by Sotia Lazu
Whatever.
Any secret communication between the two lovebirds wasn’t her concern. Ric was at her house, planning her fall.
“Can’t let him do that.” Lexi stood again, thrust the cake toward Sarah, who barely had enough time to close her arms around it, and rushed out the door.
As she pulled it closed behind her, she heard Sarah say, “Tell me again what you did.”
They had to be arguing before she walked in. Her leaving was for the best.
Chapter Eight
Lexi was happy to discover she wasn’t totally out of practice from her cycling days in school—she rode at full speed for the entire seven blocks, and was only nearly out of breath when she burst through the front door.
She checked her appearance in the foyer mirror and waited a couple of minutes for her heart rate to return to normal. When the twin red blotches on her cheeks faded, she entered the dining room with a slow, confident stride.
Her mother was loading Edmund’s plate with vegetables, while Ric helped himself to the baked potatoes.
“I’m back.”
They all looked up, but showed no surprise. Ric must have already inserted the alien spawn in their brains and killed the human ability to display emotions in the both of them. Lexi stifled a giggle.
Edmund ruined her theory when he winced and massaged his temple. “Could you be a tad less cheerful? I have a blasted headache.”
“It’s called a hangover, darling.”
“So you said. Repeatedly.”
“Not my fault you’re developing a drinking problem.” Her mother kept piling greens on her husband’s plate.
“I don’t have a sodding drinking problem. I had a few beers with a friend.”
“Really, Joy”—Ric seemed uncomfortable—“he didn’t have that much to drink. He just had an empty stomach.”
“He still should know better at his age.” Her mother patted Edmund’s shoulder.
“You know, I don’t believe my headache has anything to do with last night,” Edmund said. “I believe it was caused by your fussing about, clanging pots, and yelling this morning. You’d think we were having royalty over.”
Lexi had the distinct feeling Edmund was about to bang his head on the table. Before he could do so, her mother turned to her. “Join us, honey.”
Ric stood and pulled out the chair next to his, and Lexi noticed an extra set of cutlery and a plate. Weird. Her mom expected her to come back for lunch?
She took her seat and graced Ric with a smile. “Thank you.” She tried to suppress a shiver of pleasure when his hand grazed her naked shoulder as he pushed the chair in place.
She noticed her mother nudging Edmund, who looked at her and nodded. What was that about?
Ric wore a rather self-satisfied smirk. Without much thought, Lexi swung her leg so the heel of her foot connected with his shin under the table. Her behavior was about two decades off, but he brought out the worst in her.
He kicked her back in the same manner… and just as hard.
The bastard kicked her.
Pretending to bring her chair closer to the table, she stretched out her leg, stepped on the toes of his trainer, and pushed down as hard as possible. Ha.
Her victory was short-lived. Quick as lightning, Ric snaked his hand under the table and clamped his fingers just above her knee like a vice.
With his other hand, he raised his glass. “Thank you, Joy.” He squeezed Lexi harder, digging his fingers into her flesh when she tried to move her leg. “I’m honored to be part of your family’s Sunday meal. It’s nice to feel included, and it means more than you can imagine. Here’s to you.” He loosened his grip on Lexi’s knee long enough for her to pull free.
“No need to thank me, sweetie. We’re happy to have you. If anything, I’m sure you had better things to do with your Sunday.” Lexi’s mom beamed at him.
“All I had planned was to sleep in until about now.” He looked a little sheepish at the confession.
Lexi’s anger boiled inside. The man was a natural actor. Well, she wasn’t going to fall for it. She made a show of ignoring the conversation around her, and shoveled mouthful after mouthful of meat, veggies, and mashed potatoes in her mouth. No one had questioned her return, and she prayed things would stay that way.
“Lexi, I forgot to ask. Was everything all right with the girls? I thought you wouldn’t be back till after lunch.” Her mother smiled, and Ric turned toward Lexi with a triumphant look in his eyes. Edmund glanced at her from over his glass as he downed some water.
