A Kiss of Color: A BWWM Interracial Romance (Book 1)

by Cristina Grenier

  Xavier took one look at the shock on her face and burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. She looked so goddamn taken aback – like she’d never be able to believe in a million years that such a thing could possibly happen to her - that his nervousness evaporated and all that was left was amusement.

  Helena’s expression quickly changed from one of surprise to mortification, and Xavier was forced to stifle his mirth. God forbid she believe that he was laughing at her. “Is it that funny?”

  When two bright spots of color appeared high on her cheeks, the young man quickly switched gears. At any rate, she wasn’t crying anymore, which, in his mind, meant that he should take the plunge. “No. What’s funny is that you seem to have no idea how ridiculously gorgeous you are.” Helena immediately sprang to her feet, staring down at him as if he’d sprouted another head.

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  Well, that was not the reaction he had expected. Call him spoiled, but most of the time, when Xavier hit on a woman, she all but killed herself trying to get close to him. Helena seemed to be doing the exact opposite. “Not that last time I checked.” His words had a slightly sarcastic edge and the woman before him merely sighed, shaking her head as she bent to gather the books he’d brought her.

  “Look: Thanks for bringing me my books, but I have to go. I’m late for a tutoring session.”

  Oh no. Hell no. He wasn’t going to let her get away this time. As she breezed through the front entrance of the art building, Xavier sprang up to follow her. “Helena, wait!” He fell into step beside her, his long stride just keeping up with her despite her tiny stature. “Hold on a second!”

  “I told you, I’m late.” Her tone was curt when she spoke – and she didn’t even spare him the slightest of glances. She seemed completely recovered from whatever it was that her mother had done to her and had now shut herself off completely.

  “Well, can I get your number? Can I give you my number?” He knew he should be embarrassed by how desperate he sounded, but he didn’t know if he would ever see her again. She might try to make sure that they didn’t run into one another after this little incident, and he’d like to avoid that if at all possible.

  All at once, the young woman stopped in her tracks, whirling to face him with a queer mixture of exasperation and frustration on her face. “Why the hell would you want my number? You’re fucking Xavier Thompson! You could have literally any woman you wanted! I am no one. Absolutely no one! And my mother…” She trailed off, her eyes suddenly just as haunted as they’d been in the wake of her little tiff with the woman supposed to be her own flesh and blood. Helena’s little outburst made Xavier’s eyes widen.

  Was that really what she thought of herself? If that was the case, he was sorely tempted to tell her just how frequently she’d invaded his thoughts the past week after he’d seen her a measly single time. How much her face had popped up the moment he closed his eyes and just how many times he’d woken hard and aching from dreams of her lush, chocolate hued skin sliding against his own.

  But that would be highly inappropriate. Instead, he answered her accusation with a much more subtle version of the truth. “I don’t really care about your mom. I would, however, like to get to know you….if that’s alright.”

  He watched her guarded expression, waiting with bated breath for her reply. Xavier knew he couldn’t be imagining the touch of intrigue he saw in her gaze. For some reason, it intrigued him far more that she didn’t fall at his feet and beg to be ravished. She wasn’t going to make things easy for him.

  And he loved a challenge.

  “I’m busy.” He cursed inwardly as she came up with yet another excuse. “I have a ton of work to do before exams, and then I have to start preparing for practice exams. I don’t have any time for…guys.” She turned to begin across the campus once more, and at that point, Xavier accepted that he was going to have to go to extreme measures to gain her attention.

  Breaking into a light jog, he caught up with her once more. “I see you take Organic Chemistry.” How could anyone miss it? It was the thickest volume that she carried with her, and he’d be willing to bet that it was half her weight. “I’m taking Chemistry, and I suck at it. I could use a tutor.”

  This time, when the young woman ground to a halt, she fixed him with a skeptical look. “You’re taking Chemistry? As a grad student?”

