by Nana Malone
Lexa groaned. "Somehow, I doubt Ransom Cox will see it that way. I was just goofing around. I never thought they'd actually go with it." It was the nickname she'd secretly given him in high school. She'd used it as a joke in a sports column she'd been contracted for, and it had stuck.
"I think it's pretty awesome that my little sister nicknamed a sports great."
Lexa shook her head. "Well, I doubt I'll do anything that stellar ever again if things keep going this way."
"Look, push comes to shove, you can always come back home. The Carlisle sisters back in action. You can help me open another café."
As much as she loved her sister, and loved being home, Lexa would go insane. Sleepy-town life was not for her. She wanted the energy, the excitement. "I'll think about it. You know I need to write."
"Have you figured out a story idea, yet?"
Lexa sighed. "I keep coming up against dead ends."
"I have an idea for you. How about a full exposé on Handsome Cox? The man, the cock, the bedroom legend. Like, is his dick really as big as his ex-wife says it is?"
Lexa snorted. "Oh, my God. Would you stop?"
"It's not me. I mean, I read. Women everywhere want to know these answers. Did you hear what that model said? That she couldn't even get her hand around it? That is serious girth we're dealing with. Inquiring minds want to know. You know I always thought he had a thing for you in high school."
Lexa coughed on the sip of water she'd taken. "Let's get one thing clear. Ransom Cox has never noticed me. I lack the requisite equipment for him to pay appropriate attention. I'm not blonde. My rack isn’t overly endowed. Oh, and all he ever saw in high school was hockey. I was nerdy, and paid zero attention to anything other than great stories."
"I have it on good authority that you paid attention to more than just your great stories and books. I know for a fact that you used to practice kissing on your hand and pretend it was Ransom."
Lexa flushed. "Oh, my God. If you ever tell another living soul that, I will kill you. Kill you, dead. Forever."
Her sister snorted and laughed even as she scooted out of the way of Lexa's swats. "Think of your great story. I'm telling you. The man, the myth—"
Ella's voice dropped away, and Lexa looked up, wondering what happened to her sister.
Oh, God. She gulped in a breath. The man, the myth, the penis legend. The hockey God. All six feet, five inches of ripped muscle, the movie-star face, and badass attitude. Standing in the doorway.
Lexa jumped up out of her seat. Too bad her foot was corded around her bag that she’d tucked under the desk, and she couldn't get proper placement. And so down she went.
Ella ran in behind Ransom. "Oh, my God, Lex."
Faceplant in front of the guy you always had a crush on, check. Total lack of career direction, check. Yes, her humiliation was complete. Next to her, Ransom's deep baritone rumbled. "Are you okay?"
Lexa pushed herself to a sitting position. "Yeah, the only thing hurt is my pride, and my forehead. Pretty sure I scraped my hand, too."
Behind Ransom, Ella's jaw hung open. She held her arms about a foot apart, as if to indicate a certain…measurement, then cleared her throat as he picked up her wrist and examined it.
"I'm okay."
Ransom studied her hand. "Are you sure? There's no pain when I move it?"
Behind him, Ella grinned widely, a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Lexa wanted to die. Matter of fact, if the ground could just open up and swallow her now, that would be awesome. Come on ground. Any moment now. Nothing? Okay, then. "No. It doesn't hurt."
"Are you sure about that?" His voice was husky. Low. She'd seen him interviewed enough times in recent years to know that that was just his voice. He didn't usually say much. But when he did, he always sounded like that. Like he'd just woken up from a long night of sex. Which was the last thing she needed to think about when dealing with Ransom.
Her sister, traitor that she was, called out. "Well, if you're okay, I'm going to head back to the café. I'm sure the two of you have lots to catch up on. Lex, I’ll send someone over with a sandwich. And that recipe. Though, you might not want to use it for a while. All that garlic. Good to see you, Ransom."
Lexa groaned. With one faceplant, she'd earned enough humiliation points with her sister for her to hand over that garlic aïoli recipe. Awesome. "See, I told you. I'm fine."
