Page 71 of No Longer Safe

Even though the Cristof brothers were such a huge part of that story, I knew it was better to leave them out. I didn’t want to scare the poor man off. I also didn’t want Alexei shadowing everything I did, whether he was present or not. I couldn’t shake him. Not from my thoughts, not from my stories, and not from my life. This was a little piece of me that I was going to keep for myself.

By the endof the night, I couldn’t stop laughing. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip from his wine glass. I’d wanted so badly to order a whiskey or a bourbon or something strong but I still didn’t know this man, even if he had me rolling most of dinner. I needed to keep my wits about me.

Much to my surprise, he ate more pasta than I did. He blamed it on needing to bulk up for his next boxing match.

“How often do you do tournaments?” I asked as I looked over the dessert menu.

“Not often, I train others but a friend of mine convinced me to give it a go again. He said I’m wasting my talents if I don’t see what I’ve got in the ring again.” He shrugged and pulled the dessert menu from my fingers, grinning the whole time.

It was my turn to be skeptical. “You train people for a living and live in New York City?” Maybe he was like the starving artist type.

His grin grew at my disbelief. “I train high profile clients.”

Ah, I knew the types very well. Too well. I changed the subject. “See anything you like?”

He groaned as he rubbed his belly. “The tiramisu here is incredible. It’s actually why I chose this place.”

“Do you think you have room for it?” I eyed him and his flat belly.

He sat up straight like I issued a challenge. “Absolutely I do.”

Just as he promised, the tiramisu was incredible. It was my first time trying it as we didn’t have anything like it back in the small town I came from. I couldn’t even stomach to think of it ashome. It had never been that for me. Just a place I lived for most of my life that never connected with my soul. He paid the check and held his hand out to me to help me up. He was the perfect gentleman.

“Why do you think you haven’t found the one yet?” It was a bold question but I was done playing it safe.

He shrugged, my hand on his elbow as we walked out of the restaurant. The streets were crowded like usual, but it didn’t bother me. It was much better than that little town where there was never anyone on the street and you were more afraid than comfortable. There was a strange comfort to all of the people milling about. “I was so focused on winning for years that I didn’t really stop to consider wanting a family and then I was so focused on building my brand and my business that I forgot to slow down. It wasn’t until I was training my buddy the other day and he was talking about some girl he couldn’t stop thinking of that I realized I was envious. I wanted someone to come home to eventually. Someone to build my brand with me. Someone to cheer me on in the stands.”

“I appreciate your honesty.”

The rest of the walk was done in comfortable silence and I was thankful that neither one of us needed to speak or do anything. It was nice. But it wasn’t earth-shattering. It wasn’tfull of sparks. It was like we’d known each other our whole lives and I loved that in a friend but I didn’t know if it was right for a partner.

When we got back to Ace’s building I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me or not. I knew I wasn’t going to invite him up. I didn’t think I would ever invite anyone up, not with the possibility of Alexei lurking about and the strange feeling of it not even being my home. It would be awkward enough if I had to introduce him to everyone there. I could imagine Mrs. Phipps living there and her coming out just as my date was leaving.

Nope.

When Axel leaned in for a kiss, my heart stopped. Maybe this was it, this was the sparks. This was what I was waiting for. His lips brushed mine and he tasted like wine and chocolate, not a horrible combination. After all, I’d kissed Brian after burgers and beer. Yuck. This felt different but there was no spark. He pulled away and I opened my eyes. Our expressions mirrored one another’s.

“Nothing?”

“Hmm?” Was it the right thing to admit?

“No spark?”

I shook my head, sadly. I would have loved to have those sparks with him. He was very attractive, a great date, and very funny but I didn’t feel it.

“Me either, I really like you and would love to spend more time with you, but maybe just as friends.”

I smiled softly. I’d never been let down easy like that before either. It was nice and refreshing.

“Thank you for going out with me tonight,” He smiled. “It proved to me that the entire dating pool isn’t trash. We will find our people.”

We hugged goodnight and I went up to Ace’s penthouse. Carina was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her and a blanket around her shoulders.

“How was it?” She jumped up and rushed me.

I held my hands up and giggled. I loved her so much. “It was nice. He wasn’t for me and apparently, I wasn’t for him either.”

“He told you that?” Her mouth fell open.

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