The good guy.

The nice guy.

The guy who definitely didn’t get hard when pinning Elena to a wall and feeling her melt against my body.

I’d been so focused on “making it,” that everything else in my life became a secondary priority. Now, I’d spent so long playing Alex Chase, I wasn’t sure I even knew who Alex was anymore or what he wanted out of life.

What a pathetic thought.

I hereby give you permission to be bad.

She’d meant I could pretend to be bad to play Lucas Steel, but in that moment, I’d heard it as an invitation. Elena was the one to start the kiss, but only after I’d made it clear I expected it. Had she felt obligated to kiss me? Her responses felt real to me, but that didn’t mean anything.

She’d acknowledged the chemistry between us like she’d simply been stating a fact. My response to her wasn’t a fact, it was a goddamn revelation.

Was this what she did to all of her clients? No wonder they kept coming back for more.

It felt like something different, though, like she was as swept up in the moment as I was. But everyone assumed they were the exception, and I wasn’t that naive.

I hated the idea of her kissing me because she thought she had to or because she was manipulating me, so instead of trusting the moment, I’d shot it down in flames by asking if she kissed all her clients.

“Are you going to tell me how it went last night?” Rami’s voice made me jerk with surprise. I’d been so lost in thought I forgot he was even there. “I was freaked you’d both left when I got back and your text was vague.” He panted, still in the middle of a set.

I didn’t especially want to tell Rami the details.

I said, “It was good. She’s as good as they say and we didn’t kill each other.”

“So why wasn’t she there to sign the agreement when I got there?”

I wasn’t going to get away with telling him nothing. “Because I stuck my foot in my mouth.”

“Yep. You said that. Do I get any more info than that?”

“I sorta kissed her. And then I said something dumb.”

He dropped the weight bar back onto the rack and stared at me disbelievingly. “You’re into her? You can have pretty much any woman you want. But you’re into the one who thinks you’re a dickhead. Because, man, look at me. She thinks you’re a dickhead.”

Like I needed to be reminded of that right now. “I’m not into her like that. I just got caught in the moment. It won’t happen again.”

I’d gone in expecting acting lessons, but it had felt more like some kind of therapy. She hadn’t shown me Lucas Steel. She’d shown me the parts of myself I’d been too afraid to explore.

I felt something intense during that dance and I wanted more.