“Stay here tonight, Pete.”
“OK. But Willa”—he stopped her, grabbed both of her hands, and kissed her briefly—“this can’t go any further tonight.” He kissed her again to take the sting out of his words. “Tomorrow we are going to be operating in a whole new world. We need to take this slow.”
Willa was about to protest. Pete stopped her by laying his index finger across her lips. “Listen to me. I already love you. We have an amazing niece together. But my brother and your sister are about to destroy each other. I just can’t do this now when—” He stopped. “Armageddon. I know this isn’t you, but can we do this my way?”
Willa was burning up with desire. Always the impulsive one, she wanted to have him now. But Pete was the reasonable one—the one who tempered Lex. And just as he was the voice of reason so much when they were growing up, what he said made sense. Her blue eyes burned hot.
With his finger still on her lips, he begged, “Please don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”
His big chocolate eyes were impossible to resist. She reached up and gently took hold of the hand that had rested lightly on her mouth. “OK. But you better be really fucking good,” she said with characteristic bluntness.
Laughing, he leaned forward and branded her with a scalding kiss. “You don’t need to worry about that!”
Willa led him to her room. She got ready for bed, he texted Lex. Then he wrapped himself around her and fell into a contented sleep.
11
Lex couldn’t remember ever being so exhausted. The last couple of days had finally caught up with him. But as he crossed the threshold of Willa’s condo, a startling energy coursed through him—his proximity to Lu instantly registering. He needed her. Surprised to find the living room empty of his brother, he sat lithely on the couch.
He’d been warned off by everyone, his mother, Caroline, Dr. A., and Willa. The vehemence of their positions gave him some pause. Their concerns were valid. They beat at him now as his body continued to strum with unreleased desire. He would return to England, she would stay here. While baby genius Lu was super intelligent, she wasn’t worldly. He would hurt her. His world wasn’t made for a tenure-track professor. How could he leave her behind again?
He’d heard it all and he’d listened. He’d even thought briefly about leaving without making love to Lu. But how could he? Maybe Pete was right about this being just familiarity and grief. Did he just want her because he was home and it felt like he should be with her because his memories of Sarasota were all wrapped up with her? He didn’t think that was it, but he couldn’t be sure of anything at this point. His objectivity on the subject didn’t exist.
He thought back on the day. She had been there for him every moment he needed her. As if she could sense his lapses of composure, she would send him an encouraging smile or lightly touch him (which about drove him insane). Even having Pete around didn’t bring him the kind of peace that Lu’s presence provided. What did that mean? Why did his fingers itch to touch her and his heart long to know her? A little unnerved by the direction of his thoughts, governed by an innate sense of self-preservation, Lex thought about the one thing that gave him balance. She still needed to explain what happened when he left. He needed to know why she gave up on him and their plan. Remembering that betrayal helped him rein in his overwhelming feelings for her.
Suddenly noticing that Pete wasn’t sleeping on the sofa that he was sitting on, he wondered if he had misread the text Pete sent him. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he looked at it again. Confirming what he thought he knew, he wondered where Pete was sleeping. Then it dawned on him. Pete was sleeping in Willa’s bed. Lex let out a soft chuckle. Finally. In the midst of all this confusion, things seemed right in the world.
Running his hands over his face and leaning deeper into the couch, he contemplated leaving Lu alone. He was convinced that she was deeply involved with someone. It was the only explanation for her reticence. Because, let’s face it, he knew she wanted him too. Smiling at his arrogance, the trait his father liked best and least about him, he stood up and made his way to Lu’s room.
The sight that greeted him didn’t disappoint. She was so innocently sexy that she sent his heart sputtering in his chest as he imagined himself sliding into her. He closed the door to her bedroom and leaned back on it. Lying on her stomach, her black hair fanned out behind her over the pillow with strands covering her neck. Her right leg, long and straight, while her left leg was bent and a pillow spanned her stomach—a habit he remembered from when she was six. He knew his hand would be traversing those long legs momentarily and he was instantly hard. As he imagined all the ways he would have her, her eyes opened and she looked directly at him. She was wide awake.