Chapter 7
HONOVI
When I woke up the next morning in Xavier’s bed, I felt the hot flush of embarrassment. This wasn’t supposed to be a “stay-the-night” situation. It was supposed to be a “get-the-hell-out-before-the-cum-dries” situation.
But god, was it “stay-the-night” worthy. Xavier Rhodes had given me the best sex of my life.
Not that I would ever tell him that.
As I turned to face him, I realized his side of the bed was empty. It took me only a few moments to find a neat pile of my clothes on the chair next to the bed. On the top was a sticky note.
Early surgery. Make yourself at home. Stop by unexpectedly anytime ;-)
I stared at it, trying to figure out what the last sentence meant. Was he joking? Was the winky face a subtle implication I shouldn’t have stopped by without warning?
After remembering the look on his face as he held himself over me and thrust inside me over and over the first time he fucked me last night, his face flushed and eyes wild, I reminded myself he was definitely not bothered by me turning up unexpectedly.
Or… he was bothered, but only in the very best definition of the word.
The second time, when he’d woken me up with a sleepily murmured, “Let me have you,” I’d grunted my agreement and felt him move over my back and press inside me again, pushing my face deeper into the soft sheets until his arms came around me and his lips moved by my ear.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” he’d breathed over and over until we’d both come again.
I blinked the dreamy memory away and forced myself to wake up.
It was still mostly dark outside, so I quickly dressed and locked his door before pulling it closed behind me.
I bolted to my car and slunk home. Doing the walk of shame in tiny Hobie could be disastrous, so I didn’t release my held breath until I was home in my own shower with the hot spray beating down on me.
I wished Xavier had woken me up before he’d left. But it was for the best he hadn’t. I might have wanted more of what we’d gotten up to last night, and nothing good could come of that.
My policy of avoiding hookups in Hobie was just good sense. My potential client pool was small enough as it was without me wading into it with my dick out.
I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. Well, I couldn’t say I hadn’t been satisfied last night. Enough to tide me over until my next trip out of town. Check. Done. Tank successfully topped up.
No need to think about it for a while.
Throughout the following week, I didn’t think about Xavier.
I didn’t think about him when I went through security at the courthouse the next day and didn’t see him there.
I didn’t think about him when I had to pull over for an ambulance racing to the hospital a few days later.
I didn’t think about him when I ordered a glass of white wine at happy hour the following weekend with my attorney friend Dan.
“Erin made me promise I’d ask you again about letting us set you up with her brother.”
I blinked up at Dan from where I’d been staring at the wine in my glass. “Dan, we’ve talked about this. I’m off setups for a while after the last one.”
“Okay, but that wasn’t us. And I don’t think it’s fair to judge all setups just because you had one bad experience.”
I barked out a laugh. “One bad experience.”
Dan grinned. “C’mon. At least Elliott was good at basketball.”
I snorted and took a sip of wine before responding. “He was good at a lot of ball. Yes.”
“Ew.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I said with a laugh. “Although…”
“He was good at his job,” he pointed out. “Even West Wilde said he was a good doctor, and West has impossible standards.”
An amused voice behind me said, “Well, this is awkward.”
I turned to see West Wilde with a grin on his face. “Do you disagree?” I asked, clapping him on the shoulder as West nodded a greeting to Dan.
I glanced at the attractive man, suddenly realizing one of the reasons I’d been so quick to think the worst of Xavier. “He’s a doctor.”
West’s easy grin faded. “Dan knows I’m a doctor. I treat his kids.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean… never mind.”
Dan laughed. “We were talking about setups. Maybe you can convince him to let me set him up with my brother-in-law. And speaking of my wife, I need to get home.”
West’s eyes lit up with sinister delight. I held up a hand. “No.”
Dan laughed and signaled to the bartender for his tab and gave up his stool for West. Once Dan was gone, I asked West how his daughter was.
His entire face lit up. “She’s amazing. I didn’t want to leave her tonight, but Doc and Grandpa conned me into going out for a little while.
Pippa’s teething, so I haven’t been getting much sleep.
Honestly, I’d rather be home napping, but they’re right.
I needed to be around adults for a little while. ”
“And how’s Nico?” I asked, knowing full well that West had fallen hard and fast for Pippa’s uncle, despite the contentious nature of their custody fight.
Suddenly, the mask of pleasant socializing slipped, and I saw the exhaustion and devastation underneath. “He’s, ah… he went back to California.” He cleared his throat. “So I wouldn’t know how he is.”
I already knew Nico had left. Everyone in town did. But I patted him on the shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”
His forehead crinkled in confusion. “Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about. His business is in San Francisco. His life is there. Friends, and ah… whatever else.” He shrugged. “It’s settled.”
“Have dinner with me?” I offered softly.
