She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother

"Can I… feel your biceps?" she asked, voice softer now, intimate, yet laced with teasing confidence.

Alex finally glanced at her, his eyes sharp, amused. The smirk was full now. "That's what you've been waiting for, huh?"

Her breath stuttered. He knows.

The line hit too close, cutting through her polished facade like a blade.

"Guilty," she whispered, cheeks warm.

"You're… hot, Alex."

The words slipped out unpolished, too raw, but she couldn't take them back.

He let them hang in the air, his smile softening into something almost dangerous. So, she's finally dropping the act. Completely.

"Don't you think it's a little inappropriate? Saying things like that… to me... your boyfriend's best friend?"

His voice stayed calm, almost casual, but every word landed with deliberate provocation.

For a split second, Lila's breath hitched. The reminder of Mike should have pulled her back, forced her to retreat into safe lines and excuses.

But instead, the heat in Alex's tone... mocking, daring... ignited something sharper inside her.

Her lips curved, slow and deliberate, as if she'd just accepted a challenge. "I'm just telling the truth… and truth can't be inappropriate, Alex."

Her gaze didn't waver, even as her pulse raced. If anything, she leaned in closer, letting her shoulder brush ever so lightly against his arm.

"Besides…" she countered softly, "…don't act like you didn't want to hear it."

Alex didn't answer right away. He just looked at her, taking in the faint rise of her chest, the subtle shift of her body toward him.

He knew exactly what she was doing, yet he found himself… entertained. Amused at her boldness.

"You know," she said, her voice lowering to a husky drawl, "if circumstances were different… if I wasn't with Mike…"

She shifted in her seat, blouse tightening as she angled her body toward him, one leg crossing over the other so the hem of her skirt rode higher.

The movement was smooth, natural... but every curve was framed perfectly in the dim glow of the streetlights.

"…I'd have been ready to be your girl from day one."

Alex's brow lifted, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "Really?"

"Completely," she breathed. "The way you carry yourself… the confidence. It's magnetic. You don't even try, and yet people gravitate toward you."

Her fingers played with the edge of her sleeve, betraying the nervous current beneath her bravado. "It's not just the looks, though those don't hurt. It's the way you make people feel… safe."

Alex didn't reply with words. He simply nodded once, slow and deliberate, his gaze steady on hers. The subtle acknowledgment carried weight... more than any sentence he could have spoken.

Lila felt emboldened by his response. He wasn't pushing her away. He wasn't shutting her down. Instead… he seemed intrigued.

The realization thrilled her, a spark that had nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with the man sitting beside her.

"Oh, wait," she said suddenly, breaking the heaviness with a quick pivot.

"Actually, could you take Maple Street instead? There's construction on the main route, traffic's awful this time of night."

Alex glanced at the GPS, noting the detour would add at least fifteen minutes. He turned the wheel anyway. "Sure."

Lila felt a rush of satisfaction. More time. More opportunity.

As they drove through the quieter residential streets, she shifted in her seat, angling her body toward him. "You know what else I noticed about you?"

"What's that?" Alex asked, his tone suggesting he was genuinely curious rather than just being polite.

"The way you handled that situation with Nina. Most people would have made promises they couldn't keep, or offered empty comfort. But you actually did something about it."

She reached over, her fingertips barely grazing his forearm as she gestured. "That takes real character. Real power."

The brief contact was electric, and she let her hand linger for just a moment longer than necessary before pulling back.

"You're observant," Alex said, and she caught something in his voice that made her pulse quicken. Was he actually affected by her touch?

"I pay attention to things that matter," she replied, her voice soft but charged with meaning. "And you... you definitely matter."

She was walking a dangerous line between her mission and her genuine attraction, but the boundaries were blurring with each passing moment.

The confined space of the car, the darkness outside, the way he looked when streetlights occasionally illuminated his profile... it was all conspiring to make her forget why she was really here.

"Actually," she said, glancing at the street signs, "could you turn right at the next light? The construction extends further than I thought."

Another detour. Another few minutes stolen.

Alex complied without comment, though she caught the slight curve of his lips that suggested he knew exactly what she was doing.

But he wasn't stopping her, wasn't calling her out on the obvious route extensions.

If anything, he seemed amused by her tactics.

"You're very... decisive," she continued. "I bet you've never met a challenge you couldn't handle."

"I do alright," he said with characteristic understatement.

She laughed softly, a sound that was part admiration, part frustration at his modesty. "There you go again, downplaying everything. Don't you know how attractive confidence is?"

Her fingers drummed lightly against the console, each movement calculated to draw his attention to her hands, her proximity, the space between them that seemed to crackle with unspoken possibility.

"Most guys my age… predictable. Transparent. But you…" She let her gaze travel over his profile. "You're a puzzle I want to solve. Layers, mystery… quiet strength. Makes me wonder what it'd be like to really know you."

The words were flowing now, genuine attraction masquerading as strategic seduction.

Or perhaps it was the other way around... she was no longer sure where the act ended and her real feelings began.

"You seem to have me all figured out already," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. His voice carrying just enough warmth to encourage her continued boldness.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," she said, and the promise in her voice made the air between them thick with possibility.

As they wound through the residential streets, Lila found herself stealing glances at his hands on the steering wheel, the way his shoulders moved beneath his shirt, the subtle flex of muscle in his forearms.

Each observation fed the growing heat in her chest, the desire that was becoming harder to disguise as mere professional interest.

By now, what should have been at most half an hour drive had stretched to nearly fifty minutes, and Lila felt both triumph and growing desperation at the approaching end of their time together.

She was running out of road, out of excuses to keep him driving. Soon they would reach her building, and this perfect bubble of proximity and possibility would burst.

But for now, she had a few more precious minutes to work with.