by Nana Malone
I tapped her lower spine in time with the music, wishing the moment could last. When my hands slid further up her back, she inhaled suddenly, and I drew my head back to look down at her. “Are you okay?”
The tip of her tongue peeked out again, taunting me. “Yeah, uh, you sent a shiver down my spine.”
“Good shiver or bad shiver?”
Her lashes lowered. “Good.” Too right.
Thanks to the blood roaring in my head, I couldn’t think, couldn’t remember all the reasons I should let her go, the reasons I couldn’t hold her like this, the reasons to walk away. I repeated the shiver-inducing caress, and she whimpered.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that, Abbie.”
Her voice was soft. Barely discernible over the music. “Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to misbehave, and we've already misbehaved enough for one party.”
Her brows furrowed before she met my gaze again. “You’re trouble, you know that?”
“You wouldn’t be the first person to tell me that.” But she would be the first who mattered. What the hell was wrong with me? I barely knew her, but I was already risking too much just to spend a little more time in her presence. I needed to get a serious grip.
With the song fading in the distance, my brain exerted a final defensive maneuver and won the battle over my libido. Gently, I set her away from me. “Thank you for the dance, Abbie. I’m sorry about the kiss. It won’t happen again.”
Then I turned around and deliberately walked away.
15
Abbie…
I stumbled several steps before I found my footing. The instant I’d left the warm cocoon of Lex’s arms, I felt empty, and that scared me. And he wasn’t mine to hold onto.
Unable to find my friends with a quick scan, I sidled up to the bar, looking for a good viewing spot. I signaled the bartender and asked for water.
“Hello, Little Bird.”
I jumped as the voice whispered over my consciousness. I whirled around. Sure enough, Xander leaned against the wall. Clutching my hand to my chest, I asked, “What are you doing here?”
His smile was wry as the corners of his eyes crinkled. “I could ask you the same thing. Are you here to pilfer my photography gig?”
It was only then that I noticed the camera around his neck. “Oh, you’re working.” Who was Lex that he could afford a photographer of Xander’s caliber just for his birthday? “Not poaching, I swear. I’m here for the party.”
He chuckled softly. “You can relax. I’m only having a bit of fun with you.” He nodded toward Lex. “I saw you dancing with the birthday boy.”
I silently thanked God for the low light in the bar, because it meant that my sudden flush was hidden. “I, uh, yeah.”
“You know him well?” His question was almost too soft to be heard over the din of the rap song Jasper played.
I shook my head. “No. Not really. We just met recently.”
“Pretty saucy dance for two people who just met.”
I frowned. The dragon that was my temper woke from a long slumber and stretched its talons. Though cooler heads prevailed, and I remembered Xander was my teacher. I cleared my throat and searched the crowd for Max or Sophie. “No, not really.”
“Not from what I could see at this vantage point. As you know, the camera never lies.”
Had he photographed us dancing? What had my face looked like with Lex’s hips pressed into mine? If it reflected what I’d been feeling at the time, euphoric desire and a little giddiness, then I was in trouble. “You’ll need an artist release to use that.” I couldn’t put my finger on why, but Xander’s being there irked me. His butting in irked me even more. Something else about him bothered me too. Maybe it was his air of overconfidence, but something about him pushed my buttons, and I had to resist the urge to toss my drink at him. That would have been a waste of perfectly good water.
“That I would, if I intended to use it for anything.”
Through gritted teeth, I asked, “So how do you know Alexi?”
Xander grinned. “Alexi is it?” He smirked. “I used to throw away his dirty nappies.”
Confused, I blinked.
His sudden laugh transformed his face, making him even better looking, but also making him approachable and less cocky. “He’s my brother.”
Brother? Well that explained the common last name. And Lex had said his brother was a photographer. But I had a feeling he’d deliberately not told me about Xander. Granted, probably many a girl got close to Lex hoping to brush against fame or something.
