Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) (10 page)

He almost straightened up and hightailed it right then, but he couldn’t help himself. He took one last sniff of her hair and dropped a soft kiss on her brow, not wanting to wake her. She didn’t move.

God, she was beautiful.

He gathered his clothes and closed the door soundlessly behind him. Then, he dressed in her living room and walked away.

* * *

P
laying
the genie and granting your wish. Poof.

Then, he topped off his fucking note with a smiley face. Like that was cute.

Alexa crushed the lime green square in her hand and threw it across the room, directly into the trash can.

“Two points for me,” she growled.

Leaving in the middle of the night without speaking to her? After saying he wanted to see her again and again and talking about wanting to catch her? After she invited him to stay the night? She never did that. Ever.

“Asshole.” She punctuated the moniker with a swift pillow punch.

Did he think turning her careless words into a running joke would amuse her? Maybe it was funny.

Alexa flopped onto the bed, face in the sheets. It didn’t
feel
funny.

“
H
ey
, Alexa. You have a delivery up at the front desk. Reee-ally nice.” Holly’s envy stretched her words.

Alexa dropped her office phone back into its cradle and plodded to the gym’s check-in desk. At reception sat a vase of roses so dark, they looked tinged with black.

Alexa grinned. Maybe Graham knew he’d been a pig and was sending apology flowers. Should she call him or make him sweat? She landed on making him sweat until at least the afternoon before calling him to thank him.

Alexa pulled the vase toward her, out of her receptionist’s grasp. “Thanks.”

“Do you need help? It’s a giant vase.”

“No. I got it,” Alexa replied and floated back to her desk.

She had to dig through the foliage and baby’s breath to locate the pearlescent envelope bearing her name. Flipping it over, she tore it open.

Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks. Thinking you every day until then.

Adam

Disappointment shot through her so fast, it made her dizzy. Alexa shoved the card back into its pronged plastic holder and moved the flowers to the low bookcase under the window behind her.

She spent the rest of the day trying to ignore them, but every time she turned, she caught them taunting her out of the corner of her eye.

Shit.
She slapped her palms over her eyes and huffed, elbows planted uncomfortably on her desk. She had no reason to expect anything from him. She said she wanted to keep things light, and that’s what he was doing.

And that was okay. She had to get a handle on herself. They had an incredible night together. He’d likely call her again for a repeat. She knew she’d say yes.
Let it go,
she admonished herself.

After a couple of hours, her phone alarmed. Time for her to get ready to teach her mid-morning Saturday kickboxing class. Then, after lunch, she had a pilates-yoga class, then barre. The schedule reminded her that she needed to hire a new instructor.

An hour of roundhouse kicks and uppercuts helped exorcise her anger demons. Sweaty and less on edge, she headed to her office for a recovery drink and a sandwich. She swung through the double door and down the hallway. A familiar set of square shoulders faced her desk.

Graham must have heard her coming because he turned and grinned.

“I hope you don’t mind my stopping by. I remember you told me you had a break for lunch, so I took a chance.”

“I wasn’t sure I would get to see you today. You left quite a trail of smoke behind you early this morning.”

His welcoming smile slid into a grimace. “You didn’t think the note was funny. I should’ve known better. Maybe that wasn’t such a good joke.”

“So, you did intend it to be funny? I suppose I’m glad it wasn’t just some twisted revenge.”

“I drew a smiley face. Are you mad?”

Yes.
Alexa still fumed though she couldn’t explain her raw nerves, so she lied. “No, it shocked me a little, but I knew you were joking. Maybe we should give up on waking up together and having it be anything other than strange.”

“Or… Maybe third time’s a charm.”

His suggestion wound desire into the tension in her gut.

Normally, she’d punish a guy for pulling a stunt like that and let him stew, but looking into Graham’s pale-bronze eyes, her fortitude for punishment dissipated.

“So, did you bring me lunch or what?” She drew her fingers across his shoulders as she walked around him and then the desk to sit down.

“I brought you an energy smoothie from next-door. Toby says this is the perfect thing to propel you for your afternoon classes.”

Great.
Now, Toby and Sarah would know Graham was buying her lunch and visiting her during the day. The questions would come at her fast and furious the next time she saw either one of them.

