“Who are your people, dear?” A frizzy haired woman in her mid-fifties peered at her suspiciously from across the table.
Lexi tensed. “What do you mean?”
“Your face. I swear I’ve seen it before. Who’s your family?”
“No one special.”
“Where are you from?”
Lexi kept it vague. “New England.”
The woman shook her head. “No, that’s can’t be it. Where did you go to college?”
“Nowhere you’d know.” Lexi gave the woman interrogating her an apologetic smile and shrugged. “I might just have on of those faces.”
The woman did not appear to be impressed with her pedigree. Lexi sighed and continued to struggle with the ribbon. The front doorbell rang and her heart quickened. “I’ll get it.” It was a relief to leave the table and she was hoping it was JT anyway.
It wasn’t. Instead, it was a blond, trophy wife type. The woman pushed her way in before Lexi could even open the door the entire way. “I didn’t know Althea got a new housekeeper.” She gave Lexi an almost disdainful look as she tossed her wrap at her. “Put that away would you. I’ll show myself in.”
Lexi turned on her heal and went to dump the woman’s shawl off on the front closet floor. “Oops,” she muttered as she stepped on it on purpose. It had been a long time since she’d taken such an immediate dislike to someone.
She went back to her seat, only to find the new arrival occupying it. She sighed and crossed the table, being forced to drag a chair up to the brown haired woman who’d grilled her earlier.
“Hello Faith,” Althea addressed the woman from her seat at the table. Althea was strangely good at making the bouquet centerpieces they were working on. When Lexi had asked, she’d laughed and stated she’d been doing them since she was a girl. She knew what they were supposed to feel like.
“Why, Ms. Hussner,” Faith’s voice was syrupy sweet. “How did you know it was me?”
“Your perfume dear, I could smell you from the driveway.” Lexi choked a little and the frizzy haired woman let out a giggle. “Nothing against it of course. I’ve just been extra sensitive since the loss of my vision.”
“Of course,” Faith responded , her voice less sweet. She locked eyes with Lexi. “So who’s the new girl?”
“That’s Alex, she’s my companion.”
“Oh?” Faith looked around. “Probably a good idea, with you living in such a large home and all. Of course, when you decide to move out, JT and I are ready to step in and take it over for you.”
Lexi tensed at the mention of JT’s name.
Althea expertly curled a ribbon and placed the finished bouquet on the table. “I already offered it to JT. He turned me down.”
“What?” Faith shook her head. “I’ll talk to him about it.” She gave an admiring glance to the sitting room they were working in. “If we’re going to start a family soon, this is where I want to do it.”
“I wouldn’t be changing the drapes just yet dear.” Althea let out a small smile, “I find I’m enjoying it much more now that I have Alex and Radford.”
Lexi gave a weak smile at the complement, but her heart wasn’t in it. JT was starting a family with someone? After the night he’d just had with her?” Her fingers trembled and she dropped the bouquet on the floor. “Sorry.” She bent down to retrieve it and let out a tiny squeak of pain. Her backside was still killing her. Only, now it was no longer slightly arousing. Instead, it was infuriating. He hadn’t done it because he cared. He didn’t care about her at all. He was just a kinky freak who was cheating on his girlfriend with the help. That thought was too much. Lexi shot out of her chair. “Excuse me a minute.”
She ignored Raj’s look as she hurried from the room. No one else even noticed she was gone. Lexi took the stairs two at a time and had just made it to her bedroom door when she ran into the last person in the world she wanted to see.
“Figured I’d find you up here.” JT crowded against her as she turned the knob to her door. “Great minds think alike.” He started to follow her in and Lexi shoved him.
“Stay the hell away from me.”
“Excuse me?” JT shoved his way past the door she was trying to close in his face. “What’s gotten in to you?” He caught her wrist and started to drag her closer. Lexi yanked it free and then, when he grabbed at her again, slapped him across the face as hard as she could.
