by Linda Verji
“Um… uh… yes… I am!” Freddie stuttered as she fumbled with her seatbelt.
Lex reached for the seatbelt too. The moment their fingers brushed, a shock of electricity swept through her. She snuck a glance at him only to find him watching her too. Then just like that he pressed his lips to her.
It wasn’t a deep kiss. In fact, Freddie wasn’t even sure that it qualified a kiss. It was more of a brush of his lips against hers, but it was enough to make her lose her breath for a few seconds. When he stepped aside to let her get out of the car, she felt tingly and a little shaky. And when he pressed his hand to her lower back to guide her into the restaurant, all her senses seemed to be centered on that touch.
She calmed down somewhat once they were seated on opposite sides of the round table and not touching. The waitress took their order, left, then came back with drinks to hold them over until their food was ready.
Lex took a sip of his fruit cocktail juice then asked, “So you’re really not mad that I outed us to your family?”
“No, not all,” Freddie insisted. “If anything, I’m embarrassed.”
Lex frowned. “Why?”
“It’s embarrassing that I made you do it.” Her eyes lowered, she ran her finger along the foot of her wine glass. “They’re my family. I should’ve been the one to confess instead of hiding behind you and letting you take all the heat.”
“They may be your family, but we’re a team,” he reminded her. “It doesn’t matter who revealed it. Besides, it’s not like you ran away and left me holding the bag. You were there too.”
She sighed. “Still…”
“Still nothing,” Lex cut off her self-flagellation. “I’m just glad we don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Me too.” She smiled. However, moments later, her smile faded. “Have you spoken to Ari yet?”
Lex shook his head. “You?”
“No.” She shook her head. “We should give him time. He’ll come around.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Lex mumbled. But she heard him anyway.
She prodded, “Everyone who?”
He shrugged. “Your dad. The guys.”
“The guys.” Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “You told the guys?”
Lex nodded. “I just wanted it all out there so we can move on.”
Her pulse stuttered to a halt. What did he mean move on? Weren’t they fine as they were now? Was he tired of her already? Her mouth suddenly dry, she hesitantly asked, “Move on to where?”
Lex met her eyes. His gaze was so grave that for a second she thought he was really going to propose that they really move on from each other. But his next words sucked the air right out of her lungs. “To something more serious.”
“What?” She blinked twice. Then blinked again. Asking her to stop whatever they were doing would’ve been shocking, but this was a whole other level of unexpected.
“I want us to move to something more serious.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I like you. I really, really like you and I want to date you.”
For the first time in her life, Freddie was left speechless. Of course, she’d thought of dating Lex, but she’d never thought he wanted the same thing too. Nothing about his behavior in the last few weeks had given a clue that he wanted anything more than sex.
“I thought…. I thought you wanted something just temporary.” She swallowed hard. “That… that we were just friends with benefits.”
“You’re not my friend so there’s no way we’d ever be friends with benefits.”
“Huh?” She frowned in confusion.
He suddenly lifted off his seat and circled over to her side. “I don’t kiss my friends like this.”
Then just like that he kissed her.
A proper kiss.
Right in front of everyone in the restaurant.
Freddie was so shocked that she couldn’t even respond to the kiss properly. Caught in the line between surprise and sudden desire, she could only let him lead the kiss. He cupped the back of her neck, slanted his lips over hers, forced her mouth open and snuck his tongue in. His tongue danced over hers, leaving no doubt that she was definitely not his friend. Freddie was sure that she didn’t take a breath through the whole kiss… no, the whole invasion.
Someone behind them whistled, someone asked them to get a room. But Lex didn’t seem to give a damn. He just kissed her like she was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted. When he ended the kiss with a teasing bite of her lower lip, her eyes shot wide open.
The blatantly public kiss was so uncharacteristic of him that she followed him with wide, shocked eyes as he returned to his seat. But Lex looked supremely confident, like he’d just risen to get a butter knife or something. And it was sexy as hell. How in the world had she never noticed him all these years? She must’ve been blind.
“I won’t ask you for an answer right now,” Lex said calmly once he was seated. “I’ll give you time. Just think about us dating, okay?”
What else could she do? She just nodded. “Okay.”
The waitress brought their meal right then. Freddie was so shaken by everything that had happened that she could only steal glances at Lex as they ate. It was obvious that he could tell that she was watching him by the confident smirk on his face. The man knew what he was doing to her. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face by doing something equally outrageous. But for some reason, she couldn’t breathe well enough to think of something to do. All she could do was stare at him.
“What are you doing on Saturday?” Lex suddenly broke the silence.
“Huh?”
“Saturday,” he repeated. “What are you doing?”
Even if she had something on her schedule, she was in no position to remember it now. “Um… nothing.”
“Hang out with me,” he suggested.
This time she managed to get her thoughts together to ask, “I thought you said you were giving me time to think about dating you.”
He met her eyes and smiled. “That’s why I said hang out.”
That wicked smile was enough to make her wonder what he really meant by hanging out. Images of all the ways they could ‘hang out’ swarmed in. Naked bodies. Tangled limbs. Twisted sheets. Him kissing her, touching her, inside her…
Freddie barely held back a moan as everything in her tensed and her eyes met his. This man would be the death of her.
