Chapter 8
I”d spent more time than was probably healthy picturing how Lexie would look, but the real thing was nothing compared to my imagination. If I was my brother, I”d say she was smokin” hot. Being me, I settled for breathtakingly fucking gorgeous. Beautiful enough to make my brain and cock stand up and pay attention.
She smiled as she hurried over to the waiting limousine. One of hers, driven by one of her drivers.
”You look stunning.” I opened the car door for her and kissed her cheek the moment she was close enough. I wanted to kiss her mouth. To press my lips to hers and claim her. I wanted to close the door behind us and peel that dress off her body, before licking her from head to toe.
”You don”t look so bad yourself.” She sat ass first and swivelled her legs inside. Legs that went on for several days. Legs that would look perfect draped over my shoulders.
I adjusted the front of my tuxedo pants and slid in beside her. ”No one will notice me. They”ll all be looking at you. I”m starting to think I should have brought a baseball bat or a tennis racket. To keep other men at bay.” I closed the door behind us with a thump.
”I didn”t think you intended to play a sport at the party,” she said with a laugh. ”You play baseball?”
”Not since I was in school,” I said. ”I was never very good at the team sport aspect, but I could hit a mean ball with a bat.”
”Are you any good at tennis?” she asked.
”If I say yes, will you think I”m a terrible cliché?” I cringed. Before she could answer, I said, ”I”m not bad at tennis, but I prefer squash. It”s a lot less pretentious than the tennis club. Don”t tell my mother I said that. The tennis club is one of her pride and joy places. The more pretentious, the better.”
”She won”t hear it from me,” Lexie said. ”I”ve always been better at playing sport on a screen. Especially racing games that involve swerving to collect fruit.”
”You”re a gamer?” I asked.
Her body stiffened slightly. ”Is there anything wrong with that?”
”Not at all,” I said quickly.
I closed my eyes for a moment and added, ”It”s another thing I haven”t had much time for. My brother and I used to game together before we both got busy. Now… I”m not sure I remember how.”
”I could teach you?” she offered. ”I mean, I have a gaming console. If you wanted to, you know. After the party.”
”I look forward to collecting fruit,” I said. ”In fact, that might be what gets me through the rest of the night. That and spending it with you.”
Her smile made my balls ache like crazy.
”It”s not too late to ditch the party,” she suggested.
”As tempting as that is,” and it really fucking was, ”we spent all this time getting dressed up, we might as well be seen for an hour or two. Besides, I”m sure you”d like to meet Tyler Quick. It seems like the whole world is talking about her right now. According to my brother, she might make an appearance tonight.”
Lexie”s eyes widened. ”When you put it that way, I guess we could be seen for an hour or two. But only so your mother doesn”t get mad at you. I”m not saying I don”t want to meet her, but that”s not why I”m here.”
”Why are you here?” I couldn”t resist asking. ”Is it just for the contract? I was going to renew it anyway, for the record. If you want to change your mind and walk away, I”ll understand.” I had no doubt she had more interesting ways to spend the evening than with someone like me.
”It”s not just for the contract,” she said. ”It”s because I like you.” She leaned over and wrapped her fingers around my tie. She pulled me to her until we were almost nose to nose. Her breath brushed my cheek, but she didn”t move any further.
It was me who moved, brushing my lips over hers. Her mouth was soft and warm, her lips perfectly pillowy, heaven against mine.
That small touch set the rest of me on fire. I wanted to push her back down to the seat and kiss my way up her thighs to her core.
Instead, I broke off the kiss and laced my fingers with hers. ”I like you too.” I hesitated for a moment. ”How would you feel about making this a real date? I know we said it was fake, but it doesn”t feel fake to me.”
”It doesn”t feel fake to me either,” she said. ”Is this the usual thing you do on a first date? A ritzy party at a record label with Tyler Quick?”
”I don”t know, I haven”t been on a first date in a long time,” I said. ”Before you assume I was too busy to meet anyone, you”d be half right. I have been busy, but I haven”t met anyone I wanted to stop being busy for. Until now. You make me want to slow down and… I don”t know. Flick paint around. Collect fruit. Lie on a beach with a cocktail and unplug.”
”I”m glad I inspire you to do nothing,” she said. ”It”s a rare talent I have.”
I chuckled. ”I don”t think making someone want to relax is a bad thing. It means I want to spend more time getting to know you and less time doing all the things that are expected of me. I think it”s called something like work/life balance. I encourage my staff to embrace it, but I”m personally slightly behind.”
Her face turned pink. ”I”m flattered you”ve thought so much about the things I said.”
”It was the stick figure,” I said.
She blinked. ”The stick figure?”
”Yes. I decided I should learn how to paint a better stick figure. I may devote the rest of my life to perfecting the art. In five, maybe ten years’ time, I might be able to paint five fingers.”
She burst out laughing. ”I”ve heard of worse life goals.”
”Is this where you tell me not to give up my day job?” I sighed dramatically, but playfully.
”Not at all,” she said. ”Maybe you can have a work/stick figure balance.”
I chuckled. ”I should hire you to run our HR department. You could be in charge of making sure everyone has a work/stick figure balance. On the other hand, having to deal with an office full of people like me would drive anyone crazy.”
”I think I”ll stick to limousines,” she said. ”I prefer that kind of driving. Or in this case, being a passenger.” She crossed her knees and leaned back against the seat.
”You look like you were born to be in the back seat of a limousine,” I said.
It wasn”t until she looked over at me and laughed that I realised that could have been taken in more than one way.
”I”m not taking that back,” I said. ”I”d be lying if I hadn”t thought about fucking you at least a hundred times since we sat down. Maybe two hundred times.”
”We could?—”
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the limousine stopping outside the front of the record label headquarters.
”Hold that thought,” I said softly. I was going to be holding more than that, to make sure I didn”t lose my load in my trousers.