Page 90 of In Plain Sight

He shook his head. “It was a shock, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

“Makes sense?”

He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip, his expression shy again. “I didn’t understand how I could feel so comfortable talking to a stranger about such personal things. How I could feel such a deep connection to someone I’d never met. It scared me because I felt the same for you.”

“You did?” I whispered.

He nodded and swallowed, like he was trying to fortify himself to keep talking. “I tried to hide it because we work together, and I thought you were straight, but I did.”

“I did too,” I said, my voice a bit scratchy. “I didn’t understand it either. But yeah, I felt it and tried to hide it.”

We fell silent.

“I have no idea what to do right now. What to say.”

“Me either.” He raked his hand through his hair.

I put my bottle on the floor so I’d stop fidgeting with it. “I don’t think I can just pretend like none of this happened,” I said softly, taking the initiative and starting the conversation.

Zander blew out a breath and nodded. “I don’t think I can either.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“I’m not sure.” He chewed on his lip. “I like you, Luka.”

It wasn’t a grand declaration or anything, but my chest still tightened, and my heart did a weird sort of skittering beat because ofhowhe said it. It was the intense look in his eyes and the softness of his tone that made it feel like so much more.

“I like you too.” I swallowed. “I’m not good at this.”

The corner of his lips curled up in a smile. “At what?”

“Talking about what I want and how I feel.” I swallowed to try and wet my dry throat. “But the truth is, when I was spinning in circles in my apartment earlier and freaking out, I wasn’t scared that you’d suddenly hate me or judge me or be an asshole about things.”

“You weren’t?”

I shook my head. “I was scared that I’d lose you. That you wouldn’t want me anymore once you knew it was me on the other end of the phone.”

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”

My heart swelled a bit. “You did?”

He nodded. “It’s only gotten stronger the more I got to know you.”

“Yeah, for me too.” I paused, choosing my words carefully. “I know us working together makes this messy, but I want to keep exploring things between us.”

His smile was so bright and happy I couldn’t help grinning back. “You do?”

“Yeah.” I shifted so I was angled toward him. “If you do.”

“I do.” He chewed on his lip. “We’ll have to keep it quiet. Especially at work. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly, probably too quickly. “That’s no problem.”

He smiled. “So I guess we’re going to do this?”

I smiled back. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

Zander held out his hand. I took it and let him tug me across the couch until I was kneeling next to him. In this position, I was taller than him. He looked up at me, his eyes so full of desire my stomach flip-flopped.

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