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“I know you’re slammed, but we should probably talk about this photo,” Paul says, moving further into the office.
“Well, let’s just do it when we get home, ok? I just have a few things to do here and then…” she takes a breath, slowing down the pace in which she’s talking. “But I’ll meet you right back there.”
“Yeah, I can’t. I’ve gotta be on a plane in a few hours,” Paul regrets to inform her, though he’s sure he’ll regret telling her that he wasn’t able to keep the Vault from running the photo, a whole lot more.
“No,” she replies, shaking her head at the difficult situation they’re suddenly finding themselves in. “There’s the engine test,” he goes on to explain, though Alex already knew that.
“Oh, that’s right,” she says, dropping her head in her hands. “No, no,” she reaches her hands out, grabbing onto his suit as to hold onto him. “Oh, gosh, this is all happening really fast,” she continues, silently cursing the Vault for bursting their bubble this soon.
“Yeah,” Paul nods, acting as if he isn’t cursing Alex for letting this affect what they have. “Timing couldn’t be worse.”
“Alright, well- When you get back, maybe we could have another lost weekend?” she offers, though it seems it’s far from enough judging by the way Paul withdraws from her and takes a step back.
“I want more than a weekend,” he states, suddenly doubting whether they’re on the same page or not. What does Alex think this is? A fling? An illicit affair? Because it’s not… at least not to him.
Thankfully, Alex let’s out an approving hum, before telling him: “I want that too.”
“Yeah?” he goes on to ask, his tone making it clear that he’s not entirely convinced. “I thought you said we were gonna go on pretending this never happened?”
“I did. I did say that,” she sighs as it wasn’t really what she had meant. And the last thing she wants is for Paul to think that she sees what’s been going on between them as some kind of mistake. Because she does not.
“But it did… happen,” she therefore goes on to say.
“It did,” he nods, really not wanting her to forget it. “It happened several times,” she admits, proving that she hasn’t.
“It’s been happening a lot,” he quips, a smirk forming on his face as he recalls all the times they’ve stumbled their way into someone’s bedroom this past week. “Mhm,” Alex murmurs, remembering those times all too well herself.
“And do you regret it?” he suddenly asks, taking a step forward as to get a hold of her hand. “No,” she replies, in such a stern voice she almost sounds offended. “Not one bit.”
“Well, good,” he begins, clearing his throat. “Because to tell you the truth-” he lowers his head, looking down on their hands that are now intertwined. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go pretending we never happened,” he says, his voice sultry. “I think it’s too late for that.”
Alex swallows, clearing her throat as her mouth seems to have gone dry. “Yeah?” is all she manages to say.
“Yeah,” he goes on, lifting his stare to meet her eyes again. “You know how I said that I don’t really do this sort of thing anymore? Dating, or whatever you wanna call it.”
“Mhm,” she nods, thinking back to the conversation they had on her balcony earlier today.
“Well, I guess that’s got something to do with my ex-wife, how she left me- Or how I made her leave, really,” he admits, clearly remorseful of the decisions he’s made in the past. “I guess I just sort of figured after that whole thing, that it would be better to leave those days behind me,” he sighs.
“I thought it would be better to just close that door, and dive into my work instead- Keep myself busy with that, you know?”
Alex nods, as she does know exactly what that’s like, having gone through the same thing with Jason. “Right.”
“But then you came along,” Paul says, letting his thumb brush over the skin on her hand. “And all that went straight out of the window,” he chuckles, his tone finally seeming lighter.
“Anyway, my point is; I haven’t felt this way about someone- This way that I feel about you… in a really long time,” he exhales, his breath shaky. “If ever.”
He brings his hand up, pressing his palm against her cheek. “And I don’t want to let go of that,” he says, caressing the side of her face. “I don’t want to have to close another door.”
Alex whimpers, leaning into his touch. “I don’t want you to close it,” she says, her voice ragged. “Let’s keep it open, ok?”
Paul grabs the back of her head then, pulling her in before crashing their mouths together in soaring kiss. He moves his hands down to her neck, keeping her in place as she tilts her head to the side, granting his tongue more access.
It’s not until Alex moans into his mouth, that they have no choice but to pull apart as they both realize where they are; at UBA… where anyone could be walking in on them.
