Page 25 of Kiss Me Forever

"I'm going to be sorry I brought you here, aren't I?"

"I don't know. Does Mick have some dirt on you?"

"If he did, he wouldn't tell you."

"Probably true." She'd seen the affection between the men and she had no doubt there was loyalty as well, especially since Alex was supporting the gym financially. But even if Mick couldn't relate any secrets, he could still give her insight into her subject, and the more insight she had, the better questions she could ask Alex.

Chapter Five

Alex drove back to his house feeling restless and a little annoyed with himself for taking Andrea to the gym. But it was too late now. He'd given her a peephole into his past, and he was quite sure she would take advantage of it at the first opportunity.

He pulled into his driveway but didn't bother to shut off the engine. He needed to get back to the gym and talk to Mick.

"You're not going inside?" Andrea asked.

"No, I have to run an errand. I'll pick you up at your place at six, all right?"

"Sounds good. Cocktail attire?"

He nodded, thinking that he'd like to see her in a sexy, short dress.

"This party isn't on a boat or a plane or any other moving vehicle, is it?" she asked.

Smiling, he said, "No, it's in a building, but there is a high-speed elevator to the fiftieth floor. Can you handle that? Because otherwise it's going to be a long walk up the stairs."

She smiled back at him. "Would you walk with me?"

"No way. But I would have a drink waiting when you got to the top."

"I can handle the elevator."

"Good."

She opened her door, then paused, glancing back at him. "Thanks for taking me to the gym. I think I finally caught a brief glimpse of the real you."

"The real me isn't hiding, Andrea. What you see is what you get."

"I don't think that's true at all. Everyone has layers, and I suspect you have quite a few. I'm looking forward to unraveling them."

She got out of the car and shut the door. As he watched her walk to her car, all he could think about was how he'd like to unravel some of her clothes—forget about layers.

Shaking his head, he told himself to get a grip. He'd been flirting with her on the boat because it had been fun and also because he'd wanted to see how he could manipulate her. In that situation, the power had all been on his side, and that's where he needed to keep it.

After leaving his house, he drove back to the gym, wanting to have a private word with Mick before Andrea could get to him. He half expected to see her pulling into the alley in front of him, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Mick was in his office now, going over some paperwork.

"Did you forget something?" Mick asked in surprise.

Alex walked in and shut the door behind him. "We need to talk."

"In a second." Mick punched out numbers on a calculator, adding up a string of invoices, and then swore.

"Problem?" Alex quizzed, dumping a pile of fitness magazines on the floor so he could take a seat in front of the desk.

"They raised the entry fee in the San Jose Boxing Competition in January."

"How much?"

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