Page 77 of Not In The Contract

25. More Time

Devon

Surprisingly,I’dgottenbetterat getting out of bed on time. On time meaning when my alarm rang, to be clear.

I’d begun to meet Alex in the kitchen the moment she got there. Something that surprised us both.

“I’m worried you’ll beat me to it soon,” Alex giggled that morning, sending a pleasant flutter through my chest.

I grinned and took another sip of my coffee, finding that I had so much more time than I usually did. I wasn’t an idiot; I knew it was because of Alex’s draconian schedule. As much as I’d initially hated it, I’d come to rely on the steady blocks of time measuring out my day.

“It feels a little strange,” I admitted, setting my coffee cup back on the counter. The minute hand on the clock overhead ticked past the top of the hour, the hour being only six in the morning.

“Strange?” She frowned.

I lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, I feel like I’ve gone my entire life flying by the seat of my pants,” I explained. “And now I find myself with chunks of free time that I didn’t know existed.”

Alex ducked her head as she smiled to herself. She’d done that a lot in the last week. Ever since I’d convinced her to talk about the little things that bugged her she’d smiled more frequently, each smile brighter than the last. A small, slightly selfish part of me glowed with pride and a hint of self-satisfaction. I was happy I’d been able to offer her some semblance of a safe space.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” she hummed. She got out of her seat and left her empty mug in the sink. “I knew it wouldn’t be an easy adjustment but you surprised me, Devon.”

What was that saying? Something about the beat of a butterfly’s wings causing a hurricane? That was exactly what happened in my gut.

I sucked in a breath through my teeth, unable to stop my answering grin. “I don’t know if you realize how much of a compliment that is,” I told her, slightly out of breath.

She cocked her head, her placid smile turning pointed. Sultry.

“If you’d like me to show you what a true compliment is,” she said quietly, too quietly. “I’d be happy to.”

Her words dropped like stones, theplunkplunkplunkechoing in my shamefully empty head just then. By the time I’d picked my jaw up from off the expensive tiled floor, Alex and her soft smile were already at the front door. I almost tripped over my own feet in my hurry to catch up, and I was sure I’d left my frantically beating heart behind in the kitchen. She giggled when I finally caught up, any trace of that sensuous smirk vanishing as she opened the door.

One of her site assistants, Jean, joined us in the car ride to the office, blissfully keeping Alex’s attention off of my heated face. Nervously, I fidgeted with one of the rips in my jeans, wrenching my eyes away from Alex again and again. Through some small miracle, we made it to the office in record time, giving me the chance to spring out of the car and book it inside.

“We’re not late, Devon,” Alex called after me, amusement alight in her voice as it carried.

My cheeks warmed and I paused, my fingers inches away from the elevator button. She stopped beside me and reached out, her hand brushing mine aside and sending a jolt straight down to my core. I pulled my hand to my chest, too aware of the faint tingle where her skin had briefly brushed my own.

“Are you in a hurry?” she teased and walked into the open elevator.

I followed, absently rubbing my hand. “I need to set up for my morning class,” I lied and shoved my hands into my pockets. “The professor is a bit of a pain in the ass.”

Jean spoke again and I quickly tuned them out.

The truth was that Alex’s schedule had done more than just free up a bit of time for me. I’d been able to attend classes, work on my dissertation, and had time left over to nap.

Nap.

The last time I’d done that was in the first semester of my first year in college. I’d been convinced that my body had forgotten how to nap. Turns out that all I was lacking was a tyrannical schedule.

We reached our floor and parted ways. I made my way to the small conference room that had become my study of sorts. I set up and prepared to be lost to hours of droning lectures, my thoughts lingering on the glint in Alex’s eyes.

A soft knock on the glass door broke me out of my concentration and I looked up from the stack of notes I’d been working through. Katya grinned at me from the door, offering a small wave.

I pulled off my headphones and set my pen down. “Hey, Katya,” I said with a smile. “What’s up?”

“Just checking up on you.” She shrugged, walking into the conference room.

I narrowed my eyes at her, a smirk threatening to twist the corners of my mouth. She dropped her shoulders with a sigh and a very un-Katya-like roll of her eyes.