Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) (8 page)

Graham steadied his eyes on her. He wasn’t sure how the conversation had taken this turn, but once it had, he was all in. If anyone would appreciate the direct approach, it would be Alexa.

“You’re ruining the illusion that this is just a friendly date.”

“There are varying degrees of friendly. Tell me you wouldn’t enjoy turning up the heat. You don’t normally wear a backless jumpsuit for dinner with friends, do you?”

“I might.”

Her brow and her mouth took prim angles. Graham wasn’t going to let her get away with pretending like she didn’t want him as much as he wanted her.

“Bullshit. You wanted to look sexy for me. Well done, by the way.”

Under his challenging gaze, a slight flush creeped up her neck and settled in her cheeks. Graham reached across the table and ran his fingers over her wrist. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t look away.

“Did you hear the last question?” she asked, her voice wavering.

Graham took hold of her hand and circled his thumb in her palm. “No. I’ve suddenly lost interest in trivia.”

“I think it was something about the Rolling Stones. I thought you might know the answer.”

“We’re really going to sit here and finish trivia?”

“Yep.” She curled her fingers around his thumb, locking his hand to hers.

“That’s a bummer. I thought I was making progress.”

“Toward?” Her voice trailed upward as she squeezed his finger harder.

“You. Me. Getting out of here. I’d love to show you my place.”

She opened her hand and pulled it back. “I bet you would. Not tonight.”

“I think you’re afraid you might like me more than you want to admit.”

“Huh. I like you, and that’s why I won’t go home and sleep with you?”

“Very contrarian, but yes.”

She tapped her pencil on the edge of the table and flipped the answer sheet over and back. “The logic of that is so flawed I can’t even begin to address it.”

Alexa turned toward the front of the room, focusing on the man delivering the questions, but Graham didn’t let it go.

“You’re content to leave behind a trail of smoke puffs?”

Graham knew he shouldn’t keep challenging her, but something inside him kept charging forward like Napoleon.

Alexa flipped to face him. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“But you did. And you thought it, so what does it matter?”

“I would think a guy who rejects marriage-minded women like a virus would be okay with that.”

“I don’t mind a woman who wants to get married. I think it takes time to see if that’s where a relationship is headed. That’s all. I’m open to wherever things lead.”

“I’m not closed off to the possibilities, despite what you might think.”

Graham’s jaw tightened. Did she even know she was lying? They could be halfway to his place by now and on their way to finding out if they were as deeply compatible as Graham suspected.

Instead, she sat looking perturbed, clutching her pencil like it was a wand she wanted to wave and make him disappear.

A pang of frustrated regret wound through him.

“It’s too bad.”

“What?”

“You can be so free and easy with yourself—except when it comes to how you feel.”

“Free and easy?” Her voice popped like a guitar string on a bad note.

“You know what I mean. I’m just saying—”

“I get what you’re saying, and I think we should change the subject.”

“I didn’t mean to imply—”

She waved her hand at him dismissively. “Forget it. Let’s focus on the game. I think we still have a shot at the five hundred bucks.”

Graham had underestimated her competitive streak. The five hundred bucks didn’t happen, but they came in second and split two hundred and fifty. After collecting their prize money, she blazed her way outside and left him scurrying behind her to catch up.

“Alexa. I honestly didn’t mean anything by what I said.”

She turned and tilted her head, eyes narrow. “I should hope not. You and I are two sides of the same coin, and you wouldn’t want to be a hypocrite.”

Her flash of temper raised the hairs on Graham’s arms. “No. I wouldn’t.”

He stepped close, practically standing in the same space. She didn’t retreat.

“Is that an apology?”

Graham took her breathy question as an invitation. “More or less.”

She began to lick her bottom lip, so Graham bent his head and captured her tongue. Her softness instantly made him hard.

Graham plunged through her parted lips and wrapped his arms around her, gripping her ass. Through the drapey fabric, he felt her thong—thin straps running over her hips and disappearing. He snapped one side.

She punched his chest and broke out of his arms. “How old are you?”

He laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets, straining and relaxing to release energy wound in his shoulders.

“I couldn’t help myself.” He watched the rise and fall of her chest steady.

“Can you at least look me in the eye while you try to defend giving me a wedgie?”

He stared straight at her face. “You gave yourself a wedgie. Isn’t that what thongs do?”

“I can’t do this with you. You…You’re like a child.”

“Oh, come on. We’re having fun.” The pitch in his voice turned up an octave.

She gripped her handbag, spun, and stalked off.

He shouted after her. “I drove. How are you getting home?”

“I’m a big girl, Graham.”

She didn’t turn around, and Graham took a few steps to follow.