“I’ll take it. I mixed up a recovery drink, but I can drink it this afternoon.” Alexa grabbed the drink and took a long sip. “This can’t be the most exciting thing you have planned for Saturday. What else you have going on today?”

“Well, I ended up having to work a little bit this morning. A water tank burst at one of the other properties. Charlie needed my approval for additional expenses, and the tenant was furious that it took an hour for the plumber to get there. The place flooded and…never mind. You don’t need to hear about all that. Needless to say, it was a mess. Plus, I had a ten a.m. tee time and had to cancel.”

The call of the fairway had to be at least one reason why he bailed on her in the middle of the night. Disgruntlement ate at the edges of her mood again.

“You men and your golf.”

“It’s not just men who play golf. You’ve never played?”

“I have. I used to play pretty regularly, but I gave it up. Not my thing.”

Matthew had loved golf and insisted she learn. She took golf lessons for almost two years and managed to get her handicap down to an acceptable level from the ladies’ tees. Of course, she hadn’t played in years, and she knew regular play was the only way to keep from embarrassing yourself. Alexa said a silent prayer Graham wouldn’t ask her to go play golf.

“We should play some time.”

“Sure,” Alexa replied in the light tone she used to let men think they were getting their way. Like with Adam. His arrival loomed as did the flowers over her shoulder. She unconsciously took a gander at them, which was a mistake.

“Nice flowers. It’s not your birthday or something is it?”

“No, uh, those are from a friend. For Valentine’s Day, I guess.”

“That was a week ago.”

“I know.” She had no explanation to offer Graham for Adam’s behavior.

“A male friend?”

“Yes. I saw him briefly last November. We weren’t even really dating. He doesn’t live here, but he’s coming to town soon. He wanted to let me know.”

Rather than avoid Graham’s narrowed gaze, Alexa looked at him straight and didn’t blink.

* * *

G
raham’s heart
raced with unjustified fury. He and Alexa were just connecting, so he had to expect there would be one or two other guys in the wings. Still, seeing another man’s flowers displayed in her office stung his ego.

He searched her impassive face for some clue as to how attached she was to Red Rose Guy. She stared back, giving him nothing.

Graham smirked. “Beautiful. Incredibly cliché, but beautiful.”

“You think you could’ve done better?” Her obvious joy at his discomfort added a roguery to her smile.

“You are not a clichéd woman. I would’ve gone for something more exotic. I mean baby’s breath? Come on.”

“I think they’re lovely.”

Lovely? The primness of the word on Alexa’s lips caused a burst of laughter to erupt from his chest.

“Sure you do. When is Mr. Cliché arriving?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but he’s supposed to be here for South by Southwest.”

“Does he work in the entertainment industry?”

The thought that this could be some oily bigwig who knew Alexa from her modeling days made him crazy.

“No, he works in technology as a consultant.”

A consultant, Graham thought, might be worse than some overly tanned executive.

When he didn’t say anything, Alexa continued. “I met him when I went to visit my friend in England at Thanksgiving. He’s British. And he’s also an artist. He paints and sketches.”

Graham envisioned a pale, long-haired hippie with bad teeth.

“He sounds fascinating, but I don’t want to spend lunch talking about some other guy—especially one as uninteresting as this one sounds.”

“Your jealousy is kind of exciting.”

“No jealousy.” Graham waved his hands to sweep away the notion. “Frankly, I can tell you’re not that into him.”

“What on Earth makes you say that?” Alexa leaned back and crossed her arms.

“Number one, you’re not even sure when he’s arriving. If you were that excited, you’d be counting down the days. Number two, since you’re not counting down the days, his sending flowers is only bound to annoy you. I know you well enough to know that. You’re not his girlfriend. And number three, you called them ‘lovely.’ Lovely is a word old women use when they’re trying to be nice about ugly children or friends they secretly can’t stand. You don’t use ‘lovely’ to describe anything related to a guy who makes you hot.”

Alexa emitted a soft rumble of laughter. “Wow. Wouldn’t you make an excellent detective.”

“I’m a keen observer, but no worries. I can handle some ‘lovely’ competition.”

