Chapter Ten
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE A depraved asshole.
Louis nodded at the doorman as he walked into his building.
Roxy walked beside him, her hand tucked inside his.
It made him feel a little sick, knowing the doorman probably wanted to high-five him for bringing home yet another girl, but he couldn’t exactly stop and explain to the guy how she was different.
How he hoped she’d be walking through the door a hell of a lot more than once.
No, he couldn’t do that, because she’d gone somewhere inside that head of hers, and he didn’t know how to get her back.
He shouldn’t be focused on getting her naked, he should be talking to her.
This is where he became a depraved asshole, however.
If he could just get her into bed, he could make her accept this connection between them.
This was his genius plan. He didn’t know if the assurance came from an arrogant place, only knew it was battering around inside him, making a friendly heart-to-heart seem like a distinctly unviable option.
This feeling, this need to be as close to her as humanly possible, was completely foreign.
Yes, he’d been around a little. Okay, maybe a lot.
He didn’t lack for confidence when it came to sex.
Right now, when he sensed her slipping away, it felt like all he had left.
Back on that street, when he was touching her, everything came together for a while.
She was trusting him, letting herself go and being honest with him.
He just wanted to get back to that place so he could .
.. what? Get a promise out of her that she wouldn’t go away?
Make her pinkie swear that she wouldn’t make him wait another week to see her again?
Yeah, that pretty much summed it up.
Since she’d gradually clammed up on the ride home after he’d gone all sex maniac on her, it might not even work.
It could drive her away more. Why? The single word raced from one end of his mind to the other.
She’d liked what he’d done to her. No way to fake that kind of reaction.
So why wouldn’t she looked at him as they boarded the elevator?
He thought back to the dark street, the things he’d said to her.
Maybe he’d come on too strong, but there hadn’t been any help for it.
When they were touching, he lost control of his mouth.
Lost the ability to run words past his brain and make a mutual decision if they should be set loose.
These ... feelings for her spent so much time being locked away that maybe his subconscious had just disguised themselves as something else.
All right, so he’d found a twisted way to excuse his plan of screwing her into staying with him.
What about the rest? What about the fact that he’d looked right into her excited green eyes and lied?
Even if she never found out about the favor he’d called in, it would always be there, reminding him he’d deceived her to get what he wanted.
What he wanted was her. And in order to have her and maintain his sanity, taking her clothes off in a stranger’s apartment couldn’t be on the agenda.
This business of keeping her around was going to be complicated, but not having her around would be worse. For now, he would focus on that and worry about the axe hanging over his head later.
“You’ve gone quiet on me.”
Roxy shifted and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Yeah? Well, last time I was in this elevator, I was dressed in a bunny costume.”
He sighed. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore.”
“We agreed not to talk about the song, ” she corrected him, finally giving him a smile.
“And yet you just did.”
“Well, since I already broke the agreement. ...” She cleared her throat and started to sing. “To my hotshot honey bunny—”
He lunged toward her side of the elevator and cut her off with a hand over her mouth.
“Not cool.” His body registered her closeness on impact and began to tighten.
Christ . Just like that. When the laughter in her gaze lessened and those pupils started to dilate, he knew she felt it, too.
That response, so in time with his own, gave him that final push.
Taking her home and getting her underneath him was the right thing to do.
Being with her in any way couldn’t be wrong.
Not when she made him feel like this. Maybe his reasons weren’t as honorable as they should be, and yeah, he’d lied to her.
But this, this, was the most honest fucking thing in the world.
So were the words that followed. “Roxy, even in that costume, you were so goddamn beautiful, I don’t think I’ve taken a decent breath since. ”
She made a small noise behind his hand, reminding him he still had her mouth covered.
The second he removed it, she threw her arms around his neck and plastered her sexy little body against his.
He only had a split second to savor the fact that he’d distracted her from whatever thoughts she’d been having, before their mouths were moving together.
Licking, nipping, then devouring. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a ping and the elevator doors roll open.