  He shrugged, trying for a convincing smile. “I thought it might interest me, and now it’s too late to drop.” It was utter bullshit, but it seemed that academics was a language that Helena seemed much more comfortable with than flirtation. Her eyes narrowed as she assessed him.

  “You’re talking about a study session, you realize that? And if I were to help you, there won’t be any BS, Xavier.” Hefting her books under one arm, she lifted a finger to poke into his chest. “I told you, I don’t have any time for dating. Which means I’m not going to be the latest in your long line of conquests.”

  He winced at the remark. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to shake that particular persona, it would always follow him. Part of being a Thompson, he supposed. But, her comment aside, she almost sounded like she was agreeing to tutor him.

  Which would give him the opportunity to see her again for as long as he could continue the charade. Sticking out his hand, he made a show of keeping his face open and free of any lasciviousness…which was hard when she was standing so close to him that he could feel the warmth of her incredible body. “Understood. We can shake on it. How’s every Monday in the library?”

  The young woman eyed him warily for a moment more before shaking his hand dutifully. Her skin was soft, but her grip was firm, belaying the strength in her small frame. “Fine. I’ll see you Monday then.”

  The warmth of her touch still lingering against his palm, Xavier watched her arrange her books once more before turning back towards the science building. He would admit that he took far too much pleasure watching the sway of her behind as she left him, but the moment she was out of sight, his mind turned to less alluring matters.

  Her mother.

  The woman trespassing had been Helena’s mother – and if that was the case, then it was very apparent that their relationship was dysfunctional, to say the least. Of course, he didn’t plan on telling anyone about what he’d seen, but what if the woman returned? He couldn’t help but think that Helena wasn’t very safe if that was how her mother acted when she thought they were alone.

  Kicking at the grass before him, he shoved his hands into his pockets before starting in the direction of the library.

  It was none of his goddamn business. If he were in his right mind, he would wonder why he cared so much. The problem was: Xavier wasn’t in his right mind. There was something about Helena that bowled over his rational thoughts with pure, unbridled want – not only for her body, but also for her safety.

  And that was certainly something he’d never experienced.

  Chapter Three: Compatibility

  “I cannot believe you are tutoring Xavier Thompson.”

  Helena couldn’t believe that this was the thirtieth time her roommate had mentioned the fact in the last hour. When Magda had asked where she’d gone after class – as she usually came straight home to study on Monday nights – Helena had been forced to tell her about the arrangement she’d made with Xavier, and her roommate had hit the roof.

  She herself wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about the deal they’d made.

  Xavier was absolutely hopeless when it came to mathematical science. One would think that being an IT guy, math and science would be his thing. However, after their first session, it was painfully apparent that the young woman had her work cut out for her. Even the simplest chemistry concepts were like a foreign language to him – and so she had to teach him like she would a student half her age, instead of a man four years her senior.

  Indeed, his difficulties seemed almost comical. For about half of their hour session, she’d found herself on the edge of laughter
, the other half on the edge of losing her temper. Overlaying the whole situation was the inexorable pull of attraction she felt towards the man. If she’d thought it might fade because she was supposed to be concentrated on Chemistry, she’d been sorely mistaken.

  For sixty minutes, he was seated perilously close to her in the privacy of one of the library’s small studying enclaves. Every time his shoulder had brushed hers, she’d forgotten balancing chemical equations and instead had marveled at the strength of his arms concealed beneath a long-sleeved sweater. How the hell did a nerd get arms like that?

  How the hell did a programmer get to be so goddamn attractive anyway?

  She supposed he did have good genes. His father was a media darling, and Xavier did share with him the same strong facial features and deep mahogany hair. However, where Garret Thompson was never seen with anything less than a deep tan and was always perfectly shaved and coiffed, his son had an entirely different sense of style. His skin was paler, and he liked a thin layer of stubble covering his jaw. His dark hair curled carelessly around his forehead, and he sometimes sported thick framed glasses that gave him a decidedly scholarly air – even if he was absolute shit at science.

