by Brynn Hale
DEXX
Adorkable Love
Brynn Hale
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Copyright © 2020 by Brynn Hale
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Acknowledgment
Thanks to Lana Dash and Krystal Fox for your writing sessions that powered me through Dexx and other books. You rock!
Contents
1. Dexx
2. Aine
3. Aine
4. Aine
5. Aine
6. Aine
7. Aine
Epilogue
Also by Brynn Hale
About the Author
1
Dexx
It happened ninety days ago? That can’t be right. I shake my head thinking maybe I’ve been caught in a Groundhog Day-like existence.
It seems like it’s improbable, but the laws of physics would tell me differently. Einstein’s theory of time postulates a “fourth dimension” and I feel like I’m caught in that dimension. Part of me wants to take a time machine back ninety days ago.
Back to when I made my move. I laid the best kiss I had in me on her and she looked so unaffected after. I didn’t understand then and I don’t understand now. She texted the next day that she couldn’t do…us. Hell, I before that kiss I thought I just wanted to do her, but now…
Now, I can’t do anyone. And I know how that sounds, but I used to do…anyone. To clarify, women. No dudes. Not that I have anything against people doing whomever they want, but I know what equipment I like. Hetero-City here.
Ninety days without a random hookup. It’s not forever, but it sure feels like it’s been longer than that. I’ve kept my cock in my pants. Hell, I’ve been home before six every goddamn night.
Every.
Night.
That kiss rocked me. I’m in a limbo of wanting her and waiting for her.
And now I wonder if she’s my rock.
Aine Rockhurst. Her name even has “rock” in it and I wonder if it’s a sign.
Sign? I don’t believe in signs. I barely believe in anything other than what I can see on a computer screen. My job as an Information Technologies Architect for Morgan Tech is almost a hundred percent logical.
Logic. I miss it in my personal life, too. Before her I could think and sometimes, I didn’t think. I just did. But now I’m illogical. I’m considering doing something extreme. I’m considering being illogical and taking a chance in something I don’t even know if it can or will exist. But I know if I don’t…I’ll regret it.
“Hey,” I choke out the word as Aine walks by, her Venus body and flowing hair making my mouth dry. Today her hair’s styled in waves, golden red waves that reach to just above her ass. And the strands swing with every swing of her hips, making my eyes sway back and forth, mimicking the movement.
The woman is a siren, I know it. She’s placed me in a spell. I’m trapped inside of myself and I’m afraid if I don’t go for it, I might be trapped forever.
That kiss. It wasn’t expected. I drove her home and walked her to the door of her apartment building. I could feel something pulsing between us and it wasn’t my libido.
We didn’t say anything. We stared at each other. She smiled and I was done for. One fucking smile took me down. I moved in close and slow. She tipped her head and licked those lips that are always coated with a crimson red lipstick that’s all Aine. She’s bright, vivacious and full of life. I brushed a couple tendrils of her hair from her face and as soon as our lips touched, I felt like I was cementing us. She made sounds of pleasure that I’d never heard from any woman—mewls, whimpers, sighs…all at once.
Aine backed away, eyes wide and chest rolling. She pressed her hand to my chest, shook her head once, and all she said was, “I can’t.”
I was thinking “You sure as hell just did.” But I stepped back, kicked in the chest in a place I hadn’t ever been before. I’d protected that place. I’d made it off limits. I knew what allowing a woman into that cavern could do to a man and I wouldn’t let it happen.
But after ninety days of celibacy, it’s time to stop wondering the why of everything and feeling like I’m being engulfed by a black hole.
It’s time to get Aine and make her mine.
Forever.
Aine
Every meeting Dexx flashes those baby blue eyes at me. I looked for another job, but none paid like Morgan Tech. None had the benefits of Morgan Tech and none had…
Him.
For three months I’ve had to see him five days out of every seven and once on a weekend when our friends got married. The proximity is killing me, but Dexx Breyer isn’t someone I need to get closer to. He’s a player—a bad boy in my mind. Of course, he’s also hot in a way that not many men can pull off. Sure, he’s got the height and the slender, but muscular form, but he’s also both a smart man—like brilliant knowing three languages and having a degree in physics as well as computer science—and a smart ass—using sarcasm as some sort of protective bubble. And I’m…I’m afraid of the manfire that he’s bringing in totality might be too hot for me.
Dexx gives flirt a new meaning. He’s slick, like black ice—you never see it coming. And he’s dangerous, like a sharp knife hiding in dishwater. You have a chance of being poked—and I’m sure it’s not totally unpleasurable—but it’s the chance of getting cut that’s worse.