Get her to your bed, depraved asshole. Now.
Breaking away with a groan, he gripped her tight, sweet ass and boosted her up so she could lock her legs around his waist. She completed the move with such hungry desperation that his thoughts momentarily blurred and he stumbled from the elevator, still carrying her.
They crashed into the opposite wall of his hallway, their mouths meeting once more in a hot tangle of tongues and lips.
The heat between her thighs sat directly on top of his hard dick, giving him no choice but to thrust up against her.
Fuuuuuck . Knowing all she wore under that dress was a thin pair of panties made him crazy to rip them off.
Crazy to unzip his pants and sink into her.
If the fingers tearing at his hair were any indication, she wanted it.
“Hold on, baby. Just let me get you inside.” She locked eyes with him and moaned, working her hips in a circle and sending him closer to the edge.
Unbelievable . I might not even make it to the fucking door.
“My fingers weren’t enough?” He drove her higher on the wall with a hard thrust. “You want this, don’t you? You want it all?”
“Yes.” Her breasts swelled over the top of her dress with every panting breath. “Please, Louis.”
“Oh fuck, I like you saying my name.” With the remaining willpower left inside him, he pulled her off the wall and walked them toward his apartment.
He used one hand to fish the keys out of his pocket, not an easy feat when her breath was racing against his ear, her body bouncing up and down on his with every step.
Finally, finally, he got his key in the door.
“Roxy, I’m going to make you feel so good—”
His apartment lights were on. What the hell?
“Lou- is !” The familiar, whiny voice hit him with the impact of a sledgehammer.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. No way could life be this cruel.
Roxy was definitely not climbing off him with an alarmed squeak and ducking behind his back.
Definitely not. If he just stood here without speaking, the waking nightmare would dissipate and he could go back to kissing Roxy. Please. Please. Please?
In one final attempt to banish the scene in front of him, he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them slowly. Nope, his sister Lena was still there, sitting on his couch.
In full meltdown mode.
Black mascara was caked on her cheeks, dark hair a mess on top of her head. His eyes quickly scanned the room for clues. Shit, she’d found his tequila. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
He turned his head slightly so he could speak to Roxy without taking his eyes off Lena. “Don’t make any sudden movements.”
“Who is that?”
The hint of jealousy in her voice surprised him.
It shouldn’t, he realized. What conclusions would he jump to if he found a man in her apartment if she was supposed to live alone?
It also relieved him a little to know she felt at least some kind of claim on him.
Apparently he’d managed to make some kind of progress tonight. “My sisters.”
Her body relaxed slightly against his back. “Sisters ... plural?”
“Where one goes, the other usually—”
“Lou- is !”
“Follows.”
Celeste stumbled out of his bathroom, lighting a cigarette.
“Where were you? We’re starving. The only thing you have in your freezer is microwave lasagna and Kraft singles, you loser.
” She fell onto the couch beside Lena, who stared straight at the wall, as if in a trance.
“Who’s the girl? I can see you, girl. I hope he took you to dinner, because there is fuck-all available at this shit show. ”
He heard Roxy take a deep breath behind him before she moved to stand at his side. God, he wanted nothing more than to smuggle her out of there and never come back. “Hey, I’m Roxy. We had Italian food, so it’s all good.”
Celeste gestured wildly with her cigarette. “Well, lucky you. I’ll just sit here and die of starvation, everyone! Grab a seat and watch my ribs grow more pronounced.”
Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why didn’t you order takeout?”
“Lena threw our cell phones into the toilet.”
“Both of them?”
Lena shot to her feet. “Yeah. Both of them. You want to know why?”
Roxy patted him on the shoulder. “You know what? I think I’m going to go.”
“ No .” He moved in front of the door. Awesome.
Barring her exit for the third time since they’d met.
Fuck it. He’d worry about himself growing increasingly pathetic later.
If he let her leave now, he might lose his chance.
