by S. Ann Cole
Whoa. I was baffled. But my heart softened at his words, and I willed my eyes to tell him that I desired him, too. Just that I couldn’t be with him. Judging by the intense feelings I felt for him now, I’d probably fall for him and he’d hurt me, no doubt. I couldn’t lay my heart out like that again. “And what makes you believe I’m not in love with Zane?”
“Because you wouldn’t look at me the way you do, just like you’re looking at me right now. And you wouldn’t react the way you do whenever I touch you. If my touches weren’t for you, they wouldn’t make you melt. If my kisses weren’t for you, they wouldn’t make you submit. You desire me. Burningly. I see it and I know it. Therefore, you could never be in love with someone else.”
He brushed his lips most gently against mine and, sighing, I closed my eyes and parted my lips, waiting for his tongue to slip inside. But he didn’t enter. Drunk on desire, I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. “Stop fighting, Axia, and give me you.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” I whispered.
“How so?”
Because I don’t know what a normal relationship is like. Because I don’t know how to be a normal girl. Because I’m scared. Because I don’t want to. Because you might break me down. Because there is a lot of ‘because’. “Because … I don’t remember how…”
“Let me show you.”
“But I don’t want to…”
“Why?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Two maids came out with our breakfast just then, but neither of us paid them any attention. With nimble hands they arranged the food on the table and were gone as soon as they came.
“Love … I just don’t want to, okay? Would you stop pressuring me, please? I can’t … I can’t take it anymore.”
Lovello sighed and sat back in his chair, resigned. “Okay, fine. Well, let’s talk as friends then. Tell me, what is it that makes you so reluctant?”
Surrounding my ensuing silence was the soft cooing of the wind and the ruffling of tree leaves. A nimiety of tiny yellow butterflies fluttered about in the garden, and on the wind traveled the distant chirping of the birds. I’d forgotten how much I used to love sitting out on this patio with my mother. And when Zane came over, we’d take blankets and wander down to the far corner of the backyard behind the gazebo, laying in the grass talking about and doing things that a normal young couple shouldn’t. This home held a lot of memories and I’d never felt more peace anywhere than I felt here.
In contemplation of answering Lovello’s question, I closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I just don’t want anyone. I like my own way, you like your own way, it just wouldn’t work.”
Lovello revealed a slow, sexy smile. “That’s easy to solve. In the end, I’d be the one getting my way. And you’d be the one submitting.”
“Ha! Never going to happen!”
“I wasn’t asking you to marry me, you know. Believe me, that’s not my scene. I just thought we could have some dirty fun,” he said laughing.
“Lovello, I’m not dating you. I’m not sleeping with you. I’m not doing anything with you. Got it?”
He held his hands up in surrender. “And I said fine. As much as I want you, this chase is tiring. So I won’t ask you anymore. But I hope we can at least be friends.”
I was wary of his easy resignation. A minute ago he was all about the ‘soul’ and the ‘flesh’, and now, with only two denials, he was stepping down from the podium, hands in surrender? Either I didn’t trust him, or I was disappointed that he’d resigned. “Oh, not the old ‘let’s be friends’ trick, where later down the line you try to seduce me?” There was hope in that question.
Lovello chortled. “No. I’m serious. I won’t pester you anymore. But being friends means I get to be around you and converse with you, sans you shouting or fighting at me … unless you want to shout and fight with me in a different kinda way…”
“I don’t trust you.”
“What don’t you trust?” He freed my ankles from the chair legs, and I suddenly felt bereft. “See? Hands free. Trust me now?”
It was rather conflicting and frustrating that I didn’t want him, yet I liked having him so close to me, touching me, seducing me. Suffering the urgent need to feel contact with his body again, I awkwardly let my hand rest on his jeans-covered knee, moving my thumb back and forth. “Yes.”
Albeit showing a slight frown, he didn’t comment on my first ever volunteered touch. “Great. My brother’s here also and we’re going to a bike show later. I want you to come with me.”
