Page 37 of Runaway Bride for the Boss

“Here,” Alex says quietly, and the familiar weight of my glasses hits my nose just as my vision sharpens. I command, “Answer her.”

“Andrea, hold on.” My voice is husky, and I quickly clear it.

“Tell her you’re in the bathroom,” he orders, and without thinking, I do as he says.

“Okay, meet me in my room when you’re done,” she calls out and her footsteps slowly recede.

Alex climbs off the bed with a low curse and grabs his pants from a heap on the floor. I have a brief moment to admire his physique, which is obscenely muscular. The chiseled plane of his chest has an intricate tattoo spread across its width, and I’m just noticing his forearms are also covered in dark markings. He’s always wearing a dress shirt and suit, keeping this secret hidden.

I can’t make out the exact pattern in the low lighting; all I can think about is tracing every line with my fingertips and asking him what they mean and when he got them all. My attention is drawn to his large member that he’s now adjusting in order tofasten his pants. I do a double take, and my heart nearly stops, my earlier rage returning in full force.

“You didn’t use a condom?!” My voice is horrified. I have to remind myself to keep my voice down so Andrea won’t hear me. Alex stiffens, and he also glances down at his cock, which is clearly bare of rubber.

“Oh, my God, you didn’t!” I get up from the bed and yank my dress down. We didn’t even take off all of our clothes. I still have my bra on, for crying out loud. “What if Andrea hadn’t come in? What were you thinking!”

Alex blanches, his face going white; and for the first time since I met him, I can read his thoughts clearly. Hewasn’tthinking. He suddenly spins around and walks out of the room. I slump back on my bed with a sigh.

What wasIthinking? What the hell is wrong with me? I almost had sex with the guy. I did have sex with him, if only for a short while. Is that enough to get someone pregnant? My hand drops to my belly, and I imagine it expanding with a baby. Alex’s baby. What would that be like?

I sit up on the bed sharply. “Stop thinking nonsense, Autumn. You have an IUD.” A mixture of disappointment and relief hits me. I throw myself onto a pillow to let out a muffled scream. Why am I even feeling this way? Anger at Alex and solace over my protective birth control are all I should be focusing on.

Damn it, I need to get my head on straight. I just met him aweekago! I mean technically I met him over a year ago, but I can’t be fantasizing about having his baby! Even after three years together, Ialwaysmade sure Larson used a condom even with the double protection. If I’m being totally honest, I never fully trusted his faithfulness to me.

Of course, pregnancy isn’t the only reason to use birth control. What if he gives me something? Though for some inane reason, I trust Alexander completely.

“He’s such a control freak; he probably gets a checkup biweekly to make sure he’s clean,” I say to the empty room with a sigh.

What if Andrea hadn’t come home? Shit,Andrea.

I quickly get up from the bed and rush to the bathroom. I take a shower to wash off Alex’s lingering scent, sweet as it may be. I’m trying to shake off the disappointment that Alex and I were interrupted. Not that I feel unfulfilled: he made sure of that. But that was the most connected I’ve ever felt to someone. Having his undivided attention, his eyes never leaving mine, felt like a religious experience. He’s so intense, and I felt every ounce of his passionate focus.

I shake my head and quickly toss on a fresh pair of underwear, a sweatshirt and the joggers Andrea gave me that first night – last week, I remind myself. It’s only been a week. I put my hair up and leave my room.

“Andrea,” I call out as I knock on her door, which is down the hall from mine.

“Come in.” Her voice sounds a little muffled. I open the door and enter. She pokes her head out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth. “Hold on,” she says before going back into her bathroom.

I make myself at home on the soft couch facing the flat screen television. I’ve been in her room a few times before. It’s similar in size to mine, but where mine has been decorated in soft pastel colors, hers is a mixture of rich colors with black accents. It matches her personality perfectly.

“Hey, sorry. It seemed like you might take a while, so I decided to just get ready for bed,” Andrea says as she comes out of the bathroom in her pajamas, actually shorts and a tank top.

“Getting ready for bed?” I glance at the time on my phone. “But it’s just past six, so what about the bar?”

She scrunches her face in confusion. “Where have you been? We got the alert to close all businesses because of a sudden freezing rain warning. The rain started about thirty minutes ago and changed to a sleet storm maybe ten minutes in. We’re supposed to get about six inches of ice too. Even the schools have been closed for tomorrow.”

I gape at her. “What?” I mean it was raining a little just after Alex and I left the restaurant. How can it be that bad already? I move to the window and pull the curtains aside. I can’t see much, but the rain – sleet – seems to be coming down hard and fast.

“By the way, where did you disappear to after your call? I checked outside the bar and you were gone. I was hoping you were safely home. How did you get here?”

“Um–” I stare at her blankly, a stab of guilt hitting me hard. She asked me to stay away from her brothers, and I had dinner with one and sex with the other – all within two hours. At least the interaction with Ezra was innocent enough.

“I called my mom so she wouldn’t worry, but it didn’t end well.”

“Oh, no. Was she upset you left without telling her?” Andea asks.

I smile sadly…if only. “She wants me to come back home and apologize to my ex. She thinks I’m being selfish and he’s a once in a lifetime catch.”

“What?” She frowns. “I don’t know the guy, and you’ve been pretty tightlipped about him; but from the little I’ve been able to gather, he sounds like a prick and you’re better off without him! How could your mom not see that? Hasn’t she met him?”

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