His words sent her over the edge, causing her to explode around his expert fingers as waves of pleasure flowed through her body. She growled and leaned in, biting his neck softly. “Holy fuck,” she breathed, her heart racing with the aftershocks as he removed his hand.

Alexander placed both hands on her hips and flipped her over onto her back. He loomed over her, his eyes burning into hers, searching. Leaning on his forearms, he nuzzled her neck, saying, “I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.” He nibbled on her earlobe before raising himself off the couch. “I’ll be in touch, Love,” he said, opening the door to her office. As he walked down the hallway, he chuckled to himself. He figured she would be begging for more in no time.

Olivia slowly got off her couch, trying to regain her composure, her body still trembling. She couldn’t remember anyone ever making her feel so amazing from a simple touch. She didn’t know whether she should feel satisfied or scared.

She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was close to nine. Shit! She had a few more classes to teach. After quickly changing into another pair of gym shorts, she ran down the hall into the studio. As she got her things together for the pilates class she was leading that morning, Kiera sauntered into the room.

“Hey, Libs! So, how was the date?”

Olivia immediately started to blush, smiling not about the date, but about just having a mind-blowing orgasm.

Kiera noticed. “Oh my god, Libby! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” Her excitement was infectious.

“Kiera, I like him. I really, really like him.” And I really, really like what he can do with just a few fingers. “I’ve had a perma-grin on my face since he left me last night.” And my body is still shaking from him making me come. “I just don’t know what to do!”

“What is there to even think about?” she exclaimed, grabbing her friend’s hands, jumping up and down. “Don’t think too much into it. Don’t let your fears ruin this for you, Libs.” She sat down on the teaching platform, pulling her friend down with her. She draped her arm around Olivia. “Don’t let your fears ruin this for me!”

“I know. I’ve already scheduled an appointment with Dr. Greenstein.” Olivia glanced at her friend. She knew what that meant. Olivia had been hesitant to restart therapy, but she didn’t want to scare Alexander away with her emotional inability to form meaningful relationships with people. She finally realized that she needed to get past her fear of abandonment.

“Good. Maybe she’ll finally talk some sense into you. When do you see her?”

“Tuesdays and Thursdays. I start back tomorrow. God, Kiera. I can’t stop thinking about Alexander. I’m gushing! Me! Sarah Olivia Adler! Gushing! Over a freaking guy! This is not me. What is going on?”

“Olivia and Alex sitting in a tree!” Kiera sang.

“No! Stop it. Act your age!” Olivia shouted, pushing her friend.

Kiera just continued, “F-U-C-K-I-N-G!”

“Oh my god! Shut up.” People had started to file into the studio. “Get away from me. I have to get ready for this class.” Olivia stood up, walking over to the sound system to set up the music she needed for her class.

“Fine, but drinks tonight.”

“I can’t. I’m rehearsing with Mo’s band at around six.”

“Then after.”

Olivia thought about it. Maybe going out with Kiera and gushing over the new man in her life would be more healthy and productive than staying home obsessing over what to do about Alexander. “Okay.”

“Good. Meet me at 28 Degrees. Nine sharp.” She winked and went to take her place among the class.

As Olivia instructed her class, she cleared her mind of everything for a moment. Well, almost everything. Everything except Alexander Burnham. She couldn’t stop smiling as she thought about him and how, in just a short time, he had already helped her overcome some of her fears. Fears he didn’t even know she had. Olivia had started to change and she could only think that it was for the better.

Just nine floors above, Alexander stood against his large floor-to-ceiling windows, admiring the city buzzing below and impatiently waiting on the report from Simpson, when his sister came barreling through his office door.

“Alex!” she exclaimed, waking him from his daydream about how good Olivia felt as she clenched around his fingers in absolute ecstasy.

“Carol,” he turned around. “What is it?” There was a file in her hands and her face had a look that Alexander had never seen before.

She handed the folder to him. He saw that it contained the background check he had asked Simpson to do. On the top was a photo of Olivia when she was a young child. It was the age enhancement he had asked Carol to do. He looked up at his sister, desperately needing an explanation for the strong resemblance between the computer enhancement and the woman he was falling for.

“Alex… It’s her.” His heart fell as he dropped his coffee mug, the brown liquid splattering all over the hardwood floor.

CHAPTER TWELVE

28 MARTINIS

OLIVIA finished teaching her mid-morning classes and returned to her office, hoping to get a little more paperwork done than she had gotten through earlier, although she thoroughly enjoyed her morning interruption. She checked her cell, hopeful that she would have a text from Alexander. It had only been two hours since she had seen him last, but she still ached for him. She smiled when she saw that he had sent her a text not even five minutes after he had left her.

Alexander: I can smell you on my fingers. You have no idea what a turn on that is.

Fuck. That guy loved to talk dirty and it was doing things to her.

Olivia: Just wait till you get a taste, darling. You’ll be begging me.

She smiled, thinking two could play his game.

Alexander: Oh really, Miss Adler? Is that a threat?

Ha!

Olivia: No. Not a threat. My money’s on you cracking before me.

Alexander: Only time will tell, Love.

Olivia got butterflies in her stomach thinking about his voice caressing the word, Love. She could hear the words leaving his mouth in his husky voice. How could she possibly be expected to concentrate the rest of the day?

~~~~~~~~~~

“Livvy!” Mo shouted when she opened the door to his house in Arlington later that evening, letting herself in and walking into his large living room. She had never knocked at Mo’s when she used to sing with the guys and it felt like no time had passed at all since she left the band.