Page 53 of Midnight Wishes

Finally, the buzz of her phone put her out of her misery, followed imminently by his knock at the door. He alwaysmanaged to climb the stairs absurdly fast—long, powerful legs making a mockery of the stairs.

‘Hi.’ He raked a hand through his golden hair, looking good enough to devour with his blue shirt left open, a bright white undershirt not quite tucked in, but rucked up enough that his belt buckle was on display, and dark jeans fighting for their life against his thighs. That was where her brain stopped processing as she recalled what she’d done on one of those thighs the last time she saw him.

It would be wrong to attack him with a kiss. Right?

Right.

After the other night, she’d let him make the first move. Even if, judging from the way his eyes flicked to her lips, he wouldn’t mind.

‘Do you want some tea? Coffee? Whiskey?’ So, yeah, apparently she was spiralling just at the sight of him standing in her living room again, mere steps from the scene of that mind-altering kiss.

Alex raised his eyebrows, placing a small pink box on the kitchen counter. ‘Have you ever offered me hospitality before?’

‘Well you eat at least half the time you’re here.’ It came so naturally to antagonise him, even if what she really wanted was to pull him close. Be sweet with him, somehow, in a way that would be completely new to them.

But Alex’s face lit up. ‘Oh, I’d say it’s far more than half, Princess. And yeah, coffee would be great. I’ll hold off on the whiskey until it’s after’—he checked that sleek, fancy watch on his wrist—‘nine in the morning.’

Too bad. She could have used a drink, Sarah thought, as she brewed a pot of espresso in their ancient percolator, a hand-me-down from her mum during uni. Something solid disturbed the air behind her as Alex opened the cabinet above her head to grab two mugs. It was hard not to lean into it. Harder still when his arms came around her to deposit the mugs on the counter. He didn’t move as she stirred in milk and sugar—when had she learnt his coffee preferences?—so when she turned to hand him his mug, she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.

‘You wanted to talk?’ she asked, her voice annoyingly small.

Her face was at the perfect height to watch his Adam’s apple bob obscenely. ‘I did. Do.’

‘We could…talk…after?’ She’d looked up at his face. It was a mistake, because it meant she could see his eyes flick to her lipsagain.

Alex looked pained as he took a large step back, leaving cold air to douse her body. ‘I shouldn’t have— I didn’t come here for that. And I have an appointment soon that I—Fuck.’ His eyes focused in on hers. ‘It just feels impossible to stay away from you,’ he murmured, stepping back around the island.

She really ought to have been grateful for the barrier between them, but even his eyes on her felt tangible. The promise of something better.More.

‘I have a proposition,’ Alex said. ‘You’ve said before that you don’t want my help meeting people in the art world, and I suspect you have some weird hang-up about not wanting to owe me or whatever—which is ridiculous, by the way. I have friends and connections, and there’s no reason for you—’

‘Aleksander,’ she said, surprising even herself with the softness in her voice. ‘You’re rambling.’ Another first.

What he said was true. He’d offered early on in their acquaintance, when she’d been holding on to some disdain for him, unwilling to take anything more than physical pleasure. And as her feelings had begun to change, it had felt too weird, too transactional, to bring it up again.

‘I need a favour. In a situation that I think could be mutually beneficial.’

‘More than the benefits we already have?’

He smirked. That was better. Alexnervouswas disconcerting.

‘A friend has an art show opening tonight. The gallery’s curator is my ex, and it would be nice not to show up alone.’

‘You want to use me to make her jealous?’ Sarah asked.

Alex smiled, and there was a layer to it she couldn’t parse. As if he was laughing to himself. ‘Funny how things come full circle, isn’t it?’

‘Are you—’ Sarah paused. Gathered herself. ‘Do you want to get her back?’

That strong, perfect nose wrinkled, and something settled within her stomach. As if she had any right to care either way. Especially given the email she’d just sent.

‘No. But it would be nice to rub it in her face that I’m spectacularly happy with my stunning new girlfriend.’

‘I’d be playing your girlfriend? Not just a date?’

‘You’re becoming quite the expert in that particular role. In exchange, I introduce you to some people. It’s a big show. There’ll be press, agents, collectors, friends from other galleries.’

Sarah hesitated, chewing her lip. He wasn’t wrong about her concerns. Gregg had worked similar events, taking photos for the culture pages, and while—largely regarded as the hired help—he didn’t have anywhere near the connections Alex did, he’d still managed to make her feel like a hanger-on the few times she’d accompanied him, as if she was using his job to worm her way into spaces she hadn’t been invited.

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