Page 29 of Mr. Red

I can look at this two ways—I’m doomed and avoid him. It’s the smart decision. He’s bound to do some heartbreaking. That decision doesn’t get me more of him, though. I don’t want to stay away anymore.

My second option is to try a casual relationship. As long as he cancels his appointments, then he wouldn’t bemyclient, just like Paige mentioned. Paige dates casually all thetime. She prioritizes the experience from the guy. I can do that. Maybe I can’t do a casual fling with everyone, but I think I can do it with him.

I bite my lip, still pacing around. I’m going to let the rest of the night play out, there’s no harm in that. I’ll get another beer and cool off before I go in there. Surely, he won’t try anything again after I walked out.

I take my time getting a drink, fidgeting while I wait. When I walk back in and sit down, he’s paying attention to the movie. We sit there for the rest of the show acting like nothing happened between us. He eats some popcorn every now and then.

As the movie comes to an end, he looks over at me. “You ready?”

I nod my head and get up from my seat. We walk out of the empty theater and over to his car. He gets all the doors and then goes to the driver’s side. Once he sits down, he doesn’t look my way.

I sit in my seat, trying not to touch anything, and cross my arms over my chest. I want to talk to him, but I want to make sure I say the right thing. I stopped us from getting hot and heavy on our non-date andhe’spouting because I didn’t fall at his feet. Nutbag.

Why am I attracted to him?

By the time we get to my house, I’ve had three different conversations in my head about how this’ll go. Matt isn’t one for conversations, so if I want things to be right between us, I’ll have to say something. I take a deep breath and turn to him.

“I’d like to talk about what happened in the theater.”

He keeps his eyes ahead of him, with a blank stare.

“You’re a client...” I lean in, my face heating. I wish he’d look over to me. “We aren’t supposed to be on a date.I stopped something before it went too far.”

He twitches his watch and looks down. “That has never happened to me before. Someone stopping me from kissing them. I didn’t know how to react and then I thought I blew it with you.”

I embarrassed him. That’s why he shut down. “I wanted that kiss. That’s why I ended up on top of you,” I pause. He looks over to me. “I’m attracted to you, Matt. You’re the first guy I’ve been attracted to in a long time. I shouldn’t be dating a client, though. I’m about to take ownership of the gym. It wouldn’t be professional to have you as a clientanddate you.”

His head turns towards me. “I didn’t know you were the owner.”

“I’m not yet. We’re waiting for the deal to close. Once it does, a lot of changes need to be made, and I’m in charge of those changes. We have a lot riding on this company working. In order to do that, I need to keep our reputation professional.”

“I understand. I have my own business,Reding and Green. That’s why I’m here, to expand the business. I get it.”

My shoulders relax. He’s a businessman. He knows the drill.

“You’re making it hard to stay away from you,” I mumble.

He doesn’t say anything for an eternity. I don’t know what else to tell him so I wait. Just when I’m about to get out of the car he starts talking again.

“What if we made a little compromise?” He moves his fingers over his square jaw.

My eyebrow raises and a side of my mouth lifts. This should be interesting.

Chapter 18

Matt

“I can cancel my appointments at the gym. Then you wouldn’t be dating a client,” I start.

I’m angry with myself for pushing her. I tried to hide it the best I could, but she somehow knows. Called me out on it the first chance she got. I like that about her. She’s not afraid to speak what’s on her mind.

“Someone has already mentioned that loophole,” she murmurs, mostly to herself. “Did Paige call you?”

“Who?” I furrow my brow.

“Never mind.” She waves her hand in the air.

“I don’t want to stay away from you.” I shrug. “Let’s see where it goes.”