And God, he wanted her so bad it hurt. “I’ll get rid of them. You’re staying.”
“You know why I threw our cell phones in the toilet, Louis?” Lena’s words slurred behind him. “So my bastard fiancé would stop trying to get in touch with me. A stripper! He had a stripper at his bachelor party.”
He turned to Roxy. “Hey, maybe you should go.”
Louis reached behind her to open the door, but Lena moved in front of him. “ Look ! I found her shirt under his couch.”
His sister dangled a familiar white T-shirt in front of his face. It smelled like cherry blossoms. A vision flashed in his head of Roxy putting on his button-down shirt over her bra and skirt. No T-shirt. It was definitely hers. Very subtly, he moved in front of a wide-eyed Roxy.
“I knew something was up, so I asked all his dumbass friends.”
Celeste positioned herself just behind Lena. “ Dumb. Ass. Friends, ” she repeated like some sort of psychotic hype girl.
“Not one will tell me the truth.” Lena pulled an object out of her pocket. A yellow Bic lighter.
And then she set the T-shirt on fire.
“You’ll tell me the truth, won’t you, Louis? You were there.” The flames moved up the T-shirt, turning it to charred, black rags. Lena seemed perfectly content to get burned if it came to that. Might even enjoy it. “I can always count on my brother, can’t I?”
“Can she?” Celeste echoed. “ Can she, Louis?”
“Should I make my peace with God?” Roxy whispered behind him.
“Lena, look at me.” Keeping a close eye on the progress of the flames, he put out both of his hands in a calming gesture. “Remember that vacation where you backed Dad’s new Mercedes into the lake?” She nodded, and the knot in his chest eased a little. “Who took the fall for you?”
“You did,” she said grudgingly.
“Who told you when your perm in ninth grade looked like a dead poodle?”
She swiped at the mascara tracks on her cheek. “You did.”
“Right. So you can trust me when I say not one stripper walked through Fletcher’s door that night.
Not a single one.” As far as he was concerned, Roxy was an actress.
He’d told enough lies for the night. He wouldn’t add another one to the list. Especially when his sister might burn down the apartment if she sensed he wasn’t telling the truth.
“Your future husband made it through the night lap dance free. You have my word on that, as your brother.”
Lena narrowed her eyes at him.
He unearthed his guileless little brother smile and pasted it on.
“I guess I believe you.” She jerked her chin toward Roxy. “Are you going to introduce me?”
“Why don’t we put out the flaming T-shirt first?
” Having no choice but to leave Roxy standing toe to toe with his sister lest they all die in an epic blaze, he plucked the T-shirt out of her hand and strode to the kitchen sink.
After turning on the water to douse the fire, he moved back quickly toward the girls.
“Listen, I’m going to see you guys for Sunday lunch tomorrow at Dad’s place, right? Do you mind—”
“You’re not kicking us out, are you?” Celeste plopped back down on the couch. “We just got here.”
“Yeah, come on, bro.” Stripper drama swiped from her memory, Lena grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the couch. He barely reined in the impulse to hang on to Roxy, whose fear had turned into what looked like amusement. Oh, nice . “Don’t send us away. We need a Louis night.”
“I brought popcorn,” Celeste piped up.
“Why didn’t you eat that if you’re so hungry?” His voice had risen to a near shout, much louder than he typically used with his sisters. Could he help it? No. The girl he wanted more than oxygen already had one hand on the doorknob. They need a Louis night, Roxy mouthed at him silently.
“We wanted to wait for you,” Lena explained.
Both of his sisters’ faces had fallen, like a couple of scolded toddlers.
He heaved out a frustrated breath toward the ceiling and threw his arms around their shoulders.
On cue, they both snuggled into his sides and let out feline purrs.
He had cats for sisters. Two bat-shit crazy cats with anger issues.
He knew it was useless, but he implored Roxy with a look. “Stay?”
She was halfway out the door before he’d even gotten the word out.
Apparently the chase would have to wait until tomorrow.