Page 138 of Not In The Contract

She held out the basket she’d offered to lug but didn’t release it even after my fingers wrapped around the handle. I looked up at her questioningly and was met with that same wistful smile. Alex didn’t want this to end any more than I did.

“Can I offer you a ride home?”

A shiver of anticipation ran down my spine at the sound of her words, the promise they held.

Holding her gaze, it took all of zero seconds for me to respond with, “Sure, that’d be great.”

Alex wasted no time in signaling her driver to load up our things in the trunk while we slid into the cozy comfort of her soft leather seats, cool against my skin after a day of bathing in the sunlight.

But that was the only chilled thing about the drive home.

The air between us was charged with a quiet energy, a magnetic pull that grew stronger with every second that passed. The intimate closeness of Alex’s back seat was like an echo of the unspoken desire flooding the both of us. The driver took a wide turn, one of the last before we’d reach my apartment, and it sent me sliding across the seat. Closer to Alex.

Her fingers brushed against mine, the whisper of a touch sending an electrifying thrill coursing through me. I glanced at her, our eyes locking for a brief, intense moment. The renewed connection between us felt like a live wire, crackling with the energy of possibility. All I wanted was to feel her lips on mine, to kiss her desperately and deeply so that she’d know just how much I’d missed her.

How much I still wanted her.

But the lingering space between us wasn’t going to be breached just yet. I could tell by the way Alex quickly averted her gaze, her tongue coming out to slowly wet her lips. The shaky breath she released soon after. She was biding her time.

I didn’t move my hand away though. I’d waited far too long to feel this kind of closeness with her again, and if that meant the rest of our drive would be fraught with tension then so be it. The way her mouth curled slightly at the corner when I hooked my pinky finger around hers told me she didn’t mind my decision at all.

When we finally pulled up in front of my apartment building, I felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Was she going to invite herself up? Should I be the one to do it? More importantly, did I pick up last night’s underwear from the bathroom floor?

“Thanks for the ride,” I mumbled, my head a reeling mess of mixed up thoughts and emotions.

I was halfway out the door when I noticed Alex was following close behind. “Oh, you don’t have to walk me up, I’m fine.”

She waited until her driver had deposited the basket and blanket neatly on the sidewalk and returned to the car before she spoke.

“I know you’re fine, but I’ll walk you up anyway. If that’s okay?” Her eyes held a glint of something I couldn’t name, something that caused goosebumps to break out all over my skin.

I nodded and scooped up the blanket, allowing her to grab the basket. Whatever verbal response I would’ve wanted to give was lost in the rush of emotion she elicited within me.

“Devon…”

We’d just walked in, set everything down, and established that there wasn’t any awkwardness (or wayward pieces of underwear lying about).

“Yes?” My heart started racing at the open vulnerability in her eyes.

Alex took the few steps needed to cross the living room floor, until she was standing right in front of me. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.” Her voice was soft, almost hesitant. “I’ve been trying to ask since that first chocolate covered strawberry, in fact.”

Her low chuckle lit all kinds of fires in my belly, spreading the warmth straight down both my legs and back up to settle between my thighs. God, I loved her shy laugh. The way she dipped her head, the specific curve of her lips.

“Have you had enough trying, or would you like a few more minutes to percolate?”

There was no mistaking the slight flush in her cheeks when she looked at me then, her eyes not wavering from mine.

“Don’t be cute. It makes me want to kiss you.”

She took a step closer to me, and my heart forgot its primary function. Lungs too. I was a beat-skipping, hard-to-breathe mess under Alex’s blazing heat. Then she gave another soft laugh, noticing the instant effect her words had on me. I was sure she could feel me trembling even though we weren’t yet touching.

“Alex…”

“I’d like you to move back in with me,” she said like she was reading an old shopping list fished from the bottom of her purse. “For real, this time.”

The statement hung in the air, and for a second I was taken aback by the suddenness of the request. The veiled urgency of it. But as I looked into her eyes, I saw the deep-seated sincerity brimming in them, the vulnerability that she was laying bare.

“Alex,” I said again, trying to wrestle my careening emotions into some semblance of sense.