By the time they walk out the door, I’ve already locked the smirk back in place. It’s the safest thing I’ve got. If any of them catch even a hint of what I’m feeling, they’ll never let it go, and I won’t risk dragging her into that. Whatever this thing between us is, it’s ours. Something fragile enough to shatter if I let anyone else breathe near it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She exhales hard, leaning back in her chair, arms crossing over her chest. The motion draws my eyes where they shouldn’t go, and I drag them back up immediately.
“I didn’t plan this,” I say quickly, my voice rough, too raw to pass for calm.
Her laugh cuts sharply through the silence, with no humor in it at all. “You didn’t plan what, exactly, Kyle? Running into me in the elevator? Making me feel things I have no business feeling for someone I’m supposed to manage? Or was putting my job on the line part of the plan, too?”
“I—” I start, but the rest dies in my throat.
She shakes her head, lips pressed tight, and I can see the shimmer in her eyes that she’s fighting to hide.
“I didn’t plan any of it, but I’m not sorry it happened. This is not the end of the world.”
“It could be.” She straightens, chin lifting in thatfierce, defiant way that made me fall for her the first time she looked at me. “Do you have any idea what this looks like? You, the team’s shiny new Hendrix. Me, the PR intern who’s supposed to keep your image clean. You kissed me, Kyle.”
“Because you wanted me to,” I whisper, stepping forward before I can stop myself.
She goes still, eyes narrowing and breath hitching. “Don’t twist this.”
“I’m not. I’m saying it because it mattered to both of us. You wouldn’t have kissed me back if it didn’t.”
Her mouth opens, then closes, words lost to the war happening behind her eyes.
“We can’t,” she manages finally, breathing unsteadily. “You know that. There are rules…”
“I know you have to know about my brother, Cole, and Michele,” I counter.
“Please,” she snaps, voice breaking at the edges. “She was the head coach’s daughter, not a PR intern. And you think that made it easier for her? You think I want to be the next office rumor? The stupid girl who couldn’t keep her distance?”
She’s angry, but underneath it, there’s fear. She’s worked her ass off to get here, and one terrible story could wreck that.
“They made it work, so can we.”
“You really think this is the same?”
“I think people are going to talk no matter what. If it comes down to it, let them talk about me. Not you.”
Her eyes flash with something fierce and pained. “Don’t play the hero, Kyle.”
“I’m not,” I tell her, meaning every word. “If this costs me something, fine, but it shouldn’t cost you.”
She looks at me then, and I can see everything. Every inch of her is trying to stay professional while her heart is tearing through the seams.
I take a careful step closer, like she’s a wild thing I could scare off if I move too fast. “It wasn’t fake for me, Alycia.”
Her breath catches, eyes flicking up to mine, and something in my chest caves in. “Don’t.”
“I meant every second,” I say, steady this time.
“Stop.” Her eyelids flutter shut, her throat working around words she can’t say.
“I can’t.”
I swear I can feel her heartbeat through the space that still separates us. The same pull from last night burns through the walls she’s rebuilding.
“I wanted it to be real. I still do.”
Her eyes open, and they’re wet. Full of desperate fury, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life. “Then you’d better forget how to want something you can’t have.”