“Bike shows are not my scene.”
“So what do you plan on doing today? It’s Saturday.”
“I plan on doing nothing but laying around and watching crap T.V.”
Lovello shook his head. “No. Just come with me. You’ll get to see me on a bike,” he smugged. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
Stifling a smile, I scoffed instead. “I’m tired of telling you to get over yourself, Pretty Boy. I’m saying no. How will you not take it for an answer?”
Lifting his lips in a crooked smile, he reached out his hand and smoothly trailed the tips of his fingers from the sensitive spot behind my ear, all the way down my neck, and lingered at my collarbone. At the awakening touch, my nipples puckered beneath my T-shirt and my eyes lowered halfway shut. “I can seduce a yes out of you. But I know you don’t want that. So it’s best to just do this the easy way.”
When I didn’t answer, he leaned forward and placed his hand on my bare thigh. My shorts were extremely short, not to mention ripped and ragged, and my legs were just there, naked. In slow movements, he drifted his hand further and further up my thigh. “Do you want me to force a yes out of you, Axia?”
The feel of his warm hand on my bare skin was sensitizing, and as his hand traveled further up, I leaned back in the chair and gripped the handles, because heat had settled right there between my legs. And for reasons I can’t explain, I didn’t want him to stop touching me. So much that I almost muttered the words ‘don’t stop’. I peered at him through hooded eyes, and the sonuvabitch was so damn sexy I had to tighten my grip on the chair handles to prevent myself from attacking him right there on the patio. When his hand was almost at the height of my thighs, unable to help it, I shifted and opened my legs wider.
At this, Lovello stopped and his hand left me. My eyes flew fully open to meet him staring straight at me. No expression. “Say yes.”
“Yes to what?” The breathiness of my voice made me realize that I’d been holding my breath, waiting for him to touch me where I desired him the most. And the bastard had stopped.
Lovello raised a brow. “You forgot what we were talking about already?”
“Huh?”
He chortled lightly. “To the bike show, Axia.”
“Oh. Okay. Yes.” My voice was barely audible.
Satisfied, Pretty Boy Nelson gave me a dazzling smile. “Good. I’ll pick you up at noon. Gotta go now. I have a meeting in thirty minutes.”
He stood up, but then placed his hands over my hands that were still gripping the chair handles and leaned down to my face, his breath hot and minty, his scent being of clean linen and male. All male. “Now, Axia, I want you to remember that you’ve turned me down. And I’ve settled for friendship. No biggie,” he shrugged. “So after this very second, we’ll be just friends. Okay? Only friends.”
“What do you —”
“See you at noon, Axia,” he sliced, straightening abruptly.
From his jacket pocket he retrieved his shades, then put them on at such a slow and leisurely pace that I felt as if I were watching a hot ass commercial for Ray-Ban aviators.
“Lovello, I —”
“Noon, friend. Ta-ta.” And with that, he was gone. Leaving me there on the chair aroused, bereft and confused.
VIII
Noon came a little too soon. After a very cold shower, I’d casually dressed into tight black jeans and a purple V-cut top that revealed quite a bit of cleavage.
At the sound of the doorbell I leaped off the bed a little too excitedly, then immediately frowned at my reaction. Not wanting to admit to myself that I was awaiting Lovello’s arrival with an eager breath at the prospect of seeing him again, or rather, feeling him again, I convinced myself that the doorbell had merely surprised me because I’d unknowingly dosed off.
Tossing my messenger bag across my shoulder, I wrenched open my room door and started for the stairs. Soft mumblings traveled from the foyer, so I stopped and peered over the corridor banisters. Lovello was standing in the foyer looking every bit as tempting as he did a few hours ago, and the pretty blonde maid, Lynn, was standing in front of him, her hands twisting behind her back as she swayed from side to side like a shy five–year-old waiting patiently for her reward of a promised chocolate chip cookie.