  The thought made the young woman smile slightly.

  His scent had been heavenly – some mixture of pine and spice that made her lightheaded – and every time he spoke, it was a struggle not to stare at the fullness of his beautiful mouth….and all the ridiculousness it spouted.

  He had asked for her number.

  The memory was enough to thoroughly blow her mind. Not only that, but he thought she was gorgeous. Xavier Thompson thought she was gorgeous.

  She figured it had to be a line he was used to using on girls. After all, there were very few women who wouldn’t bend over backwards for a date with Xavier. Wherever he went on campus, he was flocked by gaggles of women hungry for the mere sight of him. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before.

  Once upon a time, Helena had been so absorbed in her studies that she hadn’t been very aware of their university celebrity at all. Now, he was all that was on her mind. The man was infuriating. Persistent, invasive, and apparently spoiled. He was hopeless as a tutee and, most detrimental of all, he knew about her mother.

  The thought turned her mouth down as she remembered all too vividly what had happened between her and Janette. Absently, she reached up to her shoulder, where bruises from the encounter were slowly fading.

  How long had it been since she’d seen her mother before that little encounter? Close to a year, she would say. Somehow, in her little bubble of academic aspiration, she’d managed to push her mother and their distorted relationship to the back of her mind. Unlike her father, whose presence and death were at the forefront of her consciousness every day, she didn’t like to remember her and her mother’s issues.

  Their history.

  In all the strength she’d gained since she’d left the woman’s house, Janette herself still remained Helena’s one weakness. If Xavier hadn’t come, it was not unlikely that she would have let the woman drag her from the campus. That wasn’t to say that she would have abandoned her studies to do as she demanded, but certainly, Janette wouldn’t have left without a fight.

  But then, Xavier had appeared. To both her shame and relief, he had arrived in time to prevent a gigantic blow out.

  Now she just had to live with the fact that he knew who her mother was.

  Time and time again, Helena berated herself for blurting out her personal information to a complete stranger. Why had she told him? She had never, ever even thought of revealing details about her mother to any of her peers. Somehow, when Xavier had caught her at her weakest, the words had just burst from her. After so many years of hiding and pretending, they’d come out.

  Come out to the one man who made her weak with his low, assured voice and ridiculously charming smile.

  She must be out of her mind.

  “So what’s it like to hang out with him?” At Magda’s fourth inquiry of the evening, Helena reluctantly gave up trying to study and snapped her book closed to fix her roommate with a withering look.

  “He’s really goddamn bad at Chemistry.” The blonde was preparing for a night out, clad in a red dress that probably used to be a tank top, with her blonde waves cascading around her like a goddess. There was a reason every man with eyes on campus wanted her – but to Magda’s credit, she only indulged about a fourth of them.

  Probably.

  “Ugh, Helena. You know that’s not what I mean! Gimme something juicy about the man! What kind of girl does he like? Who’s he dating? When’s the next big Thompson social function?”

  Helena arched a brow. It never ceased to amaze her how much a psychology major could get sucked into the material world.

  “Well, I wouldn’t know about any of those things because we didn’t talk about them, Magda.” She shot the blonde a saccharine sweet smile.

  Magda’s bright green eyes widened in affront. “You mean all you did was actually study?”

  Helena sighed, shaking her head. “Is it really so hard to believe? I mean, come on. This is me we’re talking about. I’m not a party girl, and I’m not one of his groupies.” Though she might hop on that bandwagon when she was ready to sleep at night and wondered what it might be like to have Xavier’s long, lean form next to her in bed.

  “So you’re not attracted to him, at all?” The woman strutted across the room to her with a knowing smile, leaning over Helena’s chair to envelop her roommate in a tight hug, obtrusively pressing her mostly exposed breasts against Helena’s back. “That voice of his, those eyes…that body…”

  Rolling her eyes at Magda’s dramatics, Helena merely shook her head in denial. “I have exams coming up. I’m supposed to graduate in a year! And he’s a distraction.”

