Chapter Four #2
Louis ran an impatient hand through his hair.
“I wanted to see you again, all right? The guy who answered the phone wouldn’t give me your number, so this was my only option.
I don’t even know your name, and honestly, it pisses me off.
It pisses me the hell off because you kiss like a fucking dream and I can’t think of anything else.
” Taking advantage of her openmouthed shock, he pushed the door shut behind her, hopefully buying himself a few more seconds.
“You can walk out of here hating me if you want, but I need to know your name so I can track you down the normal way next time. Stalking you on social media.” He stepped closer.
“Because I’m going to kiss you again. I have to. ”
She laid a hand on his chest, stopping his forward progress. For the first time since arriving in his office, she didn’t look seconds from beating him to a pulp with his own unattached arms. Those smoky green eyes had turned thoughtful, if still slightly suspicious. “I’m Roxy,” she said slowly.
Roxy. Of course her name is Roxy. “That might be the only name I didn’t guess.” He licked his lips, hoping to taste some of the cherry blossom scent she’d brought in with her. “I’d settled on Denise.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Why?”
Ben and Russell had decided it sounded like the name most likely to belong to a future ex-girlfriend. “You don’t want to know.”
“Yeah?” She pushed him back a step. “Denise is my mom’s name, so you’re probably right.”
If he’d had a wood chipper in his office at that moment, Louis would have seriously considered jumping into it feet first. “Jesus. I’m not exactly knocking this out of the park, am I?”
She didn’t answer, sidestepping him instead to circle his office. “A lawyer, huh? Yikes.”
“Try not to sound so enthused.” When she hopped up onto the edge of his desk and leaned back, exposing more of that smooth midriff, Louis barely resisted the urge to adjust himself in his pants. Why did this particular girl get him so worked up? “Everyone hates lawyers until they need one.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
God, she didn’t waste time. He liked that. “I want to take you out. On a date.”
She laughed, but sobered when she realized he wasn’t joking. “You’re not exactly my type, Louis McNally the Second.”
He shrugged, not even close to throwing in the towel.
She had no idea who she was dealing with.
Every time she told him no, he would only grow that much more determined.
“Give me a date to convince you otherwise. Most dates are classified as bad. What’s the difference if you have a bad date with me or some other jerk who I suddenly want to kill? ”
Those Popsicle lips twitched. “Only a lawyer would make that argument.”
“Is that a yes?” She still looked dubious, giving him the feeling he’d run up against a commitment-phobe.
Maybe if he gave her the impression that his intentions were only casual, she’d agree to see him.
He’d work on the commitment thing later.
If it was a little too early to be thinking in the long term, he gave himself a pass.
His reaction to her didn’t fall within the bounds of normal.
“I’m not asking for a relationship. I don’t do them either,” he said, telling the truth.
Or what the truth had been before she’d rung his bell. Door bell, that is. “Just a date.”
Her legs swung back and forth, a good foot and a half from the ground. “Why don’t you make up for dragging me down here dressed as the symbol of freedom? Before I’d even eaten breakfast, no less.”
Louis was surprised to find how much he hated the idea of her sitting there hungry.
Before she’d even finished speaking, he was crossing to his suit jacket hanging on the wall.
He reached into his pocket and took out the peanut butter and banana sandwich, placing it in her lap.
As when he’d made his speech to keep her from leaving, she looked taken aback by the kind gesture.
It made him want to bury her in an avalanche of sandwiches.
He watched as she unwrapped the foil with delicate fingers tipped with chipping red nail polish. “Okay, that’s a pretty good start.”
“What’s next?”
“Tell me something embarrassing that happened to you. It’s the only way to get us back on equal footing.”
Louis couldn’t contain his burst of laughter.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just that ... even footing made me think of a rabbit’s foot ...”
She paused in the act of taking her first bite. “That seriously isn’t helping your cause.”
“Right. Something embarrassing.” He blew a breath toward the ceiling, silently calling himself every name in the book.
She threw him so far off his game that he wasn’t even on the playing field anymore.
“Junior year in college, my friend Russell shaved off my eyebrows when I was passed out. They took six months to grow back.”
“Ooh.” She winced. “Did you pencil them in with makeup while you waited?”
“Of course not,” he said defensively.
“Too bad, then. Not embarrassing enough.” She waved her hand. “Next story, please.”
Louis smothered a smile. “I have two older sisters. They’re twins and they’re terrifying.
” He shifted, hoping he wasn’t shooting himself in the foot with this next story.
“When I was in fifth grade, they were crazy into the Backstreet Boys. They played the album so many times, I ... kind of started to like it.”
