Page 58 of Privileged (Adrenalin)

I gingerly undo the Ace bandage to uncover a puffy purple ankle. Though the color is garish, it’s actually a sign of healing. The swelling suggests it’s still too tender to touch, so I carefully wrap it again.

“You’re not gonna massage it? I thought injuries were your specialty?”

“Rehabbing is my specialty.” Shooting him a withering look, I bind the bandage. “You don’t massage injuries. If I touch it right now, you’ll be howling in pain.”

“What’d you ask to see it for then?”

“Curiosity.”

“You enjoy seeing me injured?” he pouts.

“I enjoy seeing the transition from injured to healthy.” I toss him a wicked smile of my own.

“Sadist,” he mumbles under his breath.

“Is that any way to talk to the guy who’s going to help you fix this?”

“I meantsavior.”

“That’s better.” Sealing the wrap around his ankle, I drag a chair in front of the one he’s sprawled in and prop up his foot. “Stay here. I’m going to grab some ice and then we’ll talk about a plan to get you back to normal.”

I dash over to the training center, relieved to find it empty so I don’t have to ask permission or justify taking several cooling packs; the kind that turn cold when you crack them open. Then I head back to the spa and cover Blake’s ankle.

“Where’d the fancy ice come from?” He lifts his chin toward the stack of supplies sitting next to where I’m kneeling on the floor.

“The training center.” I secure the pack to his ankle with an Ace wrap.

“Oh. I thought maybe you grabbed it from your fancy new digs upstairs.” His eyes sparkle with mischief.

Shit.

“You know,” he continues, biting back a grin. “When we talked about this client you had a thing for you failed to mention he’s also our boss, and youliterallyhad him by the balls. And here I thought I was the one flirting with disaster by hooking up with the customers. You’re crazier than I gave you credit for.”

“Ugh, please don’t start.” I close my eyes and exhale heavily. “It’s bad enough the whole town is probably speculating, I don’t need my friends to start in on it, too.”

“Sorry.” He has the decency to dip his head in a show of guilt. “But seriously, you had to know talk would start when you moved into the same building as him. A building no other employee lives in.”

“I did.” I sink back on my heels.

“Then why do it?” His eyes soften as he searches my face, as if the answer he’s looking for is written there.

“Honestly, it was an opportunity to see how Carter really feels. Whether he just wanted the convenience of having me close or whether he wantedme.” My shoulders lift in a lame attempt to justify my thought process.

“And?”

“I think he wants me.” I bite my lower lip and dip my head, bracing for more skepticism.

“Youthink?”

“Well, we haven’t made any promises or anything, but it’s not all sex between us if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I was,” Blake confirms. “But Sloan, as long as the two of you hibernate up here in his fancy apartment, it kind of is just sex. Or that’s how it will look anyway.”

He’s not telling me anything I don’t already know, though I’d naively believed we’d have a few weeks at least, maybe even a month, before people caught on.

“You think it’s better to put ourselves on display? That won’t stop any talk. It’ll probably just make people talk more.”

“Yeah, but they’ll be talking about how they saw you at dinner or on a trail, not that they saw you heading into his buildingagain. If this isn’t just sex, then get out there and show everyone it’s not what they think.”

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