Page 1 of Getting Down to Business

Chapter 1

Shutting the door as quietly as possible, Alyssa turned for the stairs to complete her escape. The phone in her bag buzzed as her feet hammered down the familiar steps. Once outside her building, she breathed in a lungful of freedom and frowned at the humid heaviness of the air.

It was going to be a hot day in Manhattan. Her lips pulled up, remembering how hot the night before had been.

“Morning, sunshine.” She answered her friend’s call knowing Mia would be anything but sunny this morning.

“Shut up. I hate you.”

“Remember, it was your idea to go to ladies’ night on a Wednesday when you had to be at work this morning. I said it was stupid.”

“Are you outside already?” Mia brushed over her responsibility in their predicament.

“I’m going to the gym to shower. My apartment was…crowded this morning.”

“The guy stayed?”

Yes, the guy stayed.

Grayson Hollinger III had sat down next to Alyssa the night before and offered to buy her a drink immediately. When she politely refused, he let out a breath of defeat and explained that his friend had promised him hordes of desperate women. She found his honesty intriguing. Paired up with the sexy smile and haunting blue eyes, she was more than interested. While she hadn’t been desperate, she was willing to have a little fun on a Wednesday night.

Having nothing to lose but time, she proposed a simplified method to get them from point A to point B. She laughed now, remembering the shocked look on his face when she suggested they enjoy each other’s company for the evening with no expectations or bullshit afterward.

The sex had been phenomenal. He’d even managed to get her to point B—something that had been nearly impossible for the last few years. When he asked to stay longer, she agreed, greedy for another chance with him. She hadn’t been disappointed.

But now it was morning. Time to get back to reality.

Sure she wished she could have more with a man. Who truly wanted a life filled with strangers and uncertainty? Unfortunately, the option had been taken from her five years ago. These brief encounters for pleasure were all she was capable of now. She didn’t deserve a happily-ever-after.

“Yes, he stayed,” she answered Mia’s question. “Which is why I’m going to the gym, so I can shower without waking him.”

“So courteous,” Mia chuckled, knowing it was more cowardice than courtesy.

“I’ll see you at work.”

“Yeah, about that.”

“You’d better get your ass to work,” Alyssa threatened.

“Travis stayed too. He suggested we spend the day in bed together. I have to say, his offer sounds better than yours, so…I’m calling in.”

Mia was the opposite of Alyssa in most every way. From her short, black hair and chocolate eyes to her petite curvy stature. But the biggest difference was what they were looking for from men.

Mia was full of hope that one of the men she took home from a club would turn out to be Prince Charming.

Alyssa knew there was no such thing as Prince Charming. There were only short glimpses of happiness with strangers—and making sure her heart never got involved. That last part was fairly easy since her heart had frozen over.

“You remember what Millie said would happen if you called off again,” Liss reminded her.

“Damn.”

When their old boss, Ruth, had been fired, they thought they were home free. But Millicent wasn’t much of an improvement.

“Do you want to end up like Kenley?” Kenley had worked with them for years before she was falsely accused of sleeping with her boss’s husband and fired.

“Do I want to end up fired so I can get a new job with a dreamy guy who marries me?” Mia asked. “Yes. The answer is yes.”

Maybe Alyssa had asked the wrong question.