* * *
LEX’S IDEA OF hanging out was actually more innocent. He just wanted to spend some alone time with Freddie, and a day on his yacht seemed like the perfect way to do that. Saturday dawned bright and sunny as if it approved of his plans too.
Freddie looked especially delicious as she walked ahead of him on the boarding ramp. She’d taken his suggestion to dress for a swim to heart. Her hair was in French braids, and he could see the straps of her white swimsuit beneath her vivid blue handkerchief dress. Though the dress was loose-fitting, the neck was deep enough that he could see the tops of her breasts and it was short enough to give enticing glimpse of her thick thighs. He gulped in deeply as his mind inevitably conjured images of what it would be like once she took off the dress.
“You changed up stuff,” Freddie exclaimed as she got on the yacht and headed straight to the lounge area. Dropping her bag on the seat, she added, “The floor was a darker wood when I came on and you’ve changed the fabric on the seats.”
“I have.” Lex smiled.
He was surprised that she even remembered what it looked like before the remodel. When he’d bought the yacht, his friends had insisted on taking it out on its first run. Freddie had somehow ended up with them. That was three years ago. She hadn’t been on it since then.
“Tell me you didn’t change your bed,” she said as she headed down to his master state-room. “I love, loved it.”
He winced. “Sorry, I changed too.”
“Nooo,” she moaned. But when she saw his new bed, her moan turned into a gasp
of awe. “Oh, oh, oh, okay. This is amazing.”
The bed was amazing. It was circular and large enough to hold a whole soccer team. But he didn’t want a team in there. Just Freddie. Before his mind could wander into wicked territory, Lex offered, “Come on. You should check the galley too. I changed a few things in there.”
After her tour of the yacht, they ended up on the deck. Soon they set off with the helmsman steering the boat while the couple enjoyed the sun, wind, wine and light snacks.
Lex had bought this yacht because it was away from everyone else. It was like a world of its own. While he was out on it, all he could see was the ocean stretched far and wide. There were no people bumping into him on the streets, no people chattering in the next table, no one trying to draw his attention. He was all alone.
He rarely ever invited anyone on the boat because he liked to be alone. Though he didn’t hate people, being around too many people always drained his energy. Being on his yacht was his way of recharging. Sometimes, he didn’t even go with a helmsman, preferring to steer the boat himself.
However, for some reason, being here with Freddie didn’t feel suffocating. Her constantly drawing him into conversation wasn’t as annoying as it should’ve been. When she asked the helmsman to stop the yacht next to another one they met out on the ocean so they could mingle with the couple on the other boat, Lex wasn’t irritated. In fact, it felt refreshing. He couldn’t help watching her with a smile as she laughed and chatted with the other couple.
She was changing him. And strangely, he didn’t hate it.
The couple got back on their own yacht after having lunch, leaving Lex and Freddie alone once again to enjoy their excursion. But Lex was so distracted by how Freddie looked that he couldn’t even relax.
She lay on her lounge chair, eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. Her dress was gone too, and all she had on was the white swimsuit. The white fabric clung to every inch of her voluptuous body, from the mounds of her breasts to her stomach, and dipping dangerously between her thighs, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. The afternoon sun glinted on her dark skin making it seem even silkier and smoother. He ached to touch her!
“I see why you bought this.” Freddie sighed happily and shifted a bit in her seat. “Being out here is so relaxing.”
“Yeah!” Lex offered distractedly as his eyes skimmed her body. “It’s the only place where I can truly be alone.”
“Really?” She turned on the seat to face him. “Do you like being alone that much?”
“Yeah, I do.” Though he was distracted by the view her new position gave, he somehow found his voice to explain, “Until I met your brother and Michael in high-school, there was no one I liked in my life. You know how my family is.”
“I know,” she said simply but the two words were heavily loaded.
Usually, Lex hated talking about his family life and actively avoided it. But for some reason, he found himself saying, “My real mom didn’t want me, and my fake mom hated me. My father ignored me, and my sisters just wanted me gone.” He smiled ruefully. “It just seemed like everyone was either out to get me or to get rid of me. Ari and Michael were the only people who were different.”
He seemed to have revealed too much because Freddie didn’t say anything. She just watched him until he started to feel embarrassed for revealing so much of himself. Did she now think of him as damaged? Pitiful? He didn’t want her thinking that. He wanted her to think of him as someone dependable, someone she could trust and count on, someone she could date.
But his imaginings didn’t even come close to what she was really thinking of.
She smiled softly. “I don’t know why I’ve never seen it.”
“Seen what?”
“How amazing you are?” Her eyes shadowed, she said, “I don’t know how I would’ve turned out if I was in your position, but it would definitely not be as good. If I had a family like yours, I would be a wreck. A total wreck. But you…. you’re a better man than any man I know. Stronger than anyone I know.” She smiled. “You turned out good, Lex Bishop. Really good.”
The compliment was as unexpected as it was welcome, and it sent warmth through Lex and filled his heart. Before he knew it, he’d sat up and pulled her from her seat.
