Chapter 23 #2
“I don’t know. Roger said people who learn too much tend to leave.
So maybe that’s not Beaumont’s preferred approach.
We’re lucky. We’ve had different experiences, and when we go home, we have options.
Our time here is limited. But when our three months are done, all these local folks will still be here, as Beaumont needs them to be, carrying on with no practical access to learning. ”
“Yep,” Lexi says, sipping her wine. “That sucks, but I guess it makes sense.”
“I’m going to train Roger over the next few weeks and have him dive with me to get his hours. By the time I leave, he could be a master diver.”
“What? That fast?”
“If we push it, yes.”
“What about your filming and editing and all that?”
I shrug. “He can come with me. He wants to learn the ropes, so two birds with one stone. If I can help him while I’m here, I will.” I take a last bite. “The rest can happen in between. I know what I’m doing and where I’m going with it, so it’ll work out.”
“That would be awesome for him.” Lexi stirs the bits and bobs of salad and beans around in her bowl.
“I was planning to run Deshni and Sarika’s proposal by the head office in France first, but why wait?
They’ve been sitting on the idea so long and to stall while we wait for them to make up their minds is a waste of time. ”
“So just start implementing it,” I say with a nod. “You wanted to show off your skills… You can deal with any backlash after the fact.”
“That’s one way to bypass Jem.” She smirks. “Can’t ask for a better opportunity, for all of us.”
“Exactly. Did you know Roger and Deshni are a couple and not supposed to be?”
Lexi looks up. “What do you mean?”
“They’re in love, but can’t be together because of… I don’t know.” I shake my head. “Cultural differences. Parental expectations. It sounds complicated.”
“Oh, God,” Lexi whispers as she puts her bowl on the coffee table. “That’s who she meant.”
“With what?”
“She said she had to see how things work out with—ugh, she didn’t say his name, but she must have been referring to Roger.”
“What did she say?”
“She was all in tears and told me she’ll have an arranged marriage, but it was clear she was already in love with someone else, someone she can’t have.
” Lexi groans as she drops her head back against the sofa and looks over at me.
“She made me feel horrible about faking this engagement. She said we’re so lucky to be here, together, not even married, and with our parents’ blessing. ”
Our parents’ blessing is so far off the radar that we didn’t bother to tell anybody about our arrangement.
But I understand Deshni’s sentiment. I put my empty bowl down and sigh into my cupped hands as I lean back too, sinking into the sofa.
What are we playing at here? Beyond being a means to an end, I’m not sure what I’m doing here with Lexi, or why I agreed to this impulsive idea of Evan’s.
But I think some part of me knew. This girl has been trying to crawl out of my heart for years, but I’ve kept her tethered in a secret chamber where only I knew she still existed. And I’ve waited. For this.
We’ve both been waiting for this. They say people change, but they don’t—not that much.
Not in the fundamental things that matter.
And this is Lexi. I’ve never cared for another girl like I care for her.
And now this grown woman is jerking that chain in my heart, making me fall for her again, slowly and then so fast it’s like freefalling from the sky.
“Babes,” I groan into my hands, needing to divert my thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“We got an email from the lawyer about the Mia Reed video. It’s in your inbox.”
“And?” Lexi doesn’t move, doesn’t tense up or sit straight. She only stares at me, relaxed and seemingly unfazed. Must be the wine.
“Reed’s not paying the hackers. They don’t know when, but that video is going to go out into the world.”
There’s a beat of silence between us, where the dimmed night songs of the bugs and birds rise above the far-off waves.
“Okay.” She swallows hard. “Jeez. What a fuckup.”
“I know.” I reach for her hand, sliding my thumb over her fingers. “It sucks.”
For a long moment, she struggles to keep her emotions contained. “There’s nothing I can do about it. Absolutely nothing.” She hitches her shoulders with a sigh. “That world is so far away from here. I mean—”
“Yep. Seems kinda dumb.”
“I know, right? There’s important work to do here for other people. This is Mia Reed’s problem. She has her own agenda, over which I have zero say. I was so busy with Deshni’s proposal that I didn’t check social media today. It’s liberating.”
“Yeah, going offline is liberating.” I reach for her hair where it’s piled on the sofa’s back and play with a few strands. “You know I’m your person here, right? Whatever happens, we’ll weather it together.”
“Yes. I know. Just as I’m yours.”
Those words… She’s mine. And I’m fucked.
“I’m going to rinse these out,” I say, letting go of her hair and picking up the dirty bowls. I need to get physically away from her, because all I want to do is pull her onto my lap, have her straddle me, and kiss her senseless—just like I wanted to do earlier when I had her in my arms.
“I’m going to read,” she says. “The library here is stocked with loads of books I’ve always wanted to get to but never had the time.”
“Good.” I stand and take the last sip of my wine. “I’m going to work on the footage I shot today.”
“You getting anywhere?”
“Yep. A few things are coming together that can make a story. I’ll see where it goes over the next few weeks.”
“Great.”
I scoot past her, but at the last second she blocks me by putting her foot on the coffee table. “To think, we could be having a threesome right now.”
“Yeah?” I look down at her, surprised by the teasing smile on her lips. “You’re into that type of thing?”
“No. I never have been…” Lexi trails off as a blush invades her sweet face. “You?”
I shake my head with a chuckle. Might as well address what happened this morning. “Nope. As you’ve seen, I’ve been sailing solo for some time now, so going from one to three is skipping an important number for me.”
“Yeah? Two. You do two?”
She’s poking at me now like I poked at her, and I’m game to see where this goes. “Two max.” I sit on the coffee table and put the bowls down. Her foot is right there, snuggled against my hip. Fuck. I’m going to have to keep things in check here.
“Does that make us dull?” She puts her other foot on the coffee table too, effectively trapping me right where I want to be, between her legs.
“Dull?” I rest my hands on her feet and gaze into her eyes, making sure she’s on board with my touch.
She doesn’t shy away from staring right back at me. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” I confess. “What’re you doing?”
Lexi chuckles. “I’m flirting with my fake fiancé.”
“I see.” Two can play that game. This will be such torturous fun.
I slide my fingers around her ankles and higher, to her calves and the folds of her knees.
Goosebumps speckle her skin, and I smile.
“Babes, to get back to your question of being dull—I don’t know who you’ve been having sex with, but two is definitely not dull. ”
I smooth my hands up to her thighs, letting my thumbs caress the inner slopes that lead to her sex.
A shudder runs through her body, and with a soft moan, she seems to sink deeper into the sofa, her legs opening a barely perceptible inch.
She’s going to drive me nuts, but instead of running my thumbs along the hem of her shorts and over her pussy, I circle my hands to her hips, pulling her toward me and making her drop her feet to the floor.
I lean closer, and her chest rises and falls in anticipation of what I’m going to do next.
“What do you want, Lexi?” I ask softly. “Because I know what I want. What I’ve always wanted but you weren’t ready for five years ago.” My gaze dips to her lips, and the answer is there, but I still ask to make sure we want the same thing.
Her hands join mine, her palms soft and warm as our thumbs lock, and I’m ready to be guided to where she wants me to touch her. “I want that kiss you’ve owed me since putting this ring on my finger at Heathrow,” she whispers.
My heart hammers so hard in my chest, I swear she can hear it.
Everything within me surges forward, so eager. This won’t be our first kiss, but unlike the last time we crossed the line, which tore us apart, one simple kiss could start healing the hurt between us.