Flesh: Part Nine (The Flesh Series Book 9) (4 page)

“
Well,
you don't visit your parents much anymore.” Her eyes widen for
a moment.

“
That's
not true.” It is true. I really need to go home for a weekend.
It's been over a month since I've seen my parents, though I have been
in contact with my mom via text.

She grunts in reply,
and it annoys me that she's not more excited for me.

“
So
I told Derrick that I slept with Lucian again, and he's really pissed
at me now.”

“
He'll
get over it. He's not really into you anyway. He just thinks he is.”

I frown, wondering
if she's right. In truth, I should be happy if that's the case. It
would mean Derrick's bitter feelings will pass quickly and we'll be
able to return to how things were before.

“
What
if he doesn't get over it?” I scrunch up my face, not wanting
to think about that possibility.

“
If
he really cares about you, he will. You guys have been friends
forever. Him wanting to date you did kind of come out of left field.
He's probably just jealous because there's a new guy in your life and
he doesn't know how to cope with it.”

That might be true.
Derrick has been the only guy in my life in a really long time.

“
But
I'm honestly not surprised that he's pissed off about the whole Blue
Eyes thing. Even if he wasn't interested in you, I can see why he'd
be ticked.”

“
What's
that supposed to mean?” I turn to her, quickly becoming tired
of her strange attitude.

Her shoulders slump
and she casts a sideways glance at me. “That guy is no good.
We've discussed this.”

“
He's...fine,”
I hesitate. “He's just...damaged.”

“
Sure.
They all are.” She gestures absentmindedly in my direction.
“And let me guess, you're going to fix him.”

“
I'm
going to try,” I insist, beginning to think that I might have
been better off just going to my room.

“
It
never works, Amy.” She leans forward and sets the bowl of
popcorn on the coffee table. “Besides, you're not into the same
stuff that he's into. You probably don't have much in common. It
would never work out.”

“
What's
your problem?” I glare at her.

“
Nothing.”
She rolls her eyes and sulks back against the sofa.

“
It's
not nothing.” I look down at her. “Are you on your period
or something?”

She snorts and
shifts her gaze, which is a good indication that the answer is yes.

“
Janice,
talk to me. We're best friends. This is what friends are for.”
I offer her a weak smile.

“
You
just don't know what's good for you, and it's kind of annoying.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You go after this Dom,
and then it's blah blah blah he's so awesome, but I want to change
him. It doesn't work that way, Amy. There's nothing wrong with him.
Nothing that needs to be changed. You shouldn't go after guys like
that and expect them to change just because you want sweet romance.”

Her words sting, and
I can't quite process them. It feels like she's just lashing out at
me for no good reason. “So this is about Lucian being a Dom?”

“
You
weren't even into this shit in the first place.” She grabs the
remote and angrily turns the television off. “You just followed
me like a puppy. And now you have a Dom and I...I'm going to Flesh
this weekend. You should come too if you want any hope of keeping
this guy around.”

The realization that
she's jealous hits me like a ton of bricks. Janice. Gorgeous, funny,
sweet Janice is jealous of
me
. She saw Lucian and she wanted
him. Not the way that I want him. She wanted him as he was.

“
Why
is this all coming up now?” I ask.

“
What
do you mean?” She looks offended.

“
You
seemed fine after Fleshfest.”

She sighs, rubbing
her brow. “I'm sorry. I think I'm just tired.”

“
Maybe
you should take a nap,” I gently suggest, patting her leg.

“
Maybe
I should.” She stands up and walks down the hall to her
bedroom, leaving everything behind.

I still get the
feeling that she's mad at me. The fact that she didn't even take her
popcorn is a good indication of that. She wanted to get away from me
as quickly as she could, and I still don't feel like I know why.

The day after
Fleshfest, she told me she thought Lucian was bad. She knows
everything he's put me through. I can understand if she's just being
concerned, but I'm not sure that's what this is about.

I marinate on what
she said for the rest of the night, on me wanting to change Lucian.
It's true. I do want to change him. Is that so bad though? Maybe I'm
asking for too much. Perhaps I'm even asking for the impossible.

CHAPTER FOUR

It's the next day,
and Derrick still hates me. Maybe hate is a strong word. He hasn't
said anything to me since I walked through the door this morning
though. All I've gotten from him is a few bitter glances. I wish he
would just suck up his feelings, because we still have to work
together on Lucian's interior design project...not that there's much
for either of us to do right now.

The project is at a
standstill. With all of the furniture already picked out, we're
waiting on Lucian to schedule time to go look at it with me since
he's insisted on physically examining every piece of furniture
personally before purchasing it. It's a bit annoying, but at least it
means I get to spend more time with him. It also means that I don't
have anything to do today besides play games on my computer and surf
the internet.

No matter. This is
what I would be doing if business was slow anyway. And there are a
lot of slow days at Environ Design. At least, I know that Tyra won't
send me home, because Lucian could contact me at any time.

A little before
noon, Lucian sends me an email.

Miss Underwood,

My afternoon
opened up. I was wondering if we could get together to start looking
at furniture. If you tell me where to go, I can meet you at around
3PM.