They were talking in low voices so I couldn’t hear what was being said, but the look on Lovello’s face was the flirtatious one he used on the women at the gym, and Lynn was all shy smiles and lip biting. My features arranged themselves in a scowl, and at that moment, Lovello, as if sensing me, flicked his eyes up to the corridor and saw me peering down at them. His lips lifted in a smile but I didn’t return one. I continued down the stairs instead.
By the time I got to the foot of the stairs, Romaine strolled through the front door. Lynn’s face blushed as red as beetroot, which made Romaine frown and glance between her and Lovello in suspicion.
That made me smirk at her. “Which one do you want? The millionaire or the billionaire?”
Lynn’s face paled in mortification. She peeked up at Romaine longingly through her lashes then ducked her head and scurried away.
Romaine glowered at me. “Why did you do that?”
A glower was returned as I gestured to Lovello. “Because, as you can see, you’ve got competition here, Baby Face.”
Romaine eyed Lovello up and down in cool assessment, then snorted. “No I don’t.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. I’d forgotten just how confident my hotshot brother was. He wasn’t intimidated by anyone and was acutely aware of his good looks and striking features. And whenever he went after a girl, he always won.
By this time, I’d earned another glower, but this one was from Lovello.
Romaine cast Lovello a cold side glance then shot his eyes back to me and said, “Keep your shaggy, tongue-hanging dog on his leash, will ya?”
“What? He’s not my —”
“I don’t wanna hear it, hermana,” he snapped as he stormed off in Lynn’s direction. The fact that he was so touchy about Lynn told me she was more to him than just another maid conquest. Well that’s a first. But the sneaky wench was flirting with my Pretty Boy, so …
Lovello continued glowering at me and I returned a narrowed glare. “You’ve been here for less than five minutes and already there’s anarchy.”
“If anyone’s stirred up anything, Axia, it was you. You seriously need to stop.” He strode to the door and held it open.
In a huff I stomped through it. “Me? I should stop? You’re the one who came into my house flirting with the staff!”
The door closed behind me and he stalked up to my side, holding my pace with his long, manly strides. “I wasn’t flirting. She told me I had really nice lips and I merely acknowledged her compliment.”
“Sounded like a heck of a lot more than that to me.”
“What did you hear?”
Nothing. That’s the whole point. I couldn’t hear anything and it irks me!
When I marched down the steps in silence, he chuckled. “If you’d heard the things spoken, then you’d know that all I told her was that I thought her outfit was cute.”
I held back a laugh. “Lovello, she’s in a plain black and white maid outfit.”
He shrugged. “Well, that’s all I liked. It’s short and cute. But I wasn’t attracted. Therefore, I wasn’t flirting.” He chuckled again. “Though I almost started flirting with your brother.”
My laugh manifested itself this time, and I couldn’t suppress it. “Is this the part where you tell me you swing both ways?”
He was clearly enjoying himself. Damn, he’s like July sunshine when he laughs. “What? I just thought he was … what do you girls say?”
“Hot?”
Pretty Boy’s grin widened. “Yeah, hot.”
He continued smiling as he held open the door to a sleek, silver sports car. One of those dream cars that guys have for their wallpaper on their computer or mobile phone screen. It was damned sexy, and I think I liked the sharp contours of it more than his Bugatti Veyron. Once I folded into the low silver baby, Lovello closed the door and rounded to the driver’s side.
On the center of the steering wheel there was a crest with the word Zenvo printed into the black leather. “Zenvo…” I mused.
Lovello drew his attention away from buckling his seat belt and flashed me a kiddish smile. “Yep. Zenvo ST1.”
“Hmm … You seem to have a thing for sports cars. Typical twenty-eight-year-old rich kid’s taste.”
“And you seem to have a thing for big, manly jeeps. Typical twenty-five-year-old control-craver.” His tone sounded a bit acerbic as if he were affronted.
I drew my attention from the touch-screen monitor I was messing around with and cut my eyes over to him. “Love, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just musing.”