Now that I looked closely, I wondered how the hell I could have missed it. Alexi cocked his head the same way Xander did. Had the same almost-smiling uptick of his lips. And their bone structure was similar as well. Except Xander’s eyes leaned toward dark slate, and Alexi’s were a soft silver. “Oh. Small world, I guess.”
“Indeed.” He continued to study me. But again, his scrutiny wasn’t sexual… exactly. At least I didn’t think it was.
I stood there, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot to distribute my weight in the killer heels. I wanted to appear nonchalant, but he unsettled me. “What? Why are you staring at me?”
His grin flashed. Wow. It should be illegal for him to do that in public. The simple act of smiling made him look angelic and sweet, but he was possessed of the devil’s charm.
“Relax. I already told you, I don’t sleep with students.” He shrugged. “Your face is interesting. I’m trying to figure out the best light to shoot you in.”
He thought my face was fascinating? Right. Didn’t mean I was going to let him shoot me though. “I don’t think so.”
He nodded absently. “Well, if you change your mind, I suppose you know where to find me.”
“I suppose I do.” I began to wonder exactly how many of his students he’d ‘photographed.’
His next question surprised me.
“What do you want with my brother?”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. “Excuse me?”
“My brother—what do you want with him?”
Bewildered, I sputtered. “I—I don’t want anything from him. I barely know the guy. It was just a dance.”
Xander’s eyes were stormy as he leaned into my space. He smelled like Lex. They apparently had the same taste in unique cologne. The scent swirled around me, and I had to shake my head to clear it.
“Bullshit. I can see it on his face. You intrigue him. Let me do you a favor and give you some advice. Steer clear of him.”
Heat prickled my arm. “I’m sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, I only need to take your advice in the classroom. Outside of it, I can take care of myself.”
He cocked a brow. “Who said I was worried about you?”
With open-mouthed shock, I could only stare as Xander sauntered off to join the throngs on the dance floor. He was immediately joined by a blonde and a brunette, each vying for his attention.
Who did he think he was? I had a father, and I didn’t need to take love advice from my professor, who looked more like a player than any teacher I’d ever seen. And if he wanted to steer me away from Lex, he’d seriously miscalculated and just done the one thing likely to make me run toward his brother.
Be smart.
The problem was I knew what was smart. But the moment Alexi had kissed me, something shifted inside me, and I couldn’t go back.
Lex…
I forced my legs to move in the opposite direction of where Abbie stood. I needed to get as far away from her as possible. And I needed to start using my brain, right fucking now. If that fucking paparazzo had gotten a picture of my face, I was royally screwed. Not to mention the shitter I'd just put Gemma in.
I scanned the crowd for her and eventually spotted her chestnut mane by the chocolate fountain. She was deep in conversation with another woman. Even as I battled the crowd to get to my supposed fiancée, I felt her eyes on me. It wouldn’t help me keep my head if she kept staring at me like that
. “Hey, Gem, can I talk to you for a minute?”
She smiled up at me as I pulled her aside. “Yeah, Sure. Where did you vanish off to? For a minute, I thought you'd left the party, but I noticed Nick was still here.”
Unable to meet her gaze, I muttered, “Look, Gem, we have a problem.”
She arched a delicate dark brow. “Out with it, Lex.”
“I was on the roof. There was a paparazzo up there.”
“Are you serious?” She rolled her eyes. “They are such a pain in the ass. I'll go talk to the owner right away. You shouldn’t have to deal with that shit on your birthday. Can't they just fucking leave you alone, for once? It's not like you were up there doing lines of coke or anything.” She frowned. “Were you?”
I blinked once, then again. “No. Fuck. No. Nothing like that, but, uh, there was a girl.”
Gemma blinked at me and nodded. “Sophie's friend?”
She’d seen us dancing at Jasper’s party last weekend and had pestered me for days until I’d told her about Abbie. “Yeah. She was up there with me, talking.” I shifted from foot to foot and jammed my hands in my pockets. “There might have been snogging.”
