Alex's words were simple, hard to read anything into. Anyone observing us would've assumed he was just being a good friend, tagging along to support me. But to me, five simple words meant a lot more. In fact, I might have read too much into them. But the simple offer paired with the concern in his eyes told me a lot about the character of the man standing before me. He could tell something was wrong before I'd told him who Eric was, and he hadn't played the card that so many men typically would in that situation, immediately kicking the woman to the curb because of "too much drama" in her life. No – instead, he wanted to help. He wanted to be there for me. And that was a feeling that felt so foreign to me, I didn't know how to respond.

On one hand, I sincerely appreciated that Alex cared. But on the other, I cringed at the thought of him witnessing a conversation between Eric and me that would likely turn into an argument quickly. I was still in stage one of getting to know Alex. I didn't want him seeing my obnoxious ex. A list of what-if's ran through my mind and I worried that Eric might cause a scene and give Alex reason enough to change his mind about me. He hadn't flinched at the mention of my ex being in the office, but seeing Eric in one of his hissy fits might do the trick.

I shut my eyes tightly in a mix of frustration over the situation and pain from the headache that was currently pounding like a sledgehammer in my temples. Mandy and Nicole were still down the hall screaming at each other, too, and could be heard throughout the entire floor, no doubt. Their background tirade wasn't helping my dilemma.

When I opened my eyes, Alex was still standing in front of me with his hands softly grasping my shoulders, his thumbs rubbing back and forth over the thin material of my knit shirt. It was a soothing feeling and part of me wanted to keep standing there just so he would keep doing that.

"Kate?"

He looked at me with questioning eyes and parted lips. He was trying to read my mind.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," I finally told him and shook my head.

The motion just made my headache worse.

Alex's brows drew into a frown and he sighed and rubbed his forehead. The loss of one of his hands on me left a cold spot on my shoulder and I inadvertently inched closer to him. The heat radiating off of his body was enough to soothe my nerves for a moment.

"I don't need anyone witnessing that spectacle," I tried to explain. "The last time Eric dropped by here, he made a huge scene in the boardroom. He wanted to talk and I was stupid enough to think it would be a civil conversation. We ended up arguing and he threw a chair through the glass wall."

I grimaced at the unwelcome memory. I'd tried so hard to forget that day. He'd come by my office to apologize and try to work things out between us. We'd been fighting a lot lately and he didn't yet know that I'd found out about his nasty little habit of cheating on me with anything that moved. When I'd called him out on it, he'd denied it and become enraged at the accusation. Mandy had to call the police and have him arrested. He'd ended up having to pay to fix the wall.

That was the last time I'd seen him. I'd made sure to leave all his shit on the front porch for him to pick up when he got out of jail so that I wouldn't have to put up with him in my house again. He'd swung by to collect it all while I'd been at work the next day. I'd assumed that was the last time I'd ever see him.

"He threw a chair through the wall?" Alex looked disgusted. "Sounds like he needs some anger management therapy."

I groaned and glanced down from where we stood on the balcony. I could see Eric standing there, waiting impatiently near the receptionist's desk. He was looking around at everyone like he knew he was better. He'd always had a narcissistic streak. Clearly, that hadn't changed.

"He needs a lot of things. I'm not sure anger management would do the trick, though," I said, glaring down at his tall frame.

"Maybe if someone backed over him with a truck," Selena commented as she walked by with a stack of papers in her arms.

Without missing a beat, Alex said, "I have a truck."

Selena laughed sadistically on her way to the elevator. "Sick 'em, boy!"

Alex turned his attention back to me and I managed a small smile. I realized I was delaying the inevitable by continuing to stand there and talk to Alex. I needed to just go downstairs and get this bullshit over with. Hopefully, this time, there wouldn't be any large objects hurled through the air, I thought.

"I need to go deal with this."

I tried to brush passed Alex, but he caught my arm again, and I ended up looking back into those hypnotizing green eyes again.

"Alex-"

"Let me go with you," he said as more of a demand than a request this time. "In case you need somebody..."

I shook my head. I didn't want to risk him seeing that. It was bad enough that Alex knew Eric was in the building. I knew Alex wasn't as shallow as a lot of men, but I was still too hung up on the idea that he might bolt at the first public display of drama involving me.

"Kate, tell me what's wrong," he said so softly, I could barely hear him.

May as well be honest with him, I thought.

"I don't want to give you the impression that my life is full of ex-boyfriend drama," I admitted, avoiding his gaze. "I don't want you to see me arguing with him and then you decide that you don't want to deal with me anymore."

Alex was silent for a moment. So silent, it made my ears ring. When I finally forced myself to look at him again, the concern in his eyes had been replaced with hurt and confusion. He was looking at me like he couldn't believe the words I'd just spoken.

"Is that what you think I'd do?" he asked in a gruff tone, searching my eyes. "Just what kind of man do you think I am, Kate?"

How was I supposed to respond to that? The last thing I wanted to do was accidentally say the wrong thing and offend him more than I already had. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought I did. Maybe he knew me better.

