by Sotia Lazu
“I didn’t mean to make you pout,” Lexi said with a smile. “Besides, I’m not denying it’s the utter pinnacle of fucking. There’s just nothing more to it. I mean we had to try for a truce. That’s not typical of people who get along.”
Her glibness drove the knife deeper in his heart. He wouldn’t give up on her, though it would take longer than he’d thought to make her see she was made for him. For now, he’d play along. “No argument there. Just thought…” He shook his head. “Bugger it. Let’s finish what Pedelty asked for, and I’ll look into the bloody site myself. I’ll ask an old mate or two to help, if need be.”
They managed to come up with a handful of ideas, before Ric decided it was time to shag her senseless—it seemed to be the way to her heart. He’d show her the difference between himself and Rex. Make her realize what they did on that table was so much more than just a fuck.
He hoped she’d catch on quickly. He doubted he’d manage to keep up the selfish-vampire persona for long, when he touched her.
He took her on all fours, landing more than a couple of slaps on her glorious bum, although he made sure not to hurt her. He made a point of calling her Shifter and used the palm of his hand to stifle the name she cried out as she came under him. He didn’t want to hear it. If all she was after was a fuck, that’s what he’d give her, but there was no reason to have it rubbed in his face.
Lexi wanted him, not Rex, but she refused to see it and wouldn’t appreciate him talking to her about his desires and dreams. Not giving in to the frustration choking him at her stubbornness, he disentangled himself from the heap their bodies formed, adjusted his clothes, and went to get her a glass of water. Once she’d quenched her thirst, he gave her a lingering kiss and helped her up. He watched as she straightened her clothing, and then he held the door for her, before locking it behind them and leading the way down the stairs.
Lexi passed him when they reached the lobby. He was tempted to pinch her delectable bum, but it wouldn’t do, in front of the security guy.
Lexi waved at the man. “Goodnight, Chad. ’Night, Ric.”
Chad gave a nasty smirk and looked from her to Ric, to the huge screens in front of him.
“’Night, Lexi.” Ric turned to the guard. “The lady said goodnight.”
“I’m sorry.” Chad didn’t meet his gaze. “My mind was elsewhere.”
So he had a mind? He didn’t look it. Ric made a mental note to check the man’s internet usage. He wouldn’t be surprised if Chad spent his shifts watching porn. His station had the screens for it.
****
Lexi’s mind was like a nest of live wires when she got into bed.
Just like after their phone conversation last night, she was amazed at how easy being with Ric had felt.
She sighed.
His strong arms around her felt so good, even if he didn’t really like her. But then, why had he held her?
Good bedside manner. That was all. He didn’t like her as a person, but he enjoyed having sex with her, so he was polite about it.
Despite really not liking her.
Ric could be charming and witty, but if she let him get close, he could hurt her.
Like Andrew had.
Because Ric didn’t like her.
And Andrew was supposed to love her.
Still, something had happened between her and Ric. Something big. And it affected him too, because that last round—oh, God, that last round—was nothing like the first one. Both times had been filled with passion, but when he took her on the meeting room table, she felt like he wanted to touch her soul. The connection and intimacy made it so much more than the rough sex that followed.
She glanced at the carpet burns on her knees.
She preferred the latter. It was familiar and set her mind at ease. And she didn’t have to see his blue-blue eyes filling with wonder when she fell apart beneath him. She wouldn’t have to put an end to things between them, if all times were like the last one. They’d each be safe in their solitude and share nothing beyond their naked bodies. The way things should be.
The safe way.
Ric was an amazing lover, but Rex was the man Lexi needed. She couldn’t contain her relief when Ric got into character and called her Shifter. She was just glad he covered her mouth when he did, because she lost control, and some stupid part of her made her call out his real name.
God, she was a mess. And that stupid book and whoever wrote it were to blame.
Whoever wrote it.
Someone who wasn’t Ric.
But then…
She huffed and ran downstairs, to find Edmund.
Back in her room a few minutes later, she rolled on her stomach and dialed Ric’s number.
“Hello?” He sounded groggy.
“Hey. It’s me. Did I wake you?”
“What clued you in?” His tone was light, despite the sarcasm.
“It’s nine o’clock, grandpa. You shouldn’t be sleeping anyway. Told Edmund I forgot to get your opinion on something, so he gave me your number.”
“And what was the real reason, kitten?”
The pet-name no longer bothered her. When did that happen? “Ummm… The part about wanting to ask you something was true.”
“And what would that be?” His voice slipped into a deep purr, and Lexi had to try hard, not to think of him naked.
“How did you know about the site?” she asked.
The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Lexi thought of repeating the question. She should demand an answer before he had time to come up with a lie.
What Ric said next made no sense. “Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll tell you all about it, tomorrow afternoon. After work. We’ll go get us a cup of coffee, and I’ll tell you.”
“So you have time to come up with an elaborate lie?”
“No, love. So I can get some sleep. It’s a bloody long story, and I’m sleepless and severely dehydrated, due to repetitive shagging.”
