Stella in Stilettos by Jan Romes Page A

trip to an Indiana Pacers basketball game. An immediate thumbs-down from the women. The men, however, crowed like they’d won. Maggie set everyone straight. “No sushi or stadium hot dogs and beer. Come on, folks. Give me something I can work with.”
    Alex nudged Stella with his foot. Their eyes met and Stella fended off a laugh by putting a hand to her mouth.
    Maggie continued to go around the room and finally it was Stella’s turn.
    “How about going to the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens? I hear it’s beautiful at Christmastime.”
    If there was a gong it would’ve been hit twenty times. Stella shrugged. “Or not.”
    “Alexxx.” Maggie drew his name out like a thick, slow pour of molasses. Alex’s eyes widened, along with a few others. “Give me what you have,” she said.
    Maggie put her hands on her hips at the muffled snickers.
    Alex looked up and down the conference table. “What do you think about going somewhere to dance?”
    A chain of “oh’s” and “ah’s” ricocheted around the room. A few guys high-fived. Stella responded with a muted groan.
    “Sounds like we have a winner,” Maggie said joyfully.
    Belinda exercised her vocal chords in her usual loud manner. “I get the first dance, Alex.”
    Maggie issued Belinda a squinty-eyed look of criticism. Or was it a territorial look?
    Stella slid a peripheral glance at Corrine who was doing the same to her.
    “A show of hands please.” Everyone put their hands in the air, including Stella. Not putting a hand up would draw questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. And it was too late to add a stipulation – no slow dancing.
    Maggie looked pleased. “Excellent. Alex and I have a meeting on Wednesday. We’ll address the details of the party and send you an email. Dig out your dancing shoes, people.”
    * * * *
     
    For the last half hour, he’d been going over two conversations in his head – the one with Jett and the one with Belinda. He’d gone from a semi-great mood to being downright pissy. The two women who rode with him in the elevator picked up on his testy disposition and scooted to one side.
    Jett was fast becoming a pain in his ass. Belinda had been one since he arrived in the department. The jury was still out on Maggie. She behaved like she was sweet on him yet not. She kept asking about Marc Thompson.
    And then there was Stella. She was an expressive creature who laughed easily, turned pink without much provocation and fascinated him more than she should. When she looked serious, he wanted to find out what was lurking behind those green eyes. Since having coffee with her today, he felt a special tug in her direction. Actually, she’d been doing a slow pull for days. But when they sat side by side in the meeting he’d wanted to touch her. Her perfume messed him. And for some reason, he kept picturing her in those stilettos. The day she wore them she wobbled so much she could’ve easily broken an ankle. He chuckled. Stella was an intelligent, green-eyed, curly-haired… sexy …klutz.
    The information made him stop in the middle of parking garage. When it came to business, he believed in walking a straight line. Do the right thing and your ass wouldn’t be on the chopping block. That was one reason he was so put off by Belinda; well, that and he hated pushy women. With Stella, he wanted to throw the rule book out the window. He wanted to get to know her outside of the office.
    On the way to his parking space, he spotted Jett Morgan and Maggie engaged in conversation by his car. “Dammit.”
    Jett waved. “There you are.”
    Alex gnashed his teeth together. He was not ready to give Jett an answer to the bomb he’d dropped the other night. “Jett. Maggie.” He pressed his key-fob.
    Maggie looped an arm through his. “Jett’s buying supper.”
    * * * *
     
    A lengthy yawn filled the phone line.
    “Did I wake you?” Stella asked.
    Trish yawned deeper. “I did some shopping after work and got really cold going in and