Oh my God.
My eyes widen. "Y-You meaneveryone...notsomeone,"I stress. Because surely…
His grin gets a little wider as his eyes flicker to my lips, and his voice goes deeper. Lower. "No…I said it right. I meantsomeone.Singular."
My heart begins to race out of control, and my breath hitches as we lock eyes again. This weird tingling sensation fills me, and before I know it, our faces are slowly tilting towards each other. He's so close his breath washes over my lips. His hand tightens on my shoulder, pulling me slightly into him, and my pussy becomes heavy and hot with need. My clit pinches with arousal, as do my nipples, which draw tight under my blouse.
His are slightly hooded and single-mindedly focused on mine. The sounds of the audience dull to a slight murmur in the background as everyone and everything falls away, leaving just the two of us and this moment. His hand slides up from my shoulder to cup my nape warmly under my hair, causing me to break out in goosebumps.
"Come here…" he whispers, bringing me in even closer.
Just before our lips touch, the room explodes in another round of applause, forcing me to jerk away and breathing hard.
I don't miss the frustrated groan or the searing hot look of desire he gives me before he scrubs a hand across his jaw and places his arm back around me. His fingers begin a calm rapping, and as I glance over, I see his foot is bobbing along to the same beat of his fingers. I'm aware that whereasImeditate to calm myself,heuses music. And he's no doubt probably going over a piece in his head.
We watch the next two speakers, and I fidget, wanting to open my phone and look at Vanessa’s response. Even tell her about our almost kiss. But I hold off, not wanting to risk him seeing it. I breathe a sigh of relief when the host announces a brief intermission, and I get up quickly, wanting to read the text message. I look down at him shyly, not quite able to make eye contact.
“I’m going to stretch my legs and use the restroom, and maybe look at the mental health flyers they have over there,” I say,carefully sliding by him as his long legs preclude me from easily brushing past him.
Alexander stands up anyways right as I make it past him. “I’ll join you,” he says, lazily smoothing his hand down his suit jacket before following me out to the aisle.
I draw to a stop just outside the aisle, tensing up as a tall, older gentleman accompanied by another younger man suddenly comes out of nowhere, stepping forward and thrusting his hand at Alexander with a big, familiar smile on his face.
“Dr. Richardson!" The man drawls in a deep southern voice, making me smile. "So nice to see you!”
I stand awkwardly silent as the other man glances at me curiously and flicks his eyes down my body in a bold look. My mouth twists as Alexander suddenly places his hand on my lower back and inches me forward slightly.
“Dr. Phillips, this is Sarah Johnson. She’s a wonderful therapist who’s stationed near me in Connecticut.” I fight from tensing up at how uncomfortable the other man makes me feel.
Though my fingers tremble with nerves, I hold my hand out to the older gray-haired man who takes it but then bends forward and surprises me by kissing my cheek in greeting. I bite my lip, blushing furiously as the man steps back, patting the back of my hand.
“Ma’am, please don’t think me too forward, but you smell absolutely delightful,” Dr. Phillip says kindly. “Do tell me your scent so I can buy it for my wife.”
“She wears Kilian’s Love, Don’t Be Shy,” Alexander interjects smoothly, but my throat is so constricted I can't say anything. “It’s pricey, so just go on ahead and kiss the wallet goodbye now!” He laughs; his blue eyes warm, looking down at me teasingly.
Our eyes lock again, and I stare, beginning to tremble and almost scared to smile back at him.
Breaking our eye contact, I look away nervously and take a step back. “Excuse me,” I say softly, turning and leaving them to their conversation.
I make my way out of the auditorium and use the restroom before coming back out to the lobby and seeing Alexander surrounded by people. I take my time going over the pamphlets, looking up when the announcer speaks over the intercom announcing the resuming of the program in ten minutes.
Looking back over, I tense when I see the woman from earlier, who’d bragged about wanting to give Alexander her number, standing rather close to him. She's pretty, long, dirty blonde hair, and bright blue eyes like his. They're speaking. I'm sure it's innocent, but I can't help but heat with jealousy once more, so thick I want to scream with it. I nibble my bottom lip, aware I've got it pretty bad for Alex. Somewhere along the way I've caught feelings, and I don't quite know how to deal with them. My eyes slide to him.
He bends over slightly to her short frame and nods at her once, holding out his hand for the card she’s giving him.
I bite my lip as she places her hand on his arm rather suggestively. But what happens next makes me frown; Alexander stiffens the moment she touches him, the icy mask falls back into place, and he pulls away sternly but still keeps his demeanor rather professional. I catch the hurt look on the woman’s face, but Alexander continues to talk with her as if he didn't just reject her.
“Hey, there you are. So, I couldn’t help noticing, or ratheroverhearing,that you’re a therapist?” a husky voice sounds out next to me, startling me.
I turn, shoving my papers into my bag and meet a pair of chocolate eyes, seeing it's the man who’d been standing next to Dr. Phillips. I take a hasty step back and clutch my bag tighter to me. I hadn’t liked his energy earlier, and I don’t like it now.Though I try to relax my posture, my shoulders hunch of their own volition.
I stay quiet even as small trembles wrack my body. I’m painfully aware I don’t know this man and don't wish to judge him, but something about him feels familiar.
Toofamiliar.
It clicks.He reminds me of Brandon.
I feel my skin suddenly break out into a sweat at the realization. The man holds his hand out to me, and I just stare at it, my fingers like a vice grip around the handle of my purse. I make myself take a deep breath and unclench my fingers, grasping just the very tip of his in greeting and averytiny smile. That's all I can manage.