That made for one hundred percent of Lexi’s prayers going unanswered today. And they said Sunday was the Lord’s day. “The girls are fine, Mom. I just thought I should be here, since Richie was invited. I mean, ’cause we work together and stuff.” Ric’s jaw didn’t give the tell-tale sign of irritation when she uttered the name he hated, so she braced herself for payback.
When it came, it was so subtle, she didn’t recognize it for what it was at first.
Ric smiled and thanked her for her consideration, before he began raving about Joy’s cooking. “I’m amazed you managed to prepare this elaborate meal on such short notice. Unless you eat like this every Sunday.” He spread his arms wide enough to indicate the two kinds of salads, steamed vegetables, baked and mashed potatoes, pasta al’ forno, and veal casserole strewn on the table.
Lexi couldn’t help but snort at his wide eyed gosh, ma’am look.
“Joy is an excellent cook,” Edmund’s said.
“I can see that.” Ric toyed with a pea, chasing it around his plate with his fork until he finally snagged it. “You’re mine, pea,” he whispered. “Say you’re mine.” His tone was light, and Edmund and Lexi’s mom cracked up.
Lexi, on the other hand, was shocked. He’d used a line from the e-Book almost verbatim. Did he know?
He couldn’t.
She sat there, watching as Ric brought the pea to his mouth, rolled out his tongue, wrapped it around the green morsel, and pried it from the fork. It was the most obscene thing ever—and would have been erotic, if she weren’t so taken aback by his words.
Ric tilted his head back a fraction and drew the pea in his mouth with a wink. “I mean, such a feast is an exotic beast to me…”
The rest of what he said was lost to her. Her mind was stuck on a loop. He’d now used that phrase twice. Coincidence? She doubted it, after his lusty words to the pea. “Exotic beast?” she asked.
“Of course. I’m used to preparing meals for one.” He reached for the platter of greens.
Her mom rushed to push the platter closer to him and jumped into the conversation.
Lexi was lost in her own thoughts. It was him. Ric was doing this. She narrowed her eyes at him. She’d kill him. Correction—she’d go all Xandra on his ass and rip his stupid head off, come next full moon. Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out the hows and whys.
How could he know she’d find the book? Read it? How did he manage to write the entire thing? Did he get someone else to? But why? He hadn’t even met her before the day she discovered the story. Was he planning on getting her hooked and then telling everyone about her work faux pas? Did he hate her enough to go through all that trouble?
Too far-fetched, even for him.
She took a deep breath and pushed her chair back from the table. “I need a diet soda. I think we all do, after all this food. Ric, help me get clean glasses?” Stupid excuse to get him alone, and she felt like a hypocrite, batting her eyelashes, but the end justified the means.
“Glad to.” He was up and following her to the kitchen without hesitation.
She could kill him, there and then, but she had to be as sneaky as he was, to win this game. Stalling for time, she opened the refrigerator’s door, stuck her head in, and grabbed a large bottle of pop.
“Where are the glasses, pet?”
She turned to him so fast she felt light-headed. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, or even how”—she shook th
e arm holding the bottle at him, to emphasize her words, since she couldn’t yell with her mother and Edmund in the next room—“but you better stop it, or else.” The threat was left hanging in the air.
He frowned. “Doing what? What are you talking about? I’m just making small talk. It’s only polite.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t fool me.” Lexi took a step toward him and closed the refrigerator door behind her. She leaned against it and squinted at him. “You know I’m not talking about the small talk. I mean you are the one who’s doing it.” The dick was trying to make her spell it out.
“It? What it?”
“Oh, don’t act so clueless. You know what I mean.” She whispered the words. “Exotic Beast? Tell me you’re mine? Come on. You’re the one behind the site.”
*
Ric had followed her to the kitchen, curious to hear what she’d say. Not for a moment did he believe she’d asked for his assistance without good reason.
He tried to sound casual when she swayed her luscious ass in front of him, the denim stretching over curves so perfect he longed to trace them with his hands. He forgot all about her ass, though, when she faced him and threw her accusations at him.
