The Alpha's Pursuit

Chapter 2 - Parker P.O.V.

The client on the schedule used our firm a few times in the past. They bought property right on the edge of the Canadian border and, according to the records, were constructing a smallish town.

This brand-new project proved to be more expansive than all the rest. Little or not, for our modest corporation, it became a massive undertaking. Surprised at his request, I questioned my employer, but he swore Adler did this each time.

The previous builds consisted of unique, random buildings around the area, such as shops, homes, and the last construction—a school.

The types of businesses didn't strike me as unusual. The odd part is that they bought this land almost in total seclusion. Like damn near in the center of the woods. Shaking my head at the whole strange arrangement, I sighed.

"Not my monkey, not my circus," whispering to no one.

Do we have circuses with monkeys anymore? Huh, I've never seen such a spectacle. Oh well.

Rising from my bed, I headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. To prepare for this bid, I planned to arrive early. All the calculations and spreadsheets on fancy letterhead awaited the printing process.

Binding the hard copies and downloading the electronic version to company tablets remained on the to-do list. One of the first projects I assigned myself included pushing Mr. Braxton to join tech within the last decade.

Bigger companies might offer us better bids. International Falls is not so tiny that technology eludes us, so I ordered a few iPads for the office.

This would allow us to email signed documents to the client within seconds if they took our bid. Should they want a paper report I would have those on hand as well.

The owner of the "company" demanded attending this morning, which through me off a bit. Normally, I met with project managers, engineers, etc., not CEOs, but here we are preparing to meet with him.

He didn't attend the introductory proposal meeting; I included copies of the RFI along with the RFP.

Shame settled in, but this man and my boss, Mr. Braxton, have been friends for years. f**k it, I guess. Mr. Braxton loved my suggestions and fresh take.

He welcomed my input at meetings and invited me to join all of them after a couple months. Bragging is not something I'm comfortable with, but I will say people do like me. Regardless of my introverted personality.

Once showered I blew dry my dark brown hair and dressed in business casual. My favorite clients involved the ones where they chose Teams calls versus in person. Those days I wore jeans and dressy sweaters.

Grumbling audibly, I moved toward the walk-in. Donning a skirt or a dress, sat high on my list of most hated things. I sifted through the hangers of items, clenching the fist of my free hand.

Today a client appeared on the schedule to arrive this morning and the appropriate attire did not include jeans.

Snagging the black pencil skirt and red V-neck cross wrap blouse. Grumbling only a little, I grabbed black strappy wedge heels.

My hair pulled into a high messy bun and my make up done. I was ready to head to the office.

I snatched my black rimmed glasses of the bathroom counter and perched them on my face. The glasses gave me more smart and nerdy features I hoped helped convey my significance.

My dark blue eyes flecked with violet hues unwittingly welcomed too many comments, making me uncomfortable. Eyewear dragged their line of sight from my irises, most times.

Glasses took focus off the unique color. Stupid, but true as I received less attention when I wore one of my colorful pairs instead of contacts.

At one point, I bought plain brown contacts for high school, college or clubs. Rare eye mutation hypnotized those who favorite feature on other people were the eyes. Flattering for sure, but years of it made it lose its luster.

Well, when I used to go dancing at bars. I haven't had a lot of time for a social life. After turning 21 I partied for six months but work and education sucked up all my time.

I pulled into the small parking lot, empty. Good. I could get some work done. The coffee brewed while I munched on a breakfast bar from home. Wiping crumbs off my top, I uploaded everything necessary onto the tablets.

Next, I printed out the documents, as well, with folders I created myself with our company logo. This would be a huge bid for our company and a potential for much bigger projects.

Another larger company could offer more for less. The personal touch may not win them over, but couldn't hurt.

Playing with a loose strand of hair from my bun, I swayed my hips in front of the copier. The documents collated and were being stapled and bound. My shoes nestled under my desk after I kicked them off to enjoy an impromptu dance party.

My favorite music app blared from my phone and I sang along as I waited. The plain circular clock on the wall indicated a half an hour before my arrived. A half hour after that the client would be arriving.

My face brightened. The coffee shop I loved was only five minutes away. I might have time to grab another before the meeting.

Bending over to grab the finished copies, a growl vibrated behind me.