His cocky assertion drew a smile from her. Maybe she found it stimulating—more stimulating than some stodgy British guy. He’d bet the guy had snaggleteeth. And rickets. Or was it scurvy? How rude would it be to send a basket of limes to the guy’s hotel?

Alexa blew off his snide remark. “You men and your pissing contests. Am I a trophy now?”

“It’s nature. I’m a man, and I can’t help puffing out my chest when I hear that some other man is after one of my ladies.”

“One of your ladies? Maybe I should be puffing out my chest. Or I could pee on your leg.”

Graham knocked back his head and erupted in laughter. “I know a guy who’d pay you to do that.”

“Who the hell do you hang out with?” Her top lip curled up in disgust even though she laughed.

“I have a varied assortment of friends.”

Alexa palmed her face, shaking her head. “Is there anything else we need to discuss? Unlike you, who seems to have unlimited amounts of time for gallivanting, I need to get back to work.”

“Gallivanting? I’m checking in on one of my most valued tenants.”

Alexa blew him a raspberry. “Get out of my office.”

She flipped her index finger toward the door and gave him a stern look. He laughed and stood to leave.

“So bossy. I know a guy who’d pay for that, too.”

O
ver the next three weeks
, Alexa counted down the days, but not necessarily with anticipation.

After their initial conversation, Graham never mentioned Adam again or asked when he was coming. With South by Southwest starting over the weekend, he had to know Adam’s arrival approached.

She couldn’t tell whether arrogance or envy kept Graham from acknowledging the arrival of…her old lover? She didn’t know what to call Adam.

“Lover” made her cringe. Much about the situation gave her an acid stomach. That afternoon, she worked out her nerves by finishing her kickboxing class with furious combinations of hooks, jabs, and round house kicks before the cool down.

“Damn. You kicked our asses today,” wheezed Hannah, one of her loyal clients. The woman dropped her hands to her knees, bracing herself and gasping.

“Working through some bad energy.”

Shortly before her class, Adam left her a voicemail to let her know he’d landed at Bergstrom Airport. The anticipation in his voice provided the nervous energy for her workout.

When she got back to her office, she called him back. He wanted to have dinner.

“I assume you want to get to your hotel and freshen up.” She hoped the casual persuasion in her voice would cut off debate. “I’m still at work, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get out of here. I taught classes this afternoon, so I have some office work to finish.”

“Well, I’d love to see you tonight, if you have time.”

“How about we make plans for tomorrow?”

Graham had challenged her to a pool tournament. Competitive, Alexa told him to bring it on. Knowing the flight from London would arrive after five p.m., she hadn’t expected to see Adam today.

Silence lingered on the phone line, followed by a hiss. Sigh or a tick in their phone connection—she couldn’t tell. “Alright then. Tomorrow at eight o’clock? I’ll make reservations somewhere.”

“That works. Just let me know where, and I’ll meet you there.”

“You could just meet me at the hotel, and we can go together.”

“It depends on where you make reservations. With the festival traffic, meeting you there simplifies things. During South by, it’s tough to even get a pedicab. The streets are crazy.”

“You certainly would know more about that than I do, so I’ll let you know where I make the reservation. You can meet me there.”

Alexa felt as if she had to pull acquiescence out of him. That didn’t bode well.

* * *

“
Y
our shot
, my lady.”

Graham gestured toward the cue ball after missing a tough bank shot to the side pocket. Alexa chalked her cue and surveyed the table. She had two relatively easy looks, but one might better position her to sink the other on her next shot.

She lined up her stick and quickly fired, nailing the solid blue ball in the perfect spot. It dropped in the corner pocket, and the cue ball rolled into alignment with the solid yellow. Alexa sank that one as well and fist pumped at her competition.

“So, when is Red Rose Guy getting here for the conference?”

If he thought surprising her with a question about Adam would throw her off her game, he underestimated her focus. His mistake. She banked in the six and examined her next shot.

“He got here today, actually.”

“And you didn’t welcome him?”

“He’s settling in at the hotel, and I’ll see him another time.”

Alexa smacked the next shot too hard, scratching. Graham chuckled as he walked away from her to the end of the table to collect the cue ball and pick his next shot.

“Sounds lovely.”

“Smart ass. It’s not a big deal. It seems silly not to meet up with him since he’s flying all the way here from London.”

