Page 98 of Pick Six

I shake my head and smile to myself as they all continue to debate back and forth, eating the last few bites of my cake. I can feel Drew wanting to say something next to me, but he stays silent a moment too long and his phone rings. He looks down at the caller ID and his brow furrows.

“Fuck. I have to take this.” He looks around the room. “Is there somewhere private I can go? It’s a new client.”

“You can go out on the deck. I think everyone is inside right now.” I look around.

“All right. This might take a minute. It’s a big deal we’re trying to wrap and he’s skittish as fuck over it.” He kisses my cheek like it’s a year ago and everything is normal. I just do my best not to react.

“No worries.” I shrug because I’ll be glad to be free of him for a little bit. Rid me of the creepy feeling of being watched every moment.

After he disappears outside, I clear my plate and notice Violet starting to try to declutter the kitchen.

“Hey, I just have to run to plug my phone in to charge and then I’ll be back to help, okay?” I smile at her.

“No rush. Are you okay? Sorry about Ben, he wasn’t thinking.”

I give a flat-mouthed smile. “It’s fine. He’ll get over it. He’s outside talking to a client so I can breathe for a fucking minute anyway.” I sigh.

“All right.” She returns my muted smile and nods at me. “Just let me know if you need me, okay?”

I nod and give her a small half hug before I take off to the room I’ve been staying in. Thankful for the small reprieve from Drew. I flick on the light in the room and go to close the door when I feel resistance, turning to see Alex standing there.

“What are you doing?” My heart immediately starts to skip at his proximity.

“Following you. Obviously.” There’s a playful grin on his face.

“If he sees you he will—”

“He’s outside on the phone. Tobias is watching him and is gonna text me if he heads this way. He’ll stall him.”

I give Alex a doubtful look, but he closes the door, shutting us in the room together. I hear the door lock click a second later as he turns it.

“What’s he even fucking doing here?”

“He came to my work, wanted to take me out to dinner. I told him I couldn’t and when he found out where I was going, he guessed that you’d be here. So of course he wasn’t going to let me go alone.”

“Of course. He has to prove a point.”

“Apparently so do you.” I give Alex a meaningful look. “This is stupid, risking your career just to follow me in here.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“You can text me.”

“That’s not the kind of talking I want to do.”

His fingers are under my chin and tilting my head up as his lips land on mine, kissing me like he’s trying to remind me how good he is. Not that I need any reminders.

“Alex…” I warn when he pulls away for a minute.

“There it is.”

“What?”

“The way you say my name when you’re irritated. Like you’re scolding me. Fuck, it turns me on.”

He backs me up against the wall and kisses me again, harder this time. My hands go to his chest, bracing myself at first and then I let them wander. I hate being away from him, but I might hate watching him from across a room like I’ve been doing all night even more.

“I’ve missed you so fucking much, Saint.”