Page 67 of Rivals Next Door

He was so incredible in the art of pleasuring a woman. He was so attentive and once he got to know your body, you never left without an orgasm—most times multiple. He seemed to still remember every nuance of my body and every button that made me tick even after almost a decade.

I had to wonder… could he possibly be God's gift to women? Maybe he was, but I’d never tell him. He was arrogant enough. Just look at that cocky smirk he wore. He knew he rocked my world, and he wasn’t afraid to show how proud he was.

My thoughts came to a halt when he reached over to tenderly brush a thumb over my cheek. “Are you alright?”

I nodded.

He peered into my eyes. “Are you sure? You’re looking at me funny.”

I swallowed hard. I was looking at him funny because Alex Knight could be one arrogant bastard, but he countered it by turning around to be the sweetest, most caring guy, even when he claimed to not like you. I wanted him back… as my lover, my best friend, my everything. Was that possible after tonight?

I bit the inside of my cheeks hard enough to draw blood to keep my emotions in check. Tears threatened to gather, and I couldn’t afford to fall apart in front of him. “I’m…” I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. That was… I’m just thirsty.”

“I imagine you would be after all that screaming you just did.”

His teasing grin made me suck my teeth. “You can’t go five minutes without being smug, can you?”

“Not after you just called me a god.”

“Oh, get over yourself.”

He chuckled as he shuffled out of bed. “I’ll get you some water. You’ll need it because I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing you how right you are about me being a fucking god.”

I sighed and grumbled, “Get me a needle, too, so I can deflate your overblown ego.”

His laughter wrapped around me, warming me to the core and reminding me of how much fun we used to have together. A smile tugged at my lips, but I held it back and managed to scowl.

“Get me that water already,” I demanded.

He snorted and gave a mock bow. “Yes, Princess Olivia.”

However, that smirk never left his lips. When he sauntered out, gloriously naked, I stared at the doorway with longing and wondered about a possible future together. Was I getting ahead of myself?

25

ALEX

My hands curled into fists on the bathroom counter. As I stared at my reflection, another wave of guilt hit me. It hit me so hard this time that it almost knocked the air from my lungs.

“Are you really going to do this to her?” I asked myself.

The man staring back at me in the mirror looked as conflicted as I felt. I thought about Olivia still asleep in my bed after our night together. I still wasn’t sure how the hell we got to where we did last night because it was the last thing I wanted. The trust in her eyes when she looked at me, seeing behind her practiced icy demeanor… The way I let her in again… It was a mistake. Of course, that’s what I said the last time we slept together. I’d have to stop using that excuse eventually.

I squeezed my eyes shut as every laugh, touch, and kiss we shared replayed in my mind. All of that played a part in my belief that we could recapture what we once had and that was just crazy. The longer I stared at my reflection, the part of me driven by the hurt of the past refused to let go of the desire for revenge.

Look at me, I was like a wounded animal determined to draw blood. Blowing out a breath, I ducked my head so I wouldn’t see myself. How could I muddy the water and blur the lines between my ex and me to such epic proportions?

“Typical Alex behavior,” I muttered as I gave my reflection another disappointed look. Now, I struggled between helping Olivia and watching her fall. I kept something major from her yesterday when she knocked on my door to gloat about her win.

She hadn’t won a damn thing because she was walking right into the devil’s clutches and the question was, would I stand back and let her? Don Weaver, her new business partner, was going to take her to hell in a handbasket. He was an immoral corporate demon involved in all sorts of shady shit.

Probably the worst part was his unethical medical experiments for profit. The man endangered so many lives to make money under the guise of running a legitimate synthetic biology company. I had to dig to the near depth of hell to find the dirt on Don Weaver because that’s what I did before my name went anywhere near an organization.

What he could hide from the world, he couldn’t from me. That was why I backed out of taking Syn-Genix off his hands just to spite Olivia. I stood back and watched as she walked into the lion’s den, which would eventually lead to her ruin. She’d pretty much be carrying out her own destruction, and I thought I’d be happy watching from the sidelines. I never thought I’d feel this fucking guilty.

My knuckles turned white as I balled my fists tighter. I lifted my head to stare into my tormented eyes, and I steeled myself against the myriad of emotions—resurfacing old ones—that wanted to stop me from carrying out my plan. My big win was almost within reach. It didn’t matter how Olivia lost BioTech. I’d get what I wanted either way—her empire in my hands while she scrambled to pick up the pieces of her life just as I’d struggled to pick up the pieces of mine nine years ago.

I decided to stop torturing myself and turned on the faucet to splash water on my face. It was time to get on with my day. I’d get through the awkward morning I knew would ensue, listen to Olivia go on about beating me when in reality she hadn’t, and then we could go back to being enemies.

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