Impossible Girl (Sexy Nerd Boys #2.5) (4 page)

As I finish up my tutoring for the day, I make my way back to my apartment. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Remy since her tutoring session two days ago. That’s a lie. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I met her last week. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I see a text from an unknown number. My heart leaps into my chest with the irrational hope that Remy changed her mind about letting me take her on a date tomorrow night.

I can’t wipe the smile off of my face when I realize that it
is
Remy. Not agreeing to a date seems like a technicality. She’s giving me a chance to get to know her and spend time with her. That’s the point of a date that she was missing to begin with.

As soon as I get home I can’t wait to skype my little princess.

“Hi, Dexter,” my mom beams warmly through my phone screen.

“Hey, Ma.”

“Daddy!” I hear an excited shriek as Maya climbs into my mom’s lap and positions herself to see me. “You’re coming to see me in two days, right Daddy?”

“That’s right princess. I can’t wait to see you. I hope you made me a ton of pictures to take home and put up on my refrigerator.”

“I have lots of pictures for you,” she assures me.

“How have things been with you Dexter? School still going well?” my mom asks from behind Maya’s blond head.

“School’s good. Not much new.” I consider telling her about Remy, but I don’t want to count any chickens before they hatch. To be honest, I don’t want to jinx our non-date by telling anyone about it.

“Alright, well we’re looking forward to seeing you. Drive safe, okay sweetheart?”

“Yes, ma’am. Love you both.”

“Love you Daddy.”

The sound of my buzzer startles me around 6pm on Friday. I look down at my phone and see that I missed a text from Dex about fifteen minutes ago saying he was on his way. Great, I didn’t get a chance to make myself presentable before he got here. Oh, well. I wipe the charcoal coating my fingers onto my already smudged sweatpants and get up to buzz Dex in. My door creaks open a minute later while I’m still putting my art supplies away.

“Is that your art?” Dex asks, his eyes wide with interest as he eyes the sketch book in my hands.

I pause for a moment. I know he’s really asking if he can see it. I rarely share my art. I’m proud of my art, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also rather personal to me. I bite my lip and glance down at the charcoal drawings in my hand before nodding and offering him the thick sheets to look at. He takes them gently like he’s afraid he’ll hurt them somehow. His lips part as he looks through them and I have the urge to lift up onto my tip toes and press my lips to his. But I resist because that would be a bad start to the whole ‘not being a skank’ thing. Plus, I said this wasn’t a date and I really don’t want to send mixed signals.

“These are incredible,” he says as he continues to study them. “There’s so much feeling in them, it’s like your soul on a piece of paper.”

I gasp at his astute observation. His eyes meet mine and a tingle runs up my spine as electricity sparks between us.

“I don’t show many people,” I whisper.

“You should! These are amazing,” he insists. He pauses on the last one. I blush as I realize that I had left in one of the drawings of him.

“Wow.”

I reach to snatch it away but he pulls it to safety and continues to study it.

“Can I have this?” His eyes still haven’t left the page.

“Um, sure, I guess,” I mutter. “Let me get cleaned up quick. I was in the artist zone and didn’t hear my phone go off before.”

“Sure, although you look awfully cute covered in charcoal smudges.” He smirks at me and I blush again.

“Well if you like me messy, I can show you my edible body paint,” I offer batting my eyelashes at him. He stares at me with heat in his gaze for several seconds before clearing his throat and shaking his head.

“Don’t do that darlin’.”

“Don’t do what?” I ask taking a step closer to him with a flirtatious lilt still in my tone.

“Just be real, please. I want to get to know you,” he pleads, searching my face for something. Warmth spreads through my limbs and our proximity has an unexpected effect on me. Heat and something else permeates the air between us.

“How do you know that I’m not being real?” I challenge. Maybe ‘shallow vixen’ is all I really am.

“You are sexy as hell, Remy, but there is so much more to you than that. I can tell, and I want to find out what it is.” His voice is deep and tender, making my heart beat faster. It’s almost like he can read my mind with his response.

“Let me go clean up,” I repeat and hurry from the room before I throw myself at him,

only to be rejected yet again.

I sigh with relief when she scurries from the room. I was seconds away from saying ‘screw it’ and just kissing her. And, my god, the idea of painting her with edible body paint and licking it off... I have to adjust my pants to hide my erection. I know that this is not a real date, but I have something planned that I hope will impress her enough to let me take her out for real.

“So are you hungry?” Remy asks as she emerges from her bedroom wearing a pair of worn jeans and a red T-shirt that ride high, showing off just a sliver of the skin on her stomach. Ugh, she looks too damn good.

“Actually, I had something in mind, but it’s kind of a surprise,” I explain sheepishly. I hope I’m not pushing my luck, since this is supposed to be a casual hang out.

