Page 22 of Wildest Desire

“Casual.”

After he removes his hand, I turn to face him. “Thank you for helping me with my zipper,” I say as I walk past him on the way to the spare bathroom. “Casual smart, or jeans and tee?” I stop outside the bathroom and turn to face him.

“Jeans and a tee are fine,” he replies as he's pulling his phone out of his pocket. “This better be good news…” He walks out of the bedroom, distracted with his call.

Something must have happened while I was away, but how would I know? I’ve never asked him about work. Today, I’ll ask him about work, maybe get to know him a little.

* * *

Sitting outside, the waiter pours me some wine in my glass. Ethan ordered whiskey and I think about all the times I‘ve been with him. He always seems to be drinking. It makes me wonder if he has a drinking problem.

We have been here twenty minutes, and Ethan has not put his phone down once. As the waiter walks away, I snatch Ethan’s phone. “Am I not good company?” I ask, smirking at the funny look he gives me.

“You are, by far, the most beautiful company I’ve had in a long time, but—”

“But, nothing, Ethan. We’re out, so let’s talk.” Putting his phone in my bag, I continue. “How about we start with what's so important that you can't put your phone down?” The waiter drops off our food and I thank him without looking away from Ethan, who's sitting across from me with a smug smile on his face.

“Work isn’t going as I hoped, and my lawyers are idiots that can't do a job correctly without asking me everything first. I have no idea what I pay them for.” He takes a deep breath in and watches me.

I keep my gaze leveled on him. For the first time, I look at him without hatred or anger. I didn’t think that would happen, but I can see he’s a man who's stressed with work all the time.

“Okay, let’s not talk about work. We can talk about other things.” I grab a piece of bread from the basket on the table. “So, start talking, Mr. Knight.” I sit back and study him. I like that he’s never clean shaven. The rough look suits him. His chestnut colored hair seems to be getting a little longer as well. It’s all pushed over to the left side of his face. His best feature is his big blue eyes.

I look at my bag as Ethan’s phone rings for the fifth time. Shaking my head, I pass him the phone. Someone really wants to talk to him.

He answers the phone. “You don’t get to call me anymore… I don’t give a shit what you want, don’t call me again.” He puts the phone down and starts eating his food. Looking up at the waiter, he orders himself another whiskey.

“Do you think drinking this much is a good idea?” I ask him. He stopped talking altogether since hanging up. I thought I might get the playful Ethan for lunch, but it looks like whoever was on the phone put an end to that hope.

Ethan looks up at me and just stares for a moment. “Did you enjoy your weekend?” he asks.

“I did, thank you. I did some shopping, then we went to an event,” I tell him, sipping on my wine. I feel a cold breeze hit the back of my neck, and the old feeling of fear runs through me. I look around the restaurant and to the street to see if I can see anyone. If I can see him.

“Hey, you okay?” Ethan asks, bringing my attention back to him.

“Yeah, so what did you do this weekend?” I ask, putting the feeling to the side. I look at my phone as it beeps.

Ms. Jackie– We need to talk.

Lexi– I’m at lunch with Ethan.

Ms. Jackie– Come to the office after.

Lexi– Okay.

“I have to meet Ms. Jackie after lunch,” I say, looking at my phone. I still have a bad feeling. Looking around again, I just know he’s nearby. I eat my food a little quicker than before. “Can I just go straight from here?” I ask him.

Ethan stays quiet and I look up at him to see him staring at me. His eyes move to my lips, then down to my neck and he holds his gaze there for a moment. “I can take you,” he says, bringing his eyes back to mine. I stare into his eyes for a moment and wonder what he's thinking. “Now eat.” Please.

The rest of the lunch was quiet between us—not even any small talk. Ethan's phone was ringing non-stop, and he answered every single call. He was angry at most of them, except for someone named Travis.

* * *

Ethan dropped me off at the office and told me to call him when I was ready to go back to his place. He said he has something special planned for me, and it was in a tone which had me smiling as I walked away from him.

“Look who it is,” Helen says, kissing me on the cheek.

“I know, I’ve missed you guys.” It’s true, I’ve missed our morning chats and gossiping about our clients. “Where have you been?”

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