"I... Alex..." I stumbled over words, trying to carefully piece together an answer.

"Do you honestly think I'd just say to hell with you over some stupid little bout with your ex?" He raised his voice a bit and I hoped no one was listening in.

As if he could read my mind, Alex moved his hand to my lower back and lead me into Joseph's empty office. He shut the door and locked it. Luckily, Joseph's blinds were already down and no one could see us.

Alex pressed his back against the door and leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling panels with an unreadable expression. He crossed his arms and ankles and blew out a heavy breath.

"I'm not that kind of man, Kate," he said in a softer tone. "I understand that shit happens and exes occasionally come back from whatever godforsaken rock they've been living under. What kind of jerk would I be if I blamed you for something out of your control?"

Now I was starting to feel like a jerk.

"Alex-"

"Hang on," he cut me off. "I'm not done yet."

"Okay..."

I sat down on the edge of Joseph's desk, careful not to knock over his coffee mug. I took one long, hard look at the man standing in front of me and then it hit me. That look on his face. The pain in his voice. He was speaking from experience.

"That happened to you, didn't it?" I prompted before he could continue.

Alex finally looked at me and his eyes told me I was right.

"Yeah," he said quietly with a nod. "When I was in college, I dated this girl I thought was absolutely amazing. We were two months into our relationship and things were going pretty good. Then, one day, an ex-girlfriend of mine showed up at my house while my current girlfriend was there. My ex – who dumped me, mind you – had heard I'd moved on to someone new, and she wanted to pick a fight over it, but she wasn't expecting my girlfriend to be there. Well, the three of us got into it and the claws came out, and the next thing I knew, I was single again because my girlfriend basically blamed me for the drama with my ex. Said she didn't want to stick around to potentially experience it again. Made me feel like shit when it wasn't even my fault."

"She dumped you because your ex was a bitch?" I scrunched up my nose at the thought. "That's so petty. You had no way of knowing your ex was going to pull that crap."

Alex shrugged and uncrossed his arms, slipping his hands in his pockets. "Ah, well. It's all said and done now. Shit happens. But my point is, I know what it feels like when someone cuts ties with you over drama that isn't your fault. I wouldn't do that to you, Kate."

He made his way over to where I sat on the desk and stepped in between my legs. He leaned down to be eye level with me, resting his palms on the edge of the desk on either side of me. Our faces were mere inches apart and my mind flashed back to images of our make out in my office. I could feel his cool, minty breath on my face. His eyes were searching mine again as if he could see my thoughts.

"I'm sorry," I finally said. It came out as a whisper. "I didn't mean to sound like an ass. It's just that I really like you, Alex, and I don't want anything to screw this up before I get a chance to really know you."

I hoped that made sense.

I started to second guess my words when he closed the gap between us in a long, slow, sweet kiss that awakened every nerve ending in my body and made every tiny hair stand on end. The kiss even lessened the throbbing in my head.

"You don't have to worry about that," he mumbled against my lips and then kissed me again, smiling into the kiss.

Alex's kisses were like therapy. I wanted to stay right there and let him keep kissing me until my headache completely subsided and all my frustrations had been warded off by the wonderful feeling of his body next to me and his lips on mine. I knew that was unreasonable, though. I still had an unwanted visitor downstairs to tend to.

"I don't want to stop kissing you," I muttered into another kiss and nipped at his lower lip. "I hate having responsibilities."

Alex pulled back with a lazy smile on his face. "I don't want you to stop kissing me either."

"Come here then," I giggled and hooked my arms around his neck, pulling him in for another, steamier kiss.

"Fuck," he breathed when we pulled apart.

I started to say something when Andrea's voice came over the intercom and reminded me that I still had a visitor. I rolled my eyes and hopped down from the desk.

"I need to go get rid of him," I said, smoothing out my shirt.

"Why couldn't you just page Andrea and have her tell him to leave?" Alex suggested as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Then you could stay here with me."

He placed a suggestive kiss to my cheek and it took all of my self-control not to agree to that marvelous idea.

"Believe me. I'd love nothing more. But if I send him off like that without talking to him, he's going to see it as a sign of weakness, like I don't have the guts to face him. That's the last thing I want him to think."

Alex nodded in understanding and followed me to the door, opening it for me. "Should I call security?"

I waved my hand in dismissal. "I can handle it."

We walked down the hall in silence and when we reached the elevator, Alex placed a hand on my lower back again as he held his arm up to keep the doors open. He stepped in beside me and we took the short ride down to the first floor.

"I'm just going to go talk with Andrea," Alex told me when we stepped out. "Give me a shout if you need me."

I mouthed a 'thank you' and put on my best unamused face as I strutted across the lobby like I owned the place, my heels clicking loudly on the tile. I wanted Eric's first impression of me after all this time to be that I didn't give a flying fuck what he thought or wanted, and that he could kiss my ass on his way out of my building.

"Well, hello there, beautiful." Eric's deep voice echoed across the room when he caught sight of me. "Miss me?"

The audacity!