Ransom's thumb ran over her wrist one more time, and Lexa had to work hard to hide the shiver that wracked her body. She pushed herself into a kneeling, then standing position. Unfortunately, even at full height she only came up to his sternum. Why did she feel so small next to him? "How have you been? It's been a long time." Seriously? That was the best she could do?
He flushed. Ransom Cox was blushing?
"Good. Been here since the start of the off-season. Took Mom out for her birthday yesterday."
"How is your mom? I adore that woman."
"She's good. You know how she is, she can't ever take a day off. So a whole week just with me is making her crazy. She asked for a laptop, that's why came by."
"Oh, yeah, I saw it here somewhere. I moved it. Oh, right. I put it in the drawer." She went around the desk to the one facing hers and pulled open the bottom drawer, and tugged out a laptop. It was only as she stood, and caught her reflection in the mirror, that she realized she'd just given Ransom Cox a perfect view of her ass. Fantastic. Was this day going to get any worse? She turned around and handed over the laptop. "Here you are."
"Thanks, Lexa. I didn't expect to see you at home."
"Yeah, it’s just for a couple of weeks. I guess we both needed some R&R, huh?"
He nodded and gave her a lopsided smile. "I'll get out of your hair. Take this to Mom's. I want to make sure she has it back before the storm hits tonight."
"Yeah, I saw that on the weather. Although it's hard to believe, since it's pretty sunny right now."
"You're not staying here all day are you? I know most places in the Square plan to close early."
"I'll head out soon. I kind of like the solitude. In my office in the city, it's always crazy. A million people running around."
She was rambling. She had no idea what say to him. Ella was right. She'd had a huge crush on Ransom since she was fifteen. Over the summer before, he'd stopped being this quiet, gangly, kid, and totally filled out. Made the hockey team, and became a star. And suddenly, he was way the hell out of her league. And not at all the kind of guy you should be dating. Or even thinking about dating.
After her last couple of relationships, she knew what she wanted. She knew what she didn't want. What she wanted was stable and dependable. From what she'd heard about Ransom, dependable was the last thing on earth that he was. He was good looking, and screwed six-foot supermodels with blonde hair and bodies to die for. The perfect example of Mr. Wrong.
Ransom was the prime example of why she was here, in Hope, licking her wounds. If she'd never slept with Axel, thinking they were going to have some torrid love affair, she never would've been heartbroken when she'd found out that he'd proposed to Amanda. Focus.
"I get it. Sometimes I need the solitude, too. Hard to get with the team, and all."
She nodded in understanding. "Congratulations by the way. I, along with the rest of Hope, watched you guys. We were cheering you on."
He nodded and slowly started to back out the room. "Well, thanks for this and I'd make sure you don't stick around too long today, that storm is coming quick. Are you staying at your sister's?"
She shook her head. "Not with the two kids, and the menagerie of pets. I need some space. So I'm renting a house out of town. Near Lubbock."
He nodded. "That's just past my place. Just be careful tonight."
"Trust me. I plan to be."
In more ways than one. Ransom Cox was off-limits. She was not going to do the impetuous thing, and fawn all over him. She'd learned her lesson. A nice, normal, everyday guy was what she needed. Not the hockey star bedroom legend.
&nb
sp; Five
The clouds pelted heavy raindrops against his windshield. Ransom cursed as he tried to peer through the brief points of visibility that his wipers cleared away. Damn, it was coming down bad. After he returned his mother's laptop, he ran a few errands and made sure her place was boarded up tight. He tried to get her to come with him to the cabin, but she was having none of it. She liked her own space, and too much time in his old home brought up too many memories. After making sure she was boarded up good and tight, he headed home. Unfortunately, his departure had coincided with the first drops of rain.
He hoped Lexa made it home okay.
The errant thought snuck its way into his consciousness, and he cursed. He had no business thinking about Lexa Carlisle. Never mind that vision of her pert, tight, ass basically waving him an invitation. No. Do not go there. You know how this always end up. You care about someone, they walk away, and then they write a tell-all.
