I held out my hands, took the cake. “Okay, well, in that case, I’ve got dibs on the piece that says Lexi.”
Kyle grinned at me and nodded. “Only fair. It’s all yours.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I put away the rest of my clothes in the dresser and shoved the suitcase under my bed. After changing my clothes, I headed into the kitchen in light blue sweatpants and a long-sleeved white T-shirt. My feet were happily bare and I wound my hair up in a ponytail as I walked. It felt really nice to be home, even if it meant my mother would likely be coming over in the morning.
A knock sounded just as I stepped into the kitchen. Puzzled, I turned around and opened it.
Slash leaned against the doorjamb. He was dressed in his black leather jacket and jeans, and he smelled amazing, as usual.
My mouth dropped open. “Y-you knocked. You never knock.”
He smiled. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“I’m really surprised.”
He paused. “Are you going to invite me in?”
I stood in the doorway. “Look, Slash, I’ve been thinking. I’m not sure this is a good idea. I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
“I’m honored to be the first.”
“You might want to reserve judgment on that.”
“That’s doubtful. I’m completely captivated by you, cara.”
“Sure, now at the beginning of our relationship when our hormones are dancing around and we are clueless to our respective bad habits. What if I disappoint you? What if I’m the worst girlfriend in the history of girlfriends? You may be sorry you ever fell for me.”
The amusement faded from his face and he sighed. “Falling for you is indeed a danger, but not in the way you think.”
I blew out a breath. “I’ll be honest. I’m just worried this situation could get really complicated. I don’t do well with non-mathematical abstracts, especially feelings. I’m not even sure what love is. Something like that could be a deal breaker in a relationship.”
“We’ve already had this discussion. We will not start defining our feelings. You will either feel it...or you won’t.”
“But you already know you love me. You’ve accepted it. You’re at peace with it. I’m just figuring it all out.”
“It’s not a race.”
I looked down at my feet. “I know. I do feel warm and happy with you, Slash. Sometimes my stomach gets all fluttery when you’re around. And when you kiss me...well, it’s like some kind of magic, for lack of a better expression.”
“Ah, that’s good to know.”
We stood in silence for a moment before Slash asked, “So, now what?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. I mean what happens next? Do we go out on dates and stuff?”
“Si, we will go out on dates and stuff. That’s usually how relationships work.”
“Right. But there are so many other things to consider. I haven’t even factored in what a serious disadvantage I have when it comes to your significant experience.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not just talking about sexual experience, although you definitely have me at a disadvantage there as well. I would assume that, to a certain extent, sex is a learned skill. I’m pretty good at visualization, so once you show me your preferences, I should have a decent handle on things.”
He chuckled. “Ah, cara, you are magnificent.”
“Are you teasing me again?”
“Of course.”
“I’m trying to be serious here. I’m worried about managing our relationship. The emotional give and take, the compromise that is required of having of boyfriend. I don’t know if I’m up to the challenge. It’s likely to be draining and considerably time consuming.”
“Are you done?”
I thought for a moment. “Did I forget something?”
“There might be a mathematical equation you haven’t factored in yet.”
“Very funny.”
His eyes twinkled. He reached out and lifted my chin so I looked directly into his eyes. “So, cara, can I come in?”
I gazed into the face I’d come to know so well, the mischievous brown eyes filled with amusement and perhaps even desire. We’d been through a lot and would probably go through a lot more before anything became clear to me. The girl with such a small horizon was taking a really, really big step.
“Wait here, Slash. Don’t leave, okay?”
I left him at the door, went to the kitchen and rummaged around in one of the lower cabinets. When I found what I was looking for, I stood up and walked back to the door.
I was relieved to see he still waited there with a bemused expression.
“Cara?”
I pulled out a bottle of wine from behind my back. It was the same bottle of wine he’d given me several months earlier while confidently announcing we’d open it on the night we first made love.
From the expression on his face, I’d surprised him, but a slow smile spread across his lips. He leaned forward and kissed me. “We’re going to be really good together.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
I opened the door wide and stepped to the side. “Please, come in, Slash. But just so you’re aware, I’m not going into this situation blind. I have a relationship plan. Sort of.”
He stepped across the threshold and put his arm around me. “Ah, now you have a relationship plan. You’re beginning to sound a lot like me.”
“I know. But there’s nothing wrong with a little foreplanning, right?”
“Not as long as you figure in extra time for foreplay.”
“Yowza!” I said as he laughed and kicked the door shut behind us.
* * * * *
Can’t get enough of Lexi Carmichael? See how it all started with the first three books in the series by Julie Moffett—available now!
No One Lives Twice
I’m Lexi Carmichael, geek extraordinaire. I spend my days stopping computer hackers at the National Security Agency. My nights? Those I spend avoiding my mother and eating cereal for dinner. Even though I work for a top-secret agency, I’ve never been in an exciting car chase, sipped a stirred (not shaken) martini, or shot a poison dart from an umbrella.
Until today, that is, when two gun-toting thugs popped up in my life and my best friend disappeared. Along the way, my path collides with a sexy government agent and a rich, handsome lawyer, both of whom seem to have the hots for me. Hacking, espionage, sexy spy-men—it’s a geek girl’s dream come true. If it weren’t for those gun-toting thugs...
No One to Trust
It may not be kosher to have the hots for your boss, but he seems to have the hots for me, too. If only things didn’t get so complicated...
Darren Greening, a genius researcher from Flow Technologies (our first client!) is missing, and his bosses think I’m involved. And they aren’t the only ones—the man who nearly snapped my neck in the parking garage thinks so, too.
Now I’m caught in the middle of a complex and dangerous case. I’ll have to use all my geek skills and a little help from my friends to solve the mystery of Darren’s disappearance before Neck-Snapping-Man makes a return visit...
No Money Down
Me and the legendary Zimmerman twins—it’s a friendship made in geek heaven. And it all started back when I worked for the NSA...
My best friend Basia dragged me to the beach for her idea of a vacation. All those annoying people, sand in embarrassing places—not exactly R & R for a girl who doesn’t like the sun, the ocean or bathing suits. I couldn’t wait to get back to work.
But things started looking up when I ran into Elvis and Xavier Zimmerman. We discovered we had a lot in common: gaming, anchovies, hacking. After t
hat, the vacation was perfect—until I accidentally broke some poor guy’s fingers...
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About the Author
Julie Moffett is a bestselling author and writes in the genres of historical romance, paranormal romance and mystery. She has won numerous awards, including the prestigious PRISM Award for Best Romantic Time-Travel and Best of the Best Paranormal Books of 2002. She has also garnered several nominations for the Daphne du Maurier Award and the Holt Medallion.
Julie is a military brat (Air Force) and has traveled extensively. Her more exciting exploits include attending high school in Okinawa, Japan; backpacking around Europe and Scandinavia for several months; a year-long college graduate study in Warsaw, Poland; and a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland where she fell in love with castles, kilts and brogues.
Julie has a B.A. in political science and Russian language from Colorado College and an M.A. in international affairs from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has worked as a journalist, teacher and researcher. Julie speaks Russian and Polish and has two sons.
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ISBN-13: 9781426898730
NO BIZ LIKE SHOWBIZ
Copyright © 2014 by Julie Moffett
Edited by Alissa Davis
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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