  The word made Magda’s eyes light up as she released Helena, spinning around almost joyfully as she cackled with satisfied laughter. For a moment, Helena thought she’d taken leave of her senses before the woman finally faced her, her grin triumphant. “You said distraction. He distracts you. You like him.”

  Was she that obvious?

  Her face flaming, Helena rose from her desk, shaking her head as she made to pull another book from the shelf next to her bed. “Anything that keeps me from passing my exam with flying colors is a distraction. Technically, Magda, you could be classed as a distraction right now.”

  “Pffft.” The blonde shook her head, straightening the rather short hem of her dress before blowing her roommate a kiss. “Give me a break, Helena. Unless you swing that way, I’m not your type. Honestly, I don’t know a woman alive who wouldn’t be attracted to Xavier…and you, Miss ‘I Haven’t Been Laid in a Millennium’, would almost certainly be far more susceptible to his charms than someone who needs a once a week tumble.”

  Despite herself, the dark-skinned girl couldn’t help but smile at Magda’s assessment. “You mean someone like you?”

  The blonde stuck her tongue out at her roommate. “We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. So are you or are you not attracted to Xavier?”

  For about thirty seconds, Helena contemplated lying. It would certainly make her life a lot easier to deny that Xavier Thompson did something…ungodly to her senses. However, being the bookworm she was, she didn’t have a lot of girlfriends that she could talk to. She and Magda had opposing personality types. Helena was quiet while her roommate was a party girl. She was buried herself in books more often than not and Helena had to have all her lectures recorded because she hated reading. However, the opposing dynamic between them usually seemed to work. When she was forced to admit it to herself, Helena realized that Magda was the closest thing she had to a true friend.

  Which meant telling her the truth.

  With a low groan, she closed her eyes as if in pain, nodding ever so slightly. When she opened her eyes to see Magda’s reaction, she jumped to see her friend perched on the bed not two feet in front of her, brilliant
white teeth exposed in an ecstatic grin. “You like him!”

  Oh boy. She was in for it now.

  “No, no, no.” Repressing a sigh of exasperation, Helena gazed down at the equation that Xavier had attempted to complete. She didn’t think she’d seen a bigger mess in her life. It was the third session they’d had together, and between trying to teach him things he seemed intent on forgetting and fighting the urge to throw herself at him, the young woman was almost as stressed as she’d been before her exam.

  She had, of course, passed the test with a near perfect score. Her near religious studying regimen, stirred on by her desire to one day fill her father’s shoes, had made sure of it. So now that she wasn’t in the books until the wee hours of the morning every morning, she could afford to put more time and planning into her meeting with Xavier.

  Of course, no matter how much she prepared, Xavier was still a pretty hopeless case. At least, when it came to academics. When it came to being the textbook definition of arousing, Xavier got top marks. Today was the first spring day that the thermometer had inched over sixty five degrees, and so everyone on campus had taken the opportunity to bust out their warm weather wear. Girls wore miniskirts and tank tops, and guys with physiques to show off did so flagrantly.

  Xavier was a tad bit more subtle. He wore a black short-sleeved polo and casual sweatpants, but a man with a body like his couldn’t really hide it. It was a strange contrast, to see him squinting at Chemistry equations, his swarthy face concentrated behind thick rimmed glasses, his mouthwatering biceps exposed by his shirt. Helena was trying to be stern, but it was all she could do to correct his equation Xavier had muddled.

  She tried not to think about what Magda had told her. She knew her roommate was just trying to be helpful, but no sooner had Helena revealed that she was attracted to Xavier, her roommate had started trying to persuade her to seduce him. Such a thing wasn’t a viable option for a variety of reasons, the first and foremost of which being that she’d never seduced anyone in her life. The few sexual encounters she’d had were woefully one sided. She had far too little experience for a man like Xavier.