"I ought to smack the shit out of you right here," I said in a low, dangerous tone, doing my best to get up in his face and show dominance over the conversation, despite the fact that he was six inches taller than me.

Eric hadn't changed much. His hair was cut short on the sides now, with it longer on top. That seemed to be the only difference. He was still arrogant, and his wardrobe obviously hadn't changed. He still wore Armani suits that were tailored to fit him in a way that it looked hard for him to move without popping a stitch. His eyes were still as cold and sarcastic as the last time I'd seen him. He still wore that confident grin that made him look like he thought he was more important than everyone else – because he did.

"I might like that," he challenged with a throaty chuckle that made my blood boil.

Eric was leaning against the wall of a vacant cubicle with one leg crossed over the other and a hand on his hip. He was trying to act like he was perfectly comfortable on my turf – like he owned it.

"Why are you here, Eric?" I cut right to the chase and crossed my arms, tapping my foot impatiently. "What do you want?"

He suddenly looked confused. Then his expression was replaced with hurt, like he was sad that I didn't already know.

"I came to see you, Katie," he said in a fake innocent voice. "I've missed you."

I snorted a laugh and raised my brows at his insolent words. "Nobody – nobody – calls me Katie, Eric. And I'm not stupid enough to believe that you were just in the neighborhood and wanted to catch up for old times' sake. You're here because you want something. What is it?"

I saw a flare of that all-too-familiar anger in his dark gray eyes, but he quickly blinked it away, trying to keep his composure.

I could feel eyes on me and I knew some of my coworkers were watching us, likely waiting for fireworks. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Alex leaning against the reception desk, keeping a sharp eye on us.

"Alright. Fine. Emily dumped me," Eric shrugged, but he didn't seem too torn up about it, what with the pompous smile still on his face.

"Emily?" I made a face. "I don't recall an Emily. Last I heard, you were with... Was it Vicky? Oh, that's right. I forgot you had that goal of fucking every hooker in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. What was Emily? Number twelve? Thirteen?"

"You were number one," he countered, his formerly confident manner now shifting to show his frustration with me.

Before I could throw the next verbal punch, Alex was at my side throwing a real punch. Eric never even saw it coming. Alex's fist collided with Eric's jaw and he was knocked on his ass faster than he could blink. But it didn't stop there. Alex grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him up with one arm, shoving Eric up against the cubicle wall and getting right in his face.

"The fuck did I hear you say?" Alex asked in a terrifying tone.

Eric laughed. It was a deep, sadistic chuckle. "Who are you? Her boyfriend? Damn, you really downgraded, Katie."

Alex didn't give anyone a chance to say another word, throwing him back down on the floor and climbing on top of him. The two of them wrestled on the tile, fists flying and cussing while I hollered at them both to stop.

It wasn't long before Andrea had building security flooding in and pulling them off of each other. Eric was escorted out of the building, kicking and shouting, suddenly changing his tune and calling out to me that he was a changed man and that he missed me and wanted me back. I couldn't keep from laughing at that.

Heels clicking loudly signaled Mandy's arrival. She came running in as fast as she could in her stilettos and that unreasonably tight skirt she had on.

"What the hell just happened?" she bellowed, looking back and forth between Alex and me.

Two security guards were still holding Alex by his arms and he was panting and looking furious. His hair was disheveled and his shirt was untucked with some of the buttons ripped open. If I hadn't been so pissed off at the moment, I would've found the sight extremely sexy.

"Nothing," Alex grumbled and shrugged off his restrainers.

"Well, somebody had better tell me something!" Mandy chirped in fury.

"My ex reared his ugly head," I told her. I could feel the headache returning.

Her eyebrows shot up and she placed her hands on her hips. "You mean that ex who shattered my conference room wall?"

I hung my head in shame and stared down at my shoes, waiting for her to flip shit on me the way she'd been screaming at Nicole for an hour. "That would be the one."

"What was he doing here?" she asked expectantly.

I was starting to feel like a little kid getting scolded by my parents for doing something stupid.

"I don't know," I groaned and pushed my hair back. "I guess he wanted to get back together."

Mandy frowned so hard it looked like it hurt. "What started the fight?"

"That'd be my fault," Alex interjected, coming to stand next to me and wrapping an arm securely around my waist.

"Alex was defending me," I said quickly.

I didn't want Mandy to get the idea that Alex just picked a random fight. Eric definitely had it coming. Frankly, I wished security hadn't gotten there as fast as they had. Eric deserved a few more punches to the face.

Mandy looked Alex up and down with her famous glare that always gave off the impression that she was looking into your soul and judging everything about you. Then her face softened and she crossed her arms.

"Well," she said in an authoritative voice. "I hope you kicked his ass good, Mr. Stephens."

With that, she waved off the security guards and turned on her heel, heading back to her office.

Alex gave me a reassuring squeeze and I looked up at him with regret. That definitely had not gone how I'd imagined it in my head.

"I'm so sorry you had to experience that," I mumbled.

He shook his head. "You're worth it."

He started walking with me back to the elevator, rubbing his hand up and down my side. Once the doors closed behind us, I couldn't contain myself any longer.