Page 19 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

His hand cupped my shoulder and gently spun me to face him. His brown eyes, with hints of golden flecks, bore into me like he was trying to figure me out. A lock of hair flopped down over his forehead, so unlike the short military cut Alden often wore. I clenched my hands to stop myself from brushing it back. My eyes swept down, taking in the familiar planes of his high cheekbones, the nose that had a slight bump from being broken, and a beard that I wanted to grab hold of so I could experience how it felt against my lips.

I forced my gaze to land squarely on his pecs, not that I could see them through his black t-shirt, but I knew what they looked like. Alden had an impressive chest. One I used to love running my fingers down, my nails scoring his skin. I licked my lips, picturing myself sucking and nibbling my way down to his cock.

Fuck me.I needed to stop this train of thought right now.

Alden’s large fingers wrapped under my chin and nudged my head up to meet his gaze. “I said we’d talk when I got back.”

His eyes drew me in and mesmerized me. No, no, no. I couldn't let myself feel like this around him. I straightened my spine, forced my eyes to narrow. “I don’t see what else needs to be said.”

He sighed. “Jess, why did you try to make me believe that you haven’t spoken to Lexi until now?”

Panic clawed its way into my chest. Telling him would change our dynamic. My eyes darted around the room, trying to stare everywhere but into his eyes. Once I did, he’d be able to see past all of my defenses. I tried to pull my chin free to no avail.

“It doesn’t matter.” This time when I yanked myself free, he let go. I paced the room.

“It does.”

I stopped and stomped over to him. “Oh and like you would’ve helped me out. You know, out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Jess, I‚—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Alden. You can’t stand me. I get it.”

He opened his mouth.

I turned my back to him. “I knew you wouldn’t work for me otherwise. Lexi is important to you. You and I know what my influence can do for her business. I dangled the one carrot I knew would make you say yes.”

His gaze narrowed. “And you being in danger wasn’t a good enough reason?”

“Oh come on, Alden,” I scoffed. “You agreed to work with me after I mentioned helping Lexi.”

He sprung at me, grabbing both of my biceps, his eyes hard. “What are you talking about? You didn’t lead your rant that night with the fact that you were in trouble. That you had been attacked, Jess. Just that you needed a bodyguard. If you had told me that straight out, I would’ve said yes.”

I shook my head. “No, I said those things.” Right? At that point I’d been so freaked out I didn’t know in what order I’d said anything to him that night. My gaze slid to his forearms, mentally tracing the dark lines of his tattoo on his right arm that peeked out from the t-shirt he had on, trying to focus my thoughts.

I’d flown to Rhode Island to ask for Alden’s help after I’d been attacked in broad daylight. I still wasn’t sure if the guy had been after my purse or me, but after feeling like I was being watched for three to four weeks and then that happened, I couldn't be sure I wasn’t in danger. I ran to the only person I knew who would keep me safe.

Over the years I learned to listen to my intuition, and it hadn’t ever been wrong. It told me to push aside my pride and ask Alden for his help.

For the first time ever, I wondered if my spidey-sense was on the fritz.

“Jess, don’t push me away.”

“I’m not pushing you away. You were about to leave. You said we needed to talk. I figured we were just wrapping up our arrangement.”

“We needed to talk about why you lied. And then, once we cleared that up, about how we can stop what happened today from happening again. I don’t like that you’re getting anonymous gifts. It’s not sitting right with me.”

He had to leave. There was nothing holding him to me any longer. “You’re staying?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Yes.”

“Why?” I whispered.

He hesitated. Something passed through his eyes, but then he shut it down. “You hired me to keep you safe. I won’t walk away from that, Jess. And I’d like to honor the friendship we once had.”

My vision blurred. A job. That’s all I was to him. My heart lurched at the sharp pain that gripped my chest. I hated that I wanted to be more than that to him.

Alden was a good guy, a knight in shining armor. We might not be anything to each other now, but I made him feel responsible for me. He wouldn’t leave until he knew I was safe.

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