“I did?” I wasn’t capable of embarrassment; my breathing was heavy and my head was swimming.
“Yes. I liked it.”
Now his lips were kissing my hip bone and I closed my eyes. “Good.”
“I’m glad I came over last night,” he said.
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting. His breath teased my inner thigh as he gently nudged my legs apart. My back arched under his touch, his kisses traveling higher on my thighs. “I’m glad you did too. I missed Roxanna’s party, though. She’s going to kill me.”
“I don’t know what that means, but if Roxanna planned it, I’m sure she’ll never let you forget you missed it.”
“I’m not worried about it right now,” I said, nearly panting. He grasped my thighs and his throbbing flesh slid into me.
He leaned down as he drove deeper, whispering against my lips, “God, you’re beautiful.”
I kept my eyes closed and reached for him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I can’t believe you didn’t come out last night.”
I grasped Roxanna by the arm and yanked her into my cubicle. She teetered on her heels and held on to my shoulders to catch her balance.
“What the hell,” Roxanna gasped.
“Sorry,” I said and nudged her into the corner between my desk and the gray partition. “I need to tell you something.”
I glanced around to see if anyone was watching and she tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned, she said with a grin, “You dirty, dirty girl. You had sex with him, didn’t you?”
My eyes bulged and I covered her mouth with my hand. “Do you have to say it out loud?
Jeez
.”
“I want all the details,” Roxanna insisted and took a seat on my desk. “All of them, especially since you missed the most interesting night of the year.”
“Of the year?” I asked, doubtful. It was a dramatic statement, even for Roxanna.
“Just tell me about your night and I’ll tell you about mine,” she said.
So I did.
“I
knew
this Matt-thingy would be good for you!” she said, and clapped her hands together. “And you talked about things, which is good. I know this is something you want, so I’m happy for you. Now, you have to tell your mother that your fake boyfriend is now your real boyfriend.”
I winced. “Yeah…fun times.”
“She won’t care. You’ll have a date to the wedding and it’s Matt, so she’ll be happy.” She studied my face with a smile. “He makes you all flustered.” Roxanna fanned herself and batted her eyes. “And all ooey-gooey lovey-dovey. I like him.”
I let out a breath of air and fell back into my chair. “He makes me so
happy
. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since I met him.”
“Good,” Roxanna said. “You deserve to be happy. Now, here comes the biggest shocker of the month.” She gestured with a head nod and I tipped back in my seat just enough to peek my head into the aisle.
I heard giggling first, and then Richard and Britney walked into view, his arm around her shoulders, hers around his waist, and something Richard whispered had Britney all moony-eyed. But that wasn’t what had my attention, even though it was a surprise. I was looking at a big, angry bruise over Richard’s swollen-shut eye.
“Oh my God, Richard. What happened to your eye?!” I didn’t mean to sound so horrified, but I couldn’t help it, the words had spewed out of my mouth before I could get a handle on them.
“Yeah, that’s what I was going to tell you about,” Roxanna said and stood. She went over to the couple in the aisle and touched the edge of the bruise. Richard squinted but held still.
“Wow,” I breathed.
“There was a crazy development over the course of Cheer-Britney-Up Night, ending with Richard rushing to the aide of his new lady friend.” Roxanna sounded like she was holding back laughter.
Despite the swollen mess of angry purple and red, tinged with blue, Richard flashed a big grin and Britney stared up at him adoringly. “Oh, it’s nothing,” Richard said, beaming a smile at Britney. “I just couldn’t let that jerk get away with insulting Britney. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, even if it means kicking some ass.”
He went to lean against the partition between Britney’s and Tricia’s desk, and Tricia jumped to her feet to yell, “Don’t lean against that!”
He jerked away from it, but didn’t lose the smile. “I’m just sorry the night ended in violence.”
I exchanged a glance with Roxanna, bubbling with laughter.
Britney couldn’t take her eyes off her hero. “Richard was so brave!”
“It was a good thing my cousin tagged along last night or Richard might be a little worse off today,” Roxanna whispered in my ear. “Some creep grabbed Britney’s ass and wouldn’t leave her alone. Richard got in one really bad swing before the guy landed a solid punch to his eye, and Leo had to hold the guy off because Richard was knocked unconscious for a few minutes.”
Richard puffed out his chest and winked at Britney. “Pick you up for lunch, sweet cheeks.”
“
Sweet cheeks?
” I whispered to Roxanna.
But Richard didn’t leave. He sauntered over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind me dating other people. I know we said we’d be
friends
,” and Richard threw up finger quotes, “but I think it’s best for both of us to just move on.”
Roxanna snickered from behind me, but I ignored her. I nodded at Richard and managed to keep a straight face. “Of course, Richard. Sounds great. Britney’s awesome. Good…luck.”
When he was gone, Britney gave me a look of concern. “I hope you don’t mind, Gen. I don’t want to make you jealous or hurt your feelings.”
“Of course not! I’m so happy for the two of you,” I insisted.
“Oh good.” Britney’s smile was illuminating. “He’s just so
macho
.”
Hmm.
I pursed my lips together, but didn’t say anything. I supposed macho meant different things to different people.
“Hey, have you talked to your sister?”
I turned to find Roxanna scrolling through my cell phone messages. I took it from her hands and said, “No. Why?”
Roxanna shrugged. “No reason. Just wondering what Lexie and Leo’s little chat was about. She left all flustered and fuming.”
“Wait, Lexie was out with you last night? She told me she had some fancy dinner with Jeremy’s parents.” I frowned.
“She met up with us late last night then stayed at my place. I figured she and Jeremy had a fight. She told me not to tell you though, so don’t tell her you heard it from me.”