“But…Wait.” She kept walking.
Fuck it.
She
was
a big girl.

He watched her flounce away, knowing he hadn’t played his hand well. But seeing her display of passion, even passionate displeasure, kept his quest alive.

A
s if having
two shitty dates in a row weren’t enough, Alexa checked her voice messages on her way out the door on Monday and got another not-very-welcome surprise.

“Alexa, hello.”

The soft, warm tones of Adam’s British accent made her stomach tighten.

“It’s Adam. I know we haven’t connected on a time for me to visit, but as it turns out, I’ll be coming to the States for work in March. To Austin, no less, for the South by Southwest conference. I’m working with a client presenting there, and then I’ll be staying around in Austin for a couple of months for work. I absolutely have to see you while I’m in town. I won’t take no for an answer. Ring me back. Talk to you soon.”

Oh, hell.
Two months? Or would it be longer?

She told him they might reconnect. She intended that maybe they might, but in the end, she didn’t have time for long-distance relationship with a guy six time zones away.

Now, soon to be zero.

Dread assaulted her. She would have to call him back. She couldn’t stop him from coming, but she could be clear that she wasn’t interested in starting up anything serious—if that’s what he had in mind.

She cataloged the ways to have that conversation on her way to work, stopping at the sandwich shop for a yogurt and some coffee—although her agitation had her plenty amped.

She stormed into her office and saw Melissa’s shiny black hair bent over her breakfast in front of the desk. They had an early morning meeting.

“Oh, my God! You’ll never guess in thousand years who called me last night.”

Alexa’s huff made Melissa pop her head up. “Graham?”

Alexa fell into her office chair and took the lid off her coffee to blow on it before taking a sip. “No.
He
has no reason to be calling me at night. Adam. From London. He left me a message saying he could be here for South by Southwest.”

“South by? What is it he does for living again?”

“He works in technology. Some kind of consulting. It
is
an international conference. That’s not necessarily strange. I just don’t know what to do with him running around town. And he’s demanding to see me and everything…”

“Demanding?”

Alexa sipped the coffee slowly, unsure if it might still be too hot. “It’s not so much like that. He asked to see me, and he knows how I am. He said he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He knows he has to push me.”

“Maybe love is in the air. Commitment might be in the water.” Melissa beamed at her and circled her hand dramatically in Alexa’s face.

“What’s up with you?”

“I was wondering if you’d notice. I have news of my own.”

“What?”

“Oh, my God, Alexa! Look at my hand!”

Alexa focused on the back of the hand steadied at eye level, spotting the gleaming addition. “Holy shit! You got engaged!”

“Yes. Kyle proposed last night.”

Alexa jumped out of her office chair and ran around the desk, throwing her arms around Melissa’s shoulders. Tears glossed her friend’s eyes.

“Sorry. I’m still getting emotional every time I talk about it. He took me to Chez Nous for dinner and proposed right before dessert. Kyle got down on one knee and read me a poem that he wrote. He was so sweet!”

Melissa’s voice broke, and she dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. Alexa handed her another.

“I’m really happy for you guys. I could tell things were heading in this direction, and honestly, I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Lex. I know all this romantic stuff gives you the heebie-jeebies.”

Normally, Melissa might be right, but Alexa loved seeing other people happy. Melissa was such a romantic, and it was nice that Kyle delivered the goods with the proposal. “No, it’s great. Have you told your parents?”

“I did. I called them after we got home. I thought my mother was going to faint. Once I hit thirty unmarried, she got nervous. In my family, the women marry young. Thirty-six ain’t exactly young.”

Alexa frowned. They were nearly the same age. “It’s not
that
old.”

“Tell that to my mom. Over Christmas, she handed me an article about how hard it is to get pregnant after thirty-five. Hint, hint. If by hint, you mean a donkey kick to the chin. She was probably crossing herself and lighting candles at the church every day.”

Alexa’s own mother was barely any better. Links to articles about the difficulties of pregnancy or tips about how to get a man passed through her email box on a regular basis. Alexa had gone from chastising her mother for sending her fear-mongering babble to simply clicking delete whenever her eyes passed over one.

She still didn’t know if she wanted to have children, and in the back of her mind, she knew, fairly soon, it might not be up to her.

“Congratulations. Now you can get her off your back, and you get a great husband, too. Kyle is wonderful. You’re lucky.”

“I know. Hey, I’ve kissed enough frogs, and it’s time for my prince. You too, by the way.”

“They haven’t all been frogs. They just haven’t all been princes either. Have you set a date?”

“I wanted a summer wedding, but we don’t have time this year. And I don’t want to wait until next year, so I’m talking myself into fall or winter. A wedding at Christmas would give my family from Mexico more time off to come up for the wedding.”

