Chapter 12 Garrett
GARRETT
Closing out the delivery app, I grin. Coffee and a muffin were one thing, but a three-course meal for lunch? Yeah, if this morning’s delivery didn’t get her attention, this one will.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I head over to the Jag. I was right last night; it’s a simple fix. New battery and leads, new spark plugs, and the car is good to go. Of course I’ve decided to be a little sneaky and not connect the new battery yet. Or replace the plugs.
As far as Lexi is concerned, they’re on order and not expected to arrive until next week.
It’s a fucked-up move for sure, but she admitted she didn’t need the car so it’s not like my deceit will put her out. What it will do is give me a valid reason to see or talk to her.
I’ve never resorted to such tactics when it comes to a woman. Fuck, I’ve never done anything like this at all. Except I can’t let her just walk away without at least seeing if I can convince her I’m the guy she wasn’t looking for.
I did some snooping while looking for today’s surprises. I’m not sure why I thought to do it or why I hadn’t done it before. After hitting up the search engine for cafés near the Exclusively Yours office, I punched in Alexandria Carmichael and hit a goldmine of information.
I’d like to say I’m ashamed of myself for digging into her past like I did, except I’m not. Because what I found was not just her date of birth and marital status. Nope. She’s the last in a line of lawyers who formed the nationally known Carmichael, Bertram, and Lennard law firm.
She no longer works there, and if one gossip site article is to be believed, that’s because when her ex-husband joined the firm and they started to date, she quit to allow him to continue working with the firm.
That was over a decade ago. But she didn’t get married and have kids.
No. She joined forces with Olivia Wexworth to open a dating service and a chain of women’s boutiques.
Besides all that, it revealed a possible reason for her turning skittish this morning.
If she loved her ex, and she was married to him for years so I can only assume she did, his betrayal would have made her guarded.
And if she thought for one second she was feeling more than the one night, no strings she insisted last night was, she would have run for the hills.
Fuck. She did run.
And in spite of this morning’s gift, she’s still running.
I can only hope lunch does more than have her remembering me.
I hope it has her thinking, and thinking hard, about why I’d send her breakfast and lunch.
I want her looking deeper than the surface to the reason I’m taking care of her in such a simple way.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I fumble the spanner in my hand, barely catch it before it hits the top of my unprotected foot. “Fuck.” Putting the tool in its place, I wait until both hands are free and I’m steady on my feet to pull the still buzzing phone out.
Carter’s name is on the screen.
“Motherfucker.”
I haven’t had to deal with anyone in my family yet, and I can’t deny I’m nervous about talking to either of my brothers with this secret hanging over my head.
Not that I don’t want to shout about being with Lexi from the rooftop, but with my cold bed looking to stay that way for the foreseeable future, there’s nothing to shout about.
By the time I decide to answer, the phone stops ringing and I can’t hold in a burst of laughter.
I’m such an idiot over Lexi.
Should have known it when I spent months rubbing it out to the memory of her walking through Boyd’s. The phone vibrates in my hand and the little icon for my voicemail pops up on the screen. I’m not supposed to be working at the bar today, and if it was important, Carter would call back.
Which is why I pocket my phone again and head upstairs to take a shower. There’s nothing more I will do for the Jag today and I’m not feeling any of the other cars currently in various states of disassembly in the shop.
What I am feeling is the Jag. After I get cleaned up, I’ll get online and see if I can find anything similar that might need some TLC. Nothing like digging into a new project to occupy my mind.
Except the second I step inside my apartment, I’m hit with the lingering scent of Lexi. It’s a mixture of vanilla, peppermint, sweat, and sex. Grinning, I think about why she smelled like the last two for most of the night and this morning. Contemplate ways to have her smelling like that again.
What will it take to get her back here?
Should I invite her to dinner? I’ve fed her breakfast and lunch, once it’s delivered, why not dinner too?
Mentally rolling through what I have on hand, I head for the bathroom where the scent of Lexi is stronger. It makes performing my usual shower activity easier than ever. Stripping down, I jump under the spray and grab my cock.
Squeezing and stroking, I take it slow. Close my eyes and pull up the reel of memories instead of the fantasies I’ve been using before now.
It doesn’t take long for me to be breathing hard and thrusting my hips.
The images in my head are enough to get me off, but the rough grip of my hand on my swollen flesh adds to the sensations.
Especially when I imagine Lexi’s hand wrapped around me.
When I imagine her on her knees, one small hand gripping the base of my shaft while the other squeezes my balls, those plump lips sucking on the head.
“Fuck!”
I come with a growl, a full-body buck that has me slamming my free hand onto the wall to keep me upright. My legs shake, my cock pulsing in my hand as the last of my come spurts on the floor.
When the shaking stops, when my breath isn’t so labored, I stand straight and duck my head under the water. It’s going cold, and as much as I probably need a cold shower, I don’t want one. Washing off quickly, I flick off the water and grab a towel.
Maybe if I keep jerking off, I won’t want to jump Lexi the second I see her. Laughing, I drag the towel over my head. Yeah, right. I just came like a teenager getting off to his first fantasy and if Lexi walked through the door, I’d push her against the wall and fuck us both stupid.