“We’re keeping things easy, right? You don’t know me an explanation.”

Alexa stood her cue stick on the floor, leaning slightly against it. Although she didn’t have to justify herself, she still wanted to explain. “No, but you seem to have questions.”

After making his first, Graham fired his second shot wide and the cue ball careened all the way back to the other end. He laid his stick across the edge of the table.

“I’ll admit that I’m curious. You met him at Thanksgiving, and he’s coming to visit you now, but you seem nonchalant about it.”

“Would you like me to be more excited about it?”

Alexa’s eyes met his with a challenge.

“Nope. So you’re not…dating him?” Graham’s pause piqued.

“No. I didn’t invite him here. He’s in town on business. We’re friendly. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big enough deal that you felt compelled to tell me. You could have said nothing, and I would never have known.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘compelled.’ You asked about the roses. I answered your questions. There’s no reason for me to be cagey about it.”

He picked up his stick and let it slide through his fingers, banging it on the floor. “Okay.”

The subject of Adam clearly irritated Graham. She supposed a little natural human jealousy was bound to crop up.

Alexa took another solid off the table, then shot well wide of her target and put her hand on her hip. “I hope you aren’t grilling me thinking you can distract me.”

“If I were, I’d be failing, wouldn’t I?” Graham moved around the table, evaluating his position. On one side, he had to turn and sidestep past Alexa in the narrow space.

She angled away to give him more room, but he stopped, pressing toward her. Alexa backed up against the table, and he leaned into her.

“Is this more or less distracting than my line of questions?”

The twisted sparkle in his eyes made her laugh. His thick thigh pressed against her zipper. Even though she thought about riding him like a horse, she kept her legs firmly together.

“Neither. I’m not distracted by you at all.”

He bent toward her ear and leaned in with a whisper. “You sure? I’m trying pretty hard here.”

“I can see that.” She rotated her hips away from him and walked to the end of the table. “I do have some questions for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you really know a guy who would pay to have a woman boss him around?”

“Seriously?” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and laughed until he was nearly breathless. “Yeah, I do.”

“How do you even find something like that out about somebody?”

Graham drilled one of the stripes into a side pocket and straightened up.

“There was a guy I worked with. We were out of town together on business, and in the morning, I was downstairs at breakfast waiting for him. He didn’t show. After a while, I got concerned because he wouldn’t answer his cell phone, and I couldn’t get him on the hotel phone either. I convinced the hotel to let me into his suite. Lucky for him, I went in alone. He was gagged with his hands behind his back tied up in zip ties. I had to use toenail clippers to chew through the plastic and cut him loose.”

Alexa’s blast of laughter drew curious stares from a handful of people playing at the next table.

“He kept saying, ‘You can’t tell anybody. Seriously, you can’t tell anybody.’ I promised him I wouldn’t. I asked him what his deal was. He said that he likes to hire women who specialized in bondage and domination stuff. And, I mean, this guy was a bigwig. A real power player in development and politics. He said it helped him relax to have a woman take control.”

“The men who hire dominatrices are mostly really rich powerful guys, right? I just kind of assume that.”

“I couldn’t tell you. I’m not really an expert. I only know the one guy.”

“You don’t know a guy who hires women to pee on his leg?” Alexa shook her finger at him as if she caught him in a lie.

“Oh wait, I know that guy, too.”

“Different guy?”

“Yeah, different guy. That was a guy in college. I think he just watched too much weird porn.”

“I’m beginning to wonder about you. Part of the measure of a man is the company he keeps.”

He pointed his stick at her in emphatic denial. “Hey, I don’t keep company with these guys. I only know them. I keep company with guys like my friend, Jonah. Settling down and becoming a family man. Maybe on our next date, I’ll bring references.”

Graham focused back on the game, positioning his stick and firing. The cue ball bounced off the rail and straight at the eight ball.

“No, no, no,” he groaned, leaning the opposite direction as if he could will the ball away from the hole. “Shit.”

“That was quick.” Alexa sauntered over and smacked him on the ass. “You have my sympathy. Let’s rack them again.”

She grabbed the triangle and suppressed a mocking laugh. She knew better than to make too much fun of a man when she was kicking his ass.