Page 23 of What if I Told You

I stare down at my hand as if it just stood up and offered its services to my deprived cock. “No way, man. Not doing it,” I whisper to my hand. “Especially not with Ella in my apartment.”

Yep.

I just talked to my hand.

Fuck, this is how it starts, isn’t it?

I’m going crazy.

Quickly moving through the rest of my shower, I grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and pull them on before checking on one more time Ella before she leaves for her interview.

“Want me to drive you?”

“What?” She shakes her head. “No, no. It’s fine.” She tries to square her shoulders as she tilts her head to put an earring in her ear. “I should do this myself, you know? Independent and all. Besides, I don’t want it to look like I got this job because of you.” She blinks, hearing what she just said. “I mean not that I would get it because of you. I just mean, well?—”

“I know what you mean, babe. It’s fine.” I pull my keys out of my pocket. “Want to take my car?”

“Oh, uh,” she says with a furrowed brow. “I can probably just get an Uber.”

“Nonsense. Why pay for that when you can literally drive yourself? There’s a parking pass in the car. You won’t have to pay a thing. Here.” I hand my keys to her. “You’ll be safer in my car than with some stranger anyway.”

“You’re sure?” The look of apprehension in her eyes has me wrapping my arms around her.

“Of course I’m sure.”

Holding her against my chest, I feel her inhale a deep breath and slowly release it. “You smell nice,” she says.

“Not as good as you.” I give her a kiss on her forehead and tilt her face up to mine. “Listen, you’re going to do great today. I have no doubt that job will be yours within the hour and when that happens, we’ll celebrate.”

“What if it?—”

“Nope,” I say confidently, shaking my head. “There are no what-ifs right now. Only positive vibes for what will be.”

She nods decisively. “Right. Okay. I’ve got this.”

“You’ve got this.” I repeat her words back to her with a smile and then playfully spank her ass. “Now get out of here and do your thing, Ella Montgomery. I believe in you.”

CHAPTER SIX

ELLA

Ihead downstairs to the parking garage and tap the lock button on the remote August handed me. A black car honks several feet away, its taillights blinking twice. I cock my head a bit confused because the black car that belongs to the remote in my hand is not the one he was driving when he picked me up from the airport. That car is sitting a few spots down. This one is much fancier looking. A quick glance at the back of it as I approach makes me smile.

“Son of a bitch, he finally did it.” My smile widens with a sense of pride for my best friend as I marvel at the shiny black Ferrari California T convertible parked in spot number eleven. She’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen. “He’s always wanted this car,” I whisper to myself, smoothing my hand over the back. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”

A rush of anxiety shoots through my chest at the mere thought of trying to drive this car out of the garage and to my interview.

Why the hell did he offer me this car?

What makes him think I could drive this thing?

Or that I would want to?

Especially without him with me.

Morbid curiosity gets the best of me though because who wouldn’t want to sit in one of these babies if given the opportunity? Smiling, I click the button to unlock the car and open the driver’s side door and then slip into the driver’s seat.

Daaaaaamn.

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