Page 108 of Not In The Contract

Indeed, there were tiny marshmallows floating in the thick chocolate cream at the top, and the scent of melted chocolate and cinnamon had my mouth watering instantly. I reached out to grab it, but Alex tapped my hand gently.

“It’s hot, so maybe give it a minute, okay?”

I sat back with a pout but couldn’t sulk for long. Not when Alex sidled up next to me, her body pressed close to mine. Tiny bolts of lightning zipped through my arm, heat climbing into my cheeks, and Alex made herself comfortable.

“Are you okay?” she asked, and it took me a moment to understand what she was asking.

She must have felt the sudden stiffness in my limbs and thought I was uncomfortable with her so close. It almost made me laugh. It was enough to loosen my limbs, and I sank back into the softness of the sofa, into the warmth of her body, and smiled.

“Never better.” I sighed.

She hummed and the episode began to play, but I’d never been less interested in something than I was in that moment. It had been so long since I’d spent time with Alex that I’d forgotten how intoxicating her presence was. How the scent of her perfume and shampoo dragged me into a deep lull, pliant and relaxed, her fingertips drawing gentle, mindless shapes on the skin of my outer thigh.

Just like that, I thought…Just like that, I’ve become putty in her hands.

“Are you even paying attention?” Alex asked, the softness of her voice thrumming through my hyperaware body.

“My mother told me I shouldn’t lie,” I hedged with a poor attempt at a smile. In truth, I had very little else on my mind just then.

“Then don’t,” she murmured, turning her head slightly, the tip of her nose brushing mine. “Lying is a terrible habit.”

“Then, no,” I said, breathless. “I’m not paying attention to the show right now.”

Alex’s fingers traveled an inch closer to the hemline of my shorts, and my heart thudded in response.

“What are you paying attention to?” she purred, the heat of her breath sending goosebumps rushing from my neck down to my stomach. “I thought you were really into this show?”

I cleared my throat, my traitorous eyes dropping to her lips and back to her fiery gaze. “You.”

“Is that so?” She grinned, leaning forward to press her lips to mine. “I’m having trouble, too.”

“You are?” I giggled, ready to drown in the desire that flooded my gut.

“There’s this stunning woman sittingsoclose to me,” she joked, stealing kisses between her words, “that I can barely give more than a fuck about who the lead characterisat this point.”

With a muffled laugh, she shifted our bodies until she hovered over me, a comfortable weight pressed into every crack and crevice, and dipped her head. Her teeth caught on the skin of my neck, pulling a startled gasp from my lips and,God, I wanted her to undo me completely.

Her fingers disappeared beneath my hoodie, her nails dragging softly along my skin, up, up, up to my breasts where my breath hitched.

“I’m sorry,” Alex breathed into my skin, adjusting her kneejust rightand sending shivers spider-walking up my spine.

“What for?” I managed to gasp.

She licked a stripe over the small bite, kissing her way up to my jaw. “For not having enough time lately,” she said softly. “I should be better at it. You’d think I’d be the best at making time.”

Something unpleasantly cold and heavy slid into my gut, but I forced a smile. “You know you don’toweme anything, right?” I said, unable to keep my hands from burying themselves in her hair. “I mean, I’m only supposed to be shadowing you for a little while. I don’t want you to think I’m dragging you down or anything.”

I’d meant for the words to sound lighthearted, but Alex’s grip on me tightened ever so slightly, and she brought her lips to mine.

“Even if you were,” she smiled, pausing to kiss me gently, “you’d be weightless. There’s nothing about you that could drag me down.”

My heart lurched and went cold. Being weightless and not able to drag her down, huh? It sounded an awful lot like not being enough… But I couldn’t let my disappointment show, not when Alex seemed so happy in the moment. Happy to be with me.

36. Snitched

Alex

“Isthisawakeor something?” I asked as I took my seat at our usual table. “And where are Frankie and Elliot?”