Between his father and Callie, he wasn't sure who was worse. Either way, Ransom felt like he was a walking emotional calamity waiting to happen. Like there was a big sign on him that said, "Come this way if you want torture and unhappiness."
Yeah, no. He'd just go ahead and leave Lexa the hell alone. Neither one of them needed that kind of shit. He made a left turn at his exit, but just as he rounded into the intersection, he saw red taillights to his right. Oh, shit. Someone was in the ditch. He narrowly avoided a pothole, and pulled his car over. The stupid thing fishtailed. Why the hell had he taken the stupid sports car in the first place? He should have brought the truck today. With this car, he couldn't pull whoever that was out of the ditch. Ransom tugged up his hoodie, even though he knew it would be pretty much ineffectual against the now-sideways-pelting rain.
When he jogged over to the edge, he saw there was someone inside the car, banging on the door, trying to push it out. Damn. Whoever it was, was stuck.
Ransom ran a back to his car and popped the trunk, grabbing the crowbar out of the back. The hood of his sweatshirt fell back and the rain soaked his head in seconds. Fuck it.
He ran back to the ditch, careful with his steps as he slid down the embankment, to the front door of the Prius. The windows had steamed up too much for him to tell who was in there, but he worked the crowbar into the door, and put his muscles to good use.
It took several tries, but with his combined efforts, and whoever was inside, kicking against the door, they were able to get it open with a loud suctioning sound.
A tiny woman fell out, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders as she almost tumbled facefirst into the mud. "Oh, my God. Thank you so much. I thought I might be stuck in there. But the stupid car's electric. I couldn't get the windows rolled down, and I couldn't open the door and—"
"Lexa? Is that you?" He bent down to help her up, the mud sliding out of her hands and onto his. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She tried to take a step, but she slipped and slammed right into him, pressing her curves right into his body. Oh, shit.
"Ransom? Oh, my God. I have never been so happy to see you in my entire life."
Jesus. She could've been hurt. His gut curled in on itself, as he fought the bile wanting to rise. "You're sure you're okay?"
She rubbed her for head. "I bumped my head on the steering wheel when the car fell in. My arm, too. But for the most part, I'm fine. No blood, nothing broken or anything, and I'm not really worried about a concussion."
Ransom wanted to believe her, but still, he used his minimal medical training to still check her out. He traced gentle fingers over her forehead, and he could see the faint blue of the bruise, even as the rain plastered her hair to her face. She might not know it, but she also had a slight bruise on the side of her mouth. Maybe from when the airbag deployed? He checked her neck, and her arms. She had a fair range of motion, but winced when he raised her arm too high.
It wasn't like he was an EMT or anything, but playing hockey, he and his teammates were dealt enough injuries and had their fair share of falls, so he knew how to check for some basic things. And he knew what was serious enough that he couldn't play. Lexa would be bruised in the morning. And as soon as the storm let up, he'd insist that she go see a doctor. But for now, a hot bath would probably do her a world of good. "Come on. I'll take you to my place so we can get you warmed up, then we'll call for your car."
For a moment, she looked like she might argue with him, but then she nodded, even as shivers wracked her body. Oh, hell. She might be in shock. He needed to get her warm. He held her tight and close as he led her up the embankment. The mud was so slippery, that at one point, he had to shove her up by her ass. Not that he enjoyed that at all. Liar.
When she was safely tucked in with her seatbelt on, he went around to the back, and tugged another T-shirt out of his overnight bag. He brought it to her, then cranked the car's heat up high. "Put this on, it'll help keep you warm a little bit, until we get to my place."
The next five minutes were harrowing, as he drove at a snail's pace, trying to avoid any hidden potholes, and debris from falling trees. Him and this stupid sports car. They'd hydroplaned twice, and Lexa clutched onto the hand guard as the back end of the car fishtailed. Ransom didn't unclench his jaw until they were pulling into his driveway. Shit.
