Page 48 of We Never Kissed

Narrowing my gaze, I felt my blood pressure spike. “Did Jessica have you gagged and bound to a chair?”

“Jessica?” He pulled his head back, ran a hand through his hair. “She wasn’t even there.” He sighed. “Could we not make this—”

“What? Into a thing? Well, from where I’m sitting…itisa thing.”

“You didn’t have to come here.” His gaze darted around the lot.

“Yeah, I could have sat home, waiting by the phone like a good girl. Is that what the other girls did before me?”

Shaking his head, he pulled his lips into a tight line. “Can we go inside to talk…please?”

“Haven’t decided if I’m staying.” I faced forward and stared through the dark windshield.

He leaned over, rested his forearms on the opened window. “Ava…” He placed a soft kiss on my cheek as I continued to look forward. It would be so easy to let him charm his way out of this, but I was still annoyed. “Please… I said I was sorry. I was at work and—”

“Then why do you smell like cigars?”

“Come on, Ava. You know how some of these meetings are. We had both Carl and his brother in Derrick’s office. It was impromptu, and I didn’t have my phone. I couldn’t think of any excuse to leave. Either they’d think another client was more important than they were, or they’d think it was personal, and their business wasn’t as important.”

I turned to him and tilted my head. “Some people think businessisn’tas important as personal. I guess you’re not one of those people?”

He straightened and blew out a breath, staring up at the sky. “I’ve been working on this deal since before we were together. Are you saying I should just let it go down the toilet?”

It was my turn to sigh because I knew where he was going with that. But at the same time, I didn’t want a life of being second to his career. “No, of course not. It’s just that…” And then it hit me why this bothered me so much. “I don’t even know what we are, like are we even a couple? Am I even allowed to be annoyed that this happened?” I held his gaze and waited.

A sexy half grin transformed his expression. “Are you saying you wanna be my girlfriend?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I sort of thought I already was.”

With another quick glance over his shoulder, he kneeled down and held a hand out to me. “Ava Steadman…will you be my girlfriend?”

I felt a blush take my cheeks as I popped open the door, enough to get out but so I wouldn’t hit him. “Will you get up before you ruin those pants?”

“That’s not an answer,” he said, gazing up at me.

I threw a hand on my hip. “So, you’re saying you want to make this official…as in tell people?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” His tone was serious, and he must have read the concern in my eyes because he added, “And, yes, I’m still worried about the family, but I believe in us, and I’ll convince them we’re the real deal.”

I took his hand and pulled. “We’ll convince them.”

“Hell, yeah, we will!”

Alex’s voice carried in the night, and I flinched. “Shh!”

“Hell, no. I just claimed my woman.” Then he gave me a celebratory slap on the ass.

“Oww!”

Pulling on my arm, he hiked me over his shoulder and called, “And now I’m taking her back to my cave.”

“Alex!” I screamed and tried to gasp his shoulders, afraid of falling.

And then he slapped my ass again and took off toward hisapartment.

Chapter 28

Alex

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