Dare to Love, page 11
“Christian, don’t make fun. I can’t believe what I did. I hardly know the man. I—I’ve never been so carefree.. or so reckless.. in my entire life.”
Christian giggled with excitement. “I can’t wait to meet the fella that brought the great Ms. Lexie Thompson to her knees. He did bring you to your knees, didn’t he, Lex?” He inquired with a look of pure devilment in eyes.
“Why, Christian Blair!” Lexie threw a magazine at him that landed square on his head. “You watch your tongue.”
“All right, all right, Lex.” Christian joined Lexie at her desk. “You look tense, let me come and give you one of my massages.” He walked behind her desk and stood behind her, slowly rubbing her shoulders with gentle strokes.
Lexie felt a little bit of tension ebb away. How had she let one man get her all worked up?
“May I make one frank observation and then we can lay this subject to rest?” Christian asked as he squeezed her shoulders.
“By all means.”
“It seems to me that you are not as immune to Will as you thought,” Christian whispered in Lexie’s left ear.
“Well, that might be true.” Turning slightly, Lexie answered with what she hoped was a ring of finality.
“If you say so.”
“Don’t worry, Christian. It’s just been a while since I’ve felt that kind of animal lust and Will happened to be there to fulfill a primitive need. But make no mistake, it was one night and it shan’t happen again. From this point forward, I’m going to focus on the job at hand. The show is in five weeks and I haven’t got a moment to spare for all that yucky relationship stuff.”
Lexie noticed the look of disbelief on Christian’s face.
“Okay maybe you’ve gone right, but what can I do?”
“Grab the bull by the horns.”
“What do you mean you aren’t coming?” Lexie asked her mother over the phone. “Nia is expecting you. You know how she likes reinforcements at those Bradley gatherings. Plus, you RSVP’d.”
“I know that, Lexie.” Her mother sighed into the phone. “But this can’t be helped. This job came unexpectedly and with the loss of Adrian’s three jobs, I have to take it.” Lexie understood, but she wasn’t sure Nia would. Unfortunately her mother was a sole proprietor and had to follow where business took her, which apparently wasn’t near Adrian’s companions. True to form, Adrian had been using her mother to get back into her good graces, because when Lexie had dismissed him again, he’d cut her mother off at the knees.
Goes to show you about some people, Lexie thought. Her mother was a fighter, though; Lexie had no doubt that she would bounce back.
“Please do me a favor and give her my regards,” requested her mother. “Let her know that I would give anything to be at her big party. Reassure her that I’ll see her at the bridal shower.”
The way her mother carried on, you’d think her mother liked Nia more than her own daughter. “Okay, okay,” Lexie promised. “By the way, Mother, I’m bringing a guest for Sunday dinner.” Lexie dropped the bombshell.
“A guest? And who might that be? I know it’s not Christian. That boy’s already like one of the family.”
Trust her mother to think that the only person Lexie could convince to join a family dinner would be her gay best friend. Lexie had other ideas. She was tired of her mother’s constant whining about Adrian, and after talking to Christian; she’d decided to spring Will on her mother and end all nagging that Lexie needed a man in her life.
“Is it someone I know?”
Lexie knew her mother was bursting at the seams, but she wasn’t going to give her any details. It would be better to leave Will’s existence clouded under a shroud of mystery until his appearance. She couldn’t resist making her mother squirm in anticipation.
“Nope. You’ve never met him. He’s someone new I’ve recently started seeing.”
“You sure don’t let the dust settle under you, do you, Lex?”
“No, Mother, I do not. Life is way too short.”
“You want me to do what?” Will asked a short while later when Lexie stopped by the club on her way in from work. Even on a weeknight the career set was already lounging about the club, having a cocktail or enjoying dinner. Later a salsa band was lined up to entertain the crowd. And there was Will, front and center, mingling with his patrons making sure they were satisfied with the service.
Lexie watched from the bar as she waited for the bartender to fix her an Appletini. When he was done, he set the tart, green drink in front of her. “I have a family dinner on Sunday and I’d like you to come as my guest,” she repeated.
“Did I hear this correctly? You actually want me to come?” Will asked, arching his eyebrows. He was in disbelief that Lexie actually cared enough to allow him to meet her family. Things were going even better than he expected.
“Yes,” Lexie whispered softy in his ear. “I need you to run interference with my mother. Provide me with a diversion of sorts.”
Will was intrigued. “Why would you need a diversion?”
“Well,” Lexie paused for a moment. “I’m coming off a breakup with my ex-boyfriend, who was near and dear to the family, and it’s like he’s breaking up with my family, too. So right now I need a diversion.”
“And I’m to provide this ‘diversion,’ as you call it.” Will’s heart sank. Lexie didn’t really want him there. She was just using him. He was disappointed; he still wanted Lexie to want him for him. The other night he’d ached with wanting to be with her. To make love to her tight little body all night long. Instead he had dreamed of her and woken up disgruntled with a major hard-on that even a cold shower hadn’t been able to cure.