“Your bridesmaids can wear Santa’s helper outfits.”

Alexa thought she’d look cute in a red velvet mini. Melissa tipped back in the chair and roared.

“Oh, no. I have to do this traditional all the way. My mother will have my head. And Kyle’s head. And the heads of anyone within a hundred-mile radius.” She shot forward and pointed at Alexa. “I’m counting on you to be one of my bridesmaids. I’ll need someone to keep us all from getting too serious. Plus, you’re the woman to plan one hell of a bachelorette party.”

“I am that woman. You can count on me.”

Alexa listened as Melissa detailed her preliminary wedding plans. She hadn’t seen her friend this bright and happy in a long time—maybe ever. Love and good news agreed with Melissa, and it felt a bit contagious. Her partner’s energy rolled over her and began to sink in as they settled down to go through their construction expenses.

Excitement about their new venture fluttered in Alexa’s chest. “This could work.”

Melissa snickered. “Don’t sound so surprised. We’re two women who know what we’re doing.”

“I know. It’s still astounding when it starts to all come together. It’s like, ‘Oh, my, God. We’re really doing this.’”

“Oh,” Melissa looked up from shuffling through her papers. “The construction supervisor stopped me on my way in, he said we need to get the management company’s okay to repaint the exterior when we’re done.”

“I’ll take care of that today. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Of course not. You can get your boyfriend to handle it.”

“Do
not
start that again.”

Alexa scribbled a note to call Charlie Kaiser, who worked for Graham, avoiding Melissa’s eyes, which were bright with scheming zeal.

“But I love the look you get on your face every time I bring him up. Annoyed. Haughty. A tiny smile.”

Alexa put on her grimmest visage. “I’m not smiling.”

“You could be. I don’t know why you’re fighting this.”

With a sigh, Alexa launched into the story. “The Adam situation wasn’t the only news over the weekend. Graham and I met for dinner on Saturday.”

“For Valentine’s Day?” Melissa’s tone arched with intrigued surprise.

“No. Just for a…date. It was a date, but it had nothing to do with Valentine’s. We’re hardly sweethearts.”

“Did it not go well?”

“It did, at first, but we ended up in a fight, and then he basically called me a slut.”

Melissa squinted, dubious. “What exactly did he say?”

“He said I give myself away free and easy. Except for my feelings.”

“Okay. That’s a little rude, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Look, Lex, if the shoe fits…” Melissa shrugged. “He was stating a fact. A fact that I’ve heard you say about yourself a million times.”

Alexa glared.

“You have! Don’t get mad at me!”

“He’s one to talk.”

“Then, you’re perfect for each other.” Amusement tinged Melissa’s quick retort.

“You really don’t think I have a right to be upset?”

“Upset, yes. Terminally pissed off? No. Tell him that you didn’t appreciate it. Have a conversation. He’ll probably apologize, and then you can move on. No guy is going to be perfect all the time. They screw up.” She tossed her hands up. “All the time, they screw up.”

“That, I know.”

Melissa gathered her papers and shoved them into her vegan leather satchel and grinned. “Do what you want, but my wedding will be a lot more fun if you bring a hot date.”

“Why bring a date when I can meet a hot guy at the wedding?”

“Like who? You’ve met all of Kyle’s friends and had no interest in any of them. Most of his relatives are female. And you know all of my friends. It’ll be slim pickings.”

“I’m sure one of you has a hot cousin buried somewhere.”

“Or bring Adam. From the picture you showed me, he was incredibly handsome and looked incredibly into you. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“I thought you were all about pushing me toward Graham.”

“I’m pushing you toward happiness. You like Graham.”

Alexa met her friend’s suggestion with the denial of an interrogated murder suspect in her eyes. Melissa wasn’t having it.

“You do. And you seemed to like Adam, too. I don’t know which guy is right for you. Find out! See where it’s going—either one. Pick one.”

“What if the answer is neither?”

Melissa’s glance pooh-poohed that idea. “Then, you’ll be flying solo at my wedding. Sad, sad. You’re too gorgeous to be dateless.”

“Jesus.” Alexa snorted, getting up to toss her empty breakfast container in the trash.

“We need to get next door to meet with the decorator. Try to at least consider the idea that you could have something real with one of these guys.”

Alexa harrumphed and grumbled, which made Melissa curse in Spanish.

“Only you could have two hot, successful men after you and find a reason to be dissatisfied.”

Alexa chose not to respond. The conversation annoyed and fatigued her. She didn’t see why she had to pick door number one or door number two. Sometimes on
Let’s Make a Deal
, you’re better off going with none of the above—before you end up with a jackass.