fraternization in our organization. You would be la doctora , and I would be your boss. Nothing more complicated than that.”
Georgia swallowed her sudden disappointment. He was absolutely correct, she reminded herself. Obviously, she couldn’t take a new job while being romantically involved with her future boss. She forced herself to smile. “Of course.”
He smiled back. “So you accept?”
“Yes,” she said, surprising herself as the word came out of her mouth. “I do.”
He offered his hand to shake on the deal. She took it, and prayed he wouldn’t notice the powerful rush of heat that surged through her entire body at the touch of his fingers.
For a moment, Alejandro’s smile faded. He looked almost regretful, and his hand lingered on hers perhaps a shade too long. Then he broke contact and lifted his glass.
“ Salud ,” he said softly. “I have a very good feeling about this.”
Chapter Twenty-one
L eaving the club and putting his Tesla Roadster into gear, Alejandro was annoyed with himself. It was stupid, really. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted from Georgia Fellowes—the team needed a decent vet, and like magic, an incredible one had appeared. But when he told her that they would be strictly professional—and she had so readily agreed—he’d experienced a sharp pang of what could only be described as loss. It was as if, by giving him what he asked for, she had taken away something much more valuable.
He’d decided to offer Georgia the job last night, after his horrible fight with Valentina. It had been humiliating, all those people privy to his family’s problems. His daughter hadn’t held back—howling that he was a terrible father, that she hated Wellington, and that she hated him. He had finally sent her to her room, and she had slammed and stomped all the way upstairs, making sure that everyone knew exactly what an unfair beast she felt her father to be.
He knew, rationally, that she was just being a teenager—a teenager who had lost her mother, no less—but her fierce defiance had felt like just one more thing that proved how out of control everything had become. First, all the lost games, then missing MacKenzie’s injury until it was almost too late, and then his rash behavior with Dr. Fellowes…Jesus, where had that come from? When he’d found her out there on the veranda, half-drunk in the twilight, wearing that skimpy blue dress that looked as if it had been poured over her, he’d instantly gone rock hard—no matter that a mere fifteen minutes before he had exhausted himself in the shower. She’d looked up at him with those changeable eyes, and every reasonable thought had flown out of his mind. He’d wanted nothing so much as he’d wanted to take her right there; kiss her, lick her, bite her, strip her, and have his way with every inch of her luscious body, party be damned. And he would have done it, too, if Valentina hadn’t interrupted them.
Offering her the job was his way of proving that he could control himself. He knew that it would have been easier had he simply waited it out, let her go back to New York, probably never seeing her again. But the team needed a vet and she was a damned good one. It would have been ridiculous for him not to take advantage of such an opportunity. If he had let her slip away, it would have been proof that he was putting his needs ahead of the team.
And so he had deliberately placed her firmly out of reach. She was an employee now, and there were iron-fast rules about fraternization on his team. Alejandro had made those rules himself, in fact. And the last thing he was going to do was break them.
This was exactly the kind of thing he needed to get back on track, he told himself. He had corrected one bad decision and replaced it with a good one. He’d tackle each element of his home life and the team that needed fixing in turn. One task at a time until he restored order and championship form. Discipline. Self-control. A
Georgia swallowed her sudden disappointment. He was absolutely correct, she reminded herself. Obviously, she couldn’t take a new job while being romantically involved with her future boss. She forced herself to smile. “Of course.”
He smiled back. “So you accept?”
“Yes,” she said, surprising herself as the word came out of her mouth. “I do.”
He offered his hand to shake on the deal. She took it, and prayed he wouldn’t notice the powerful rush of heat that surged through her entire body at the touch of his fingers.
For a moment, Alejandro’s smile faded. He looked almost regretful, and his hand lingered on hers perhaps a shade too long. Then he broke contact and lifted his glass.
“ Salud ,” he said softly. “I have a very good feeling about this.”
Chapter Twenty-one
L eaving the club and putting his Tesla Roadster into gear, Alejandro was annoyed with himself. It was stupid, really. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted from Georgia Fellowes—the team needed a decent vet, and like magic, an incredible one had appeared. But when he told her that they would be strictly professional—and she had so readily agreed—he’d experienced a sharp pang of what could only be described as loss. It was as if, by giving him what he asked for, she had taken away something much more valuable.
He’d decided to offer Georgia the job last night, after his horrible fight with Valentina. It had been humiliating, all those people privy to his family’s problems. His daughter hadn’t held back—howling that he was a terrible father, that she hated Wellington, and that she hated him. He had finally sent her to her room, and she had slammed and stomped all the way upstairs, making sure that everyone knew exactly what an unfair beast she felt her father to be.
He knew, rationally, that she was just being a teenager—a teenager who had lost her mother, no less—but her fierce defiance had felt like just one more thing that proved how out of control everything had become. First, all the lost games, then missing MacKenzie’s injury until it was almost too late, and then his rash behavior with Dr. Fellowes…Jesus, where had that come from? When he’d found her out there on the veranda, half-drunk in the twilight, wearing that skimpy blue dress that looked as if it had been poured over her, he’d instantly gone rock hard—no matter that a mere fifteen minutes before he had exhausted himself in the shower. She’d looked up at him with those changeable eyes, and every reasonable thought had flown out of his mind. He’d wanted nothing so much as he’d wanted to take her right there; kiss her, lick her, bite her, strip her, and have his way with every inch of her luscious body, party be damned. And he would have done it, too, if Valentina hadn’t interrupted them.
Offering her the job was his way of proving that he could control himself. He knew that it would have been easier had he simply waited it out, let her go back to New York, probably never seeing her again. But the team needed a vet and she was a damned good one. It would have been ridiculous for him not to take advantage of such an opportunity. If he had let her slip away, it would have been proof that he was putting his needs ahead of the team.
And so he had deliberately placed her firmly out of reach. She was an employee now, and there were iron-fast rules about fraternization on his team. Alejandro had made those rules himself, in fact. And the last thing he was going to do was break them.
This was exactly the kind of thing he needed to get back on track, he told himself. He had corrected one bad decision and replaced it with a good one. He’d tackle each element of his home life and the team that needed fixing in turn. One task at a time until he restored order and championship form. Discipline. Self-control. A
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