Gemma's eyes widened, and she grinned. Then, as if dawning slowly crept in, her smile fell and she muttered. “Did he get a picture?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t fucking know. Soon as I saw the camera, I got her out of there as quickly as possible.”
“Damn it.”
I exhaled as ice settled in my gut. “Yeah. I don’t know when, but it's going to blow up in our faces. She doesn’t look anything like you, Gems. It's going to get all kinds of ugly.” Of all the stupid moves. All because I'd wanted something real just for a minute, I'd put Gemma and her life up for exposure.
“Any chance she called them herself?”
I shook my head. “Unlikely. I don’t think she has a clue who I am. I only just met her.”
Gemma frowned, her ruby red lips pursing. “I don't know. Max or Sophie could have said something. She wouldn’t be the first girl to use you to get herself some publicity.”
Involuntarily, I glanced in Abbie's direction. She was leaning over the DJ booth saying something to Jasper, and the poor bloke looked enthralled. It made me want to hit something. “She's American. She has nothing to do with them. I'm sure of it.” I hoped.
Gemma studied me. “If you’re sure. But we should probably make a point to leave together.”
The weight that had been temporarily lifted while I was up on the roof shifted and slithered back onto my shoulders again. I'd never minded Gemma's cover before. But now it felt like a tightening noose around my neck.
16
Abbie…
I woke to the smell of fried eggs. My nostrils flared just as my stomach rolled. From somewhere in the distance, I heard a voice talking to me, and it was getting closer. “You're a dark horse. You'd better get up and tell me all about it.”
I rolled over and covered my head with a pillow. The only thing about the morning that I was at all thankful for was the grey and dreary weather outside. Perfect light to shoot in, if I could lift my head out of bed. “Faith, please I'm begging you to go away.”
“I can't, love. What's that old black and white sitcom? ‘You’ve got some 'splainin to do.’”
“Faith, my head feels like I've swallowed an entire herd of elephants whole and they're running around playing polo in my skull.” I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “Tastes like it too.”
Faith just laughed. “That, my dear, is your first London hangover. It's to be celebrated. C'mon. Get up. I made breakfast. You’ll feel better once you eat and have a Guinness.”
I peeked out from under the pillow and duvet. “Guinness? You really think it's a good idea for me to drink again?”
“Well, I'm not asking you to get wasted again. You're a lightweight. I mean, you only had what, the two shots of sake?”
“Don’t forget the stupid absinthe. I switched to water after that.”
Faith's brow furrowed. “Yeah. Lightweight.”
“God, what are you? Part Irish?” I grumbled.
“Now that you mention it, my mum is half Irish. Now get up. I know you want to sleep all day. But you told me yesterday you have work to do. Besides, I'm dying to hear about you and that smoking guy you were talking to at the bar. Sophie already filled me in. I can’t believe I missed such a great party.”
Eventually, I sat up and took the mug from Faith. I took a tentative sip. The bitter, fizzy liquid burned my tongue and throat, but the moment it hit my stomach, the rumbling and nausea quieted. I stared into the mug, surprised.
Faith just smirked. “Told you so. See, not all that bad.”
“I can’t believe that actually worked.”
After dragging myself out of bed and a quick round in the bathroom with my toothbrush and mouthwash, I felt marginally better. Not to mention, I was starving. When I padded into the kitchen, the duvet clutched around me and my bunny slippers shuffling, I parked myself on one of the stools at the island. Faith placed a heaping plate of fried eggs, sausage and baked beans with toast in front of me. “Damn, Faith, you didn’t have to make so much food. And you didn’t have to cook for me.”
“Well, I wanted to celebrate your first hangover morning. And I remembered your mushroom allergy. And don’t get used to this. It's about the only thing I can cook.”
“Thank you for remembering. And don't worry. I can handle cooking.”
