CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ELISE
THE KNOCKING ON the door grew louder by the second.
It was the kind of knock that said I had about three seconds before the person on the other side burst through, and since I wasn’t in the mood to replace my bedroom door, I heaved a sigh and gave in, letting the intruder, otherwise known as my best friend, inside.
Kelsey blew into my room in her silk pajamas with her feet bare, and a silk bonnet neatly covering her braids.
“Have you been standing outside my bedroom waiting for me to wake up?”
“Of course not,” Kelsey scoffed. “We’ve been roommates since freshman year at UCLA; I know your sleep patterns.” She reminded me. “Which means I knew you’d be up right now.”
“Okay, stalker.” I joked, stepping away from the door so I could continue to get ready. Unlike my best-friend, I didn’t have the luxury of still being in my pajamas and bonnet, not when I had to be at work in about forty-five minutes.
Work.
My stomach dipped at the thought.
Lately, the idea of going to work hadn’t filled me with trepidation as it had in the past, not when Nathan behaved more human and kinder than I ever thought possible.
In just a few short weeks, Nathan had become someone I wanted to spend time with, both at work and off the clock, and craving that connection had been what had led us together yesterday in the dance studio late at night.
Dancing on and for him in a way that was anything but appropriate.
And in less than an hour I would have to face him. Hell, I’d have to face the entire company. There was no doubt in my mind that everyone there had watched the Tiktok of me dancing on Nathan.
Is it too late to call out sick?
“How much longer do you expect me to stand here before I mention the fact that there's a video of you giving your boss a lapdance all over TikTok?” Kelsey demanded.
“A lapdance is a little dramatic don't you think?” I digressed, digging into my makeup bag for my brown lip liner.
“What else would you call this?” Kelsey held up her phone for me to see and there on the screen was the video of me dancing on my boss, specifically grinding on his lap.
My stomach dipped for all new reasons now, but I ignored it and pushed Kelsey’s phone back towards her.
“I call it my latest dance video. What would you call it?”
“I call it you have five seconds to tell me if there's something going on between you and Mr.Asshole.” Kelsey demanded.
“Can we stop calling him that? He's actually not that bad.” I replied.
“And now you're defending him?” Kelsey studied me, making it impossible for me to concentrate on the task of lining my lips with the combo I reserve for work.
“This conversation is slowing me down.” I replied.
“Elle.”
I placed my lip liner pencil down on my makeup table before saying what I've been afraid to say out loud since last night. “We kissed.”
Kelsey’s jaw dropped so fast I half expected it to hit the floor. “You kissed him?” she shrieked, her voice hitting an octave I’ve only ever heard when she sang.
“Shh!” I hissed, spinning around to glare at her. “Do you want the whole neighborhood to know?”
She slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her next words. “Oh my God. You kissed Nathan Edge. Your boss. The man you once called a cold-blooded cyborg.”
I groaned, dropping into the chair in front of my vanity. “Don’t remind me.”
“No, no, no, back up. Don’t sit there acting like this is normal. Tell me everything.” Kelsey bounced onto the bed, clutching my pillow like she was ready for a Netflix-level binge of my love life. “Who leaned in first? Was there tongue? How was it?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “He did. Yes. And it was... intense.”
“I need more details.”
I threw my hands up. “I don’t know how to describe it, Kels. One second we were just dancing. Next, he was looking at me like…” I trailed off, my throat tight.
“Like what?” she pressed, leaning forward.
“Like he saw me.” I whispered, the confession so soft it almost scared me.
Kelsey’s expression shifted, the teasing gone in an instant. She knew me too well. “Elle,” she said gently, “Are you catching feelings for him?”
I swallowed hard, turning back to my mirror before she could read too much on my face. My reflection didn’t lie. The answer was written all over my skin, my flushed cheeks, the way my lips parted at the memory of our kiss.
Kelsey’s question hung in the air like smoke I couldn’t breathe through.
Are you catching feelings for him?
I looked away, staring hard at the lipstick tubes scattered across my vanity, like one of them might hold the answer I didn’t have.
How could one look from Nathan make me feel both wanted and terrified in the same breath?
“I don’t know,” I admitted finally, my voice raw. “I don’t know what I feel.”
Kelsey was quiet for once, her sharp tongue held back. When I risked a glance, she was watching me with that mix of softness and fire that only she could pull off.
“Elise,” she said carefully, “just because you were hurt doesn’t mean you don’t get to want something good. Or someone good.”