Had he ever been so tense? He threw the car into park, once he pulled into the covered garage and then let himself out. When he went around to her side of the car to let her out, she could barely push the door open. Yeah, he needed to get her in a warm bath, and then give her some ibuprofen. They'd call the doctor along with the tow truck, just to be sure.
She was shaky and weak, and finally Ransom gave up and just picked her up.
"Hey, put me down." Even her protest sounded feeble.
"You can barely walk. So for now, I'll carry you."
"I'm heavy."
He chuckled. "You realize that I'm a full foot taller than you? And I pretty much lift more than twice your size as a workout?"
She opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut again. Yeah, he thought so. There was a loud crack across the street, and Ransom watched in horror as one of the trees across the street snapped in half and fell into the middle of the roadway.
Oh, hell. He needed to call a work crew, too. He made a mental checklist of all the people that needed a call. First things first, however, get Lexa warm, get her to eat something. Luckily, Eddie had picked up the cup that morning.
After he got her to eat, he’d call the tow truck and the road crew. He also needed to check on his mother.
He shifted her in his arms, as he used his thumbprint to unlock his front door. Lexa snuggled closer, and Ransom gritted his teeth. She's not yours. You can't have her. And even if you could, she deserves better than you. Wasn't that the truth?
Lexa couldn't help a curious look around as Ransom carried her inside. From the outside, Ransom's place looked like a simple log cabin. But inside, it was all modern luxury. Gorgeous hardwood floors, steel appliances, expensive birch fixtures, art on the wall, sleek modern furnishings. It was beautiful. But she didn't get to see much of it, because Ransom took her straight to the back of the house, his long strides moving them quickly through the building. When they reached the bathroom, the light switched on automatically.
Lexa blinked. "Fancy."
He set her down gently, and despite herself, she swayed a little. She was just so damn cold. Ransom closed the lid of the toilet, then shifted her back to sit down. "Stay here for a sec."
He went over to the tub and turned it on, checking the temperature constantly. He stared at a couple of the closed containers next the bath, and then selected one of them, opening it and then dropping something into the water. Immediately, bubbles foamed on the surface, and the scents of roses and lilacs filled the room.
Holy hell, Ransom Cox was drawing her bath. There was no way this was real. This was a fantasy. If she could move her hands right now, she would pinch herself. Because right about now, he was everyone's fantasy.
This is not real. He's doing this to be nice because you're obviously cold. It doesn't mean he wants to give you a whole truckload of babies.
And to be fair, she didn't want a truckload of babies, though she did want a family. Maybe not right away, but she wanted to come home and know that people were there waiting for her that loved her unconditionally. She was a total idiot.
Deep down, she knew her issues were because she lost her parents so young. She knew it was because she missed out on a lot of that family time. But it still didn't stop her from wanting it. "You don't have to do all this. I'm fine. I can draw my own bath."
He ignored her and continued to check the temperature. And when he was satisfied that the water was warm enough, he went over to the pantry and pulled out two white, fluffy towels, setting them on the stool next to the tub.
"I'll run upstairs and see if Mom left any clothes behind last time she was here. Most anything that I have, you'll swim in."
Lexa could only stare at his back and broad shoulders as he stalked out. Ransom had never said much. Ever. Except for the one time that they'd been locked in Mr. Michelson's science lab after working on a project late.
Their high school went on automatic lockdown as a rule. And because Mr. Michelson had dangerous chemicals in the science lab, his room was an automatic lock, too. It had taken about four calls to his mother to finally get someone to come and let them out. But the whole time, he’d talked to her. Kept her calm. Even though she was clearly freaked out. However, after that, despite her thought that they were now bonded, he'd gone back to quiet. And reserved. He was always polite. Always nice. But somehow distant.
When he came back, he shrugged. "I found a pair of yoga pants she left behind. But all I have is one of my T-shirts, if that's okay. Once you've had a bath, I'll toss your stuff into the washing machine, so you'll have it for tomorrow."
"Oh, my God. That would be incredible." Right about now, the mud had caked into her hair, and her skin. Every step she took left a trail of dust and dirt behind her. And all she wanted to do was massage out the aches.