ACHE

by M. Never

  Stop looking at me. Break the connection.

  But his eyes just linger.

  My heart pounds and so does my head, along with some other pulsating places that shall remain nameless. Alec Prescott may be gorgeous, but he’s a booming A-hole with a superiority complex I don’t want to get anywhere near. Even if he can crawl under my skin with just one look. Just one . . . piercing . . . powerful . . . polarizing look. Ugh.

  What the fuck is that about? Only one other person in my life has managed to affect me the same way, and look how wonderful that turned out.

  I want to shirk under Alec’s heavy stare, but I don’t. I rally. Staring straight back into his hypnotic blue eyes. Eyes like the Arctic, glacial and blue.

  “Han Han.” Alec never blinks.

  “’Scuse me?”

  “The name of the restaurant is Han Han. It’s a tiny little place that is one of Chinatown’s best kept secrets.” He swirls his chopsticks around his box, slowly, thoughtfully, almost like he’s trying to seduce me with them.

  No, that’s crazy. He is not trying to seduce me. Men like him do not seduce women like me. Whoever I may be.

  He pulls a small bunch of noodles up out of the box and proceeds to bring them to his mouth all while keeping his eyes pinned on me. I watch silently as his lips part and he slides the long strings into his mouth. He then sucks, drawing in the pasta-like strands. His plump lips becoming glossy from the sauce as the lo mein leisurely disappears.

  Holy. Fuck. I know food can be sexy and all, but I’m pretty sure I’m never going to look at a noodle the same way ever again. Alec licks his now grease-kissed lips almost erotically, and I nearly pass out. What the hell is happening here?

  Alec then smirks, and something crackles in the air. “I love lo mein.” He offers me some noodles with his chopsticks. “Don't you?”

  Do I? I don’t know. I don’t know anything at the moment because it feels as if I entered an alternate reality and my brain function is sluggish.

  “It’s life.” I gulp. It’s life? Oh, dear Lord, someone save me from my own fucking idiocy.

  Alec cracks a smile and then laughs buoyantly. The entertainment on his face and the sound of his amusement is like the sun breaking through dark clouds. It’s vibrant and warming and dazzling. For a split second, I see Alec Prescott in a whole different light.

  I take his offering, leaning over the table to slurp the lo mein into my mouth. And holy shitballs, it’s good.

  “Thank you.” I cover my mouth while smiling.

  “Welcome.” He sucks some more through his lips, the smirk staying.

  “Chinese really puts you in a good mood,” I comment.

  “Why, am I usually not?” he asks in all seriousness. I pause, unsure how to respond.

  “Um . . .” That impish smile of his returns. “Oh, so you’re aware you’re cranky.”

  “Not all the time.”

  I shoot him a deadpan look.

  He stabs his chopsticks into his lo mein. “Okay, not right now.”

  “I think this is the first time.” I purse my lips.

  “Not for me.”

  “Definitely for me.”

  “You make me sound like I’m a monster walking here.” He waves his chopsticks around in the air.

  “Up until five minutes ago, I didn’t even know you could smile. And the last time we conversed, you weren’t exactly . . . pleasant.”

  “How not? We didn’t even speak on the balcony.”

  “Not the balcony. In this very room, before the party. You alluded that I needed more time to pull myself together.” My tone is snarky.

  Alec grunts. “My apologies if I offended you. I was clearly wrong, since you looked stunning at the party.” He clears his throat and looks down at his food

  Now I know I’m in an alternate reality. Alec Prescott giving me compliments? What the hell is in this Chinese food? I steal a glance at my chicken.

  “This is a demanding job with high stakes. I can’t always afford to be pleasant.” He doesn’t look at me as he speaks, but his words are amicable.

  “A little pleasantry goes a long way,” I advise.

  Alec flicks his eyes up. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  I nod. If Alec can try, so can I. Maybe this is exactly what we needed, a little one-on-one time to become acquainted with each other.

  “Thank you for dinner.” I dab my lips with my paper napkin and tidy up my space.

  “Leaving?” Alec picks up on my energy.

  “It’s late. I’m tired, and we need to do it all again tomorrow. If I don’t get a good night’s sleep, I’ll be worthless in the morning.”

  “Well, we don’t want that.”

  “No.” I place my take-out containers in the garbage and then slip my glasses back on. Alec watches my every move, like he’s studying me. It makes me feel very exposed. What is he looking at? What does he see?

  “Thank you again for dinner.” I smile sweetly.

  “It was my pleasure. It’s the least I can do for all your hard work . . . and for putting up with my crankiness.” He rips open the top button of his dress shirt.

  I find his chagrin cute. “Tomorrow is a new day.”

  “Yes, it is, Miss Paige.” He fiddles with his collar. “Yes, it is . . .”

  7

  Tage

  I watch Everly exit her office building several hours later than usual. I was tempted to go inside and check on her, but I decided against it. She’s a big girl now, I continually remind myself. She grew up.

  But I still want to protect her.

  I do still protect.

  I will always protect her.

  Even if she doesn’t want me to. Even if she hates me. She was one of the reasons I was put on this Earth, and I will always be loyal to her, even if it’s from a distance.

