CHAPTER 23
Alexis
It’s Karaoke Thursday again, and I’m stocking the bar with Stephen when Dex walks in. He’swearing a black shirt today. My pulse stumbles when his eyes lock on mine.
Ever since that dance, it’s like the room ischarged with raw energy whenever he walks in.
“Cigarette break?” Stephen asks.
Dex glances up and shakes his head. “Nope. Quit smoking a few weeks ago.”
I pause, looking at him. “You quit?”
He smiles. “You told me it was bad for me, so I quit.”
He shrugs like it’s obvious.
“You really quit?” I ask again as he steps closer behind the bar. I catch his scent, my attention snagging on the way his green eyes settle on me, that damned dimpled smirk pulling at his mouth.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” he asks.
My mouth goes dry. After everything that’s been building between us, I had to take a cold shower yesterday just to clear my head. After the way his hand on my foot set my body on fire,I couldn’t think straight. Standing this close to him now, I can feel it all over again, that pull I don’t know how to fight.
“What’s that?” I ask quietly.
Stephen disappears down to the basement, leaving us alone.
“That I’d do anything for you.”
His hand comes up, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip, and my breath catches as his gaze holds mine.
My pulse spikes, heat rushing through me so fast it leaves me unsteady, like my body forgot how to function all at once.
“Oh,” is all I manage.
He smiles fully now, then leans in close, his lips near my ear, his voice dropping low.
“You’re blushing, Tinker… and that’s dangerous.”
Goosebumps ripple down my arms.
“Why?” I whisper.
He pulls back just enough to look at me.
“Because it makes me want to find out all the ways I can make your body react like that.”
He smirks as my face heats, turns, and walks into his office, leaving me standing there, completely wrecked.
I’m in trouble, the kind I know I should run from, but instead I’m already too far gone, drawn to it in a way that makes no sense, especially when I know the truth could destroy everything.
I need to tell him.
Now.
I push away from the bar and head toward his office, determination settling in my chest.
I knock and push the door open slightly, but Dex is on the phone. I pause in the doorway until he glances up.