Eh, he did have every reason to be exhausted. “Tomorrow it is, then. But you better not try to weasel your way out of it.”
“Or what? You’ll spank me?”
“I just might.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Why did he always bring out this sultry side of her? How did he do it?
“I’ll be looking forward to it. Five okay with you?”
“It’s a da—deal.” It was so not a date. “Meet you outside the front door?”
“It’s a deal. Good night, blondie.”
“Good night, Ric.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lexi awoke a whole hour earlier than usual, to get ready for work. She jumped out of bed at the first beep of the alarm clock, instead of setting the snoozer for ten minutes later. Why was she so jittery this morning? Today wasn’t a big deal. Just coffee after work with a coworker.
Who was hot as hell and made her body sing.
She rummaged through her underwear drawer, grabbed a pair of nude panties, and slammed it shut again.
She took a quick shower and rolled her hair, to dry in ringlets while she put on her makeup. She carefully applied base. Maybe she should straighten her hair instead. She let it loose and put a light, shimmery eye-shadow on her left eyelid. In the mirror, her hair looked nice and summery. She’d let it dry freely. She put on some mousse and went back to her makeup. She made quick work of her cheeks and lips, but something was wrong with the end result.
She narrowed her eyes and studied her reflection.
Forehead—not shiny.
Complexion—clear.
Cheekbones—contoured.
Lips—glossed.
Eyes…
Shit. She hadn’t done her second eyelid.
She hurried to fix that and gave herself an approving smile in the mirror. Her patent-leather briefcase lay by her desk, unused since her mom gave it to her as a gift when she started working for Edmund. Lexi snatched it, shoved in her lip gloss, wallet, and a couple of empty
folders, and left her bedroom.
She didn’t run into her mom or Edmund on the way out, so it was a good thing she caught her reflection in the hallway mirror.
She was heading to work in her bathrobe.
Okay, she had to get a grip.
The second time she came down the stairs, she was dressed in a white pencil skirt and a black sleeveless shirt. The third time, in a pair of jeans and baby-pink turtleneck.
The fourth and final time, she was back in her skirt but with the pink turtleneck, and almost happy with how she looked. Though her hair was a mess from changing tops. The inventor of turtlenecks needed to be tortured.
She smiled at her reflection. She’d pull her hair up, after all.
She got to work twenty minutes late, hair cascading down her shoulders.
With the whole day and most of Wednesday to polish up her suggestions, she could read a couple more chapters of Exotic Beast.
The next chapter ended in a cliff-hanger, and so did the one after that. And the one after that. She couldn’t help but feel both pity and exasperation for Rex. The vampire came to terms with his feeling for Xandra but self-doubt made him fence himself in and not allow hope to enter the barriers he’d set for his existence.
Why was he so stubborn? He wanted her; he should claim her, for fuck’s sake. Lexi rolled her eyes as chapter after chapter the two got closer and still he waited for the other shoe to drop.
All the while, a pesky thought tried to get to the forefront of her brain. Who did he remind her of?
Not Ric. Right?
Lexi was relieved when, a little before four, Edmund told her he’d like to see her in his office for a brief chat. Nothing else could make her pry her gaze from the screen. She terminated the browser and locked her PC. A quick trip to the ladies room, to check her appearance, and she returned to her desk, to pick up her neat pile of notes.
She was on her way to Edmund’s office, when she saw Ric setting his laptop on his desk. He looked up and winked at her, and Lexi felt breathless. He looked like he had the first time he’d taken her atop her desk—tight T-shirt and combat boots included.
She wasn’t the only one slack-jawed at his makeover. Edmund strode to Ric’s desk and asked something Lexi didn’t catch. Ric shook his head a couple of times and said something else she couldn’t hear.
Edmund nodded and gestured for her to approach. “I hope you don’t mind Ric joining us,” he said when she reached them. “I felt his presence was needed, and since he was back in time...” He turned and walked toward his office
“No, not at all,” she said to his back. “Know what this is about?” she asked Ric.
He shrugged. “No idea.”
“Didn’t he tell you just now?” She came to a halt outside her stepdad’s door and studied Ric’s face.
He took another couple of steps, before he turned to look at her. “He asked if I reverted to Rex.” He chuckled.
“And have you?”
“No, love. God, no. I wanted the bloke I met with to feel comfortable with me again. I’ll tell you about it later.” He leaned in closer. “Now move that sexy bum of yours, and let’s get this over with.”
People were watching—not many, but a couple were enough to start a rumor—so Lexi pretended to check something on the top sheet of paper in her arms, nodded, and walked inside.
Already behind his large desk, Edmund motioned for them to sit in the leather armchairs facing him. “The reason I called you both in here was for a preliminary discussion on your ideas to be presented tomorrow. I’m certain that, with Richard on your side, you must have come up with brilliant suggestions. However—”
With Richard on her side.
Lexi winced. Of course. Heaven forbid she come up with anything all by her little lonesome. She was particularly proud of herself, for not rolling her eyes despite the intense urge to do so. “However, you still had to check. It’s cool. I get it.”