  I follow her into the subway, staying just far enough away. I trail her like a shadow as she waits for her train, engulfed in her phone, listening to music, hair braided, clothes professional. She’s the perfect picture of a normal young woman. It’s what I always wanted for her. Normalcy. It’s what I was hell-bent on giving her. Freedom to choose. Freedom to be her.

  Freedom, plain and simple.

  She hops into a car when the doors slide open, and I follow suit, blending into the mass of people around us. She has no idea I’m only yards away from her. She has no idea, and yet, I want her so badly to notice me.

  I just want to peer down into those big green eyes and get lost in them again, the way I used to.

  And one day soon, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Forge a broken bond. A bond I broke but plan to piece back together again.

  Everly hops off her stop, and I follow behind, tracking her up the stairs back onto the street. The sun has set, so I use the shadows of dusk to conceal myself. A few blocks down from the subway, Ever enters her apartment building. This is as far as I’ll go for now. I wait and watch for her lights to turn on. And once they do, I settle into the dark alley diagonal from her bedroom window. Here I stay until she falls asleep. Until the lights in her apartment dim. I pull a piece of paper out of my pocket and slide it through my fingertips. It’s tattered and worn from the passing years, but the writing is still legible. It’s my last tangible link — to her. It brings me comfort during the darkest of nights. It’s my company when I’m lonely, and my reason when I’m lost.

  It’s my reminder of all the best moments of the past.

  8

  Alec

  The potent smell of coffee assaults me as I stand in line at the crowded coffee bar. I hate this place. I hate feeling like a sardine squished in a can, fighting for a cup of hot liquid I could send an intern to get. But she’s here, standing right in front of me, so I’ll put up with the annoyances just to be close to her.

  This is crazy. It’s all so fucking crazy, my attraction to a woman who is totally off limits. Who could cost me my job, and so much more if this little obsession goes too far. But I can’t stop thinking about h
er. She’s clouded every thought I’ve had like a hit from a bong.

  A fog of fascination lingering around me. Settling at my feet and following me everywhere.

  I eye Everly as she stands there, her brown braids just begging me to pull them. Funny. I never found them appealing before, but working side by side with Everly this past week, I’ve developed an appreciation for them. Had fantasies about them. About her, dressed in nothing but white lingerie, those naughty braids, and brainiac glasses.

  The image makes me shiver. Her smell makes me heady, and her voice hypnotizes me. I am a damn goner, and there’s no turning back now.

  “I’m sorry, Miss, but your card has been declined,” the hipster guy behind the register informs Ever.

  “Declined?” She looks down at her credit card. “Can I try one more time?”

  He nods. She swipes. Declined again.

  “Shit.” She flips over the blue card in her hand as if it’s going to tell her something.

  “Here. Let me,” I interject, swiping my card through the machine.

  Approved.

  “Alec,” Everly tries to protest, but it’s too late.

  “Not a big deal,” I interrupt her. “Large coffee with a pump of hazelnut and almond milk, please.”

  Swipe again. Approved.

  “You didn’t have to do that.” She pushes her glasses up her cute little nose.

  “Not a big deal,” I repeat. “I know how dependent on caffeine you are.”

  “This is true.” We wait for our morning cup of crack. “But I don’t get it. There is plenty of money on my card. It shouldn’t have declined.”

  “It has a chip?” I ask.

  “Yes.” She bats her eyelashes. Stop it.

  Sexy.

  “They can be temperamental. I would just check your account to make sure everything is copacetic.”

  “Everything better be copacetic,” she gripes. “Stupid credit cards.”

  The barista calls out her name as she places her coffee cup on the counter.

  “Cool name,” the young girl comments as Ever claims her cup.

  “Thanks.” She’s always so sweet. Almost sugary. She gives me a fucking toothache.

  As we walk to the elevator, worry is evident on Ever’s pretty face.

  “Don’t stress.” I touch the crease between her brows. “That’s what credit protection is for.” She returns a weak smile, but I hate that worry is weighing so heavily on her. The last few days have brought Everly and I closer than I think either of us expected. Once she put me in my place — which was a total fucking turn-on — our working relationship solidified. She may look like a bookworm, but she’s anything but. Her tongue is as sharp as her eyes, and her sense of humor is as dark as her hair. She’s like a gift you just get to keep unwrapping. Each day, I learn something new, and each day, I’m drawn farther and farther into the magnetizing cosmos that is Everly Paige. “If you want, we can check together, and if anything is off, I’ll help you fix it.”

  “That’s very amicable of you, counselor. Would this be pro bono, or am I going to be billed for the hours?” She makes light, even though she’s clearly concerned. Do you want to know how you can detect a strong person? It’s someone who doesn’t fall apart at the first sign of trouble. Someone who keeps their wits, and cool, and sense of humor about them even if there is an impending problem. I learned that quickly about Everly. As soft as she is, she is equally as strong.

  She took on every task I threw at her this week and didn’t bat an eyelash doing it. She never got flustered, she just endured. I didn’t go easy on her, either. We had a job to do, and I made it clear. She made it clear she knew it. She rose to the occasion. On every single front.