I’ve dated guys like him, and I won’t ever again. They get what they want and then when I come out on the other side of the relationship—which ends like a flash of lightning—I’m eating pint after pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. It’s happened so often that I’ve had to change to their “light” product line—HEAVEN Chocolate Sea Salt Carmel and HEAVEN Peanut Butter Chip. But in a pinch the HEAVEN Strawberry Waffle Cone will do.
I’ve worked too hard to get this rocking hourglass shape. Sure, I have a little sass in my hips and ass—maybe more than a little—but I like it. I enjoy food and I won’t apologize to anyone about it and I’m not going to change. I’ve been with guys like Dexx, they treat you right for a while and then it’s all “maybe you should go for a walk after lunch, burn some of those calories” or they suggest a salad for a meal when you go out to eat. If I want lobster, I’m eating lobster! Extra butter, dammit.
I own my body.
I won’t be owned by any man.
2
Aine
I pursed my lips. I wasn’t close to crying, but I was close to picking up this computer and throwing it through the window. Right in the middle of coding a program that is behind time target, and making great progress, the system glitched. And my program went from good to go to all gone. And now I have to deal with Dexx. He’s not technically my boss, but he is acting as lead on this project.
“I got your text. What can I do for you?” he asks, almost too nicely.
“I’m not going to get the second card done today. I just lost three hours’ worth of work and Alyx asked me to present with him to the Robeson project this afternoon. I’m really…” No, I’m not going to apologize. I’m just going to leave it there. It w
asn’t my fault. It wasn’t anything I did. It’s just the way it is.
But it wasn’t the first thing to go wrong today either. And it hasn’t been big things. A flat tire can be fixed, but it still made me late to a meeting. And my normal Dirty Chai Latte turned out to taste like dirt. I’m not sure what they did, but it wasn’t right, so I threw it away. And then I forgot my lunch at home.
And then there’s that. His cologne. It’s irritatingly intoxicating and makes me feel all kinds of wrong. The right kind of wrong. The longer he stands there next to me the more I crave it. I hate that I crave anything associated with Dexx.
“Hey, it’s not a big deal.” He steps back as I look up at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…I’m….”
The intensity of his gaze as he looks down at me instantly hardens my nipples. And with the scorcher of a start to July that we’ve been having, I wore my thinnest silk shirt and thinnest bra to stay cool. Big mistake. My nipples are mountains under the two scant layers of fabric. He swallows after his gaze drops to my chest.
I clear my throat. “Just been a shitty day all around, Dexx. I didn’t need this right now.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
His hand lands on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. This project can wait until after we come back from the holiday. Now, what happened?”
For a second, I believe that he cares. Or I want to believe it. But I’ve seen it actually happen once in a while, but I’m still not convinced.
“My car had a flat, my chai sucked, and I forgot my lunch. I’m so hungry that I’m getting hangry.”
“Let’s go get you some food, then. Come on…” He nods with that perfectly messy, dirty blond hair staying exactly where he put it.
But I can’t. “You know, don’t worry about it. I’ll grab something from the vending machine.”
“Aine, we can take an hour and get something to eat.”
“And I will, Dexx…” I close my eyes so I don’t have to see the disappointment. “Just not with you.”
He shoves his hands in dress pant pockets. “The offer still stands. It’s only 10:30 a.m. I’ll wait until noon to get food.”
“I need to work on the presentation.” I try to go back to work, but the A/C wafts that deep, woodsy cologne and it invades my nose when he backs away. When he turns, his perfect, perky, and popping ass is right there in my face. He knows what he has and the man’s willing to flaunt it in perfectly fitting khaki pants.
And that’s when I decide to take the extended holiday weekend to go up the coast to my dad’s place. He won’t be there as he’s in California visiting my sister and her two kids. I have to get away from this.
From him.
I hear her voice and I pep up. Maybe my bestie, Marley, might want to go with me. Sure, she has her man Carr now, but she’s also one of the first outside investments that Morgan Tech has made. Her video games are beyond amazing and she’s pretty much the same, too.
“Aine!” she calls out when I stand up and move into the aisle.
“Marley.” We hug like we haven’t seen each other in years. When in fact, I was over at her place on Monday night for a crocheting caps for cancer patients at the local hospital. Marley got me started on the project and I kind of used it for the last three months to keep my mind off of other things. Things that made me feel a little frantic and definitely not my usual calm and contented self. Okay, maybe I’m not always that way. And maybe I’ve been told that my hair should be a signal for how I can fire up at any time. But some people like that side of me. I’m…intense. Passionate. And okay, maybe sometimes a little frantic.
I back away. “Thinking of going to my dad’s house in Cedar Hills for the weekend. He’s out of town. You have plans for the holiday?” I prepare to hear what I already know.
“Carr’s taking me to New York City for the weekend.”
“Dang, that’s so romantic.”
She leans forward and quiets her voice. “What’s going on between you and Dexx?”