She looked furious—a magnificent look she wore well. He was tempted to touch her cheek. Slide his finger along it to her jaw line. He wanted to know if her face was hot with anger or chilled from the fridge.
Then her words sank in.
She believed he was the one behind the website? That he’d written the story? “Whatever you think I did, I swear I didn’t.” He wasn’t lying.
“Oh, God. You really don’t know.” Her hand flew to her mouth, and in that second, he found his way out of this whole mess.
“You’re into exotic beasts? Sexually?” He widened his eyes. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” This was counterproductive, let alone childish, but he couldn’t resist goading her.
She turned an even darker shade of crimson and fisted her free hand at her side. She opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out.
She raised the bottle and swatted at his head. ‘I’m not into bestiality, you… you idiot. You moron. You—”
He chuckled and managed to still her hand before the bottle hit him. He wrapped his palm around her wrist, lowered her arm, and moved closer in the same motion. “Then what is it you’re accusing me of, pet?” Her breath hitched when he called her pet, and he smirked. “What’s this site you’re on about?”
He had her trapped between his body and the fridge, and those damned gorgeous eyes of hers were burning him.
“So? Care to fill a bloke in?” He cocked his head to side and licked his lips.
Her gaze zeroed in on his tongue, and her body tensed. If he had her figured out, which he thought he did, she’d be shoving him away and bolting any minute now.
Instead of pulling free, though, Lexi grabbed his neck and pressed her body to his. Before he knew what was happening, she pulled him down and crashed her lips to his.
He couldn’t process what was happening, so he didn’t even try. Instead, he lost himself in the wonderful sensations her unexpected kiss evoked. Her lips were soft, still carrying a fruity flavor although nothing but a few traces of her lip-gloss remained. He craved to devour her. She moaned against his mouth, but he resisted the urge to slip his tongue past her lips—drink her in, get drunk on her. His resolve wavered the second her tongue traced his lower lip. He couldn’t hold back. No longer had the will to. He deepened the kiss, inhaling her breath and savoring her taste.
Her whimpers made him more desperate to consume her. He cupped her cheek and ground his hips against her. He needed more of this connection. More of her.
She rested her hand on his chest, giving him pause. She didn’t push him away, though. Just held on to his shirt.
She didn’t feel close enough, though her body was flush against his. He wanted her inside his skin. Letting go of her wrist, he moved to wrap his arm around her waist.
He was a heartbeat too slow.
The moment her arm was free, Lexi brought the plastic bottle down on his head and shoved hard against his chest. His stunned step backward was all she needed, to hightail it out of the room without a backward glance.
Ric wanted to run after her, grab her, drag her back to the kitchen, and finish what she’d started. He wanted to be pissed off she seemed to regret kissing him, or that the most likely reason she did it was to shut him up.
But he wasn’t pissed off. He was ecstatic. Because in the middle of an argument against the fridge, in her family’s kitchen, for whatever reason, Lexi kissed him, and he sensed her hunger.
A hunger strong enough to rival his.
He took a moment to adjust his crotch, and then located the glass cupboard and placed four glasses on a tray he found by the sink.
Maybe he needed to stay there just a second more, to catch his breath and lose the bulge in his jeans.
Chapter Nine
Silence met Lexi when she re-entered the dining room. Not the normal, don’t-talk-while-you-eat silence, but a suspicious one. Like people being quiet after trying to listen in on what was happening in the next room.
She sat and placed the bottle-slash-assault-weapon as far toward the middle of the table as she could reach.
Her head spun. Ric had smelled so fucking good, and his voice had been deliciously gruff, like on the phone yesterday morning. She’d needed to get out of their talk. Had to get away from him and his stupid cheekbones, the heat of his body, that plump bottom lip taunting her…
Kissing him had been her only viable option, really.
Oh, God. She’d kissed him.
She wanted to disappear.
Wait. This was her house. She wanted him out of there. Out of her house, out of her life, and in her—
Whoa, hold up.
