Exposed (Exposed 1)

"Not a cloud in the sky," he retorts. "I've got to get back to the meeting. I'll pick you up at eight tomorrow night."

"Sure," I say faintly before the line goes dead.

Chapter 16

"I missed you." He brushes his lips against mine.

I retreat quickly from the kiss as I pull the door closed behind me. "How was your trip?"

"Boring." He laughs as he takes my hand in his to walk towards his car.

"Your flight back was good?" My thoughts have been so scattered since our phone conversation yesterday that I don't know what to say. We're not in a relationship. We had sex once. I don't have a right to question him about Denver, do I? How can I possibly ask him what's going on when I haven't been completely candid with him either?

"Great. I slept most of the way so I'm full of energy." He runs his lips across my neck.

He wants to make love tonight. He wants to help me feel pleasure and all I can think about is who he was giving that same pleasure to last night.

"I need to tell you something." I pull back from his kiss. I can't think straight if he's so close to me. He looks so inviting, dressed in a grey suit and black dress shirt. I hadn't planned on the evening lasting long so my jeans and blue short sleeved sweater seem out of place.

"Let's go to my place and we can talk." He opens the door to his car and I silently slide into the passenger seat.

I wait for him to sit next to me before I speak again. "We can't make love tonight."

"We can't?" He reaches for my hand, cradling it in his before he brings it to his lips. "That's fine, sunshine."

I feel deflated as he drops my hand onto my lap. Of course he doesn't care if we make love. He fucked someone else last night in some unnamed city. He was likely with her when I called him. Why is this so upsetting to me? What did I expect from this? He owes me nothing. Nothing. As the car races away from the curb in front of my parent's home I wish that I had confided in Alexa about my call to him yesterday. Why had I pretended everything was good? She would have known what I should say to him.

He sings along to the radio as he pilots the car through the crowded streets of the city. "Do you want to pick up some dinner before we get to my place or should we order in?"

"I'm not hungry." I don't volunteer why.

"That works for me." His gaze doesn't break from the road. "We'll be at my place in five."

My heart is pounding. He has no idea what's about to happen. I don't know if I should bring up my scar first or the fact that I know he wasn't in Denver. Do I even have a right to mention Denver? Why did I agree to be his fuck buddy? My heart is already invested. I'm supposed to protect this heart at all costs.

I follow him silently from the garage into the lobby of his condo. He presses the call button for the elevator as he thumbs through his phone. "Did you work today?" The question surprises me.

"I had a day off today." I answer snappily

"Did you do something fun?" He drops the phone into his jacket pocket before his gaze meets mine.

"Not really." I shrug my shoulders. "I hung out with Alexa. That's all."

"That girl is a handful, isn't she?" He laughs as he places his hand on my back urging me into the elevator.

"She can be." I feel protective of my best friend. I don't need this man that I barely know to make judgment calls about her. He's in no position to do that.

"I'll get the door." He steps off the elevator before me and pushes the key to his door into the lock. I watch as he enters a security code into the panel on the wall before he turns the handle. "After you."

Chapter 17

I walk into the room and soak in the beauty once again. It's such an elegant space and I'm envious that he gets to live here alone. My home is usually the dorms but during breaks I always stay at my parents' house. I often don't feel like I belong anywhere.

"I bought you something while I was away." He throws his suit jacket over the back of the couch as he fumbles in his overnight bag. "You're going to love it."

I stand in silence watching him gleefully rummage through the bag. His hand darts back out with a rectangular box covered in silver paper in its clutches. He holds it out and I stand frozen staring at it.

"Open it." He pushes it at me and I reluctantly take it.