Page 55 of Burning for Alexander
“He’s forty,” I said. “And I’m twenty-seven. It’s hardly the kind of age gap people write salacious articles about. Besides, I told you we’re not dating.”
“No,” Papa said. “He’s only taking advantage of you for his nefarious purposes.”
“I wouldlikefor someone to take advantage of me for nefarious purposes!” I said, if only to get him back for referring to his own sex life with my dad. “Don’t make me regret telling you.”
They both stopped and looked a little chagrinned. “Fair,” Dad said. “But I thought that guy was your sworn enemy.”
“He is,” I admitted. Then I shrugged. “But he’s also sexy as fuck.”
Papa nodded knowingly. “Attracted to the bad boy. I can see it.”
I laughed, and it felt good. “He’s not a bad boy. He’s honestly just doing his job. And I agreed to all the inspections. I just…”
“What, sweetheart?” Dad asked.
“I’d like to find someone to go out with. Ever since I left, I’ve been putting so much time and effort into getting Timber up and running. Now it’s more steady, and I have a little bit of room to breathe. It’d be nice to find someone to spend time with outside of work.”
The two of them exchanged a knowing glance. “It’s about time,” Papa said. “You should let Ella set you up. She said there’s a very nice guy at work she’s been dying to introduce you to, and Hazel agrees he’s a good one. She apparently recruited him out of Silicon Valley.”
I thought about Judd, about watching him fall apart with my mouth wrapped around his cock, about the way he’d gentlythreaded his fingers through my hair and locked eyes with me. About the way he’d grabbed me the minute I’d walked in his front door and kissed me for ages, until I was the one who took it a step further.
If he was only into me for a physical transaction, why did he go out of his way to meet me several times just for kissing? The man could have any number of people over for a quick fuck at the drop of a hat. Why me? Why be willing to take it slowly?
What if he cared about me for more than a physical transaction but was denying himself a relationship for some other reason?
I let out a laugh. Who the fuck was I kidding? These were the pathetic thoughts you had when you had feelings that weren’t reciprocated. These were the hoops you jumped through, wishing and hoping someone was into you when they’d made it very clear they weren’t.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll tell her she can set me up. That sounds like a good idea.”
When I got off the phone, I texted Ella. Then I fell asleep wondering if I needed to inform Kincaid that I was planning on going out with someone.
If you’re kissing me, you’re not kissing anyone else.
His rule had been clear. But who was to say my date would end in a kiss? It probably wouldn’t. Which meant maybe I could get away without telling the chief.
And maybe it would have gone down exactly like that… if Judd hadn’t shown up for another random fucking inspection right when I was supposed to leave for my date.
16
KINCAID
DrunkenPoet:Do you ever get jealous?
IndexEcho:No. Unless I think about you with someone else.
_____________________
I was having mixed-upemotions about whether to reopen my search forDrunkenPoetor allow myself to fall into a vat of temptation named Alex Marian.
Neither one was probably good for my mental health, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting both.
My feelings for Alex were proving to be more than I expected, but before I could even consider pursuing someone I might catch real feelings for, I knew I needed closure aboutDrunkenPoet. Even if he didn’t want to hear from me, even if he’d moved on… hell, even if we’d both grown and changed and didn’t fit anymore, I wanted to explain what happened. Surely he’d cared enough about me, once upon a time, that he’d want that, too.
But I hadn’t pulled the trigger on calling Max’s private investigator friend. And I was keeping my distance from Alex, too.
Sort of.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him, of course. But I’d managed to go four whole days without texting or seeing him…
