The Alpha in her Dreams

An Unexpected Visitor

“Laurel? Earth to Laurel?” A flicker of anger flashed in the forest green eyes before she tore herself away from their gaze, finding Henry beside her. “Are you alright?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, sweetheart.”

She took a deep breath to ground herself. “I’m okay. I guess I’m just tired.”

A scan of the sidewalk didn’t reveal her dream man. She would have noticed him if he were still out here; he was a head taller than everyone else. Had she imagined him? Was she that tired?

“Well, I’ll have my secretary bring you over a latte to help perk you up,” he said as his lips brushed her forehead.

“No thanks, Henry. I appreciate the thought, but it wouldn’t be right for your administrative assistant to bring someone else’s administrative assistant a latte.”

She laughed softly when he responded with a bewildered shrug.

Laurel threw one last backwards glance at the busy street before she and Henry stepped into the building.

“I had fun last night,” Henry murmured in her ear. “We could have even more fun if you moved in with me.” Laurel was saved from responding when the elevator doors opened, prompting Henry to end the conversation. “We’ll talk later.”

As soon as she got off the elevator, she was immediately met by her boss, Jim Thatcher. He was around the age when men started questioning the meaningfulness of life. Jim was a couple of inches shorter than Laurel, with a soft belly, thinning hair, and a defined line between his eyebrows that clearly showed a history of stress. He had indeed begun to question whether he was proud of his life, where his decisions had brought him- his nice but boring wife, his smart but lazy children…yet he refused to spend much time pondering it, continually bringing himself back to his career- the only thing he felt successful at. He knew the meaning of life must be found here in the office.

So, when Laurel showed up five minutes late on the day of an important meeting with a potential client, he wondered why others couldn’t take their careers as seriously as he did.

“Where have you been, Laurel? We have that meeting with Beau Industries today. Do you have copies of the property specs for them?” Jim’s face was slightly red, and Laurel tried not to smile at his overreaction.

“Yes, Jim. I have everything prepared. The conference room will be ready by the 10 o’clock meeting, I assure you.”

After her first year at the company, she got a promotion to Jim’s Administrative Assistant. Her previous boss, Harry Levine, was sorry to lose her. They’d had a good working relationship, and it had taken Laurel a few months with Jim to figure out that things in his office would be different. She stopped apologizing to him even when she was wrong because she noticed that when she took blame, Jim was more condescending. It was in her nature to own up to her mistakes, but that only worked with people who respected you.

In Jim’s office, where she was treated like a secretary of the 1950’s, fetching food and drink orders and choosing gifts for her boss’ family- remorseful language made you appear weak. Now, she would only offer a solution to his complaint or assure him that things were taken care of.

By 9:30 that morning, everything was arranged. Coffee and pastries were on a table in the corner, the slide show was ready for the presentation, and booklets with all the necessary information placed in front of each chair at the large conference table. She sat in a chair by the refreshment table with her laptop, where she could take notes and write down any questions that Beau Industries had during the meeting.

As she sipped her coffee, her stomach growled. It wasn’t even ten o’clock, and she was already looking forward to her lunch date with Henry. She wondered where he’d take her. They had a few regular places, all a quick walk from the office. She knew from break room gossip that Henry was popular with the ladies in the office. And why wouldn’t he be? He was handsome, charming, always a gentleman, and a hard worker. Unlike Jim, he managed his own workload, and his department was well-run. Henry was already considered successful and was bound to continue all the way to the top.

Following in his father’s footsteps hadn’t made him humble, however. He didn’t understand how difficult it could be for others- of different genders, races, and backgrounds- to have the same opportunities he enjoyed. It wasn’t the reason she didn’t want to move in with him, but it did bother her. Certainly, Henry was always encouraging her that she was too smart not to succeed, but she sometimes doubted his sincerity. Her inability to completely trust him when he spoke caused a hesitation in her, and she found that she didn’t share her thoughts with him as freely as she should.

The opening of the door interrupted Laurel’s thoughts of Henry, and she looked up to find an incredible set of dark green eyes locked onto her. What was he doing here? She had been content to imagine that her sighting of him on the street stemmed from her lack of sleep. But here he was in the flesh, standing in the conference room. Her heart began to race, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. What is wrong with you, Laurel? Pull it together! He moved completely into the room, not taking his eyes off her.

She noticed that there was another man with him. He was also uncommonly tall, sturdily built, and intensely handsome. His eyes were so unusual- a yellowish brown. She would never have thought that yellow eyes would be beautiful, but here he was proving her wrong. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment too long as she contemplated the odds of two incredibly good-looking, impossibly strong men happening to work together. They must use the same tailor. They’re impeccably dressed. She thought she heard a low growl and broke her stare, blushing. She hoped that wasn’t her stomach! Green-eyes was still boring a hole into her soul, while his associate had a disarming grin on his face.

“I apologize. You caught me off guard,” she said as she closed the distance between them and held out her hand. “Laurel Davis, pleased to meet you.”

His associate took her hand and gave it a warm squeeze. “Matthias Hart. And this is my boss, Shepherd Ryan.”

Laurel struggled to move her eyes and her hand towards him. Knowing that she dreamed of this man countless times over the past month left her feeling agitated and confused. She didn’t know what it meant and not being able to explain it made her nervous. She forced herself to be professional, meeting his eyes with a slight smile.

“Pleasure,” she said as she took his outstretched hand. She immediately felt a sensational tingling up her spine and clenched her thighs together in protest against her immediate arousal. Despite her discomfort, she gazed up at his face, only to be met by a smirk.

“So it would seem,” he said as heat rose to Laurel’s face. How could he know? Could this be more embarrassing? A kindness came to his eyes, and he added his other hand on top of hers, causing more tingling but also comfort.

“I assure you, Ms. Davis, the pleasure is all mine.”