She swung side-to-side with gentle grace, her grin stretching. “Not telling. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go start dinner. It’s chicken-fried steak, mash potato and gravy tonight, guys. You’ve taught me Australia these last two weeks. Tonight I’m teaching you America.”
“In just one meal?” Curtis chuckled. To Logan’s ears, it sounded less relaxed than normal. Strained, in fact. “Impressive.”
Bethany preened a little, releasing her grip on the rail to skip backwards as she did so. “I hope so.”
And with that, she strode into the living room, leaving in her wake a tension in Logan’s gut and groin he doubted he’d ever escape. Not while she was still in the country, that was for sure.
“Fuck, Logan.” Curtis’s low mutter dragged Logan’s gaze from her back and her swaying hips. “I don’t know if I can…” His best mate trailed off, a twisted grimace on his face.
Logan frowned. “If you can what?”
Curtis let out a ragged sigh, turning to stare at the view beyond the railing again. Logan didn’t miss the muscles bunching in Curtis’s jaw. Nor the rapid movement of his Adam’s apple.
“Nothing,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “Nothing.”
He watched the yachts sailing over the water’s surface for a long moment, his body tense. Logan knew him well enough to recognize when he was dealing with internal turmoil, and right now, Curtis was neck high in it.
Neck high and struggling.
Logan hadn’t seen him this way since their high school principal had suspended him for a week two days before the high school national cricket finals.
The memory of that event and of the reason Curtis had been suspended rolled over Logan like a heavy blanket, bringing with it a sense of love and guilt so powerful it hurt.
Letting out a slow breath, Logan rested his elbows on the railing to mimic his friend’s stance. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said, a slight waver in his voice. Was he seriously about to suggest what he thought he was? Was he truly that brave? Or foolish?
Curtis cocked an eyebrow at him. “What’s that?”
Logan’s heart became an insane sledgehammer. Thank God, he wasn’t one of those nerds who reached for an inhaler whenever he was under stress and out of his league. As it was, he had to ball his hands into fists to stop himself shoving his glasses farther up his nose. “I’m going to walk back into the kitchen and ask Bethany on a date. Just me and her. When she says no, and she will, you have to walk in there and sweep her off her feet. Deal?”
Curtis stared at him. Silent.
“That way,” Logan went on, chest tight, gut a twisting knot, fingers inching to adjust his glasses, “you can go after the woman you want and I can stop feeling guilty about you not going after her.”
His friend’s jaw bunched. Again.
Surprised at his own masochistic mental state, Logan laughed. “I’m not stupid, Curtis. And I’ve got eyes. The chemistry between you two is phenomenal. I may ache to be with her—and I do—but you two were born to be together. It makes sense. So don’t argue with me.”
Curtis opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
“Dinner is served.”
At Bethany’s low murmur laced with mirth and delight, Logan jumped. As did Curtis. It was the second time that evening she’d startled them in such a way.
And as before, they both swung to face her. Unlike their time at the Cricketer’s Cup however, Logan couldn’t find a single word to say.
Not when his gaze fell on Bethany standing but a few feet away.
Naked.
Completely and utterly naked.
Except for the blood-red stilettos on her feet.
She looked at them both, her eyes glinting with open delight. “So,” she said, smoothing her palms down over her hips. “Who’s hungry?”
Compliance
(Heart of Fame - Stage Right, Book One)
Available Here
About Lexxie Couper
Lexxie Couper started writing when she was six and hasn’t stopped since. She’s not a deviant, but she does have a deviant’s imagination and a desire to entertain readers with her words. Add the two together and you get erotic romances that can make you laugh, cry, shake with fear or tremble with desire. Sometimes all at once.
When she’s not submerged in the worlds she creates, Lexxie’s life revolves around her family, a husband who thinks she’s insane, an indoor cat who likes to stalk shadows, and her daughters, who both utterly captured her heart and changed her life forever.
Lexxie lives by two simple rules – measure your success not by how much money you have, but by how often you laugh, and always try everything at least once. As a consequence, she’s laughed her way through many an eyebrow raising adventure.
You can find details of her writing at
www.LexxieCouper.com
Blindsided By You (Outback Skies Book 6) Page 8
