Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
I stopped outside of Henry’s bedroom and stood there like a fool.
I didn’t really have anything to say to him.
And I certainly wasn’t going to offer to do anything for—or to—him, as I’d insinuated to Xander.
I stood there for a few seconds and was about to turn back around when I saw Xander coming toward the room with a sneer on his face.
“Did Henry throw you out already?”
“Excuse me?” I glared at him.
“You’re standing in the hallway, looking embarrassed.” He shrugged as he stood next to me. “I assumed that you’d gotten blown off.”
“Men don’t blow me off.” I tilted my head up to avoid looking at his chest.
“True. You’re not really the sort a man would blow off.” He licked his lips. “I think—”
“Can I help you, Xander?” I cut him off, not wanting to go down the flirting road with him again.
“You look sexy this morning.” He looked down at my tank top and short shorts.
“Okay, and?” I would not let myself get caught up in this man again.
“And it makes me want to kiss you.”
“I don’t want to kiss you,” I sneered at him. “I don’t go back for seconds unless the meal was really, really good.” I looked him up and down. “And you, Xander James, were just not that good,” I lied, pride making me try to hurt him.
“I wasn’t good?” His eyes widened, and he smiled. “You call every guy you meet Mr. Tongue?”
“You’re good to go down on me.” My face reddened. “But that’s about it. I wouldn’t sleep with you again.”
“So, the only good part of me is my tongue?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “And every man has one, so it’s not even that special.”
“So, I’m an average man with average tongue skills and bad fucking skills?” He cocked his head to the side and studied my face.
“Yes, average tongue skills and F-grade skills in bed,” I lied again, unable to say fucking to him out loud.
I wondered if my face was giving me away. Xander had A-plus tongue skills and A-plus fucking skills. My body was burning up as we spoke, reminding me that I was lying out of my ass.
“Average and an F now?” His lips thinned. “Hmm, I’m going down on the scale.”
“Sorry, I didn’t want to be rude before, but you know how it is.”
“I do.” He nodded and grabbed my hand and then opened Henry’s bedroom door and pulled me into the room with him.
“What are you doing?” I gasped as he pushed me back against the door and positioned himself in front of me.
He didn’t answer me, but instead, his eyes mocked me as his face moved closer to mine.
“What are you doing?” I gasped again as he lowered his mouth to mine.
His lips were firm as they crushed into mine, and his tongue slid into my mouth easily. I moaned as his hardness pressed into my belly, and I kissed him back for a couple of seconds before I remembered where we were.
Oh shit, what must Henry be thinking?
“What do you think you’re doing?” I pushed him off of me and looked around the room wildly, my face a deep red.
“Henry’s not here.” He raised an eyebrow at me and laughed. “You can stop pretending to be affronted now.”
“I’m not pretending anything.” I frowned. “Where is he? And if you knew he wasn’t here, why would you say he blew me off?”
“Don’t play games with me, Liv. I’m not the sort of guy who takes kindly to games.”
“What games?” I said in a huff. Did he know that I had no interest in Henry? How embarrassing. There was something about this man that irritated the shit out of me.
“Look, I know this is an uncomfortable situation, and I know your feelings are likely hurt, but I made a promise and a commitment to your sister. Even if I wanted to back out, it wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“But you’re not a gentleman.”
“I wasn’t one, no.” He sighed. “I’m used to getting what I want, when I want it, and if it doesn’t come easily, I just take it, but life is about more than my ego.”
“Okay.” I took a step away from him as he looked as if he was going to kiss me again. “Good for you and your perfect life.”
“Liv, I’m just saying, there’s no need to pretend you’re into Henry.”
“I’m not pretending.” I shook my head at him, annoyed by his arrogance. “He’s handsome, single, by all accounts a lovely man. I’m interested in getting to know him. What’s so hard to believe about that?”
“He’s my brother.” He frowned, the smug smile completely gone from his face.
“So? Gabby’s my sister.” I looked him in the eyes. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with that. I find it hypocritical that you would have a problem with me dating your brother.”
“Why date my brother when it’s me you want?”
“I don’t want you. You seem to be the one who wants me. What do you think Gabby would say if she knew you had just kissed me?”
“I do not care,” he growled. “What Gabby and I have is a business relationship.”
“Well, good for you.”
“You don’t understand.” He shook his head and grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. “What happened to the carefree, fun-loving girl I’d met last weekend?”
