Chapter 25: The Kiss That Changed Everything
Emma had kissed men before.
She had been in relationships, had her fair share of passion, of desire.
But this?
This was something else.
Something dangerous.
Something that felt like walking a tightrope with no safety net.
—
Alex didn't just kiss her.
He claimed her.
His hand slid to the small of her back, pulling her closer, his lips moving with a precision that made her dizzy.
And for the first time in a long, long time—
Emma let go.
—
She wasn't thinking about the consequences.
About what this meant.
About how reckless this was.
She was just feeling.
And it was terrifying.
And addictive.
And utterly, completely wrong.
—
She pulled back first, breathless, heart pounding.
Alex's grip on her waist didn't loosen.
His gaze was dark, intense, unreadable. "Running away already?"
Emma exhaled sharply, forcing herself to take a step back. "This was a mistake."
Alex arched a brow. "Didn't feel like a mistake."
Emma ignored the way her body betrayed her, the way she wanted nothing more than to pull him back in.
"This can't happen," she said, her voice steadier than she felt.
Alex studied her, his expression unreadable.
And then, after a long, tense moment—
He let her go.
—
The Fallout
Emma left Alex's penthouse without looking back.
Her mind was a mess of contradictions, of wants and should-nots.
This wasn't just any man.
This was Alex Kingston.
The man she had spent months trying to avoid, trying to outmaneuver.
And now?
Now she had kissed him.
And worse—
She had liked it.
—
She spent the rest of the day trying to bury herself in work, but nothing helped.
Not the stacks of case files.
Not the endless emails.
Not even the emergency meeting she had to jump into.
Because no matter what she did—
Her mind kept going back to him.
—
The Unavoidable Confrontation
Two days.
That's how long Emma managed to avoid Alex.
Two days of pretending nothing had changed.
Two days of trying to convince herself that she hadn't made a terrible mistake.
But then—
Alex showed up.
At her office.
Uninvited.
And with that infuriating smirk.
—
Emma barely glanced up from her desk. "You can't just show up here."
Alex leaned against the doorframe. "Pretty sure I just did."
She inhaled sharply, forcing herself to focus on her laptop. "What do you want, Kingston?"
Alex stepped closer, his voice dropping. "You."
Emma's fingers froze over the keyboard.
She looked up, meeting his gaze.
He wasn't smirking anymore.
He was serious.
Too serious.
And for the first time—
Emma didn't have a plan.