Anyone but Alex (The English Brothers Book 3) (28 page)

He drew back from her, holding up a hand. “Wait. Let me explain, okay? It’s a little more complicated than that. But, I think it’s our chance, Jess, if you’ll take it with me.”

***

Alex took her hands in his, letting them fall on the cushion between them. Her mind was whirling, but any conversation that started with love and included a chance to be together was a conversation she wanted to have. She squeezed his fingers, urging him to continue.

“It was Christopher’s idea,” he said, searching her face. “You know how we’re doing a deal with your brothers? It’s a shipbuilding merger. English & Sons has acquired Harrison Shipbuilding, which is located on the north shore of Long Island in New York…and your brothers are in the process of buying Lowry Shipbuilding near Devon, on the southwest coast of England. Then we’ll merge the two companies together and have an international shipbuilding company with manufacturing in the U.S. and England.”

“I know this. Chris told me about it a few weeks ago when I first arrived.”

“For a deal like this, you need someone to act as a Project Manager. That person sort of, well, commutes between the locations for a little while, managing the transition from two smaller companies to one larger one. In terms of this deal, it means someone who spends a few weeks in the Hamptons, a few weeks in Devon, and a few weeks in Philly over the course of the next year.”

“Chris is that person,” she said. “I know he wasn’t crazy about it at first, but my mother
loves the idea of seeing him more often while he’s working in Devon.”

He squeezed her hands.
“Your mother’s going to be disappointed, then.”

“Why?” she asked, still not seeing where he was going with this.

She’d heard their roles outlined several times, both by Alex and her brothers: Cam and Alex were the CFOs, the money—they had to stay in Philly. Barrett and Fitz had personal obligations, which left Chris or Stratton. Chris had balked at first because it meant that he and Cam couldn’t take on new deals while he was managing the merger, but he’d eventually consented because Stratton was so opposed to the travel. So, what did he mean?

“Did you know that Stratton is a CPA?”

“No.”

“He is. He’s younger than I am by a few years, but almost any financial work I do, I pass it by
Strat first. He’s practically a wizard with numbers.”

“
Stratton doesn’t want to go to England.”

“But I do.”

“Oh, no. No, Alex! No.” Her eyes widened and brightened as she finally understood what he’d done for her. “You resigned as CFO. You resigned from English & Sons.”

“Sort of.” H
is smile was sweet and certain, heartbreaking in its hope and poignancy. “I resigned as CFO, but not from English & Sons. As of this afternoon, Stratton is the new CFO and I’m the new Vice President of New Business, Mergers and Acquisitions for English & Sons.”

She unclasped his hand, covering her gasp with her palm as tears welled in he
r eyes, spilling over the sides and trailing down her cheeks.

“Jess…” Alex murmured in a voice full of love, pulling her back into his arms, and
rubbing her back with gentle strokes. “Jess, I’m no good without you. You fill this deep ache inside of me. You make me a better man. You make me good. You make me whole.”

“Alex,” she sobbed.

The depth of his love made her tremble, made her heart burst, made her feel humble and profoundly grateful. He’d changed his entire life for her—he’d given up his social life, and now his job and his home. For her. All for her.

“I’ll have to travel to wherever the business takes me
, but you could come with me everywhere I go, Jess. You could still keep your apartment London and I’ll still keep mine here, but we’ll globetrot together. A few weeks in England, a few in New York. Philly now and then…who knows where else as we take on more projects? A few weeks in China, in Chile, in France. The only permanent home we’ll have for a while is each other. Could you live like that for a few years? With me?”

The excitement of it flushed her cheeks as she imagined a few weeks with Alex in Paris,
in a hotel suite that overlooked the Andes, the whole world their playground as they traveled together to exotic places, only touching down in London or Philadelphia long enough to recharge their batteries, and reconnect with family. He was offering her the chance of a lifetime on a silver platter. With him. Her heart clenched and raced with love and wonder that two days ago their future should look so bleak, and now…so possible.

“It sounds like the best adventure ever
,” she said, smiling at him through tears, giggling as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“Is that a y
es?”

“Yes!”

He tilted his head and his lips caught hers, tugging at the top one and pulled her tighter against him. And she knew—she
knew
—that there was nothing Alex wouldn’t do to make her happy. His tongue swirled around hers, distracting her from her thoughts as her body pushed up against his, the burn in her tummy begging her to lie back, spread her legs, and urge him forward to soothe the ache, to quench the thirst, to requite the longing that only Alex could relieve.

He surprised her by pulling away. His eyes were almost wild, searching hers in the moonlight
that streamed in through the windows.

“You trust me, Jess?”

“Always,” she answered, without hesitation.

“As long as you’re
handing out yeses, I’m going to press my luck,” he said, drawing back from her, and slipping to the floor on one knee.

She gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Just listen,” he said, taking one of her hands in his.

The moonlight shone upon his face as his tongue lashed out quickly to wet his lips, a gesture she’d come to recognize as nerv
es. She tried to calm the fierce beating of her heart by taking a deep, shaky breath and smiling at him.

“Jess, since the moment you walked back into my life, everything’s changed. How I see the world. How I see myself. What I want. Who I want it with. You’re my reason
for everything. There’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Do you know that?”