“Lex!” she exclaimed in surprise as he dragged her into his lap. “What-”
He cut off her words with a hot kiss. Slanting his lips over hers, he slid his tongue inside her mouth to war with hers. The kiss was desperate, needy, filled with thoughts that he couldn’t reveal with words. Yes, his childhood and youth had been hard, but he wouldn’t trade it for something better. If it wasn’t for that difficulty, he wouldn’t be who he was, and he certainly wouldn’t have met the Lathams. He wouldn’t have met Freddie. If he had to do it all again so he could meet her, he would.
When he ended the kiss, his breathing was as frantic and as fast as hers. His arm wrapped around her waist, holding her firmly against his body, he asked, “Did you think about it?”
“Think about what?” Freddie asked breathlessly, her lips swollen and wet with the evidence of their kiss.
“Did you think about dating me?”
She nodded.
He held his breath, more nervous than expected as he waited for her answer. But before she could, her phone suddenly rang. The shrill sound cut into the silence around them with a loudness that was almost as painful as it was annoying. Freddie’s eyes immediately swept to the phone on the end-table. It was upside down so neither of them could see who was calling.
“Ignore it,” Lex ordered gruffly.
Freddie looked like she didn’t want to answer it either, but with a sigh, she explained, “It might be something important.” She leaned forward to grab the phone. However, when she saw the caller I.D, she grimaced. She held the phone up for Lex to see. “Ari.”
Lex, who was curious why Ari was calling her when he hadn’t spoken to either of them for close to five days, was glad when Freddie put Ari on loudspeaker.
Ari didn’t even give her the chance to say, ‘hello’. He barked, “Where are you?”
“Hello to you too,” Freddie retorted with a roll of her eyes.
“Where are you?” Ari’s voice was curt enough that it was obvious he was irritated.
“I’m out,” she answered evasively while shooting Lex a nervous look.
“Out where?” Ari demanded. When Freddie didn’t answer fast enough, he confronted, “You’re with him, right?”
“Him who?” Freddie hedged even though she knew who ‘him’ was. She was seated on his lap right now.
“Come back home right now,” her brother barked.
“What?” Freddie seemed as startled by the order as Lex was. She went from evasive to angry in the space of a second. Her tone just as curt as her brother’s, she started, “Who do you think you are to tell me-”
“If you don’t come back right now, I’ll come for you myself,” Ari threatened.
“Excuse you! Boy please!” Freddie guffawed sarcastically. “Come and get me then. You think you can scare-”
The call ended right then, and all they heard next was the ring tone.
“He hung up on me,” Freddie announced unnecessarily. She stared at her phone with unrestrained disbelief. “This boy hung up on me after threatening me. Me.” She laughed but there was no humor in the laugh. “He must not know who he’s talking to.”
Though the phone call was ridiculous, Lex could understand why Ari had made it. They hadn’t even made their peace with him yet they were going on dates already.
With a sigh, Lex reached for his own phone. “I’ll talk to him.”
“What for?” Freddie snatched the phone before he could take it. “If he wants to be a baby, let him.”
Lex ran his palm over her back soothingly. “We have to talk to him sometime.”
“Do we?” Freddie retorted, but the look in her eyes said that she knew Lex was right. After a long pause, she blew out an angry breath. “Fine, I’ll ta
lk to him.”
“You don’t have to,” Lex started. “I can-”
“No. No. It’s my turn.” She turned to meet his eyes and forced a smile. “I can’t make you do all the dirty work.”
Lex wanted to protest but her determined expression left no doubt that her mind was made up. With a sigh, he nodded.
CHAPTER 19
Freddie walked into the house to hear the sounds of a basketball game going on and her father and brother cheering loudly. When she entered the living room neither of them noticed her. Ari seemed remarkably cheerful for a man who’d been making threats and barking out orders just an hour ago. In fact he was on his feet, whistling and clapping.
“They shouldn’t have cut him. I told you. I told you.” Ari laughed and clapped loudly. “D. Rose out there showing the Bulls they should’ve kept him. Whoo…. Go Boy! Show ‘em!”
“They messed up on that one,” Ulysses agreed. “I can’t blame them though. He looked like he was d-” He noticed Freddie right then and immediately turned his head to face her. “You’re home early. I thought you were staying out overnight?”
“That’s what I thought too,” Freddie said as she glared at her brother.
Ari, who’d gone from cheerful to sulky in the space of a second, glared right back at her.
Ulysses immediately noticed the tension. His gaze switched between his two kids. “Did something happen?”
“Ask your son,” Freddie said, still digging holes in her brother’s face with her eyes.
Ulysses turned to Ari. “Did you do something?”
Ari just shrugged. Before Freddie could force him to confess, her mother emerged from the kitchen.
“Hey, baby,” Tanaya greeted as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. “You’re home early. I thought you were staying out overnight.”
“I was. But I didn’t because of him.” Freddie pointed at her brother. “You! We need to talk.”
“Talk about what?” he retorted sulkily while turning to face the TV.
“What is going on?” Tanaya asked, obviously surprised at the tension in the room.
