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“It’s not important,” I said, shaking my head as I didn’t make a move to let her go.
“I’m pretty sure everything involving you is important, Ethan,” she said, smiling up at me. She patted my chest a couple of times before shifting out of our tangled embrace. “Seriously,” she said. “Answer it.”
I held her gaze as I answered the phone, my assistant Doug on the other end.
“Hi, sir. I’m just confirming your six o’clock dinner reservation with Hilton?”
Shit. I’d completely forgotten about the meeting with the CEO of the eastern hotel chain. Totally forgotten about the very important meeting where I wanted to buy several of those hotels for myself, always looking for ways to expand and continue growing my wealth.
Forgotten everything outside of Alexandra.
What was this girl doing to me?
“Thanks, Doug,” I said into the phone. “I’ll be there shortly.”
I looked down at Alexandra apologetically as I hung up and pocketed my phone. “I’m sorry —”
“You have no reason to be sorry,” she said. “You know my schedule,” she continued, smoothing her hands along my chest with a sense of ownership that made me ten times harder. “If anyone understands the demands of your time, it’s me. And besides, this session ended a while ago.” She winked at me. “Have a good meeting,” she said as she headed toward the stairs. “I’ll text you tomorrow for our next one.”
I stared up after her, my lips slightly parted as I searched for the right words.
But the woman had left me stunned. Easily shifting right back into the roles we had to play—coach and client—except the heat lingering in her eyes was anything but professional.
Normally, the women I dated were aggravated if a meeting I forgot popped up and rightly so, but not with her. Not with Alexandra.
Not that I was dating her.
Fuck. I needed to get my head on straight.
“I’ll meet you with coffee,” I called after her, needing to say something, anything.
She turned and looked down at me, her position on the stairs making her look like a fucking goddess, and I was ready to drop to my knees for her.
“Still trying to make me fall in love with you?” she teased.
“Always,” I said, gripping the railing so I wouldn’t chase after her. Because I wanted to. So fucking badly. But that wouldn’t be good for either of us.
She laughed, heading up the stairs. “See you tomorrow, Ethan.”
Damn. She was so understanding, but also so easily able to leave me standing here, hard and panting and questioning everything I thought I ever knew.
Because as I watched her disappear through the exit, I realized something incredibly terrifying.
I thought one kiss was all it would take for her to fall for me.
But now?
With the feeling spreading through my heart, through my fucking veins?
I was the one who just jumped into a free fall.
Which meant I was absolutely and totally fucked.
CHAPTER 6
Alexandra
“You’ve been avoiding talking about Ethan the entire week,” Nora said before sipping from her coffee mug. She sat across my small dining table, Ella on her left, me across from them both.
“He’s my client,” I said, even though that wasn’t really the reason. I would never reveal details about any of my clients’ sessions when it came to what I was coaching them on, but Ethan was…different. The lines weren’t as hard-set as they’d been with others.
“We’re not asking you to tell us about his triggers,” Ella chided. “And you know it. You’ve been off all week. We can tell something is bothering you. And it’s not the amount of volunteer work you’re taking on, despite how much you keep talking about that this week.”
“You two are nosy,” I teased, and they laughed.
“We know you,” Nora corrected me. “And if there is nothing you need to get off your chest, then fair. But if there is, you may as well stop trying to bury it and tell us.”
I blew out a breath, shaking my head before I glanced at my watch. “You have fifteen minutes,” I said. “I don’t know if that’s enough—”
“Fourteen now,” Ella cut over me. “Spill.”
I shifted in my seat, nodding. “I think I’m in trouble,” I admitted. “I’m developing feelings for Ethan—”
Ella gasped in feigned shock, and Nora gently swatted her arm in reprimand.
“Forget it,” I said, waving them both off.
“I was kidding,” Ella said. “I’m sorry. That fact has just been obvious since you came home from the burger restaurant the night that blind date stood you up.”
“She’s not wrong,” Nora said. “I swear there were stars in your eyes.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” I said. “I liked him before I knew he was a client. And I thought I could switch it off,” I continued. “You know my rule. I rarely date anyone for over thirty days. So it should’ve been easy, right?”
They both looked at me with empathy, but remained silent, urging me to continue.
