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Her eyes narrow at me.
“Don’t use your sexy voice right now. This is serious.”
She points her finger downward, but the movement causes her to wobble. Her hips shift as her legs attempt to balance in the metal boat.
When she doesn’t sit, I stand up to steady her. My hand reaches out to keep her from tipping over, but instead of taking my hand or sitting down, both of Sophie’s hands find my chest. I catch her glance over my shoulder at the bridge, then her eyes fall back on me.
I’m not expecting it at all. If I had I would have counterbalanced with my legs. It would have been an easy correction to make. Even though there’s not much weight behind it, when Sophie’s hands push into my chest, it catches me off guard. A hard shove and I’m falling sideways.
A second later, I’m surrounded by the cool water of Central Park Lake.
* * *
SOPHIE
I find Hunter in his bathroom. A towel wrapped around his waist, steam from the shower still lingering in the air.
“Hey.” I shift on my feet in the doorway. His head is angled down. I can’t see his face. Can’t gauge his mood.
That’s a lie. I can see the tension in his sculpted back and shoulders.
“Hey,” he responds, his tone curt.
He doesn’t turn around, but I shift sideways and meet his gaze in the mirror. His blue eyes are narrowed, his full lips pulled in a thin line across his face.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.
He wipes his hands on the hand towel, then tosses it on the counter.
“You pushed me in the fucking lake, Sophie.”
Everything about his body language says stay away, but I slowly move toward him anyway. I care about Hunter, and I want things between us to go back to the way they were. We forgot what we were doing. We need to put the ‘secret’ back in ‘secret fuck buddies.’ Avoid picnics in the park. Stick to dark alcoves and private rooms.
“I know. I saw Emma, and then my brother, and I panicked. I’m so sorry.”
“Fuck, Sophie. This has got to stop.”
My stomach nosedives at Hunter’s response. He’s done. With me? With us?
“We should tell Griffin about us.”
If the thought of Hunter ending things wasn’t distressing enough, a fresh wave of panic surges through me with the thought of telling Griffin about us. I pull back my hands, putting space between us.
“Tell him what?” I ask incredulously. Because honestly, I don’t know what I would say to Griffin. “That we’re sleeping together? I’m sure that’s what every big brother wants to hear about his sister. That I’m fucking his boss. Hisfriend.”
“I think you know it’s more than that.” There’s a growl to Hunter’s voice. I can see the frustration in his eyes, see it in the tick of his jaw.
I swallow thickly. He’s right. There is more here. A lot more than I’m ready to admit.
Emotions war within me. This is exactly what I was afraid of when Hunter and I made this arrangement. Getting in too deep. Having it affect my relationship with Griffin. There’s no way that Griffin finding out about me and Hunter won’t change things between us. The fact that we’ve been sneaking around behind his back isn’t going to go over well. I’m not ready for the fallout from that.
“But we decided that’s all it would be, right?” There’s a plea in my voice.
“Is this even about Griffin working at my company? Or is that an excuse?” He lifts his brows in question.
“We agreed, just sex. That’s all I could commit to. You were happy with that. Ecstatic! Remember? Why are you trying to complicate it now?”
“You pushed me in the lake to avoid being seen with me. How is that not complicated?” His face softens. “What happens between you and me will never affect Griffin’s career.”
