Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(40)

“So can I stop being a Stepford wife now? Please? I’m in the middle of this great romance book that I’ve been putting off since I started baking for the entire state. And I’m tired of being nice all the time. It’s not my style.”

“Yeah, we know,” they say in unison, their sniggers making me breathe deeply just to prove them wrong.

“Okay, Ash, you can stop being nice and go back to your normal crabby self. Just remember the rules. No feelingsy talk with your guy, and be as accommodating as possible whenever he’s around.”

I can do that. I like being free to jump him whenever I want, without the pressure they’ve been putting on me lately. Plus I’d really like for Ben to stop locking his door at night.

I think he’s a little afraid of me since I did my three-sixty personality turn and really don’t like seeing him scuttle around me or jump whenever I enter a room.

“I gotta go, bitches, early court date.”

“See ya.”

“See ya.”

“See ya.”

At the end I’m left with Cammy and her familiar questions about the past that Luc and I share. I haven’t said anything up to this point because I haven’t wanted to ruin things with the feelings that memories bring, but I know she won’t stop till she gets what she wants. Her obsession with Brody has proven that, so I buckle a little and give her a little taste.

“When he came over here on that exchange program, we had a…thing. We sorta fell for each other.”

Oh, and what a blissful fall that had been. I can still remember his eyes and the quick smiles he’d had for me. And the way we’d kissed, as if we were starved for each other…hot, hot, hot, even seven years later.

“Oookay. So then why the coldness when you met again?”

This is the hard part, the part that shames me and makes me so livid I can’t stand to breathe when I remember.

“He saw me talking to an ex. Chris’s mom and dad had been going through a divorce and he needed a shoulder to lean on. Lucian went nuts when he saw me hugging him, and, well…Chris might have gotten the wrong idea about things, but—”

“Love! Where are you?”

“Oh, crap. I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”

Disconnecting the call, I shuffle out of the kitchen just as he’s coming my way, my coffee forgotten the minute I see his face and the spellbinding smile he’s wearing.

“You just left.”

“And now I’m back,” he purrs, grabbing my left hand to slide something onto my finger.

“You got it back!” I whisper, all teary-eyed and soft when my ring slides into place and winks back up at me like it’s come back home or something.

I can’t believe I’ve missed the old boulder so much, but I know I do when I get all choked up about it.

“Yes. Frank found it in a pawn shop in Austin. That’s in Texas,” he clarifies, and I roll my eyes at him.

“I know where Austin is, douchebag. I’m not brainless,” I grouch, checking my ring for scratches and chips.

Seems almost as perfect as I remember, so I give up my thoughts of finding Wesley to cut his ass to ribbons.

My words, instead of offending him, make him pause before a huge grin appears, and I find myself pulled up and into his broad chest, my breasts and everything below mashed into his hard body.

“What did you just say?”

“I know where Austin is?” I breathe, losing focus as my eyes catch sight of his lush lips and the tongue I want licking my lips.

“The other part, love,” he murmurs, bringing me so close I feel our breaths mingle.

“I’m not brainless?”

“Try again.”

I want to giggle as I say the next words when I realize what he’s looking for.

“Douchebag.”

“Ah, that’s the one, love.” He chuckles before shoving a hand through my hair to pull me in to his mouth.

The kiss he gives me is an inferno of passion and so intense I feel moisture slide between my legs without any extra stimulation but that of his mouth devouring mine.

I’m so hot and ready by the time he pulls his mouth back that I’m willing to beg him to stay instead of going back to work.

“Are you okay now, love? No more strange behavior and trying to sex the life out of me?”

I blush when he grins and pushes himself closer, taking the sting of his words away by showing me how much he wants me.

“Fine, but don’t complain when you don’t like what I’m saying,” I warn, reaching up to plant a lingering kiss on the sensitive skin beneath his ear.

The action sends shivers through him and I push closer, wanting more than the meeting of our mouths.