Chapter 5

Carlee was right about me needing to touch grass today. I promised her I’d relax while she was at work. Plus, I haven’t had a Saturday off since I moved back to the city.

I reach over and run my fingers through the short green blades, so now I can say I literally touched the grass. The sun shines bright and I love how warm it is on my skin. As I continue reading, a shadow covers the cream pages of my book. It’s not the clouds. It’s a person.

I glance at the designer dress shoes and my eyes trail up the black slacks. I continue up the stark white button-up and the tattooed arms and see that smirk.

Fuck.

He removes his glasses, revealing his blue eyes, and I scowl.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I whisper.

He lifts the Yankees hat from his head and runs his fingers through his messy hair before replacing it.

“Hello, Alexis.” My name falls from his mouth in a deep gruff.

I don’t like being called that, but at least he remembered it.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and towers over me like a Greek god, glancing at my book—Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a comfort read, the first novel that introduced me to the world of cliterature. It’s my version of doomscrolling.

A devilish smirk plays on his pouty lips. “Billionaire kink?”

I nearly choke. He’s the last man on Earth I want to see right now. “Are you stalking me?”

“Sadly, no.”

He sits beside me on the ground and I sit up and scoot over, creating space between us. I’m still buzzing where his hands touched me yesterday. After he checks his watch, he leans back onto his elbows, smelling like mahogany and sweet peppermints.

“Good, because if you were, I’d tell you to wear a mask next time,” I mutter. “Makes it hotter because this billionaire thing is overdone.”

He holds back a smile and successfully pulls it off. Men like him don’t get to where they are without being a master at the game though. Charismatic, charming, attractive; but I won’t get sucked into him. I can’t.

With those eyes and lips, this man is the type who breaks hearts for sport. I’m already broken enough.

The silence draws on.

I’m not over what happened yesterday.

“Are you always like this?” He looks up at the clouds, and I can’t help but steal a glance.

“Like what? Myself?” I’m not sure what he’s talking about. He shouldn’t be here.

He nods. “Authenticity—that’s what it is.”

I make a face at him. “You must hang out with fake people.”

“I do. And most are kissing my ass.”

“One thing you won’t have to ever worry about from me.” I wait for him to say something. “I won’t worship you like all the other normies.”

He smirks. “It’s preferred.”

I sigh, wanting to return to Christian and Anastasia. I’m still at the beginning, where she sits down to give him the famous interview that starts it all.

He chuckles, and the sound grabs my attention. It’s … carefree.

“You know how to laugh?” I ask.

“Yes, and I’ve got other tricks up my sleeve too.”

“Wow,” I say, pretending to be impressed as the pages of my book flutter in the breeze.

He turns to me. “I’m not one to believe in serendipitous events, but this one presented itself, so here I am.” He breathes in deeply. “I want to apologize about yesterday. I hope you can forgive my behavior.”

I shake my head, blinking at him in disbelief. “No.”

“No?” His brows crease.

“I’m sure it’s a word you’re not used to hearing, but it’s a complete sentence, Mr. Calloway.”

“Easton.”

“You had me fired. And in the twenty-nine years I’ve been alive, I have never been terminated from anything, especially not for theft. I desperately needed that job, but you wouldn’t know what that’s like.” I slide my book and water bottle inside my bag and stand.

I grab the corner of my blanket and wrap it around my fist before pulling it from under his ass. After I throw it over my arm, I turn to him.

“I hope you have the day you deserve, Easton,” I say, as I did yesterday.

I grew up with two older brothers on a ranch and can hold my own. And right now, I have nothing to lose. This man is no one to me.

As I walk away from him, I shake my head, and laughter echoes from behind me. He’s laughing at me, and that only enrages me more. Being around Easton is too intense, and it sets me on fire. I twist my hair into a messy bun as I strut away.

Seconds later, I hear him say, “Alexis.”

I turn to say something to him, but he’s closer than I thought, and I crash into him again. I slam into his chest, and he carefully steadies me, and I’m frozen in time with him. I’m having déjà vu.

“Can you stop running into me?” I ask, meeting his eyes.

“Alexis, let me make it up to you.” His voice is velvety. “All of it.”

This is a dangerous game. One I don’t want to play. Right now, the chessboard is full of pieces, and there have been no casualties of war. We’re on neutral ground, and we can both go about our lives like we never met.

“Learn to call me Lexi, or don’t say my name. I won’t answer to anything else.”

“Lexi.” His tone is an entire octave lower, almost a growl. He licks his perfect lips. On the bottom one, there’s a slight crease, a kissable one. “Please allow me to make it up to you,” he says.

Being this close to him is dizzying, nearly rocking me off my axis.

“Why does it matter? I’m a random person you had fired. A complete stranger.”

He straightens his stance. “Maybe you won’t be, going forward.”

I swallow hard.

“What do you need?”

“A job so I can pay my rent next week. Are you hiring?” I sarcastically ask. There’s no way I’d work for a man like him.

“How much is it?” He’s acting polite.

I take a step away from him so I can breathe without being encapsulated by his intoxicating scent.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of it. Consider the next year paid for,” he says. “Anything else?”

I meet his gaze. “You’re serious?”

A grin takes up residence on his sculptured face. “I am.”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t buy my forgiveness. That’s not how this works.”

“Well aware. I look forward to earning it.”

“Why?” I question.

In a heartbeat, Easton removes the space between us, leaning over to whisper in my ear, “Because I love a challenge.”

His hot breath is on my skin, and my body temperature rises … again.

“I won’t make this easy for you, Easton.”

“I don’t ever take the easy way out. Let me give you my number.”

He holds out his palm, and I don’t know why I hand him my phone, but I do.

It doesn’t take long before he’s placing it back in my hand. I glance down at the contact he added, noticing he programmed himself as ASSHOLE.

“Call or text me if you need anything,” he says.

“I’ve got to go,” I whisper. My ability to speak nearly vanishes, and I’m convinced I’m still asleep, that this is a weird dream that I haven’t woken up from.

“Well, I hope you have the day you deserve, Lexi.” He repeats the words I’ve said to him twice now. “Maybe I’ll crash into you again.”

I walk away, annoyed that he’s so fucking attractive. When I look over my shoulder to steal one last glance, he hasn’t moved. Instead, he’s watching me with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing that delicious smirk.

It’s then I realize I’m dancing with the devil; after all, he did damn me to Hell the day we met.