He revved the car and started creeping off the complex. “Sure you were.”
Ignoring his snit, I sat back in my seat and waited for his panties to untwist themselves.
“Are we going to be toeing like this all day?” he asked in a voice heavy with sulk as soon as we were on the main road.
“You tell me,” I murmured, picking at my nails. “You’re the one who seems to have a thong chafing your ass.”
Lovello compressed his lips, and instead of answering he leaned forward, tapping a few icons on the monitor until Maroon 5’s Stutter began pouring through the car speakers. At the choice of song I arched an eyebrow at him, but he simply bit his lower lip and mashed the gas. The car literally felt as if it lifted off the ground as it flew down the main.
Minutes later Lovello swerved the car to an outside arena with streams of tents and bikers, and hundreds of people wandering about. He pulled up where a cohort of guys were slumped idly over their bikes, chatting and swigging beers. One of the guys I recognized as his brother, Natalio. Switching off the ignition, Lovello stretched over to the glove compartment, took out two black ball caps and thrust one to me. “Put this on. Sun’s gonna be scorching.” His tone was flat, making it difficult to tell if he was still sulking or not.
Whilst eying him closely for any clue of his mood, I fixed the cap on my head, pulling my ponytail through the gap. Lovello ran his long fingers through his untamed hair repeatedly, trying to rake the wild strands into submission before hauling on the cap, all the while staring straight out of the windshield, while I stared at him. Without looking at me, he snapped, “What, Axia?”
“Are your thongs still chafing, Pretty Boy?” I struggled not to laugh. “We could always switch undies if you like. Or…” I dragged out. “I could just give you mine and go panty-less. Might it make you feel better knowing I’m not wearing any undies? Or will it fog up that sex-crazed little brain of yours and send you into a tizzy?”
On a heavy breath, he turned his heated eyes to me. “Axia…”
“Friends, remember?”
“But you just —”
“Friends,” I repeated, biting back a smile.
At that, he smirked. “Oh. Yes. Friends.” He opened the car door and hopped out. “C’mon, friend. Let’s go.”
We started towards the group of men, and Lovello stuffed his hands inside the front pockets of his jeans. It occurred to me then that he hadn’t touched me, not even for a second, since he came to pick me up. The realization made me eye him suspiciously.
Once we caught up with the group, a burly, tattooed hunk groaned and grumbled, “Both Nelsons today? Shit.�
� Again he groaned, more exaggerated this time, and took a long swig of his beer. “Guess I’mma have to settle for third place, huh?”
Natalio chuckled, likewise Lovello.
“Guys, meet my friend, Axia. She’ll be sporting with us today.”
A few of the guys leered at me, looking a bit dazed. Others gawked at Lovello in disbelief while Natalio raised a brow at Lovello, no doubt surprised to see his whore of a brother out with the same woman twice.
A slender, buzz-cut guy looked at me with sympathetic eyes and said, “Don’t worry, sweet thing. You’ll get through it. That’s just how life is, shit happens sometimes.”
Bewilderment marred my face. “Huh?”
“I don’t know what it is, because we’ve just met. But I’m sure you must be going through something painful or life-threatening for this walking, talking dick to stroll in here with his hands in his pockets and call a creature as breathtaking as you his friend. Is it cancer? Doctor said you only got a couple of months to live? Someone just died for you? You murdered someone? Going through depression? PTSD? HIV-positive? What is it?”
Never before had I felt such a deep urge to laugh, I simply couldn’t help it. Laughter howled from me and I slapped my palms on my thighs and doubled over, releasing hard, cathartic laughter. Why was it so funny to me? I had no idea. All I knew was that I was laughing so hard that everyone else started laughing. It was one of those moments when your ridiculous laughter was funnier than the joke itself. When I glanced up at Lovello through watery eyes, he was grinning down at me with wonder.
Seeing that I was unable to respond to the man, Lovello did that for me. “No, jackass. None of the above. She doesn’t want me. It’s that simple.”