That last part shouldn’t have had a shiver of awareness moving through her. “That’s not your call to make or to decide. I like to see the best in people, even if their reputation is dirty as hell.” She heard him grind his teeth but other than that he gave no outward reaction. “You’re a dick, plain and simple, and I don’t want anything from you aside from being my date.”
“Are you serious?”
“It’s that simple.” I held my hands out, palms up. “I guarantee I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” And slowly that steam started to fade even more in her. “You hurt me, your words cruel and disgusting, but I know why you said them, your reasoning.” He physically tensed but she pushed forward. “But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because the damage is done. So, I want to keep things professional. I want our deal to stay intact. You need me and I need you.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time, and with each passing second, she grew more and more uncomfortable.
After thinking about all of this before she left the house, she honestly hadn’t thought about what she would do if he turned her away. Of course she knew it was an option, but she hadn’t let herself think about it because she knew Alex wasn’t stupid. He could appreciate a simple business deal, one that would benefit both of them.
“I’m not holding a gun to your head. You either will or you won’t, but I’m not going to stand here all day and wait for you to make up your mind.” Mary was pretty proud of herself for having a steady voice and not flinching under his unwavering glare. “Are you in or not? I don’t have time for this shit.”
He lifted a dark brow at her and the corner of his mouth twitched. Damn him for still making her want him after all of this. He stepped to the side and held the door open further for her. Mary didn’t look at him as she stepped into the house and stopped once she was in front of the stairs, the door shutting softly behind her.
“We can do this in the kitchen,” Alex said, and Mary turned and looked at him. He smirked and she narrowed her eyes.
“This isn’t a game. Take this seriously.”
He took a step closer to her but it wasn’t in a menacing way. “You came here, don’t forget that. I tried to keep you away for your own good. But you need me as much as I need you.”
And now it was her turn to clench her jaw. Because he’s right. “We’re using each other. Got it. Loud and clear.” They were in some kind of stare off for a long while, and it was only when she sensed someone stepping into the room that she looked away.
Adam stood right inside the kitchen, a grin on his face. “Hey, Mary.” Adam gave her a wink then glanced at Alex. “Dude,” Adam said on a chuckle. “You’re going to break your teeth if you grind them any harder.” With that Adam sauntered out the front door, leaving the two of them alone again.
“All right, let’s just do this.” She headed into the kitchen without waiting for him to respond and started getting the textbooks out that she’d brought—on the off-chance he’d agree.
Alex followed her into the kitchen a few seconds later, but she refused to look at him solely because he affected her in a way that made her feel unstable and uncomfortable in the best of ways.
She sat down at the table and focused on the books, because if she didn’t, the smell of him freshly showered, and the sight of his ridiculously ripped chest with that defined cut V of muscle leading below his pants, would have her flustered, and even more pissed at herself.
“Can we talk about last night—”
Oh, hell no are we going down that path.
“Nope. Hard pass, Alex.” Mary looked him in the eyes. His big, wide chest rose and fell as he exhaled harshly. “We are here on a professional level,” she said again, reiterating it. “So, can we just move past last night, get this over with, and then we both can forget the other existed?”
He clenched his jaw and it was clear he wanted to argue, but he kept his mouth shut and nodded once.
Mary forgot about everything else and started going over the material with him, focusing on tutoring, which was harder said than done because Alex was so close and smelled so good.
She was determined to keep her distance, but as she lifted her head and looked in his eyes, seeing he was already watching her, she knew it was going to be easier said than done.
16
One week later