stomach.
As he passed by Alex’s hotel room to go back down to the lobby, Val wondered if Alex had managed to get her dress unzipped. He pictured Alex standing there again, with her back to him, lifting her hair away from the zipper to give him access. He imagined slowly pulling down the zipper, down past her bra, and further down, to the small of her back, the fabric gently falling away to reveal soft, smooth skin.
Shaking his head, he tried to erase the enticing images from his mind. If he was going to get through the evening without committing every violation in the Span Global Employee Manual, he had to have a clear head and an iron will. He couldn’t make any more mistakes.
Chapter Fourteen