I pressed my lips together, fighting the sting in my eyes. “What if I don’t know how to tell the difference anymore?”
She stood, crossing the room to wrap her arms around me. “Then that’s why you’ve got me. To remind you.”
For a long moment, I let myself lean into her hug, even as my mind betrayed me flashing back to Nathan’s mouth on mine, his hand at the small of my back, steady and grounding in a way I wasn’t used to.
Safe. That’s how it had felt.
And that scared me most of all.
The silence between us stretched, soft but heavy, until my gaze flicked to the corner of my mirror and caught the red digits of my alarm clock.
6:20.
Panic flared. I had less than forty minutes before I was supposed to be at my desk and I still didn’t reserve an Uber since Marissa wasn’t able to pick me up this morning since I was having car trouble.
Normally, I’d be rushing by now, adrenaline kicking in.
Instead, my stomach twisted and I blurted, “You know what? Maybe I shouldn’t go in today. ”
Kelsey pulled back just enough to give me the look. “Elle.”
“Hear me out.” I turned quickly, reaching for my phone like I was already halfway convinced.
“What if I call out sick? We could spend the day together. I could make us breakfast. Mimosas, waffles, the whole thing. Or we could hit the beach. It’s supposed to be, like, eighty-five degrees today.
” I plastered on my brightest smile. “An amazing girls’ day. No office. No TikTok drama. No…”
Her brow arched. “No Nathan?”
I froze, my excuses falling apart around me.
“Elle,” she said gently, but with that steady, no-nonsense weight she always used when I tried to run from things. “You don’t want brunch. You don’t want mimosas. You just don’t want to see him.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it, because she was right. Completely, annoyingly right.
“After everything yesterday, I just…” My voice wavered. “I don’t know how to look at him and act like nothing happened.”
Kelsey’s expression softened, but she shook her head. “You can’t hide forever. Not from your job, not from him. And definitely not from how you feel.”
I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “Why are you always so reasonable?”
“Because one of us has to be.” She smirked, snatching the purse off my chair and holding it out to me. “Now come on. You’re not calling in sick. You’re going to work, you’re going to hold your head high, and you’re going to survive this.”
“And if I don’t?” I asked, only half-joking.
“You will,” she promised, tossing me my bag. “You're stronger than you think, Elle. Don’t let one kiss undo you.”
Her words hit harder than she realized. Because it wasn’t just the kiss that undid me, it was the way it made me want more.
I clutched my bag tighter than necessary as I headed out my bedroom to the front of the house just as there was a knock on the door.
Kelsey and I exchanged glances. Clearly, neither of us were expecting a guest at this time.
I glanced at my watch. 6:25 am.
Who the...
I peeked through the peephole, half expecting a package on our doorstep or my ex-boyfriend, but what I got instead was the wind knocked out of me.
Nathan was here.
Nathan was here. Outside my door. At 6:25 in the morning.
I opened the door, taking Nathan in as he stood in the doorway dressed in a charcoal suit, immaculate as ever, dark hair perfectly in place, every line of him composed and deliberate. Nathan looked like he always did. Controlled, polished, and untouchable.
Which only made it worse. Because the last time I saw him, we’d been anything but in control.
“Nathan?” I managed. “What are you doing here?”
“I know your car is still giving you trouble,” he stated. “I thought I’d save you the hassle of getting a rideshare and give you a ride instead.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“A ride,” he repeated, as if it were obvious. “To the office.”
My brain was short-circuiting. In the three years I’d worked for Nathan Edge, the man had never once offered me a ride anywhere.
But now here he stands, unbothered, like he’s sure I’ll say yes.
And even though every logical part of me screams that this is weird and probably inappropriate after the kiss we shared last night, I take a step forward anyways.
“Okay.”
Nathan smiled pleased before his eyes settled on my best-friend. “Good morning, Kelsey.”
“Good morning,” Kelsey grinned, obviously happy about the presence of the six-foot-four billionaire standing in our doorway. “Big fan of your introduction to social media by the way.”
“Kels!” I hissed, but Nathan only chuckled.
“It wasn’t exactly planned,” blue eyes found their way back to me before adding, “but I enjoyed every second.”
My cheeks heated up and instead of pulling Nathan in for a repeat of last night, I cleared my throat.
“We better go. Don’t want to be late.”
The air between us hummed with tension as we walked to his car. Our kiss still lingered between us. Unspoken, dangerous, and electric.