The sight of her palm print on his face was incredibly satisfying. JT’s jaw was tense and his eyes were furious. She shrieked as he caught her by the elbow and yanked her towards the bed. “Let me go!”
Instead, he sat and yanked her across his lap. “I can’t even leave you alone for an hour without you needing an attitude adjustment.” He flipped up her dress and started to yank down her panties.
“I’ll tell your girlfriend.”
Her panties stopped at mid-thigh. “What?”
“What? Forgot about Faith? Because you certainly forgot to tell me about her when you were fucking me.” JT’s grip loosened and she shoved herself off his lap, yanking her panties up and her dress back into place. Her stomach was starting to burn with pain.
“How did you know about her?”
Lexi’s stomach clenched again. “So it’s true.”
“Look, Alex, I meant to tell you.” JT raked a hand through his hair and Lexi’s heart broke at his admission. “Just, things got a little out of hand last night. I was planning to talk to you about it today, before she got back.”
“Back?”
“She was at a conference.”
Lexi crossed her arms, her chest tight. She was relieved that she didn’t have any tears. Instead, her stomach, which hadn’t acted up in days, twisted in knots. “She lives with you?”
JT nodded. “When she’s in town. She travels a lot for work.”
Lexi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You should leave.” She looked pointedly at the door.
“Alex…, look we can work this out. We can work something out, ok?”
“Work something out? You mean, I get to be the piece on the side that you slap around?” Lexi’s cold eyes met his. She had put Alex away for the time being and started channeling Lexi Logan. “As much fun as I had,” she winked at him, “the whole BDSM lifestyle isn’t right for me anyway.” She walked to the door and opened it for him. “But thanks for the ride.”
JT stood, seemingly defeated. “You don’t mean that. Last night meant something.”
“Yeah, it meant that apparently I have daddy issues.” She didn’t look at him as he walked to the door. “I’ll work them out with my shrink as opposed to you. Now off you go, Faith is waiting.”
“Alex,” JT reached for her chin and tilted her face up to his.
Her eyes were hard. “Out, or I reconsider my decision to not compare notes with your girlfriend about the mole on your butt.” JT dropped his hand and gave her a firm look, but left without saying anything. Lexi managed to slam the door behind him before she ran to the bathroom to throw up.
***
Lexi returned to the table 15 minutes later, after several rounds of dry heaving in her toilet bowl. The run in with JT had left her feeling sick and drained in a way she hadn’t felt since the last time she was on the radio. She plopped back in her chair and started bunching the bouquets together in her hands, not really caring about the end result. She just wanted to finish so she could drag Raj off to go drinking.
“So, Alex, is it?” Faith, the betrayer’s bitch girlfriend was speaking. Lexi looked up in disinterest. JT had apparently decided to bail, probably in a hurry to wash the sheets before his girlfriend got home. “That is certainly an unusual color. Where did you get it done?”
Lexi had the urge to tell the truth. That her currently ridiculous hair was done by the same man who did Angelina Jolie’s on occasion. Of course, she couldn’t do that to Donny. “Supercuts.”
“What?” Faith made a face, so Lexi decided to horrify her even more.
“Y
eah, but only for the dye. I cut my hair with one of them vacuum things.” Lexi looked around the table. “I’m going to get a drink. Anyone else want one?”
Frizzy hair gave her a disapproving look. “It’s only 10 am.”
Lexi winked, “Good point. I’ll put orange juice in it.” She gave frizzy hair a too hard slap on the back and the woman jumped in surprise. “I’m kidding. How am I supposed to get rid of my hangover from last night with something mixed with orange juice? Gross.” She locked eyes with Raj. “Want to raid the liquor cabinet with me?”
“While you’re there dear, get me the sherry.” The frizzy haired woman turned to Althea in surprise. “And don’t bother giving me one of those judgmental looks, Virginia. You know I can’t see them.” Althea continued to work on her bouquets. “If I’m going to work on these horrible things all day, I’m going to have fun while I do it.”
