Page 34 of Always Been You

The thought of seeing her had adrenaline traveling through his bloodstream like water in a rushing river. That kiss had knocked him on his ass yesterday. Figuratively speaking, anyway. He'd had some pretty high expectations for their first adult kiss, but it turned out to be more than anything he'd ever imagined. It was magical, as corny as that sounded. And he was anxious to see if he'd get another opportunity for magic tonight.

Since their relationship had quotations around it, he was going to have to plan his seduction strategically. That was not something he had any experience with. If he was interested in someone, he let them know. If he wanted to sleep with someone, he made a move. He'd never understood why people played games. To him, the direct, straightforward approach had always worked best.

Until Jess.

Nothing was simple or straightforward when it came to Jess.

He had no idea what he was in for tonight. She'd agreed to his terms, and he'd agreed to hers. The only difference was, he had no clue what her terms were. Ethan was not the kind of man that said yes and asked questions later. He was the man that read the terms of service agreement before clicking ‘agree.’ He always wanted to know exactly what he was getting into and what would be expected of him before he agreed to anything.

But he'd blindly agreed to do whatever she wanted him to do. Because it was Jess.

He glanced down at his clothes and he wondered what her quid to his quo could possibly be. She'd told him to dress in athletic wear and texted him an address and a time.

That was the totality of the information he'd been given.

So he stood outside a large brick building wearing a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and sneakers. His mind wandered to what he could’ve possibly gotten himself into.

Was she on some sort of coed team that he was going to be joining?

Was she going to be opening a second salon location and he was here to do some manual labor?

"Hey!" Jess came around the corner and bopped up to him, smiling from ear to ear.

His eyes shot straight to the lips that had been pressed against his the night before.

He'd forced himself to push the memory out of his mind when he'd been called in to work. When he was on the job, he couldn't have any distractions. And that rule was even more critical now that he was on the tactical team. It took one hundred percent focus.

Usually, keeping his mind clear was not difficult. But last night had tested his ability to compartmentalize his life, something he'd never struggled with before.

"So, any guesses as to what you're in for?" Jess wagged her brows as she reached and pulled the door open.

"I have a couple." He lifted his arm and held the door open for her before entering behind her.

His mouth went dry as he stared at Jess's perfect, pear-shaped ass swaying back and forth as she made her way up the steps.

About halfway up, she glanced over her shoulder. "Such as?"

He cleared his throat, hoping to be able to speak over the lust he was choking on. "You're in a competitive dodgeball league, and you guys need to win the championship to save this old building that may seem like a dump to everyone else in town but has sentimental value to the captain of the team whose family ran a tire business in it for years until they went bankrupt."

Jess stopped and turned around, lips parted and eyes wide. "No. But that sounds like a great plot to an ABC Afterschool Special."

"I don't think they've made those for twenty years."

"Then it's time for a reboot."

Jess had an answer for everything.

She paused when they made it to the top of the stairs and turned back to face him. He could feel the excitement radiating off of her. "Any other guesses?"

"Is it a new location?"

"A what?" Her baby blues squinted as her head tilted.

"Are you expanding The Mane Attraction?"

Her lips pursed and he could see that his statement made her emotional. He just wasn't sure why. Had he guessed right? He didn't know because the girl who had an answer for everything was surprisingly quiet.

"Am I here to do manual labor?"

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