“Nothing. Why?” The speed I answer that question with probably sets off radar guns of police across Boston.
“I just get this feeling that there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“Nope. Just coworkers.”
“Okay…” she stretches the word in a questioning way. “But I am sorry I can’t go. Maybe next month?”
“Definitely. No worries.” I wave it off. “Okay, I need to get back to work.”
“Have a good weekend. Call me, if you need me.”
“Will do.”
It hurt, but I was happy for her.
And not at all jealous.
Maybe 1% jealous, after all I do have those green eyes.
Dexx
“Boss, you got a minute?” I lean against his doorway.
“Couple. What’s up?” He keeps his face to the screen.
“What’s Aine’s favorite place to order food from?”
He’d know. The company orders food in a couple times a week as an extra benefit but not today.
“Why?”
“She’s having a shit day. I thought I would get her some food for lunch since she forgot hers this morning.”
He still doesn’t look up. “Sushi from Butterfly or southern from Momma’s Sweet Tea,” he says confidently.
I love Momma’s, but sushi was a little lighter and might leave room for her going to dinner with me. I could hope.
After asking exactly what she likes in sushi, I pull out my phone and order from a delivery service and ask them to take it to her desk—giving specific directions.
This would be my in. My goodwill gesture. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something. Anything to get her to just talk to me and stop avoiding me.
“That’s really nice of you, Dexx. What’s up with that?”
I stood and walked to the door. “Maybe I’m trying to change boss.”
“Make sure that you change, and you don’t make her change. Aine’s pretty damn special the way she is, Dexx. I don’t want to lose a great employee and friend because you are trying to spread your…wings.”
“I don’t want wings, Alyx.”
I just want Aine.
3
Aine
“I didn’t order food. That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
“Well, it says Aine Rockhurst and you said you’re she and I have other orders to deliver, so…” He shoves the bag at me, holding out a hand.
I look at the receipt and the delivery guy has been tipped thirty percent.
“Dude, whoever ordered this tipped you thirty percent. I’m all for tipping well but come on.”
I hold up the long rectangle of paper and he smiles. “Have a great meal, Miss Rockhurst.”
I look at the receipt and in the note it says, “Miss Rockhurst, bring this to the roof at 12:17. Not 12:16. Not 12:18, but 12:17 p.m. exactly.”
An inside joke between Dexx and I, back when we were joking with each other and seemed to be able to communicate past hello. A small part of me missed those days. It was a joke about Alyx’s need for scheduling everything down to the minute, but he was habitually late to every meeting. It drives me crazy and Dexx knows that.
I smile and lean back in the chair, rocking a little with my amusement. My stomach rides just a little rollercoaster—a happy baby rollercoaster—but I blame it on the rocking of the chair.
Marley walks by with Carr on her arm. “Dang, you must be hungry. That’s enough sushi for ten people.” She whispers something to Carr and he walks on.
“It’s from Dexx. I told him that I forgot my lunch today.”
My phone buzzes.
Alyx: Robeson call has been cancelled. Will reschedule for after the holiday.
I should’ve known. My shoulders lower from my ears. I didn’t realize how tense I was. I need a vacation. Bad.
“You know, he can be kinda sweet. Remember when he gave you a ride home from the restaurant.”
“Oh, I remember. Can’t forget.”
Her eyebrows rise and she tips her head. “What can’t you forget?”
“We kissed,” I let the words slip out on a whisper.
Her mouth drops open and stays there. “I…you…really?”
“Really.”
“And…it wasn’t good?”
I’m sure my face is messed up. I’m messed up. “It was really good.”
“And that’s bad?”
“Yeah, it’s Dexx…”
She shakes her head. “Why not go for it?”
“I told you, he’s a player.”
“I think if you got to know him, there’s more inside of there. Sure, he knows he’s hot and he’s cocky, but he’s not that guy. I know it. I’ve seen it. I’ve heard it from Carr. Just get to know him.”
How different can he actually be?
“I’ve been here before. It’s not smart. It’s reckless and I won’t be reckless.”
She lowers her voice and leans into my cubicle. “Sometimes love is reckless, Aine. Sometimes it’s not smart. Sometimes it’s crazy and sometimes it’s amazing. You deserve amazing.”
I sometimes believed I deserved less than others. I wasn’t sure if it was my upbringing with two brothers and sisters where money was tight for a few years and attention from our parents was even less abundant as they worked two and sometimes three jobs at the holidays to give us what they believed would make us happy. When in hindsight, they were the only thing I really wanted.
Things never turned around for them and they divorced. My father ended up being quite well off after some investments and becoming partners with a friend in a business, ending up with a home in Boston and one on the cape. Not on the water, but still…Cape Cod, not too shabby. My mother still works two jobs and moved to be with her ailing mother last year. I see her a couple times a year and that seems to work for both of us.
