“From what Alex told me, it sounded a lot more serious than you’re letting on. He cares for you. In my experience, men don’t go around, asking for help unless they need it, and you are clearly more than just a fling to him.”
“Me, too,” I mumble. “But, as long as he’s a client with my firm, we cannot be together. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am today, and I almost had it ripped out from under me after the media got ahold of our pictures.”
A loud series of groans erupts from the boys, filling the living room. Rico pounds his fists in the air, excited, as the screen lights up that his team won the game.
He laughs and spins around on the carpet to face us. “I beat Alex Parker in hockey. The real one and the fake one.”
Alex shrugs with an adorable grin on his handsome face that has a warming effect on me.
“Yep, you beat me. I got schooled in hockey by a kid.” He shakes his head.
He let Rico win, same as how I let Rico believe he had beaten me in basketball the night I let the team off the hook for suicide drills.
“I can’t wait to tell everyone at school.” Rico jumps up to his feet and runs over to his mother. “Can you believe I won, Mama?”
Jamie rises up from the floor and brushes his hands down the front of his dark khaki pants to smooth out the wrinkles. “Well, I think I’m going to head home.” He walks over to us and holds out his hand to help me up from the couch. “Ready, Charlie?”
“Yeah, I’m exhausted.” I raise my hands above my head to stretch, attracting Alex’s attention as his eyes travel up the length of my body.
My pulse quickens when our eyes meet. The air in the room is all of a sudden thick, and I’m dying to get out of the apartment and away from Alex.
“I guess I’d better get going, too,” Alex says without breaking contact with me.
We take turns in hugging Rosario and thank her for having us over for dinner, talking about how we should do it again, before leaving the apartment. On our way down the hall, I lock arms with Jamie, mostly because I’m afraid that I’ll instinctively reach out for Alex.
When we reach the elevator, Jamie unhooks from my grasp and wraps his arm around me, squeezing the life out of me. He whispers into my ear, “Talk to him. Just hear him out.”
My eyes open wide in shock. “You traitor,” I say, keeping my voice low. “How could you?”
Planting a kiss on my cheek, he rubs his hand across my back. “It’s your turn to be happy, Charlie. Give him a chance.”
Jamie has a date tonight, and I agreed to stay at my apartment, so he can get laid. I knew the time would come when I had to move back and act like a big girl.
“Fine.” I sigh, unsure of what to do. My heart and body want Alex, but my mind…
Jamie presses the button on the wall to call a car up to our floor. “You
overthink everything, Charlie. Keep an open mind.”
I look at Jamie from underneath my brows, contemplating what to do. At the very least, I can have one conversation with Alex. There’s no harm in that. The elevator doors open, and then Jamie steps inside and gives us a wave before they close again. We are completely alone now. I am terrified of what I might do or say around Alex without supervision.
Alex is already staring at me when I glance in his direction. “Let me walk you home.”
I smile and fall in line next to him.
Once we reach my apartment, I stick the key into the lock, hesitating to open the door because I’m afraid I’ll ask him to come inside. I turn around to face him and place my hands on my hips. I realize I am nervous around him. My body trembles as I bite down on my bottom lip and stare at the ground, afraid to make direct eye contact.
“Did you really ask Rosario to have us over for dinner tonight?”
He nods and steps closer to test the waters, closing the space between us, and I sigh.
“I went to see Jamie, too. I had to see you. I needed to see you, Charlotte. I’m a fucking mess without you, baby.” He strokes my jaw with his thumb. “You were never just a hook-up for me.”
“I know, Alex.” I turn my head to the side, staring down the vacant hallway. “I feel the same way, but I’ve worked too hard to start over. My feelings for you have no place in this business.”
Tipping my chin up with his index finger, he stares at me so hard and intense. “Please,” he breathes against my lips. “I’m in love with you.”
I gasp because I know he has never spoken those words to another woman in his life. Words like that have meaning to a man like Alex.