Yet, Alex can’t help but go in for one last chaste kiss, before dropping her head, leaving her forehead resting against his.
And though it’s a very sweet moment that they’re having, all Paul can think about is the potential tipster that could be lurking around the corner. That a photographer could be propped up in the building facing the office window, snapping photos. That they’d get sold to The Vault, only to make the cover the very next day.
“Fuck,” Paul suddenly curses under his breath, reminded of what had caused him to come into Alex’s office in the first place.
“What?” Alex asks, placing her hand on his chest.
Paul makes a silent prayer then, praying that what he’s about to share with the woman in front him, won’t cause her to walk out the door. Literally and figuratively.
“I have to tell you something,” he begins, taking a step back as to gather himself. “You’re not gonna like it.”
“Is this the part where you tell me you’re still married?” Alex jokes, though Paul remains as serious as ever.
“Hey. What’s up? Talk to me,” she pleads, realizing that what he’s got to say must be important.
Paul sighs and places his hands on her shoulders. His grip firm enough to hold her back in case she’ll want to run, whether it’ll be to get out of the office… or his life. “The Vault is gonna run the photo,” he finally reveals.
“What?” Alex furrows her brows. “I thought you said you’d take care of it?” she asks.
“I did,” he nods, before swallowing. “And I tried- I put Amanda on it, but she wasn’t getting anywhere, so I called their board myself,” he says, shaking his head. “But no.”
“Can’t we just pay them off?” she presses on.
“I can’t,” he begins, pursing his lips. “If it leaks it will make us… or mainly me, really, look really bad,” he goes on. “I mean- I’m about to sign a deal that will make me your boss. Paying them off will make it seem like I’m trying to keep us a secret- And they won’t think it’s because we want privacy or- I don’t know, time to see where this thing is headed,” he stops to catch his breath. “No. They’ll assume the worst. They’ll twist and turn it into something that it's not and it’s just-”
Alex cuts him off. “Hey, hey,” she begins, stroking her hand over his chest in an attempt to calm him down. “It’s fine,” she goes on to claim.
“What?” Paul asks, thrown off by the answer he wasn’t expecting to hear. “I said it’s fine,” Alex repeats herself. “Let them run it. We’ll release a statement like you said… and we’ll work it out. We’ll be just fine.”
“Really?” he presses on, placing his hand on top of hers. “So, option number one then?”
“Yeah”, she nods. “That sounded way better than option number two anyway.”
“Right?” Paul chuckles.
“We’ll tell everyone that we’re happy, and that we’re having a wonderful time together-” she begins, using her finger to draw circles on his chest. “I’ll tell them about how you make me breakfast in the morning,” she goes on, tracing the outline of his shirt’s sem. “And…” she stops what’s she’s doing, leaving her hand to rest just above his waistline. “We could tell them about all the great sex we’re having.”
“It’s pretty fucking great, huh?” Paul admits, a smirk forming on his face as Alex throws a mischievous look his way.
“I’m just kidding,” she says, withdrawing her hand in case someone’s watching, not wanting to get caught in 4K with her hands down his pants. “About that last part- I meant what I said about everything else”.
“About us being happy and doing wonderful?” he questions her as he genuinely wants to know if she’s as happy as he is. Though, he doubts that’s even possible. “So, you’re happy with this? With me?”
“Yeah,” she nods, before going in for yet another kiss. “I’m happy”, she says, smiling against his lips.
“You know, I would ask you to take me home, now-” Alex begins once she pulls back from him again. “But I know you’ve gotta be in Texas in a few hours, so-”
“Fuck Texas”, Paul suddenly says, causing her to widen her eyes. “Oh?”
“Yeah. They can wait”, he declares, picking her purse up from the floor before handing it to her. “You and I are going home”, he announces as he starts eyeing her up and down. “Where I’ll finally get to rip that dress off of you.”
“Let me tell you- It’s the only thing I’ve been able to think about since you walked in here tonight,” he draws, his voice laced with anticipation.
“Paul!” she exclaims, hitting his shoulder with the clutch. “Well, alright… but I’m telling you right now- There’s no way I’m letting you tear up a custom Valentino.”
“Right,” he says, getting on his feet before moving to get the door open. “Cause’ it’s not like I can afford to get you a new one.”