The egg cracks on the side of the pan and a piece of the shell falls into the gloop."Mother fucker." The four prongs dig at the side of the nonstick coating probably releasing a ton of toxins into our food as I scrape at the quickly cooking eggs to get the piece out. Maybe Huxley will consider it extra protein?I'm not normally so bad in the kitchen, but when you spend a night in bed with someone it can make the morning tense. I mean I slept with a cowboy last night. It's an easy fantasy for any woman. Hell, it's my fantasy.Okay, we didn't sleep together, but we did sleep together. And that's enough to fret on a girl. As the sun started to set and Huxley and I looked at one another, each of us wondering what came next, I tried to play it cool and offered him a spot on the couch for the night.He took one glance at my rose covered couch — a hand-me-down from Tabitha — and said, "Nope." Then, just like that, he stripped down to his boxers and slipped into my bed.I wasn't abo
"You don't understand," Blondie stutters over his words, cutting Huxley off. "She doesn't accept failure.""We'll consider this a learning opportunity. Or if you're really that scared of a woman," the way Huxley says woman like we couldn't be scary is a bit irritating, "then pretend his trail led you to the Southwest. I don't care where, as long as it's far away from here."I've pressed my body so close to the side of the wall to hear better I lose my footing as my socks slide against the tile floor and I'm forced to reach around and hold on to the wall so I don't fall. When I regain my balance, I stay hidden on the side, hopeful Huxley didn't notice."And you can come out now, Winnie," he calls.Busted."You're also going to apologize for making Winnie cry." Huxley wraps me up in a big side hug, pulling me close to his body in the middle of the living room. The black gun is still held firmly in his other hand and pointed at the blond giant.My dress gets caught around my k
"That's your work uniform?" Huxley leans against the door jamb staring wide-eyed as I zip up my tall black leather boots. They're my favorite and tonight I need the comfort of the old beloved boots I picked up at a Ross store three years ago.The leather footwear come nearly to my knee and you would think the tall black leather would be difficult to wear, but they're the opposite. These boots are the most comfortable shoes I own. I could walk all day in them. When you're a club promoter and work till three o'clock in the morning, comfort is an important feature."Yeah, don't you like them?" I ask, standing from the bed.Huxley rubs the pad of his thumb against his jaw. "This is not what I pictured when you said you had to get ready for work."I shrug. There's only four or so inches of exposed skin from the top of my boots to the bottom of the black miniskirt. Add in the baby pink polo I made Noah order when I accepted the part-time position at his club and I'm more covered than
"Aren't you exhausted?" Huxley asks around his own yawn.I widen my eyes, not having to fake being awake this morning. "Nope. You're getting old," I quip, grabbing the purse I left over the back of the kitchen chair last night.Or, well, this morning since we didn't get home until two. I'm not required to stay until the club closes since most of the action usually winds down between midnight and one. But last night's group was rough and with only one bouncer at the door after midnight I didn't want to leave them shorthanded. It's a lot easier to see and stop a fight before it even starts with my vantage point mixed in the crowd.Plus, last night was one of my best nights of sleep ever. The first few nights Huxley was here, I lay beside him in bed tossing and turning, unable to get any sleep. My head was full of thoughts. Who is looking for Archer? What does Huxley think of me? Will the guys come back again? What did they mean when they said Archer was in Pelican Bay? Why wasn't H
"This church is better. Trust me," I say turning onto the long road that leads to the older section of Pelican Bay. "This is the church I went to as a kid. It's where all my best church memories happened."It's tiny, the same design as an old one-room schoolhouse but featuring a bell tower on top. It doesn't fit many people, and that's okay because not many people go to it. There isn't a nursery for the children and they don't do specialized classes. You go in, sit down, get a sermon, and go home. It's exactly my kind of church.My promise to God I'd attend church more may have taken place in a small airplane over the ocean while I thought I'd die, but that doesn't mean I plan to default on the agreement.Two weeks ago, the sermon was about old friends and being there for them even when they go through hard times, it doesn't seem odd to me that Huxley is here now — even if the circumstances aren't great. God, faith, mother nature, whatever you want to call it, the forces brought
"What did you do after church yesterday?" Katy asks as we stand behind the orange caution barrels placed at intervals blocking off a section of town. "And don't think I'm not still mad you didn't tell me you have a hot guy staying with you."Heat rises in my cheeks and I silently pray Huxley didn't hear her words, but from the way his smile grows as he pretends to watch a seagull fly toward the ocean, I'm pretty sure he did. Damn Marine hearing."I told you it's a weird situation." I love Katie, she's been one of my friends for years, but I spent a lot of last summer telling her how awesome Archer and my life in Vegas was. I don't think I can handle telling her he duped me. No one wants to admit they spent years dating a loser."Do you think we're far enough back?" I ask Huxley, totally ignoring Katy's questions and staring at the big building the city is set to demolish.He shrugs. "Not exactly my specialty, but I'm sure they wouldn't let anyone get hurt."The orange caution
The car door closes and Huxley is right there. Our kissing resumes. His shirt, the one I found so hot and sexy earlier, refuses to budge as I work to slip the button through the hole. He chuckles at each failed attempt, interrupting not only my concentration but a kiss, yet he refuses to help.The two of us make it to the side of my building and I tug Huxley closer. The scratchy parts of the brick dig into my back as I lean against the wall for support. Huxley's hand spans from my hip, slipping under my shirt and stopping at my rib cage. The tip of his thumb arches out to rub against the bottom of my breast.He gives me so little and leaves me wanting so much more. Kissing Huxley is a call to my soul. It's as if his lips can wash away all the pain and sorrow from the last couple of months. Everything I went through that brought me here and put him beside me has been worth it when he stands this close, his cologne filling my senses and his body shielding my mind from the outside wor
Huxley lunges like he's going to go after him again and I step closer putting myself in the middle of the action. "Huxley, stop."For the first time since he ran over here a few minutes ago, he turns, and his eyes semi-focus as if he's just noticed I'm here.He shakes his head and in the few fractions of a second that pass the other man slinks around the dumpsters and runs off into a small section of woods that borders the apartment buildings."You need to get inside." The apartment complexes are mostly deserted this time of day, but who knows who saw what. It would take one person to call the police before Huxley would have a lot of explaining to do.With my back turned to him, I walk to my apartment as quickly as possible. He's right behind me as I get the door unlocked and I wait to talk until its closed."What were you thinking?" I say trying not to yell too loudly. The apartment walls are insulated, but you can hear your neighbors. This is a conversation I don't want Mrs