Faith grinned. “I remember from school. If it hadn’t been for you, I might have starved in Uni.”
I tucked into the feast and nearly moaned with pleasure as I chewed my sausage. “Faith, this is exactly what I needed.”
“Glad to hear it. Now spill. I want all the details.”
I had already made up my mind to keep things with Lex on the down low. At least for now. It was probably nothing anyway. Just a one-night kismet kind of thing. And to be frank, I was so not ready for it to be anything anyway. “Not much to tell. I had too much to drink.” I pointed at my head with my fork. “Hung out on the rooftop for a bit. The guy at the bar was actually Xander Chase. He was there to photograph the party.”
Faith scowled. “Xander Chase was there in person? And I missed it to stay home and plan for the new Calice product? Coffee-flavored Vodka, yuck. Please tell me there was snogging.”
Oh God. “What? Between me and Xander? No!” I laughed.
“Bit of a shame though. From the pictures I’ve seen of him, he’s well fit.”
“There is that word again. I get the feeling I'm taking it in the wrong context.”
Faith frowned. “What? Fit?”
“Yes. What the hell does it mean? Jasper told me I looked fit yesterday. I of course responded with ‘Thanks, I’ve been working out.’ And he just laughed at me like I was crazy.”
Faith laughed, causing her dimples to appear. “It means you're hot.”
“Oh. Okay. Well. Then of course Jasper thought I was nuts. He’s a hell of a DJ, by the way.”
Faith giggled. “And apparently that crush of his is the real deal. Sophie says he talks about you all the time.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Oh, I think he’s like that with all the girls. It has nothing to do with me, I promise you.”
“Jasper is shameless and a bit of a tramp. But he's lovely outside of all his ridiculous flirting.”
“I'll take your word for it.” Then as subtly as I could, I added, “So what do you know about Alexi and Nick? They seem nice enough. And as you put it, they’re both well fit.” Yeah, real smooth.
“I don’t know much about them. All I know is they’re part of the R&B set.”
I was going to have to play catch up on the British slang, otherwise I'd never be able to understand my friends. “R&B?”
“Well, depending on who you talk to, it’s either the rich and beautiful set or the rich and bratty set.”
I raised my eyebrows. I’d gotten the feel of wealth around hi
m, but I didn’t know it was a thing. “Come to mention it, last night was kind of a big baller night. It was like something out of Sophia Ritchie’s diary or something.”
“Welcome to rolling with Sophie.” Faith laughed. “I don’t go out too much with her friends, but every time we do, a celebrity sighting is nearly guaranteed. There are no lines, the men are beautiful, and the access is insane. I like to keep things a little more grounded though.”
So, Faith wouldn’t be able to help me with the scoop. Not like I needed the inside track to know Alexi wasn’t interested in me really.
I shook my head and focused on my friend. “Enough about last night. How is Mr. Irishman doing?”
Faith’s smile widened. “I get to see Liam in a couple of weeks. So far, so good. We’re just starting this long-distance thing. In fact, this visit will be our test run to see if it works. Right now, we’re in the hazy long-distance-lust fog. You know when you have Skype sex all the time and you’re in love.”
I laughed. “No, I don’t know about that, but I imagine I’ll live every breathtaking moment with you… except for the Skype sex of course, because that would make for really awkward flatmate dinners later.”
“So what's on the agenda today?” Faith asked as she started to clear her dishes.
“I want to get started on my photo assignment and explore the city a little. Want to come with and be my London guide?”
Faith looked out the window and studied the gloomy sky. “Sorry, love, I actually have to go into work today. I have a meeting with a client later this afternoon, which means I get to order coffee then stand around with my thumb up my arse as my boss takes credit for my work.”
“Ooh, sorry. I’ll try to have some fun for you too.” I had an assignment to ace.
Lex…
I couldn't explain it, but I was nervous.
It was now or never. It was officially my birthday. I was twenty-five years old. And about to be free of the old man.