She just kissed him to distract him, and it worked—boy, did it ever—but she never expected it to feel so good. It shouldn’t have felt good, because it was wrong. So totally wrong. Made of pure wrongness. And it would never happen again.
Ever.
“What is keeping Richard?” Edmund asked. “Maybe you should go back in. See if he needs anything.” The smirk on his face was new to Lexi. Her mom giggled and made a jerky move that gave Lexi the impression Edmund’s hand wasn’t in his own lap.
Lexi rolled her eyes. Lunchtime kept getting better. She didn’t feel like witnessing her mom and stepdad’s saccharine sweet, adolescent-like displays of affection, but she couldn’t return to the kitchen either. Not after Ric made her heart race and her body tingle.
Which, by the way, were not normal reactions to IT-Richie. Loathing and disgust? Yes. Tingles? No way.
Still, her gaze was riveted to his fluid motions as he rounded the table to place glasses to the right of Edmund and her mom. When he got closer, she stopped watching, afraid to see the look in his eyes. Afraid she’d get lost in them.
He wasn’t afraid to lean into her and press the hard evidence of his arousal against her as he placed her glass beside her. “Here you go.”
She managed not to flinch, and most importantly, not to mold her body to his.
He smiled, left the last glass by his plate and the tray at the end of the table, and reclaimed his place by her side.
This lunch was endless.
Ric asked her to pass the soda. She turned her body halfway in his direction and hoped the whirlwind of emotions warring inside didn’t show in her gaze. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she steadied the bottom of the bottle between her knees and unscrewed the cap.
Ric squeezed his eyes shut a split second before the cap was off, and foamy spray bathed his entire upper body, including his hair and wire-rimmed spectacles.
She’d forgotten she shook the bottle in the kitchen. Now she tried to juggle apologizing profusely, which she meant, and laughing hysterically, which she felt like.
Ric laughed. Uproariously. His chest shook with it, and a warmth spread inside Lexi’s belly. It
was a good laugh. Happy. He took his glasses off with one hand and smoothed his hair back with the other.
Lexi gasped.
His bright blue eyes, with those sinfully long, dark lashes were even clearer without the glasses covering them. Way more intense. And with his hair pushed back from his face for a change, his cheekbones were more prominent. Sharper. His face reminded her of…
Rex.
She felt the blood drain from her face. The bane of her existence was identical to the man of her dreams—and daydreams—were as alike as two drops of water.
He narrowed his eyes, his gaze darkening for a split second before he grinned and shook his head the way a wet dog would. Driblets of pop flew her way, and she let out a surprised squeal which made her mom and Edmund laugh, too.
With Ric’s locks in disarray again and his glasses back in place, it was hard to spot the previously glaring similarities. A weight lifted from Lexi’s chest as she resorted to her favorite way of dealing with things. Denial. The resemblance had never been there. Her over-Rexed mind was just messing with her after that brief kiss in the kitchen. Yup, that was it… even if the memory of the kiss sent liquid fire through her veins.
Her mom, who wasn’t gawking at Ric, had the presence of mind to deal with the situation. “Richard, you should take a shower. Edmund can lend you a change of clothes.”
“No, need, Joy. I’ll just go home now.”
“Nonsense. We can’t let you go like this.”
Ric refused several times, but the woman was unrelenting. “You’re not leaving yet, anyway. Lunch isn’t over, and I’ve made apple-pie. And you brought cupcakes. If you don’t want Edmund’s clothes, I’m sure Lexi can spare a pair of sweats and one of those oversized T-shirts she wears to bed. Lexi, will you show him to your bathroom?”
Ric gave in, and Lexi led him upstairs and then ran to her room to look for clothes. She was already over feeling guilty for getting him wet, and wanted to find something silly to give him, but her mom wouldn’t appreciate that.
She decided on a pair of pale pink pants and the largest white T-shirt she owned. Not like she could be blamed for owning only girly clothes, and she didn’t want to see more of the well-defined muscles she’d spied under Ric’s shirt when the liquid made it cling to his torso.