"AAahhh," I screamed and jumped, dropping all the copies I retrieved from the machine. Thank the Lord, they were all stapled together and not strewn all about and out of order. My palm clutched to my chest my eyes landed on a wall of a man.

He appeared to be about my brother's age. Black hair that came to his ears and tousled. His sparkling green eyes, fanned with long black lashes. A straight nose, sharp jaw with a cleft chin and pink tinted full lips capped off his perfect beauty.

My mouth opened and I stopped breathing for a moment. This speciman in front of me made Nick seem plain by comparison. He also appeared taller than him too.

The sleeves of his white button up shirt were rolled up to his elbows. The tight shirt tucked into black trousers that test the strength of his zipper with snug fit. Color flooded my cheeks and I attempted to look away but my eyes remained glued.

His shirt stretched the pure muscle that was his pecks, straining the poor buttons. Tattoos peaked out from under the unbutton collar. A tribal type tattoo peaked out from under his sleeve down his right forearm.

Frantic, I dart my eyes in the direction of all exits, my stomach twisting. I had no idea who this man was, hot or not. And he was in the office when it was closed and I thought locked.

He whispered something I couldn't make out and my heart raced in fear and intrigue at the same time. My brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?" I shook my head and decided it wasn't important and asked a better question. Creeping my way closer to my office door to ensure a possible getaway, I questioned him, my voice shaking. "Who are you? And how did you get in here?"

I wanted to pick up the loose paperwork but I didn't want to make myself vulnerable. Then his face softened.

"Sorry about that," his graveled, baritone voice resounded, sending a shiver down my back.

"I'm Al -.. Beau, Beau Adler. We have an appointment. But..uh..I'm sorry I'm early. We are a bit of a drive out so I mistimed a little."

Fumbling his words a bit, he rubbed the back of his neck. He never broke the searing gaze from mine, causing me to tremble. My eyes shifted toward the door again and I inched another step closer to it. I froze when he followed my movement, my eyes widening.

He raised his arms up in surrender. "I don't mean to scare you. I am the client Mr. Braxton is expecting to meet here today."

He's the owner? He looks so young. Interesting. Must be older than he looks?

"I didn't mean to startle you, let me help you," he continued and with deliberate steps came forward. I still was unsure. He had the right name for the person we were scheduled to meet.

The front door had been locked, however. I tried not to show fear as I gathered the papers closest to the door.

As we both bent down to pick up the discarded documents I heard a sniffing noise. My head snapped up to him.

He was doing something very bizarre. Looking at me and smelling the air near me. And I could have sworn his eyes blackened for a moment. What in the actual f**k?

I couldn't help but to jump up and get closer to the door.

"Thank you for the help. The conference room is back the way you came. If you want to get comfortable I can get you some coffee. If you are hungry I can run and get you anything we have in a 5 mile radias."

I laughed nervously but wished for a reason to escape his intense aura. Memories of how Nick made me feel flooded through me. The surge of those same emotions were ten times stronger and he hadn't touched me. Fear joined the other sensations.

"Yes, coffee is fine I don't need anything else. I'm sorry what is your name?" He asked as he stood up and handed me the items in his hand. I reached for them while answering, "Parker."

Our fingers brushed and the darn dry fall air caused him to shock me. I jerked my hand back and chuckled, but then swallowed hard when I heard a growl again. This time the growl took on the edge of groan.

I frowned and looked around like is there an animal in here while he appeared to not hear anything.

I shook my head and decided I was losing my mind. Clearing my throat, I waited for him to move his ass. Instead he stood rigid, clenching his fists, his nostrils flaring. What in the actual hell is going on? "Is there something else you need Mr. Adler?"

Then my boss, with impeccable timing burst into the room. "Mr. Adler, I got your message that you were getting here early." He shook his hand and patted him on the back.

I never noticed before but my boss was built and very attractive. Blond hair with some grey, but not a lot and chocolate brown eyes. Tanned complexion and tall. I would say Beau was 6 foot 5 while Mr. Braxton was 6'3 now that they stood together.

As they shook hands I didn't even realize that Mr. Adler still looked at me. Okay what the hell, do I have something on my face, do I smell? Mr. Braxton finally got his attention, leading him from the room. As he went he turned back to me with a curious look on his face.

I just mouthed "what?" at him, and he shrugged with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes at him.