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“Lexi, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you needed back then. I’m sorry I hurt you. I was careless with your heart.”
“It was a long time ago,” I mumble into my container of coconut shrimp.
JC doesn’t reply, concentrating on his food. We finish our meal. In the last two weeks, I’ve eaten more meals with JC than I have with Noah.
It takes us over four hours to finish the rewrites and the new graphics which JC is a whiz at. He made the art department’s job easy. I’m yawning every twenty seconds and realize it’s time to go. Maybe I’ll sleep tonight. If not, then Megan is not going to be happy with me falling asleep early.
“Want to share a cab?”
“I guess so. I’m not in the mood to walk to and from the subway tonight.”
We pack everything up and get ready to leave. JC is the perfect gentleman, holding the elevator for me to step in and out first, holding the door to the building and the cab. I’m so tired that I put my head on JC’s shoulder as the cab heads for the loft.
He begins to stroke my hair, and I feel his arm snake around my shoulders. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, he’s gently shaking me awake. My nose is full of his scent and I find myself feeling turned on. The one thing that makes me totally awake is my brain screaming, NOAH.
I pick my head up so quickly that I hurt my neck but feeling the way I do. I can’t get away from JC fast enough. I slide out of the cab and thank him, then practically slam the door in his face and run to the elevator. I don’t realize I forgot my purse, and once I get in my apartment, I text JC but get no answer until I hear a soft knock at the door. JC is standing there with my purse dangling from his fingers, a smirk on his face.
“You ran out of the cab so fast that you forgot this. I usually don’t have that effect on women.”
I snatch my purse out of his hands and then wonder what I should do. Do I invite him in? Do I tell him I’m tired and I’m going to bed? I’m sure the cab we were in is gone, and he’ll have to hail another. I also know he has nowhere else to be. Brianna is in Cape Cod.
He leans in and whistles at the soaring ceilings and the wall of windows opposite the entry door. I don’t invite him in; he does that all himself and I inwardly sigh. The way I feel, I just want to take a hot shower and to snuggle under the sheets, but here JC is, begging for my attention. I worry where that might lead.
Chapter 12
“This is some beautiful place. Give me a tour.”
I’m not in the mood, but I don’t want to be rude. I take JC around to all the rooms, and he comments on the décor, the paintings, and the view. He spies the desk in Noah’s office, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. JC fucked me several times over the desk in his father’s office. If the man knew, he would be livid. His parents were out for the week and we had to feed and walk the family dog, a precocious beagle named Chauncey.
We ended up sleeping over there for a few nights. It was nice to have some space to move, not like our apartment. If his parents knew we defiled several surfaces in their home, we would never be invited back. But that’s what JC did to me back then. All he had to do was give me one of his smoldering looks, and I was done.
“You don’t mind if I change, do you? I want to get into something a bit more comfortable,” I said.
“Sure, knock yourself out. I’ll wait.”
I head into my room, not sure of what would be appropriate to wear. I can’t very well wear my ratty flannels or my slinky nightgown. Instead, I opt for a pair of jogging pants and a polo shirt.
“You do look comfortable and gorgeous,” JC says as I approach after changing.
Before I can say anything, he’s pulling my long hair out of my collar. His fingers brush against my neck, and it feels electric. After all these years and he still has the power to do this to me. I back away before he can touch anything else.
“Do you want anything to drink?” I ask.
“Sure, what do you have? A beer would be good.”
Beer I have, and by the time I’m done removing it from the refrigerator and opening the bottle, he’s got his tie off and his shirt partially unbuttoned. I can’t stop staring at the tan, muscled flesh he’s just revealed. I used to love to run my tongue between his two pecs right up to the hollow at his throat when we were making love. I take a beer out for myself and open it.
“JC, why do you say those things?”
“I’m telling you what I think.”
“But you shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t what? Say what I think and feel.”
“I loved you once, but I love someone else. I can’t return how you feel.”
He frowns. “Are you sure you can’t?”
