Page 15 of Strut

A nagging thought reminded me I’d missed a step in there somewhere. Oh, right. The step that came after the fact that Alec and I weren’t actuallyanythingto each other. Hell, we were barely over the friend mark.

He balled the napkin and dropped it on his plate before staring me down. “Okay, Hunter, small talk done. Would you like to tell me what this is really about? Because we could’ve had this little catch-up in a coffee shop in daylight at a time when you didn’t wait at my bar for an hour, taking up room and watching me work with enough heat in those pretty eyes to make me sweat. And if this is just a pitch to get me into your bed for a quick fuck while you’re in town, I’ll answer that question for you right now. I’m not interested.”

I blinked... twice... then laughed loud enough to draw curious looks from the tables nearby. “Um, wow.” I smothered another chuckle when Alec’s beautiful blue eyes sparked with irritation. “Ten points for bluntness.”

He narrowed his gaze and I wanted to run my tongue up that adorable crease between his eyes. “You want coy and charm?” he said, his temper showing. “I can do charm and we can waste another thirty minutes before arriving at the same answer. I like you, Hunter. You’ve been good to me and an amazing mentor, but I don’t want a tumble between the sheets with you.”

I snorted and bit back a smile. “An image I’m going to find hard to get out of my head now you’ve put it there.”

“Hunter.” There was a sobering warning in Alec’s tone, and I held up my hands.

“I’m sorry. I’m not gonna pretend it doesn’t hurt my overblown ego to hear you say that, but if I’m not your type, I’m not your type. No point pushing a weight uphill.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t my type.” Alec snapped his mouth shut and blushed to his hairline. “Fuck, you said that deliberately. I don’t like games, Hunter. I don’t like being played. And I don’t like—”

I held up my hands. “Can I maybe say something before you continue to rail me out?”

He nodded and sat back, his hand sweeping between us. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “I’m gonna go with full disclosure here.”

His brows rose and he folded his arms, but he said nothing.

“I want to apologise.”

He blinked.

“For last year. I totally fucked up when I took off after we—” I blew out a sigh. “—well, after we did what we did, so I apologise. It was rude and I totally get why you’d hate me. I blew you off and I’m not proud of that.”

Alec’s brow wrinkled. “I don’thateyou.”

“You don’t?” I paused as the server cleared our plates and left the bill. “Well, maybe you should. I was a massive dick about the whole thing.”

Alec unfolded his arms and leaned forward on the table. “Yes, you were. But Hunter, you make no bones about the fact you like to fuck around. Was I pissed about what happened? Yes. For a start, you could’ve been nicer about it, maybe not fucked off before I could even repay the favour. Or maybe had a drink afterward, or called, or talked to me the next day rather than radio silence, especially since we still had to work together. Any of those would’ve been good.”

I winced. “As I said, total dick.”

Alec sighed. “But mostly I was pissed at myself for caring that you didn’t do any of that and for going along with it in the first place. I knew what I was doing. I hook up occasionally, but they’re not really my preferred thing, and that’s not on you. Having said that, I’m not about to make the same mistake twice.” He eyed me pointedly.

“Yeah, I get it.” I turned my water glass in slow circles on the table, wondering what the hell I was doing. “But I’m not here for that, I swear. I meant what I said. I came tonight because I wanted to apologise and to see if we could maybe put the awkwardness of that whole thing aside and be friends. As a rule, I don’t mess with my models, and it was a mistake on my part for lots of reasons. The last thing I want is for us to feel awkward around each other, but that’s exactly what’s happened and it’s all on me.”

Alec’s expression remained wary. “You could’ve apologised on the phone, or in an email, or even a text, if that’s what you thought you needed to do. But it’s been over a year, Hunter.”

I was fucking it up. “I know. I know. And it wasn’t like I didn’t think about doing just that. I should’ve said something the next day but I didn’t, and then the longer it went on, the harder it was. But seeing you yesterday brought it all back and I wanted to say it now because I wondered if maybe you’d like to meet up again while I’m here.”

Those brows peaked again, and I raised my hands. “Not a date or a hook-up. Just friends. I thought we could maybe do something on the weekend. I don’t want what happened to sour things between us. I enjoy working with you and I hope to do it again.”

Alec held my gaze, his jaw working as conflict raged in those blue, blue eyes.

Meanwhile, I tried to ignore just how desperately I wanted him to say yes. To give me a chance. A chance? A chance at what? Yeah, like I had an answer for that.

He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

I frowned. “Okay?”

A smile tugged at his lips but he dropped it fast. “Okay, we can do something this weekend.” His gaze grew pointed. “Asfriends.”

“That’s... great.” It was all I could do not to lean across the table and kiss those gorgeous plush lips still shiny with oil. Which would’ve been a bad thing—friends and not dating and all. But there was no denying the appeal and I wasn’t fooling myself, or probably Alec either with the whole friends thing. I definitely wanted more. I just didn’t know how to go about that yet. “How about tomorrow?”

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