She’s holding an overnight bag in her other hand, a Burberry coat flung over her arm.
“Fuck, sorry, I’m such a mess. I’m late and just in such a hurry. Hope you’re okay!”
“Oh, um, yeah, I’m fine, no harm done.”
“Xavier! I’m on my way out!” she yells over her shoulder as she rushes over to the still open elevator. I can’t help wanting to flee with her but the last thing I want is to be stuck in an elevator with Xavier’s overnight guest. Especially one looking like that.
She’s long gone by the time he comes out of the bathroom, wearing just a pair of track pants, drying his hair on a towel.
It’s the first time since we reconnected that I’ve seen him without a top, and I’m almost speechless by what I see. His body is ripped, his chest and stomach look like they’ve been sculpted out of marble. Hard. Chiseled. It’s a long way from the tall and lanky Xavier I remember.
“Oh, um, hi,” he says, stopping when he sees me. “I didn’t expect to see you. Did we have an appointment?”
The combination of seeing him half-naked and running into his lady friend has my mind turning and twisting in ten different directions all at once.
“No. We didn’t.” I snap at him. “Just… nevermind, forget it. I’m going.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he says, blocking me from leaving. “Malynda, why did you come here?”
“I don’t know.” The words come out before I can stop them and I try to focus on anywhere but his body.
“Malynda,” his voice drops and he reaches out for my arm.
“No!” I push him away and almost run to the elevator. I can barely breathe. I need to get away from here.
“Hey! Malynda! What’s going on?!” He says, following me,
I can’t face him. “I… I… I shouldn’t have come. I thought… after the other night…”
“Yes?”
“But I was wrong. Sorry to bother you, I didn’t mean to run into your… girlfriend.”
“Whoa. What? My what?”
Still facing the wall, I wave my hand towards the bathroom, as if that explains it.
“Yeah, I need more than that.” He grips me by the shoulders and spins me around. “Look at me! Who are you talking about?”
A force myself to breathe before I yell. “That… fucking… supermodel! The redhead. Your girlfriend or lover or… whatever.”
His brows wrinkle. “Who… wait. You mean Patricia?”
“I didn’t ask her her name, Xavier. She just knocked me over and ran off. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the new bed we bought for you.” I’m being a petty bitch, but I can’t see to stop myself.
But it doesn’t get past Xavier. He shakes his head and pushes me back against the wall, his hands still on my shoulders, staring me directly in the eyes.
“Are you jealous?” he asks.
I just close my eyes, trying to block out his face, trying to stop him from reading me.
I feel his hand let go of my shoulder and grip my chin.
“Open your eyes, Malynda.”
I obey, I don’t have the energy to fight him.
“I’m asking you, are you jealous, Malynda?” Each word makes me flinch. Makes me realize what I am feeling.
I glare at him. If he wants me to say it, I will.
“Fuck you, Xavier. Yes!” I yell, almost spitting in his face, “Is that what you want to hear? Yes! I’m jealous at the thought of you fucking her!”
He shakes his head and pushes away from me.
“Unfuckingbelievable.”
I move to pull away from the wall, but he’s back, pressing his bare chest against me, making me feel every inch of his body on mine.
“That is Patti, she’s my assistant. You’ve been emailing with her all week. To avoid talking to me directly.” He stares at me, watching his words sink in. And then he continues, “And no, I’m not fucking her. I told you. I told you, Malynda, that you were my first, and that you were going to be my last. And unlike you, I keep my fucking promises. Every single one.”
His face is barely two inches from mine.
He’s whispering but it feels like a storm in my mind.
What is he saying? No. He doesn’t mean it.
“A-Are you telling me you’ve never slept with anyone else?” It can’t be. Not all this time. Not looking like he looks.
His answer is short, abrupt. “Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.” I hiss at him. Even though I know it’s true. Oh my god.
And that’s the last thought I have before he closes that two-inch gap between us and his mouth is on mine.
His tongue is instantly in my mouth and I feel myself involuntarily suck on it, a heat rising up into every part of my body. I push against his chest but pull him in by the shoulder all at once. His hands are in my hair, against the back of my neck. Strong, hot, commanding. Controlling.
“Fuck, Malynda,” he groans against my mouth, and then we’re kissing again. His hand moves down over my back, cupping my ass, grinding his hardness against me. I’m putty in his hands, giving in to him. I barely know how I’m standing.
He pulls away for a breath, and in that moment, my brain tells me. Stop.
He leans in again and I push hard against his chest.
“I can’t. Xavier, we can’t do this!” I gasp.
He stops, but doesn’t take his hands off me. “Why? Tell me why and I’ll stop right now. But you have to tell me why.”
“I don’t know! I don’t know why!” I cry. Because I don’t want to stop. Something just tells me it’s better this way.
He lifts a hand to my cheek, cupping it, dragging his thumb over the single tear that falls.
“I love you. I promise you, I’ve never, ever slept with anyone but you, Malynda. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted. Ever. Do you really think that us being together could be wrong?”
I feel my knees buckle, a physical manifestation of my resolve wavering. I can’t say no, to him. He’s the only one I’ve ever wanted as well.
“Xavier.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve never… I never slept with anyone else either”
He frowns. It’s fleeting but I see it and his hand falls away from my cheek.
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true.”
“Like Cameron would hang around if you weren’t having sex with him.”
“Cameron and I are NOT together. So it would be strange if I was sleeping with him.”
Xavier’s head shakes, as if he doesn’t believe what he’s hearing. “But he… you said he was your partner.”
“He’s my business partner. We’re not together.” I repeat. I don’t know why it’s so important for him to know this, but I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. I have never been with any man but him.
He takes a step back, still shaking his head. “No. Don’t lie to me, Malynda. Just don’t.”
“I’m not, Xavier. I’ve never wanted anyone but you.”
He looks at me, his pupils round and dilated, I can almost see the thoughts swirling in his mind.
“Fuck this, I’ve missed you so much.”
In one movement, he sweeps an arm under my legs, my hand automatically coming up to loop around his neck, my mouth on his. I feel like air in his arms as he walks over to the bed and gently lays me down.
For just a moment, he looks down at me, his head haloed by the sun streaming through the windows.
“I have missed you every single day,” he says, the words catching on his throat.
“I know,” I say, running my fingertips down his bare chest. And he leans down, burying his face in my neck. I wrap my arms around him, holding him. Ignoring everything that tells me it’s wrong.