  “Pro bono,” I specify, hoping that will convince her to come to my office. Sneaky. So sneaky.

  She considers as the elevator doors ding open. “Well, how can I refuse free legal help?” She cutely takes a sip of her coffee. If I was a betting man, I’d say she’s flirting with me with just her eyes.

  “You can’t.” I walk off the elevator all high and mighty. ’Cause, well, let’s face it, I am.

  Lara spies Everly and me as we walk past the front desk and into the back where the offices are.

  “Be back in a bit. Just have to check something out,” Everly offers as we disappear through the glass doorway. I don't have to look at Lara to know she speculates something. I overheard her giving Everly an earful about me the other day. They were whispering, and they had no idea I was turning the corner. I stopped short when I heard my name behind the women's room door. Luckily, too. Three more steps, and they would have smacked me right in the face with it. She’s convinced something is going on between us. And although nothing is now, her suspicions have merit. Because somehow, some way, I am going to get Everly Paige naked, in my bed, moaning my name. Just you wait. I’m a man of very many talents. And what I want, I get.

  I plop down in my office chair and boot up my computer with Everly right next to me. She navigates to her bank’s website, and I turn my head when she types in her password. She gasps when her profile pops up.

  “Holy shit.”

  I turn to see her available credit at zero. “Shit is right.”

  “I’ve been fucking hacked.” She yanks her cell phone out to call the bank as I look over all the charges. Most of them are for high-dollar medical equipment. How was that not a red flag?

  “Hello, yes.” Everly stands up and paces my office as she animatedly explains her predicament to the agent on the other end of the phone. I watch her intently, feeling completely helpless but highly invested. I love watching her. That probably sounds creepy, but I do. I love to investigate all her little facial expressions, and her hand gestures, and her tempting body movements. It’s all research. I commit them all to memory, with full intention of using the recon down the line to my advantage. Use it to draw out what she likes. What she loves. What she craves. I’m going to possess her like no other man before and no other man again. She won’t even see it coming. That’s my plan. Take her by storm. It could be detrimental for both of us, but I threw all my fucks right out the window — or should I say, over the balcony — the night of the party. The night she took me by storm. Payback’s a bitch and oh, so sweet all at the same time.

  “What does a legal secretary need three-thousand dollars’ worth of medical equipment for? And shipping it to Guatemala?” she asks exasperated. That does sound bad.

  I open my emails and comb through the new ones as Everly gives her bank a piece of her mind. It’s adorable.

  “Yes.” She pinches the bridge of her nose under her glasses. “Yes, thank you.” She heaves with a sigh of relief. “How long?” Her eyes pop open. “Up to three weeks?” She turns pale. “Okay. Okay.” She glances at me, a myriad of emotions playing on her pretty face. “Thank you.” She hangs up, continuing to stand in the middle of the room.

  “Good news first?” I ask.

  “They identified the purchases as fraud and are going to take care of it.”

  “And the bad news?”

  “It can take up three weeks to reverse the credit.” Everly chews on her bottom lip. It’s a shiny pink from her lip gloss.

  “And that’s bad because . . .?”

  “It’s bad because I basically live off my credit card. I use it to pay for everything, and then pay it all off twice a month.”

  “When we get paid.”

  She nods, confirming morosely.

  “I have zero cash flow until this is fixed.” Worry is overtaking her voice. It’s crackling like a snowy TV.

  “I can always float you,” I offer delicately. “Until this all gets resolved.”

  “No,” Everly objects immediately. Prideful woman.

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’ll figure it out. I always do.” The last part she mutters under breath, but I hear it. I hear everything, especially when it comes to Everly.

  “Well, I’m here . .
.” My email updates, and the ‘From’ address catches my attention. I click the message open and read it in a rush. My heart rate accelerates, and a high of triumph cycles through my system.

  “Yes!” I shoot out of my chair, startling the hell out Everly.

  “Jesus, what?”

  “They want to fucking settle. They caved.” I pretend to shoot a basket. Swish. “Nothin’ but net,” I exclaim boastfully.

  “Seriously?” Everly tries her best to be excited, but I know her financial problems are freaking her out. I think fast.

  “You know what this means, right?”

  “We don’t have to go to the courthouse?”

  “Well, yes that. But also” — my eyes widen with excitement — “we get to celebrate.”

  “Celebrate?” she questions.

  “Yup. Champagne, fancy dinner.” And, if I’m lucky, breakfast, too.

  “Alec . . .” Everly begins to protest.

  “Don’t even try to talk your way out of it, Miss Paige. You worked as hard as me on this case. You deserve the recognition. And I won’t take no for an answer.” I throw that last part in there domineeringly. I want her to get the message. For the next few days, she belongs to me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make her cave. To give in to me. To become all mine.

  Everly relents. She received my message loud and clear.

  “Okay, fine.” A small smile plays on her dewy lips. Victory times two already today, and it’s not even nine-thirty yet.

  I’m fucking good.

  Actually, I’m better than good. I’m a motherfuckin’ master.

  “Let’s get that paperwork prepared so I can send a courier over before lunch.”

  “Will do.”