Rex (12 page)

“Fuck,” I growl, as I come ferociously inside of her before crashing my lips to hers, the salt from our sweat mixed with the sweetness of her lips.

I break from her mouth, panting, my head falling against her breast. It’s not until she starts laughing that I raise my head. “What’s so funny?” I try to catch my breath. “I’m not sure there was anything funny about
that
.”

“I’ve never fucked on a table before,” she giggles, “and that was amazing.”

I shake my head and laugh, too. “Yeah, it was. And… I’ve never fucked on a table before, either,” I admit, suddenly unsure as to why I feel the need to spout off when I’m around her. It’s like she’s some kind of fucking truth serum.

“Really?” she asks, seemingly happy with my response.

“Yeah, really.”

“Hmph,” she says with a wide smile. “Well, I’m actually thinking this table should be reserved for fucking. I don’t want to eat on it anymore after that, anyway.”

“You’re insane,” I reply, rolling off of her and lying on my back.

“So where’s the most unusual place you’ve ever had sex?” She shifts on her side, propping her cheek on her fist.

“I don’t know if they’re that unusual, but I had sex once in a parking garage, and another time in a press box at a baseball game. What about you, oh adventurous one?”

“Hmph.” Her eyes flick upward in thought. “Probably in the fitting room at a department store. There was a curtain of course.”

She’s silent for a minute, almost contemplative, before reaching out a finger to follow the lines of the guitar strings running alongside my neck. No words are spoken, but I know they’re coming. Questions. More fucking questions. And so I wait, hoping she’ll remain quiet.

But they come anyway.

“I love this tattoo… does it have any special meaning….” She hesitates, knowing how much I enjoy answering questions.

My wall instantly begins to slide up between us, but when I turn my head sideways to look at her, something in her eyes makes me wonder whether she really is like all the others. She almost looks like she cares. But the war I constantly fight within myself won’t allow me to take my wall down. Instead, I reach over it, handing her this small piece of information.

“It’s to remind me of my brother. He loved strumming the guitar as a kid. He couldn’t play for shit, really, and sounded pretty awful, but,” I shrug, “it was his favorite thing to do.”

She continues sketching the strings with her finger as my mind roams to my freckle-faced brother. “What was his name?” she asks softly.

I huff out a deep breath, not wanting to reveal anything else, still warring with a brain that thinks she has some ulterior motive. Most women do. But for some unknown reason, I continue. “Tyler,” I respond, emotion clogging my throat. “His name was Tyler.”

“Tyler,” she repeats, and then she does something completely unexpected. So unexpected, I don’t know what to make of it. She leans forward, placing a kiss to my tattoo before lying back down on the table. Her lips no longer on my skin.

But I still feel them.

I’m not sure why I just did that. There’s a part of me that feels it was too intimate. But I saw the devastation in his eyes last night when he talked about his brother, and I want him to know that I empathize with his pain—that he’s not alone. He’s lying stock still, though, not saying a word, and I need to do something to lighten the moment.

“So,” I sit up and ease myself off of the table, “I’m going to hop in the shower. I don’t have to work until noon and I’m going to try to meet Olivia beforehand. Do you want to join me in the shower?” I ask as he gets up, his muscles rippling with his movement. He’s ridiculously sexy and I can’t help myself.

“Can I take a rain check?” He snatches his jeans and t-shirt from the floor. “The idea of being near you when you’re wet and slippery is very appealing, but I need to get home. I have a couple of errands to run before work, so I’ll just shower there.”

“Sure.” I paint on a smile in response even though disappointment looms over me. There’s something comfortable about having Rex around and I’m not all that anxious for him to go.

“Maybe we can get together later, though,” he grins, buttoning up his jeans and toeing on his sneakers, “for more death and destruction? I’d say let’s go to a club, but it’s not really my scene.”

My smile is genuine this time when I answer. “Sure. That sounds good.” I slide my tank over my head. “I’ll walk you out.”

He gets to the door, pausing with a hand on the knob, turning back around to face me. “So….” He clears his throat as his eyes cast downward, one hand shoved in his pocket. “I’m not great with words, but… well, thanks, for last night… for not turning me away.”

“Hey.” I lower my head to the side looking for his eyes, and don’t speak until they meet mine. “You’re welcome. I’m glad I was here.”

Our gazes fall away and he opens the door. “I’ll see you around, Blondie.”

“Yeah, see ya, Rex.”

Five minutes later, I’m still standing in the same spot, unmoving. I quickly shake off my untamed thoughts and come back down to earth. The fact that he called me baby while we were having sex means nothing, and the fact that I’m even thinking about it now is utterly ridiculous. I hope he didn’t notice my reaction when he said it, though. I’m sure it was a slip and it doesn’t mean anything.

So why am I thinking about it?

I laugh at myself and head over to my purse, digging around for my phone. When I finally find it, I dial Olivia’s cell. She answers on the first ring as if she was expecting my call.

“Hey,” she says with a pop in her voice, “are we still meeting up this morning?”

“Hey to you, too, and yes, we are. I just need to hop in the shower.”

“You haven’t showered yet?” she asks, and there’s a loud rustling in the background.

“No, I haven’t,” I reply with a grin that she can’t see.

“You sound awfully happy. My bitch detector isn’t going off. What’s going on?” She laughs, and the sound of her crunching on something vibrates in my ears.

