Page 18 of Axel

Chapter 5

She had seen photos – several of them and had studied them at length. She was aware that Axel Lakeside’s hair was of a coffee brown color and his eyes a piercing golden brown with flecks of green in the irises.

She also made note of the fact that he was six feet three inches tall, with broad shoulders and a powerful chest. But nothing in his photos had prepared her for the sheer animal magnetism or the lines fanning the sides of his eyes.

Or the stern no nonsense tilt to his sensuous lips. Nor the fact that he overwhelmed and loomed just by being in a space. He opened the doors of the half-finished house himself and was dressed casually in a pair of ash gray sweatpants and black t-shirt that clung to his very impressive chest and shoulders. He was also barefooted.

“Ms. Logan.” His deep voice was clipped and a trifle impatient. “You are five minutes late.”

“I was…”

“This way.” He glanced pointedly at the expensive, but simple smart watch on his wrist. “I went ahead with a meeting I was waiting on when you did not show up.”

She was duly reprimanded and for the first time in her life felt gauche and uncertain. She followed him along a wide passageway, with cool wavery blue tiles.

Pushing a door open, he stepped into an office complete with a wide baronial desk on which sat a laptop, a landline, several folders, and a series of steel cabinets over one corner. A big bay window overlooked a wild patch of land where flowers bloomed in profusion.

There was also a cabinet open to reveal a bar with several shelves packed with liquor. On a table, the latest coffee pot resided, with remnants of very strong coffee. A sofa was tucked beneath the window and a few chairs were placed in front of the desk.

Gesturing towards one of the chairs, he went back to the person he was talking to on the computer.

Taking out her iPod and trying not to show that she was listening to his conversation, she turned it on. His deep voice was distracting.

“Go ahead.” He ordered. “What about the emails to China?”

“Already sent, sir, and we are waiting on a response.”

Ellie assumed the person; the well-modulated voice was that of his assistant. “I need Lenny on the phone as soon as I finish up here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Since admitting her inside his home and giving her a cursory look, he had ignored her completely. Ellie was not used to thatand even though she was not in the least bit vain, she had to admit that she was irked by the man’s obvious rudeness.

“Get back to me on the call to Tuscany.” He clicked off before the woman could respond and Ellie felt a jolt when he lifted his head and speared her with eyes as bright and golden as newly minted gold.

“You have ten minutes.”

“We agreed to twenty. I am supposed to shadow you…”

“Not a chance in hell.” Leaning back in the butter soft chair, he steepled his fingers and continued to stare at her over them. “You were five minutes late, which shaved off some of the time I agreed on.”

“You agreed on twenty minutes.”

“You have now wasted a minute of the ten minutes. It is up to you if you want to sit there and argue or get on with the interview. Either way, you are leaving in…,” he made a production of glancing at his watch. “Eight minutes and forty seconds.”

She stared at him for several ticking seconds and had to admit to herself that she was intimidated. He was sitting there behind his desk, but there was a leashed power that emanated from him, giving the impression that he was a force to be reckoned with. And the interview was not off to an auspicious start.

Rousing herself, she looked down at her device as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Ms. Logan?”

The impatience in his voice was very evident.

“I…,” she cleared her throat and start over. “I am a little rattled because we had originally agreed to twenty minutes- “She heldup a hand when he opened his mouth. “I am not going to waste time debating and going back and forth, since my time is limited. I was a little late because I was meeting with the mayor.”

She paused to give him a chance to say something and waited through the ponderous silence before pushing ahead. “Anyway, um, I would like to first start with your frame of mind, the one that contributed to you becoming the success you are.”

He continued to stare at her in silence and she had to force herself not to shift on the padded seat.