That didn’t sound good. It sounded even worse if she hadn’t wanted to talk to me about it. I sat down in my chair and Roxanna went back to her cubicle. After a minute, I peeked above the partition and said, “So, she was with Leo last night?”
Roxanna shook her head, “No, she was there and Leo was there. She stayed for a little bit then took my key and went back to my place. They talked just before she left and she was still upset about something.”
“Did he say anything at all?
She shook her head. “No, but you know Leo—he was all mum. He left after she did and he didn’t look happy.”
Leo and Lexie had been an item way back when in high school. Lexie had been in love, and I wasn’t sure it was just the puppy love kind, either. There’d been a steamy night in the bed of an old Chevy truck and then a few days later he was on a bus to Army boot camp.
There’d been no closure for Lexie. For a seventeen year-old in love, she’d been devastated and worried about him. After a while she moved on. Leo had only been back about a year now, discharged after being injured in the same attack that had taken his brother’s life. As far as I knew, last night was the first time Lexie had spoken to him in person since the day he’d left for boot camp.
“I’ll call her.”
“There’s some real drama going on in Lexie’s life, but she wouldn’t give me the details. Jeremy wasn’t around to answer her calls so she was already pissed before the whole Leo thing.”
I groaned. “Jeremy can be such a damn bonehead.”
“If you ask me, the guy’s on thin ground. He’s being a jerk. And I guess his mom’s at it again. Wants them to change their wedding colors since it’s a few days before the election, to match a—” Roxanna pretended to snap pictures and made a
click-click
sound, “—tacky campaign photo op. And Jeremy’s on board with it.”
“You are kidding me.” I clenched my jaw together. “Those Buchanans are a bunch of jerks.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I just hope your sister will come around to that before she’s…you know, tied to the Buchanans
for-e-ver
,” Roxanna said. Our supervisor strode by. Roxanna crossed her eyes at me. “Damn, I thought she was off today. Guess I better log on.”
I picked up my phone and texted Lexie—it was time for a sister intervention before my twin’s future in-laws shoved her over the bridezilla edge.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I stood at the counter at Cup of Joe’s across from my work, looking at my watch, nervous. It seemed ages ago that I’d told Mom that Matt and I weren’t dating. When I told Matt I needed to break the news to her that we were dating now, Matt insisted on coming with. This crazy rollercoaster of “I’m dating Matt, I’m not dating Matt, I’m dating Matt again,” would probably be much easier for Mom to comprehend with Matt by my side.
We were dating.
Exclusively. YES.
I was seriously so giddy about it, I walked around with an idiotic smile plastered to my face. The air around Matt and me was different now. The confusion I’d felt before was gone, and I no longer constantly wondered what he was thinking. I could hold his hand without wondering what it meant to him. When he kissed me, I didn’t analyze every second of it later. And there wasn’t much time to analyze anything because since that first night we’d made love, a week ago, we’d been inseparable. I had never been so happy in my life.
When I looked up from my watch, Matt stood on the sidewalk outside the bakery window, talking to my mom. The relieved expression on her face made me smile. Matt held the door open for her and she came in, her arms full of bags as if she’d spent the morning shopping.
“Gen, I was so excited when Lexie told me you and Matt were dating again!” Mom said and wrapped her arms around me, the bag squishing together.
“When did she tell you?”
“Last night. She called and said not to be surprised when I meet you for lunch and Matt is with you.” She beamed back and forth between Matt and me. “Your dad was beside himself.”
“Matt and I were going to tell you over lunch, but I guess it’s okay you already know.” It beat me having to explain everything. I’d thank Lexie after lunch.
“I’m so glad she let me know last night; I had time to do a little shopping.”
Matt smiled at me over Mom’s head. My insides warmed with him near me. Even though I’d just seen him that morning when he’d kissed me goodbye, I’d been willing the clock to move faster so I could see him again. His eyes traveled up the length of me, taking in my tight black jeans tucked into a pair of gray peep toe ankle boots. He was looking at my toenails—he’d helped me crackle paint them, seductively blowing on them while they dried. I blushed remembering what we’d done afterward.
Mom broke through my daze by saying, “I’m just so happy you two have worked things out. And like I told her, smelly feet are an easy fix.”
Matt raised his brows at me and I felt the color drain from my face. “Oh?” he asked, amused.
Mom held out a little blue gift bag stuffed with gray tissue paper. “This is just a little something to help you with your little problem.”
I felt the color drain from my face. My eyes widened and I feared they’d pop out of my head when Matt pulled out a shake bottle of foot powder, followed by a sole inserts. For smelly feet.
“Oh God,” I whispered and Matt raised his brows at me.
“And no need to thank me, Matt. I was happy to put together this little gift.” Mom placed her hand on Matt’s arm. “I know my daughter can be hard to be around sometimes—”
“
Mom
,” I protested weakly.
“—but she really is just headstrong, like her dad. And those shoe inserts are a godsend. My brother-in-law swears by them.”
“Oh?” he mused and I could hear the smile in his voice. I knew he was looking at me, but I kept my gaze on a rack of blueberry scones displayed in a case beside the cash register. “Gen thinks my feet smell?”
“You haven’t told him?” Mom made a click-click sound with her tongue and shook her head. “Really, Gen. How do you expect to have a healthy, successful relationship if you can’t share these little things with him?”
“I, uh, just…” Felt like throwing up.
“Would you like to tell him what you told me?” Mom asked and my eyes bulged. “And start from the beginning. I’ll give you some privacy while I call your sisters. I don’t know why they’re late.”