Faith tossed her hair. “Well, I never drink. It’s terrible for your complexion.”
Lexi nodded. “It’s working. You don’t look a day over 35.”
“I’m 29.”
“Oops, sorry,” but Lexi didn’t sound sorry as she walked off to the liquor cabinet, her step just a bit lighter than it had been before.”
***
JT sat in the kitchen of Althea’s home and checked his watch for what felt like the tenth time. It had been a week since Alex had confronted him and she’d managed to sidestep him ever since. It was the first day he’d gone back to check on the property. Regardless of his relationship with Alex, he still felt responsible for keeping an eye on the house. As he’d suspected, the pot plants had been removed from the premises. The house was orderly and neat. The only thing out of order was the occupants. They were missing. It wasn’t too unusual. It was only 8 pm and it was a Saturday. But at the same time, it was also his elderly old blind aunt and two flaky bohemians.
As much as JT tried to avoid it, he kept thinking about Alex. His mind kept going back to the night at his apartment, the way she’d felt underneath him. He went over her punishment again and again in his mind, always pausing at the same point. While he’d been smacking her ass, she’d turned around at one point and looked at him. There had been something in her eyes. Some kind of trust there that told him while she didn’t like being punished, she knew she needed it. That she trusted him to do it.
It had only lasted a moment, but he couldn’t forget it. He didn’t believe he’d imagined it. But then again, maybe he was. His sexual chemistry with Alex was off the charts. It was why he’d spanked her in the first place. Why he’d been more aroused to find that she’d broken the rules than angry. He shook his head and chalked it up to crazy sexual chemistry along with a need for a change. He tried to tell himself he was relieved that he hadn’t destroyed a suitable relationship for it.
Alex had kept her promise. She hadn’t said a word to Faith, or even spoken to her since the planning party. He liked Faith, he was comfortable with her and they had built a life together. He wasn’t going to throw it all away for a couple of nights of sexual chemistry with a woman who was a bit too wild for his liking.
He had learned about the wild part from Faith when she’d returned home from the party. Apparently, not only had Alex gotten drunk, she’d gotten everyone at the party drunk. Judging from the amount of empties he’d seen in the garage, the party hadn’t stopped since.
“Oh, JT!” His aunt was stumbling into the room on Alex’s arm, wobbling heavily. Alex dropped her into a chair. “I didn’t know you were coming by tonight!” Every sentence was excited, like she’d been waiting months to see him. “We just had the most delightful evening.”
He locked eyes with Alex. “Is she drunk?”
Alex nodded somberly and burst into drunken laughter herself. “After we got kicked out of bingo, we hit a leather bar. It was a time.”
“Where’s Radford?”
“Oh, yeah ‘Radford’.” Alex made quote marks in the air and then stumbled into a chair herself. “He picked up a dude. They went back to his place so ‘Radford’ can paint him in the nude.”
“Radford can paint?”
“Not even remotely.” Alex tilted her head. “What are you doing here?”
“Just came to check on you.”
“Well, we’re fine and I moved the plants, so I guess you can go.”
JT’s hand was itched to redden her backside. In fact, if it wasn’t for her threat to tell Faith they’d slept together, he’d be testing one of the wooden spoons in the pantry on her bottom instead of just thinking about it. “I’ll leave when I’m ready. How much have you all been drinking? The recycling bins look like they belong to a frat house.”
“That’s probably because we let that frat house have a party here last night.” Alex rolled her eyes and stood from the table. “I’m going to put Althea to bed.”
His aunt was already starting to snore a little in her seat as Alex shook her and helped her to a stand. “Come back downstairs and see me after you’re done.”
“Why?”
“It’s about my aunt.” Alex sighed but nodded as she took Althea upstairs to bed. She returned a few minutes later and took the same seat across the table from him.
“If you’re doing this to get back at me, it needs to stop.”
“Doing what?”
“Turning my aunt into an alcoholic. This is the second time she’s been drunk in a week.”
