Wrong For Me

“I can see it in those wide ocean eyes of yours. The curiosity, the tension you’re feeling right now. You might not understand it yet, but you can’t deny it either.”

He licks his lips again, and suddenly, I’m in dire need of some Carmex.

“Wanna know the best part of this?” he asks, getting no response from me. “While he’s in here, within mere inches from where you’ll sit, it’ll be me on your mind. And I’ll be sitting there, cementing the look I know I’ll find on your telling little face to memory, reveling in the fact that I put it there. That, while he sits beside you, whatever crosses your secretly dirty mind will be about me for once. But that’s not even the best part.”

I watch him quickly tip his head toward the door, and then he stalks his way to me.

I don’t breathe. Don’t move. This is not the Alec I know. He’s a damn imposter. An intense, strong, and dominant imposter.

“The best part is … he’ll know. Because that flush on your neck and the black taking over your lust-filled eyes don’t lie. Never have.”

Now it’s me who stares. At his eyes. His lips. His chest. Back to his eyes.

“Time for some fun.”

My brows pull in right as the door opens, and Alec’s menacing smirk returns.

“Let’s do thi—what the fuck?”

Eyes wide with guilt, I quickly step back from Alec, who doesn’t move an inch to greet Rowan, our first eval of the day.

Oh my God!

Alec played me. That dick!

I flip around to glare at him, and he looks past me.

“Let’s get started.”

“What is this?” Rowan questions again, coming to stand behind me.

I look to Alec, seeing the vein in his neck pop slightly.

“It’s evaluation time. Sit.”

“Oakley.”

Rowan spins me around, and I grow even redder, just thinking he can see how hot and bothered I feel.

Jesus. Alec struck again, but this time, he fired closer to home, manipulating me directly into seeing him as more than the lame-ass he is. Just to try to prove some sort of point to Rowan.

“What’s going on?”

Rowan’s brown eyes scan my face, and I try to get lost in his soft features.

I smile at him, but he knows me well and can see something’s off.

He stares at me. I can see the accusation in his eyes, but more than that, the dip of his brows tells me he’s worried. And of course he is. He knows how much Alec despises me. He must have been hoping, like me, that Alec had matured some in the two years he was gone, lose the need to rip at me. Guess we wished for too much.

“Don’t worry, Row,” I assure him, reaching out to rub his forearm.

The loud smack of a file hitting the desk has me jumping back and glaring over my shoulder.

Alec stares vacantly in our direction. “Unless you want to work through the night, Oakley, I suggest you two sit down.”

Reluctantly, we both move to sit.

Once seated, Rowan relaxes, and I can see he’s excited about his first round of evaluations.

“Your conditioning and drill ground skills are better than half the class. I can see you put in the work your advisor recommended, pre-program.”

Rowan grins, nodding at Alec, and I offer him a smile when he peeks my way.

Alec continues going over Rowan’s form and things he can do to jump to an even more impressive level, and I start to tune him out. Eventually, my eyes have roamed over all there is to look at in this room, and then they land on Alec.

He’s not necessarily excited as he speaks to Rowan about his performance. Truly, he looks uninterested, hollow as he stares, speaking directly to him.

Or maybe it’s just the way his face looks. Perpetually angry, jaded.

A little rugged but still well kept.

Okay, now, I’m staring.

But I mean, Alec is grown.

And, yeah, okay, when he left, he was a twenty-year-old fire academy graduate. Obviously, he was trim and fit, but in the two years that he was gone, he’s … I don’t know … filled out. Seems to have grown taller, has this tan, tough skin that looks like it’s already lived. His hair, a dark iron brown, is still kept short, a standard fade with a little on top to play with. I can’t say for sure, but I’m betting he’s got some tattoos under that T-shirt. He’s grown into himself. That seductive tone he used on me earlier, while just a trap to knock me off-track in front of Rowan, was intense. I can’t imagine how he’d be if it was for real.

I wonder if that silky roughness carries over into the bedroom.

My eyes shoot up as I think it, and, son of a bitch …

While Alec isn’t looking at me, the satisfied crease at the edge of his eyes mocks me.