“She left the building when you were introduced as my sister’s fiancé.”
“What can I do to change this?” His fingers brushed the loose hairs away from my face. “I don’t want us to argue about this anymore.”
“I’m not arguing. I’m just stating facts.” I shrugged and tried to push him away from me, but this time, I couldn’t move his body. My hands were flat against his naked chest, and I swallowed hard.
Why was he making this so difficult? Why wouldn’t he just leave me alone?
“We still need to be friends, Liv.” His fingers traced my lips. “We’re going to be family.”
I nearly vomited at that point. I mean, was this guy for real?
“Xander,” I said, looking up into his eyes, “I don’t intend on ever seeing you again after this weekend, besides at your wedding. We do not need to be anything.”
Our eyes met, and we looked at each other for a few seconds.
I could see that he was thinking hard. I waited for him to tell me that I was being stupid.
That, of course, we’d see each other at other times.
I waited for him to scold me and tell me I was being immature.
I waited for him to tell me that I was acting like a silly schoolgirl.
I knew there was obviously no way I’d only be able to see him at the wedding.
For all of our squabbling and quarrels, my family was close-knit, and my parents would not allow me to blow off every dinner and get-together, even if I wanted to.
I stood there with my shoulders squared and waited for him to tell me off for being immature, but instead, he started laughing.
I stared at him in amazement and shock as I watched the laughter fill his face; his eyes were bright, his mouth was wide, and his head fell back as he laughed his head off.
“What’s so funny?” I asked him softly, feeling even more annoyed at him.
I hated that I didn’t understand him and I couldn’t read him. I hated that I loved that about him. I hated that I wanted to get to know him better. I hated that I would never have the chance to be more with him.
“You.” He took a deep breath and finally stopped laughing. “You’re a breath of fresh air.” He smiled at me. “Yes, you’re a pain in the ass, but you’re also a breath of fresh air.”
“Okay, thanks, I guess.” Not sure if I considered his words a compliment or not.
“I want to make love to you again,” he groaned, his expression turning to one of lust as he took a step toward me.
“No, we can’t.” I bit down on my lower lip.
“Oh, but we can do whatever we want.” He grinned and turned around and locked the door before coming back to me.
“What are you doing?” I said in shock as he pulled his briefs and pants down and stood in front of me, naked, his cock already standing at attention.
“I’m showing you that I’m not an F in bed.” He grinned and took another step toward me. “I like a good challenge.”
“Xander,” I groaned as he pulled me toward him. My body was trembling in anticipation, and I felt guilty and confused. “We can’t—”
He cut me off by picking me up and throwing me onto the bed. His fingers pulled my shorts and panties off, and he fell on top of me and kissed my neck.
“Xander,” I moaned and wriggled against him, “we can’t do this.”
“We can.” His fingers slipped down my legs and rubbed me gently.
I closed my eyes for two seconds and enjoyed the feeling of excitement as it swept through my body, and then I pushed him to the side and rolled off of the bed.
“What are you doing?” He blinked up at me in surprise as I picked my pants up off of the floor.
“I’m leaving.” I rubbed my lips to get rid of his taste. “You can’t just have me whenever you feel like it.”
“Why not?” He frowned, and I was about to protest when he laughed. “I’m not being serious.”
He sighed and sat up. I looked down and saw that his manhood was hard and sticking up. He looked down to see what I was staring at, and he grinned at me.
“Yeah, that’s what you’re leaving me with.”
“Ask Gabby to help you out,” I spit out, annoyed.
“This is always going to be an issue between us, isn’t it?”
“What do you think?” I looked at him incredulously.
For a smart man, Xander could be a real dummy sometimes. I watched as he jumped off of the bed, bent down, picked his briefs up, and pulled them on. He then looked at me with a lazy smile and shrugged.
“So, your parents seem nice, and I think they like me,” he said casually, as if that were the most normal thing to say next in this situation.
“They are nice.” I stopped myself from saying they wouldn’t be so nice to him if they knew what kind of guy he really was.
“I think I’ll quite like having them as parents.”
“That’s good.”
“They’ll make good grandparents.”
“Yep.” I looked away from him then, as I wanted to slap the smug look off of his face.
What was his problem? How could he try and sleep with me and then talk about my parents?
“You don’t have anything else to say?” His voice sounds rough and I look back at him again. His eyes are narrowed as he studied me.
“What else do you want me to say?” I looked back up into his face then.