“Wow, if that qualifies as an alcoholic, I’m a super alcoholic.” She rolled her eyes. “Listen, Althea didn’t get drunk at the party. She had like half a sherry. As for tonight, I’d say one time in 10 years is reasonable.”
“What’s with all the bottles outside then?”
“If they’re beer, they’re mine or Pinchpenny’s.”
“Alex,” JT’s voice was stern, “that’s way too much for two people to drink.”
“Whatever, Saint JT. Are we done?”
JT clenched his teeth and again had to resist the urge to yank her out of the chair and tan her hide. His voice got low. “I will advise you to stop trying to provoke me. You can only push me so far.”
“Right back at you. I have Faith on speed dial.”
JT sighed, urge to paddle her still there, but he hadn’t come to threaten her. “I want us to try to be friends.”
Alex snorted. “Why that sounds super, JT!” Her voice was falsely bright. “Maybe you can even invite me to your wedding.” She shot out of her chair. “I’m going to bed.”
“Wait,” JT stood with her and caught her wrist. Between her slightly buzzed state and his touch, she stumbled into his arms. He looked down at her, the soft lips that had begged him to never stop on that fantastic night a week ago, inches from his own. He felt the surge of chemistry, as strong as it had been before and before he could stop, he was bending to kiss her.
On the first touch of his lips, she gasped in surprise and he’d taken advantage, to touch the tip of his tongue to hers. She responded, clinging to him, returning his kiss with near desperation. He slanted his mouth over hers, reaching down to cup the bottom that he’d just considered taking a wooden spoon to.
She infuriated him and intrigued him at the same time. It was an intoxicating combination and it only took one kiss for him to realize that he couldn’t live without it. He’d never had that kind of chemistry with anyone before. He’d never been able to truly be himself.
Faith was convenient, she was presentable but she wasn’t Alex. He’d made a mistake choosing her. Faith had been the easy choice. Alex was stubborn and it would be hard to get her to accept him back, but he was going to try. He’d even give her a free pass for all her unacceptable behavior for the past week, though she wouldn’t find him nearly as forgiving in the future. She was wild and unpredictable, and he was just the person to tame her.
He pulled back to break the kiss, looking into her dazed eyes. “We need to talk.” He kept his voice low and gentle. “Let’s go up to your room.”
Alex froze. “No.” Her eyes narrowed
. “God, I am so fucking stupid.” She shook her head. “What’s the problem? Faith won’t let you beat her ass and you need to find a piece on the side?”
“Alex, it’s not like that.” He reached for her as she tried to pull away from him. “Listen, I…”
She pushed him off, refusing to listen. “Just leave me alone JT. You need to talk about how the house is handled, talk to Althea. Just leave me the hell out of it.” With that, she stormed out to the kitchen.
JT had to resist the urge to chase her down and force her to listen to him. He realized that he needed to take care of things with Faith first, so he would be free and clear to pursue Alex.
Alex was about to learn that JT Hussner could be incredibly hard to shake when he wanted something.
Chapter 9
The next few days were nearly impossible for JT. He’d returned home to his apartment to break up with Faith, hoping for an easy amicable split.
Instead, she’d been a complete shrew, calling him every name in the book, accusing him of everything from being a workaholic, to a closeted homosexual with a small penis. He’d taken the verbal abuse without complaint and learned more and more about Faith, the more she screamed. When she started complaining about all the time she’d ‘put in’ and how she’d earned her place by his side, he realized that Faith had been less in love with him and more in love with the status he gave her.
It solidified his decision to end the relationship, even though Faith had booted him out of the apartment they shared. He didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, she’d earned it.
He’d also been barred from the family home. He’d considered a hotel at first, but was hoping to get closer to Alex. Living under the same roof as her would give him ample time to prove he was perfect for her.
As well as calm her the hell down, because while he was having one of the worst weeks of his life, she was having a nonstop party. That he’d learned from the rumors of wild party nights and drunken benders he’d heard about from his aunt’s friends and neighbors.
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