Page 24 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

Gage cleared his throat. “What Alden means is that, with the addition of the gifts, we really should still be here.”

“Stay out of this, Gage.” Jess seethed.

Gage held his hands up and backed out of the room.

Normally, I kept my cool around Jess. Until now I had forced myself to think and act as though this was a job just like every other one I’d taken on. In this moment, I had to acknowledge the distance I was able to keep with my typical client had evaporated. The thought of her on her own, possibly in danger, made me see red.

“I meant what I said.” I stood my ground.

Jess let out a screech and stomped closer. It didn’t matter I was over a foot taller than her, that most men avoided me because of my size.

“I can take care of myself.” She pursed her lips.

“Then why am I here?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I think it’s time you go.” Jess was never one to back down.

There was no fucking way I was leaving. I took her chin between my fingers and leaned down so we were eye to eye and whispered, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Jess’s quick intake of breath and the dilation of her pupils were my first indication I’d made a mistake. The second was my body’s swift reaction.

Shit!

I’d avoided being this close to her for a reason. Now her breath puffed against my lips. The slightly minty vanilla scent hitting me first. Her hand reached out; her palm splayed across my chest. It seared into me with its heat, like a brand.

I let out a breath as her body swayed toward me.

“Alden?” she whispered. The anger from moments ago, gone.

The desire to slide my hand around her neck and tangle my fingers in her hair, yank her to me, and lick and kiss the lips I’d been dreaming about for years gripped my body. It took everything in me not to move.

Jess didn’t have that same thought. She shifted, bringing her body up against mine. Her breasts pushed into me, making me instantly hard. Her hand slid up to my collarbone.

I breathed in her scent one last time, keeping my hands clenched by my side. If I touched her now, I’d never stop. I forced my eyes shut to block out the desire swirling in her eyes.

“Jess,” I cleared my throat.

“Yes,” she responded. A note of hope threaded through that one word.

Hope I was about to dash. “That isn’t going to happen.” I straightened, forcing myself away from her warmth and all that she had to offer.

“Alden, I know you still feel it too.”

“I don’t fuck my clients.” I needed to push her away. For her sake and my own.

Her quick indrawn breath was like a million slices of a razor-sharp knife across my skin.

“I see.” She took a step back. Her eyes once again shuttered.

“I’m not interested.” I had to push that point home. Make her understand we couldn’t go there.

She smirked. “Interesting that your dick didn’t get the message.”

My fucking cock was straining so hard against my jeans it was a surprise it was still contained behind the zipper. I had hoped she didn’t notice. “Sex wasn’t something we ever had a problem with,” I reminded her.

Her smirk slipped the tiniest bit. I wondered if she was remembering the day I’d broken up with her. The day I said that was all we had. The day I told her the biggest lie of my life.

“We need to keep this professional.”

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