Presley walks with me over to the couch, sitting down first. “Okay, so spill.”
“Can I at least sit first?”
“No, start talking.”
I sigh and take a seat next to her, keeping Seraphina in my arms. My heart feels full yet heavy, all at the same time. Not to mention, I’m utterly and completely confused.
“Well, it was interesting.”
“Interesting how?”
I glance down at my daughter, rubbing her back gently. “Being around him is, for lack of a better word, magnetic. He’s got this pull about him that I can’t explain.” I let out a shaky exhale. “Like, even more so now than when I first met him.”
Presley groans, “Oh shit, you’re in love with him.”
“What?! No, I am not.” I roll my eyes. Even though the kiss he gave me … I can still feel it on my lips.
Sera squirms a little, so I pat her back as my thoughts race. Maybe she can feel my emotions going wild.
“I’m not quite sure how I’m going to be able to stay away from him, Presley.” I look at her. “And how the hell am I going to work with him? I should have given this trade more thought, but he really is what’s best for the team right now.”
Presley’s face softens. “You’re not wrong. Work does make it a little messier.”
“Messy? That doesn’t even begin to cover it.” I tilt my head toward my daughter.
My sister scoots a little closer and rests her arm behind me on the back of the couch. “Why don’t you start by telling me why you’re so flustered?”
Where to start? Or … where to end?
“Well … there was a walk.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, there was a walk?”
“There was a walk,” I confirm dreamily.
“Must have been some walk.” She smirks.
“It was.” I lay my head back and close my eyes. “There was a kiss.”
“I knew it!” she whisper-shouts. “Did you kiss him back?”
“I shouldn’t be held accountable for my actions. He kissedme. And it wasn’t just any kiss,” I admit. “It was the kind of kiss that made me want to do … more.”
“A little out of hand, maybe?”
I take a deep breath, shaking my head. “Not out of hand really, since we were in the middle of the sidewalk, but enough to make me consider—for a split second—going home with him.”
“Did he ask you to go home with him?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Did you want him to ask you?”
I pause before saying, “Yes.”
She audibly gasps. “Alie! Scandalous!”
I groan, “I know. But I can’t.”