“Okay,” she says with a shrug.

“Any musical requests?” I ask once we’re in the car.

“Anything except for country music,” she says with a laugh. “No offense.”

“None taken, I hate that whiny shit.” We both laugh.

I put on a top 40 station and turn the volume low enough so we can talk without having to yell over the music. She picks up my book that’s in the center console, looks at the book, then looks at me quizzically.

“What? Stephen Hawking’s
The Universe in a Nutshell
is fantastic. You should give it a read.”

“No thanks. I think I’ll stick to my trashy romance novels, thank you very much.”

“Well, if you want to learn about the universe, just let me know and I can lend you some Stephen Hawking.”

“Alright, 20 questions. Go,” she commands.

“Whoa, bossy,” I joke. “Alright, favorite color?”

“Green.”

“Favorite season?”

“Spring. There’s something that just feels so good about stepping outside in flip flops and a tee shirt after a long winter.” she sighs contentedly at the thought. I have the urge to reach over and entwine our fingers, but I know that would definitely be ‘date’ behavior, so I resist.

“Any pets growing up?”

“No.” A sad look passes over her features. I want to ask more about her childhood but, truth be told, I’m scared. What if I do and she pulls away or shuts down?

“I always wanted a dog. One day I am going to get a dog.”

“What kind of dog?” I can’t see her as a small dog person.

“I’ve always loved golden retrievers.” The sad look from before is replaced with a far-away, dreamy look. I want to make her look like that more often. “Do you like dogs?”

“I love dogs. I had a German shepherd growing up. He was an amazing, loyal dog.”

“So, where are we going? You’re not taking me out to the middle of nowhere to murder me are you?” she asks playfully.

“Not to murder you,” I assure her. “But, I am taking you out to the middle of nowhere. I packed a picnic and I thought we’d go eat under the stars.” I run a hand through my hair, bracing for her rebuff.

She twists in her seat to look at me better, her lips parted in surprise.

“That’s amazing,” she whispers.

“It’s no big deal.” I try to shrug it off. “I love star-gazing, I thought you might enjoy doing it with me.”

“I like that idea.”

We drive in silence for a few minutes before we reach my usual spot. I’ve come out here a lot to stargaze. This is the first time I’ve brought someone along though.

“Don’t move,” I instruct as I get out of the car and rush around the other side. I pull open her door while she looks at me skeptically.

“Why wasn’t I supposed to move?” she asks.

“Because my mama raised me to open the door for a lady. I got the impression that you aren’t used to that type of thing and wouldn’t wait for me to get around the car to get your door. Couldn’t let you dishonor my momma, now could I?” she looks up at me with surprise written across her face. “What?”

“No one has ever called me a ‘lady’ before. It was nice.” The pure smile she gave me nearly stopped me in my tracks. I reach for her hand and help her out of the car before rushing around to the trunk to grab the picnic basket and blanket.

Once we’re comfortable, laid out at the top of the hill, I reach for the picnic basket I’d packed and hand her a sandwich.

“It’s beautiful up here,” she says, gazing at the stars in awe.

“I like coming up here when I feel upset or overwhelmed, because being under all of these stars makes everything feel insignificant. I kind of like it.”

She laughs and takes a bite of her sandwich.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of strange?”

“All the time darlin’.”

We eat in silence for a few minutes, just watching the stars.

“I’m going to paint this when I get home,” she whispers as she lays back on the blanket.

“So why study business when art is your passion?”

She shrugs and I don’t think she’s going to answer my question. Then she lets out a sigh and turns to face me.

“Nikki told me I should major in something practical and just keep art as a hobby,” she explains. “It’s not like I can make any money with my art.”

“Your art is amazing, you could sell it at a gallery,” I insist. She shakes her head.

“No. Nobody wants my pieces.” And with that the subject was closed.

“So why did you change your mind about hanging out with me?”

“I didn’t. You asked me on a date. I didn’t agree to a date, I only agreed to hang out,” she clarifies.

“So is this like a try out then? If this goes well, you’ll go on a date with me?” I ask unable to keep the hope out of my voice.

“No, I told you I don’t date,” she says firmly. “But we can keep hanging out, and I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to some good old-fashioned dirty fun.”

“Hey now, my mama told me that nobody’s going to buy the cow if they can get the milk for free. So I’m not giving you any of my
milk
unless you go on a date with me. It’s my only bargaining chip.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” she looks at me with one eyebrow raised

“Not kidding darlin’. Those are my rules.”

“So you’ve never had casual sex?” Her voice is full of disbelief.

“I never said that,” I reply with a laugh. “I don’t do that anymore.”

“Why not?”

“That’s a story for a different day, I think.” I’m not ready to tell her about Maya yet, I don’t want to freak her out too much on our first non-date.