“Well, if you must know, Rex just left.” I pull a file from my bag, smoothing down one of my nails as the other end of the line goes quiet. “Hello? Liv, you there?”

“Yes, sorry. I’m standing outside of Adele’s Coffee House and it’s very busy.”

“All right, well, let me shower and I’ll meet you there in about an hour.” I toss the file back in my bag and make my way toward the bathroom.

“Actually, meet me at Victoria’s Secret, instead,” she suggests.

“Victoria’s Secret?” I laugh. “Again?”

“Again.” She giggles, before we hang up.

The door jingles as I walk inside the palace of lingerie. It’s been a while since I’ve been in here, but it’s a place that Olivia frequents very often since she started dating Hunter.

I sneak up behind her as she lifts various bra and panty sets in the air, scrutinizing them. “Are you old enough to be in here?” I ask in a deep voice, and she spins around, startled.

“Very funny.” She laughs. “Wow, you look great!” She eyes me up and down. “Fresh-faced.
Someone
had a good morning.”

“Yeah, I did. But we can talk about that later. So how long should I expect to be in here? Weren’t you just here last week?”

She lets a pair of underwear drop back into the bin. “Yes, but one can never have too many sets. You never know when they might come in handy. Especially when I visit Hunter’s office tomorrow during lunch.”

“You’re shameless now,” I tell her, as we get in line for the register. “This is such a different side of you. I really like it, and I really like seeing you this happy.”

She curls her arm around mine. “Thanks, V. Me, too. Now we need to work on you. Find you a good man that can live up to your expectations.”

I look away, chewing on my fingernail, a pang of something jabbing at my stomach. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.

“Oh no,” she tugs on my arm, “please don’t tell me you’re falling for Rex. Listen, I’m not saying he’s not a good guy, but I think he’s got a lot of issues.”

“Yeah, Liv,” I glare at her, my face pulling tight, “like I don’t.”

“You know what? You’re right. I need to keep my mouth shut. I just don’t want to see you hurt. I want to see you happy.” She smiles and my bitterness fades away.

“I know you do.”

After the sales girl rings up another six pairs of panties to add to Liv’s collection, we stroll out the door, heading into the sunshine.

“I’m really in the mood for a BLT. Let’s go to the deli around the corner.” I tilt my head back, letting the sun warm my face. “God, I can’t wait until the hot summer kicks in.”

“Yes, I know how you like it hot, V.”

From the side I see her smirking. “Yes, hot and
hard
.”

We burst out laughing and by the time we traipse into the deli, we still haven’t stopped. Olivia isn’t watching where she’s going and ends up slamming into a wall of muscle, only to look up and see that it’s Hunter.

“Hey! Fancy meeting you here.” She reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses him.

“Hi, sweetheart. Hi, Vanessa. I’m actually just on my way to a meeting uptown. Stopped to grab a sandwich.” His eyes drift to the shopping bag and he grins. “Another shopping spree?”

“Uh huh.” She dangles the bag, giggling like an excited schoolgirl.

“Hmmm… well, on that enticing note, I hate to leave. I’ll call you later.” He presses his lips to her cheek. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, too,” she replies, and he pinches her ass and flips her a wink before he struts out the door.

I look over in the corner and spot one table for two that’s still available. “I’m going to snag that table, Liv. Just order me the BLT, a side of fries, and an iced coffee.”

“Fries, too?” She perches a hand on her hip.

“Yes, I’m feeling depleted. Starving, actually,” I mumble as I walk toward the table. She says something else under her breath that I’m not close enough to hear. I’m sure it has something to do with Rex.

My phone chimes as I gaze out the window, looking at all the people that make this city I love so unique. I pull it out of my purse and smile when I see it’s a text from Rex.

We’re on for death and destruction tonight, right? My place, seven?

He’d probably run in the other direction if he saw my grin.

Yup. Bring it on.

I might even stop and get more popcorn. I can’t have you complaining if we run out during the movie. I need to focus on the destruction.

Oh really, that’s too bad because I’ll be going commando.

Jesus, I’m hard now.

Hmmm…

I close my phone, attempting to wipe the smug smile from my face just as Olivia heads in my direction.

“Do I want to know?” She places our food on the table, taking the seat beside me.

“No, you don’t. But,” I wave a finger in the air, “there’s something I want to know.”

“Oh yeah?” She steals one of my French fries, popping it into her mouth. “What’s that?”

I narrow my eyes at her and playfully smack her hand. “Paws off my fries. Get your own,” I say, before she grabs one more. “So have you talked to your parents? Or, more importantly, have they recovered from finding out that you’re an erotic romance author and not the VP of a cosmetics firm?”

She expels a sigh which means it can’t be good. “Oh, that.”

Leaning back in the chair, my fingers idly wipe the condensation from the side of my cup. “Yeah, now spill.”

“Well, when I spoke with them the other night, my mother asked if I had been attending church on Sundays, and confession of course to atone for my sins, while my father wanted to know if I was living an honest life now.” A tiny laugh slips from her mouth and she presses her lips together. “I told them that maybe if they read one of my books they wouldn’t be so uptight. Neither of them thought it was funny. In fact, I think I heard my father spit his coffee out.”

“Oh my God! I love it. However….” I clear my throat, sitting up straighter in my chair. “If you’d like me to attend church with you, I’d be more than happy to, although I can’t think of anything I need to confess.” My lips turn up as I shove a handful of French fries into my mouth.