with your accountant and not notice that he’s the sexiest thing since Mr. Darcy?”
Again with the clueless blink. “Are you referring to Logan?” Alexis asked.
You poor, oblivious creature. “Please don’t tell me you’ve completely missed the fact that the man is gorgeous.”
Alexis pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I guess he’s always just been . . . Logan. We’re friends. And he’s my accountant. Not exactly fantasy material.”
“I’m pretty sure I’d forgive the pocket protector because, that accent though.”
Alexis’s smile faded as she chewed and swallowed the chocolate. “Is this what you wanted to speak of? My accountant?”
Brooke swallowed a sigh. Girl talk was apparently over before it even got started.
“Actually, no . . .” she admitted. “It’s about the Tyler wedding.”
Brooke took a deep breath. “I seem to be finding myself . . . attracted . . . to the bride’s brother.”
“Ah,” Alexis said, not looking the least bit surprised.
“You don’t seem . . . shocked,” Brooke said.
“Well, I know him.”
Brooke froze. “You know him.”
“I know of him,” Alexis amended. “I’m actually friendly with an ex-girlfriend of his.”
“Nadia?”
Alexis’s gaze sharpened. “He’s mentioned her?”
Brooke bit her tongue, feeling oddly disloyal to Seth for even going there. “In passing,” she said with a wave of her hand.
“Hmm, yes. They didn’t end well,” Alexis said.
Understatement.
“Well, regardless, I seem to find myself . . . attracted. I haven’t crossed any major lines,” Brooke said, deliberately omitting the fact that she’d crossed a minor one with that kiss, “but I’m embarrassed to say that I’m no longer certain I can be objective where he’s concerned.”
“I see,” Alexis said slowly. “Is he planning the wedding?”
“Well, no, but he’s financing it.”
“And you’re worried that you might comport yourself in a less-than-ideal manner because he’s attractive?”
“No. But I’m worried you might worry that.”
Alexis studied her for several long torturous moments that reminded Brooke uncomfortably of the time she’d brought home a particularly rough report card to her parents in the tenth grade when she’d been spending a whole lot more time on the cheerleading field than in the library.
“You’re a professional, Brooke. It’s why I hired you.”
“I am,” Brooke confirmed quickly. “It’s why I’m coming to you now. Preemptively.”
“Are you asking that the Tyler wedding be reassigned?”
“No.” Brooke was emphatic. “I simply thought it might be prudent to let you know of the situation. I’d love the opportunity to continue working with the bride and groom directly, but because Seth—Mr. Tyler—is very much involved, I was thinking that perhaps either you or Heather could take care of keeping him apprised of the necessary details.”
Alexis slowly reached out and helped herself to another Hershey’s Kiss. “No.”
“Thanks—wait, what?” Brooke said as her boss’s response registered.
Alexis shook her head. “This is your wedding. You need to handle all the parts, including Mr. Tyler. I’m the one to sign off on all of the billing statements, but that’s as far as my involvement goes. I’m confident that there won’t be a problem.”
Brooke’s head was spinning. “Okay, but—”
“May I speak out of turn?” Alexis said.
Brooke bit back a smile. “Do you even know how?”
Alexis merely looked at her, waiting for a response.
“Sure,” Brooke said, oddly eager to see what might come out of her boss’s mouth when the woman didn’t have her shields up.
“I think people make too big a deal about sex,” Alexis said.
Not what Brooke had been expecting.
“It’s just . . .” Alexis waved her hand impatiently. “I know what the magazines and romance novels tell us. That sex has to complicate everything, but that’s a myth. It only has to complicate things if you let it.”
“And you don’t . . . let it?” Brooke asked, trying to follow along.
There was a brief flash of something across Alexis’s face—something Brooke might have called vulnerability if she didn’t know the other woman better.
“Not anymore,” Alexis said. “And if you’re sitting there thinking that it’s weird to be talking about sex with your boss, well . . . that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Sex shouldn’t be taboo.”
Brooke reached for a Hershey’s Kiss. And then another. Hell, she needed a whole bag for this conversation. And a vodka.
“I’ll apologize for overstepping,” Alexis said as she calmly stood. “Consider it food for thought.”
“Wait, that’s it?” Brooke asked, aghast. “I’m not . . . I’m not entirely sure what you’re trying to tell me.”
Alexis smiled. A real one, that reached her eyes. “Yes you do.”
Brooke hesitated. “Are you telling me to sleep with Seth Tyler?”