Regards,

Lucian Reddick,
M.D.

Reddick Plastic
Surgery

I pause to decide
which furniture store we should go to first, taking into
consideration which ones are closer to Lucian's home and his
practice. I'm not sure where he's coming from, so I think about
picking one of the furniture stores in between. Then I remember that
he wanted to work on his bedroom first, so I decide to contact the
store with the beds to make sure they have them on display. Once
that's done, I email Lucian back with the address. He sends me a
confirmation email, and I spend the rest of my workday wondering if
the man I am meeting at the furniture store today is still going to
be the same sweet man I left yesterday morning or if he's going to be
the Dom I met at Flesh.

***

I arrive at the
furniture store fifteen minutes early, parking near the front so I
can see Lucian no matter what entrance he comes from. Then I realize
that I have no idea what he drives, so I'm not even sure what I'm
looking for. I dig my phone out of my purse and stare down at the
screen, at all of the text messages I've sent him that he hasn't
responded to. Everything as cordial as asking how his day was going
and what he was doing. Is there even any point in asking what he
drives? I'm sure it will be something flashy and expensive—something
I'd see from a mile away. Rich guys usually drive fast sports cars.
Not wanting to be disappointed by his lack of a response again, I set
my phone down in the cup holder of my car. If he's late, I'll call
him. Maybe then he'll answer me.

He's not late
though. He's right on time. And I definitely know when he's arrived.

Instead of a flashy
sports car, I see a limo pull up in front of the store and drop him
off. Does he drive himself anywhere, I wonder? The same limo picked
us up from Fleshfest. Maybe he's just so wealthy that he doesn't need
to own a car. For some reason, it reminds me that I still don't know
a lot about him. This is trivial stuff though, little things that can
be learned over time. He told me a lot of really big, important stuff
when he explained about the pictures and how he got the house.

“
Hey
there.” I greet him as I approach the limo.

He looks like a
movie star, wearing dark sunglasses, his hair perfectly combed to the
side. He's in black from head to toe, crisp slacks and a polo shirt.
He stuffs his hands casually in his pockets, and it seems almost like
he's striking a pose. That's all in my imagination though. Good God,
he's gorgeous. Just seeing him standing there like a picture of
flawlessness makes me feel frumpy.

“
I'm
glad I got the place right.” His gaze shifts up to the big
block letters of the furniture store sign.

“
Yup,
you've got the right place.” I knit my fingers together in
front of me, suddenly feeling small and mousey.

“
Shall
we?” He takes his hands out of his pockets to open the door for
me.

I nod, blushing as I
walk past him. I hate that he makes me feel like this, that my blood
gets warm just from being around him. He has some kind of pull over
me. I wonder if other women feel it from him as well. Probably. Just
looking at him makes my hormones bounce up and down and scream for
sex. Sex on legs. That's what he is.

“
I
thought we'd look at beds today.” I pull the pictures out of my
purse that I printed of the furniture we're here to look at. As I do,
my eyes catch one of the salesmen coming towards us. He's the guy I
usually deal with. Well, have dealt with the few times that I've
actually physically had to come to this store.

“
Hello,
Miss Underwood. We've been expecting you.” He beams at me.

“
Hey,
Walter.” I smile back at him. “We're here to check out
some furniture today.” I immediately feel like an idiot after
saying it. Of course, we're here to look at furniture. Why else would
we be at a furniture store. I swear, being around Lucian makes me
completely lose my mind at times.

I start to hand the
pictures over, but Lucian catches my wrist. A small gasp escapes my
lips as I look up at him. He's staring directly at Walter, a forced
smile on his face.

“
That
won't be necessary,” he says in a tone that borders between
friendliness and sternness.

Walter takes the
pictures from my hand anyway and looks down at them, ignoring Lucian,
though I can hear the nervousness in his tone. “That's quite
alright. I can show you where these pieces are at. It will be no
trouble at all.”

“
I
think we'd rather take our time looking around.” Lucian drags
me into the store past Walter.

I practically
stumble before catching my footing and glancing back towards the
door. Walter seems puzzled, and all I can do is give him an
apologetic look as Lucian leads us away.

“
Are
you alright?” I ask in a hushed whisper, trying to hide my
discontent. That was completely rude, walking away from Walter like
that.

“
I'm
fine. I just don't feel like dealing with someone who is going to
hard sell me on something I'm already planning on buying.” He
lets go of my wrist as we approach the stairs.

“
I
don't think the bed I want for your bedroom is upstairs.” I
glance around the bottom floor, desperately trying to locate the bed
that Lucian picked out before I'm forced away from the area.

“
I
don't care. He's not upstairs.” Lucian throws his thumb over
his shoulder in Walter's direction.

I can't help but
wonder if they know each other. Lucian's acting really weird and he
sounds almost disdainful towards Walter.

A stifled sigh
leaves my throat as I follow him up the curving staircase. As soon as
we get upstairs, we're greeted by all of the children's beds. My eyes
instantly fix on Lucian's face, wondering if being around kids' stuff
fazes him since losing his son. If it does, I can't tell. His
expression is completely deadpan, though he does take long strides
away from the area.