Lex and Lu(16)
Again, she smiled, knowing how awkward this felt. “It’s OK. I know what you mean. And I’m finishing up my dissertation.”
“Not shocking.” Again, a pause, a smile. “What’s it on?”
She hedged. “I’m getting my doctorate in psychology.”
“Not English?”
“Ah, no.”
“Fought that tooth and nail, huh?”
“Absolutely.” She looked away. Of course he’d remember that she wanted to make her own way. Not be like her mother. “What about you? Is being who you are everything you thought it would be?”
“Just like you to start out with the hard questions.” Shaking his head, he thought carefully about his answer. “Yes and no.”
“Thought we weren’t playing word games,” she teased.
“My answer has evolved over time. At twenty, it was everything I thought it would be. Soccer all the time. Localized fame. Easy pickings.” He stopped. “It’s different now. I still love playing. God, I love it. It’s like I was born just to do that. There’s no greater high. But it’s also a business. I used to just let my agent handle everything, but I wanted to be more involved with everything. Mostly because of my dad. He didn’t like that I didn’t always know what was going on. So I spend a lot of time trying to manage my affairs.”
“So he got his businessman after all,” she said knowingly.
Chuckling, Lex agreed. “Yes, he did. I hated it at first. And even though I know Caroline knows I’m not stupid, we had to jump through a lot of ‘dumb jock’ hoops. I had to prove myself to her. Which in the end felt good—but it pissed me off in the beginning. I almost fired her.”
Lu laughed. “Oh, I’d have paid to see that. She made you work. Ha. Bet that felt different.”
With a self-deprecating grin, he said, “It did.” They were quiet for a while. Each lost in their own thoughts.
“I’m so sorry about Mr. P.,” she said softly. “He was such a special person. I will really miss him.” She reached out to Lex, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.
“Thanks, Lu.” Reaching over with his other hand, he turned hers, lightly stroking her palm with his thumb. “I didn’t know what it would be like to see you again. But it feels so natural sitting here with you. It doesn’t seem right that we haven’t had a conversation in eight years.”
Danger, danger! her head screamed. She pulled her hand away. “I’m going to go rescue Will,” she said hastily, as she stood up.
Standing also, he said, “Lu? Come on. She’s fine.”
Adamant, Lu started walking away. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lex.”
He started to walk the other way, but stopped and headed toward her. Covering the ground quickly, he grabbed her by the hips and moved her gently up against the HardiePlank of the house, his body penning her in. Her eyes held a weary message that he was unable to decipher. “Where’s my good-night hug?” he asked, mischief dancing in his eyes.
“You are still the same—bully.” God, could she not have exited gracefully? Annoyed but unable to resist playful Lex, she shook her head.
His arms snaked around her waist and he pulled her into his body. It was almost enough, he thought. Almost. But not! He pulled back enough for her to look him in the eye. Then his mouth captured hers.
7
It sucked.
Not the kiss.
The kiss she resisted. For the first time in hours, she thought about her daughter, Nina. She thought about Dr. J. She thought about the devastation that she was about to rain down on everyone. This was the wrong thing to do. To complicate the situation any more was wrong. Her mind was screaming at her to stop. Her lips were clamped shut. But it was Lex. And one thing she had never been good at was resisting him. But she tried, although there was nowhere to move. He surrounded her. His body caging her in, his arms, imprisoning her she was lightly trapped. But still waging the war.
Then her body took over and she felt her mouth open under his gentle probing. As his tongue entered her mouth, her body released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Lex coaxed her tongue with his. Her hands wound up his neck, stroking his nape, feeling the bristles of his short hair. Trying to get as close to him as she could, she pulled her body away from the wall and moved toward his, seeking his heat. She wanted this. She wanted him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Willa snapped.
Lex pulled away from her gently, keeping her where she was but terminating the kiss. Lu ducked out from under his arms and looked at Willa sheepishly.
“Just saying good-bye,” Lu said, walking toward the front of the house, the same path she had started to tread just five, maybe ten minutes earlier.