He nodded, and the two of us found a comfortable booth. We ordered more drinks and food before catching up on easy topics like his grandparents and siblings, Pippa’s milestones, the happy outcome of a child welfare case we’d both worked on, and happenings around town.
“You and I should date,” he said after another round of drinks.
I blinked up at him in shock, but before I could figure out a polite way to say no, thanks, he held up his hand. “I don’t mean like that. Actually dating. I mean, we could just tell people we were dating. Get everyone off our backs.”
He grinned at me and leaned over the table to grab my hand and bat his eyelashes. “C’mon. I’m a catch. Ask anyone.”
“You’re a cocky ass,” I said with a laugh. “And we both know this town would be even more in our business if we were supposedly together.”
Before I could pull my hand out of his, movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked over and saw Xavier Rhodes staring at me from the tavern’s entrance.
He looked amazing, all dark-eyed and moody.
His hair was a little messy, like he’d been caught in an unexpected wind or tugged at it at the end of a hard day.
Our eyes stayed locked for a long beat before his flicked to West, down to our joined hands, and back to me. His jaw clenched before he looked away.
I yanked my hand away and opened my mouth to say something before realizing how stupid that was. He was too far away to hear anything I’d have to say, and what was my plan?
I’m not with him, I promise!
The very idea of needing to say something like that to him was preposterous. We weren’t dating.
“Oh, ho,” West said, following my line of sight. “What have we here. Xavier Rhodes? Well, well. Honovi Baptiste, you dark horse.” He reached for my hand again and laid his on top. Clearly, he was trying to needle his ex.
Xavier’s gaze returned to our table and dropped to the joined hands again. His eyes narrowed, and my heart thumped in response.
Did Xavier care that another man was touching me?
I sucked in a breath, pulled my hand out again, and waved him over. Xavier’s eyes shot up in surprise, but he reluctantly informed the host and moved over to our table.
“Be nice,” I growled under my breath at West. “We’re working together on a case.”
My skin prickled with awareness, and my stomach flipped over when Xavier reached the table. “Uh, hi. Er. Um. Xavier, this is Dr. West Wilde. West, Dr. Xavier Rhodes.”
Both men stared at me. As soon as I remembered the two of them had dated in the past, my face ignited, and I wished this booth to open up and swallow me whole.
“Erk,” I said.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Wilde,” Xavier said dryly. His voice was deeper than usual, and I couldn’t help but watch him for any small indication of what he was thinking.
“You, too, Dr. Rhodes,” West said with a shit-eating grin.
Xavier’s nostrils flared slightly as he looked back at me. “Mr. Baptiste.”
Oh.
Ohhh. I couldn’t breathe. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Dr. Rhodes,” I said faintly.
I tried to control my breathing so neither of these physicians noticed my increased heart rate and shallow, panicked breaths. And the fact that I was fairly sure I was falling in love with one of them while simultaneously wanting to murder the other.
West muffled a snort. “Hon and I were talking about when to tell his family we’re seeing each other.”
I snapped my head toward him. “We were not!”
Xavier turned to me, his eyes boring into me as if their sole purpose was to laser-beam my heart into an even faster rhythm. “Congratulations.”
“No,” I insisted, not even knowing where to begin. If I protested too much, it would sound like a lie, or worse. It would sound like it mattered to Xavier when it couldn’t possibly matter to him. “West is in love with someone else.”
West squawked. “Am not!”
I ignored him. “He’s covered in tattoos and hot as fuck. Sweet with kids. Pierced everywhere.”
Xavier’s eyes darkened, so I backpedaled. “Not that I would know! I wouldn’t! I just worked with him.”
West sighed. “No, you’re right. He’s pierced everywhere.”
“Congratulations,” Xavier repeated—this time just to West—before placing his hand on my shoulder briefly, squeezing firmly before letting go.
A claiming.
A brand.
“It was nice to see you both,” he said. “I’m picking up a to-go order and heading home.”
Was it just me, or had he put special emphasis on the word home?
“I’m not in love with Nico, but I was joking about us dating,” West said, finally picking up on the strangling tension in the room. “Hon and I are just friends.”
Xavier stared at me for a beat before turning to West. “Then you’re a fucking idiot.” Then he turned and made his way back to the reception area, where the hostess had his order ready.
West and I stared after him.
“What?” I asked.
West chuckled. “Ohhh, he has it bad.”
“What?” I repeated. Had that just happened?
“Sorry,” West said with a sigh after he was gone. “I had no idea the two of you had something going on.”
“We don’t.” I insisted.
“You’re oblivious if you didn’t notice him pissing all over you.”
I stared at the door Xavier had disappeared through. “He’s not interested in dating, and neither am I,” I said faintly. “It’s just sex.”
West let out another huff of laughter. “That must be some damned good sex, Honovi.”
As soon as we were done, I hotfooted it to Xavier’s house to test his theory.