“Indeed. I still have to check.”
Ric turned to her. “Show him what you came up with.”
What she came up with. Lexi didn’t like that. Maybe Ric hated her ideas from the start and was setting her up. Her ideas, her screw-up. If he hadn’t winked at her just then, she’d have freaked. Instead, she laid down her notes and began presenting her thoughts on possible solutions.
Since the most important problem was the lack of coordination between departments, due to miscommunications, her plan consisted of tracing every order throughout the system, so each department would know what was expected at any point. As she explained to Edmund, order wasn’t limited to outside clients, but could be anything a department asked of another. By combining her proposal with a couple of forecasting tools that considered more than end sales, “—there would be elimination of slack time and a subsequent increase in efficiency.”
While making her brief presentation, she’d forgotten she was being tested, and relaxed. The moment the last word left her mouth and she took in Edmund’s thoughtful frown, her confidence faltered. “What?” she asked.
“I believe Richard is at the moment tempted to rub my face in something. It seems I have made a mistake with you.” The frown was still there, and Lexi turned to Ric, who smiled triumphantly.
“More than tempted, old man.” Ric cleared his throat. “I told you so.” He punctuated each word separately, voice booming, then leaned back in his chair with a self-satisfied expression.
“You did, but I suggest you remember to whom you’re talking. I’m your bloody boss.” The smile forming on Edmund’s lips belied his chastising words, as did his use of bloody.
“Yes, Sir.” Ric mock-saluted.
Lexi was looking from one to the other, as if watching a tennis match. Her gut twisted as her fears came to life. Ric set her up, to prove to Edmund she shouldn’t be there. And to add insult to injury, he’d fucked her. Her eyes felt hot, the betrayal cutting so deep, all her sense of self-worth vanished. All her focus went to keeping back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. If she could, she’d spring from her seat and flee the building, but her strength had seeped out of her while the two men gloated in her failure.
She was about to try to bolt anyway, when Ric grabbed her wrist. “Ed, you’d better tell Lexi what you mean. I think she understood something completely different.”
“What?” The man seemed at a loss for words. “Dear, what—what’s wrong? Do you need me to—”
“She needs you to tell her what you thought of her presentation, Edmund. Now, please.”
“I—I was astounded by it, of course.” Pedelty removed his glasses and began polishing them. “Alexandra, your ideas were good and very well supported. I should have heeded Richard here, when he said you were being wasted at your current position, but I was too eager to protect my little girl from the pressure of responsibility. It was selfish of me to try to keep you from growing up, and for that I apologize. I’m going to ensure you are more involved in the company affairs now on. We shall start by filling you in more next week, after I’m back from my business trip.”
Lexi had to try to form words. It never occurred to her that what she’d proposed was good. “You”—she took a deep breath—“liked them? And Ric said I was being wasted? When did he say that?”
“I told you he thought I made a mistake with you, but you insisted you were happy where you were.”
She couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been. All that animosity toward Ric had been for no reason at all. Well, not no reason. He’d acted like an ass at first. But still… She chanced a glance at him, and he leered.
Lexi stifled a giggle.
She wanted to apologize.
She wanted to kiss him.
She settled for beaming her brightest smile his way. She’d make their not-a-date worth his while.
After Edmund, Ric, and Lexi agreed on dates for subsequent meetings to get her all caught up, she and Ric were free to go. A glance at the clock showed the workday was over.
“Wel
l, I’m off,” Ric said to nobody in particular. He left in an apparent hurry.
“Yup. I’m going too,” Lexi said to the exact same nobody, but took her time collecting her stuff before making her own exit. She was jittery again.
But it was not a big deal.
So not a date, she repeated in her mind, as she passed by the front desk. And if that asshole Chad leered at her one more time, she’d have him fired, even if it meant she’d wear a sign reading PEDELTY’S BRAT around her neck for the rest of her life.
As soon as she was out of the glass doors, Ric pushed away from the wall he leaned against and offered her his arm.
Lexi couldn’t take it. She just couldn’t.
It would be like they were going somewhere together, which was what they were doing, but not in the together sense of together. She pretended to look for something in her briefcase.
He smirked. “Suit yourself, kitten. Without my shoulder to lean on, walking where I have in mind won’t be easy in those heels of yours.”
Lexi considered his words for a moment, and then touched her fingertips to his elbow, holding her head up high. Saving face was less important than saving her pumps.
Chapter Twenty
All they talked about on the way was the meeting with Pedelty. Lexi tried to get Ric to share what he’d told her stepdad about her, but he wouldn’t.
“Your noggin’s big enough without me giving you more positive feedback,” he said.
The comment made her grin and drop the subject.
That and sheer force of will kept her from grumbling about walking six blocks, while both her car and Ric’s were parked right outside the company. Her heels were killing her, and she caught herself leaning on Ric on more than one occasion. By the time they reached the small café he had in mind, she was too relieved she’d be taking some pressure off her poor toes, to protest when he chose a table at the back and pulled out a chair for her.
“Thank you,” she said.
He smiled and took a seat facing her.