“Getting warmer.”
“Oh come on. That’s pretty bad.”
“Remember the tourist that wanted a picture with me outside?” She waited for his nod. “He suggested a more creative use for my torch.”
“Point taken.” Louis racked his brain, but all he could think about was how good she looked sitting on his desk.
How badly he wanted to step between those thighs and relive the kiss heard round the world.
He’d hook his hands under her knees and scoot her to the edge.
Grind against her until she begged him to rip those jeans off and give her the real thing.
And he would. He’d give it to her as long as she needed.
Your dick is getting hard. Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it.
“Are you thinking about me naked, Louis?”
“Yep.”
“Hmm.” She took the final bite of his sandwich. “I’m owed a properly embarrassing story, and I don’t have a lot of time. I have an audition this afternoon.”
“Audition?”
She nodded. “This might come as a shock to you, but I don’t do this full time.”
“You’re an actress.”
“I’m trying to be.” She gestured to the costume on the floor. “Obviously it’s not going well. Yet.”
Even though he had more questions, she seemed disinclined to discuss it anymore.
Plus he was running out of time. Find out more about her later .
“Okay. At my high school graduation, I tripped on the way to accept my diploma. My foot caught on the robe and I just”—he slashed his hand in the air—“ate shit.”
“Ouch.”
“I’m not finished.” He moved closer to her as subtly as he could, stopping when her eyes narrowed.
“When I fell, I knocked my front tooth out. I sat there bleeding while everyone searched for the missing tooth so they could rush it, and me, to the dentist. But they never found it.” He tapped his front tooth with the tip of his finger. “This one’s fake.”
Only this girl would look delighted over his worst moment. Her smile sent something winging through his chest. “I can’t even tell. It looks just like its neighbor.”
Louis resisted the urge to hide the tooth by closing his mouth. “Did I pass?”
Roxy grabbed a pen off his desk and put it between her lips.
Watching him under hooded eyes, she took his arm and rolled up his sleeve.
When her fingertips made contact with the sensitive underside of his arm, there was no way of preventing The Reckoning any longer.
His pants felt so tight all of a sudden that he had to work to keep his breathing even.
She knew it, too. He could tell by the way her mouth curved around the pen.
Torture, perfection. If this girl could get him hard merely from touching his arm, he was in bigger trouble than he thought.
After finishing the task of rolling up his sleeve, she plucked the pen from her mouth and started writing on his skin. “Okay, Louis McNally the Second. You’ve got my number. Don’t blow it.”
“Thank you.” Taking a risk, he planted a hand on his desk and leaned in. “But I want a date. I want to look at you when I’m talking to you. Not an iPhone screen.”
Hell if it didn’t make his entire morning to see her affected by his closeness. “I’m a busy girl.”
“Make time.”
Her pupils expanded just slightly, letting him know she’d liked that. Liked being ordered around, even if he suspected she’d rather eat nails than admit it. He filed that away for future use.
“I’m not free until Saturday.”
The perks of being a lawyer gave him a pretty good idea when people were lying.
Briefly, he debated calling her on the fib but decided to let her play hard to get.
As long as he got her in the end. “Saturday, then.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number on his arm, not taking any chances that the number was fake.
She laughed under her breath when it became clear what he was doing.
When her ring tone went off—“Money Maker,” by the Black Keys—he could feel the stupid grin on his face and couldn’t do a single thing about it.
Roxy slid off his desk, brushing against him.
Just enough to ensure he’d need to go home on his lunch break and work off some steam.
Solo-style. Louis watched transfixed as she took his phone and opened the camera application.
She snapped a quick picture and handed him back the phone.
“There. Now you can look at me when we talk.”
“You’re trying to make me crazy, aren’t you?”
She winked at him as she bent over to retrieve her costume. “Count on it.”
Christ. It was usually breasts that did him in. With Roxy, he didn’t know where the hell to look. So much fucking trouble headed my way. He joined her at the door. “Good luck at your audition.”
“Thank you.” She started to leave but turned back. “You’re not the only one who’s been thinking about that kiss, you know.”
He trapped a groan in his throat. “I’m standing right here, beautiful. Come get another.”
Again, the green in her eyes disappeared momentarily. “I think you know I’m going to make you work harder than that for it.”
“I’m counting on it.”
She squared her shoulders and faced the reception area. “Bye, Louis.”
“Bye, Roxy.”
He waited until he heard the front door of the office close before going back to work. No one laughed. Especially him, thanks to his new position as Mayor of Bonerville.