She bit her bottom lip as tears coursed down her cheeks. “I know
that now.”

“I promise to treat you with kindness and respect every day of my life.

Anytime you need to laugh, I’ll roll out the worst pick-up lines I can think of.

I must be smart because I cho
ose to do whatever it takes to be with you, and I don’t know how interesting I am, but we’re planning to travel a lot, so that’ll broaden my horizons.

How about we be daring in
bed, because we’re pretty good at that already, and I’m hoping with every ounce of strength in my body that right here, right now, me on my knees looking up at you is a good surprise.

I know your toes curl when I kiss you, because I’ve felt
them curl against mine.

And speaking of those toes, when they’re cold,
I’ll always be ready to warm them up.

I promise I will never, ever look away
, Jess, because I’ll never look at anyone else but you.

I choose you, Jess. Only you.

If you’ll have me.”

Alex let go of her hand
, reached into his breast pocket, and pulled out a simple, solitaire diamond ring, which he held up to her. Catching a moonbeam through the window, the facets sparkled, glowing between his fingers.

His eyes, bright with emotion, captured hers and he chuckled lightly before settling into a confident smile.
“And though I have
loved
being your boyfriend, it’s time for the whole world to know that Alex English is absolutely, positively off the market forever.

I love you,
Jessica Fairchild Winslow. Will you be my wife?”

It occurred to her halfway through his beautiful proposal that he was echoing everything she’d said she wanted that first night on the balcony of the Union League Club. And how Jessie had managed to sit still, and not throw her arms around him,
was a mystery for the ages.

A
s tears coursed down her cheeks, she nodded at Alex, swallowing the lump in her throat just enough to say, “Yes” and hold out a trembling hand. He slid the gorgeous ring onto her finger, and raised it to his lips, kissing her finger first, then the soft pillow at the base of her thumb, the bone on the side of her wrist, and finally the middle of her palm.

“Because you missed the
se kisses this morning,” he whispered. “Because I’ll never miss another day again.”

Jessica’s laughter mixed with tears of joy as she
fell to her knees beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Now that Alex belonged to her, she had no intention of ever letting him go.

***

There used to be something
wrong
with Alex English.

Until
one day, he met the
right
girl.

And all of his dreams
came true.

THE END

Keep reading for a sneak peek at

Stratton English knew what his brothers said about him:

I don’t think he’s ever had a girlfriend.
(Barrett)

I don’t think he’s ever had sex.
(Alex)

He always friend-zones himself.
(Fitz)

He’s just not smooth around women.
(Weston)

It often occurred to Stratton to set them straight and tell Barrett that he’d had a couple of girlfriends in college, though they didn’t last very long. While he was at it, he’d tell reformed lothario, Alex, that while he’d had sex, he wasn’t in the habit of sleeping around. Smiling affectionately as he thought of his favorite brother, Fitz, he’d have to agree that he had a problem with being friend-zoned, and while Weston was right in general, being incredibly awkward around women wasn’t the primary reason Stratton was single.

The simple fact was this…

…his heart was already taken.

Hearing a sound from the hallway, he leapt up and peeked out the peephole of his apartment door again, but the corridor was empty. Tamping down his disappointment, he straightened his glasses and walked back into the living room. He sat down in the easy chair by the fireplace, picked up his Kindle and took a sip of Merlot before settling back into his latest self-help book.

Latest
because he’d read them all:

How To Seduce The Girl Of Your Dreams

Seduction for Dummies

1-2-3 Seduce Me!

The Blueprint for Seduction

Deduce to Seduce

This evening’s choice was called
Ten Steps to Seduction
and Stratton didn’t feel especially hopeful about the advice. Then again, as he waited for the elevator to ding, followed by the sound of Amy fumbling with her keys two doors down, he may as well keep busy.

Amy Colson. Amy. He took a deep breath, picturing Amy’s face.

Stratton had moved into his apartment almost two years ago, on a chilly March day, annoyed that his movers had to share the service elevator with those of another tenant moving in. All day his things had arrived in spurts while his movers alternated elevator runs, and by six o’clock he was irritated that it was taking so long.

That is, until
she
knocked on his door.

Dressed in sweat pants and an old
UPenn T-shirt that had seen better days, Stratton stood in the doorway of his new apartment, staring at the young woman who’d suddenly appeared on his doorstep.

“Mr. English?” she asked.

Her blond hair was straight, just touching her shoulders, and her blue eyes were bright. She was small and fit, and he knew that she would be considered conventionally pretty, but good looks were mostly lost on Stratton. Unlike every other man in the world, he almost always became attracted to a woman’s personality first, her looks second. His mother called him “immune to women’s wiles.”

“Yes.”

The metal bracelets she was wearing clinked together not unpleasantly as she gestured down the hall to the left, then held out her hand in greeting. “I’m Amy Colson. From next door.”

“Next door is Mrs. Dorchester.”
“Oh.” Amy Colson gave him a look, as if trying to figure out if he was teasing, before chuckling, her hand still dangling awkwardly between them. “Right. You’re very precise! I’m two doors down.”