“Yes, so as you can see, you’re not the only one with an agenda.” Lexie smiled.
“Touché.” Will raised his Scotch and soda next to her martini glass and clinked. He hadn’t seen that coming, but he couldn’t let her have the upper hand. “Though it does appear to me that you’re getting awfully comfortable with our arrangement.”
“In your dreams, buddy. Do as you’re told and pick me up at seven.”
Will laughed heartily. “I’ll be there with bells on.”
“Hmmm, and nothing else,” Lexie teased.
Will laughed. “That could be arranged, but it would have to be a private showing.”
“Mmmm.” Lexie licked her lips in anticipation. “I might have to take you up on that.”
“Anytime, Miss Lexie.” Will squeezed her thigh gently. He wanted to do more but they were in public and a modicum of decorum was in order, especially in front of his staff.
Even after she’d left, her legs still tingled where Will touched her. It amazed her that every moment with him was truly unforgettable.
Leave it to her mother to cool any sparks, Lexie thought the following Sunday. Like a pit bull ready to attack, her mother raked Will over the coals. From the moment they set foot in the door, her mother wasted no time in finding out who Will’s parents were, what they did for a living, and if he had ever done drugs or gone to jail.
Meanwhile, her father and brother hovered in the background, content to talk photography and watch the festivities.
Lexie couldn’t remember her mother being quite so rude when she’d brought Adrian over. Her mother had taken to him right away, but then again he’d been her choice and had come dressed like a yuppie straight out of prep school wearing slacks and a sweater vest. Will, meanwhile came in jeans and a leather jacket.
“So, you’re college educated?” her mother asked Will inquisitively as she handed him a cup of English tea. “Milk?”
Will shook his head. He preferred his tea all natural. “Yes, ma’am. I’m a Harvard alum and proud of it.”
“Harvard educated? I’m impressed.” Her mother smiled approvingly and Lexie breathed a sigh of relief. Her mother firmly advocated education after she attended NYU in the late sixties. Will had indeed won her mother over and Lexie, too.
Tonight she’d learned more about Will than in any of their previous encounters.
As if reading her mind, Will patted her knee and responded to Isabel.
“I obtained a full academic scholarship to Harvard and after finishing school, I toiled for a few years in the Chicago stock market, but eventually decided to branch out into entrepreneurship,” Will replied, ignoring Lexie’s shocked expression.
Now that her mother could appreciate! “Indeed. I can testify that there’s nothing like being one’s own boss.”
Finally speaking, her father joined in. “So, Will, what kind of business are you in?”
“I own my own supper/nightclub.”
“I’ve been to it, Mom,” Sebastian chimed in. “It’s a great place, Will. It’s got a lot of class.”
“Thanks, Sebastian.” Will turned. “I’ve hired one of the best chefs in the Chicago area, not including yourself, Mrs. Thompson, and I maintain a loyal staff by rewarding them accordingly.”
“That’s the secret to being a great boss that not many people accomplish,” Wesley replied. As the senior property manager for Trammell Crow, her father was responsible for all the financial aspects as well as maintenance, security, groundskeepers, landscapers, and custodial staff that it took to a run a large business park like Landmark Center. All his staff looked up to him and considered Wesley a smart and fair man.
“I agree, sir. If more people showed honesty and fairness, the world would be a better place.”
“Well said. Why don’t we all go into dinner?” Her mother offered before leading Will to the dining room.
Lexie hung back and whispered to Sebastian, “I thought she was going to eat him for breakfast, but somehow Will has managed to charm that old woman.”
“And that ain’t easy to do.” Sebastian laughed. “He’s endured the firing squad, so let’s chow.”
After a delicious gourmet meal of beef tenderloins, rosemary potatoes, and a fresh green bean and Portobello sauté, they enjoyed one of her mother’s famous delicate pastries of fruit tarts, napoleons, and chocolate éclairs. Gracious as ever, Will exceeded Lexie’s expectations and, she hoped, cured her mother’s speculations on her love life.
What was all the more surprising was the fact that he’d gone to Harvard. Turns out he was her kind of man after all. He’d just decided to follow his own path like Sebastian.
“Why didn’t you ever let on about your education?” asked Lexie on the ride home from Highland Park. “You had to know that I was thinking the worst.”
“Why should I have told you? Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to judge a book by its cover,” Will commented harshly as he kept his eyes firmly affixed to the road.
Much to Lexie’s dismay Will dropped her untouched again at her doorstep. “Be ready at six-thirty on Friday night.” “For what?”
“You’re accompanying me to the Bradleys’ thirty-fifth anniversary party.”
“I don’t need an invite. I’m already going,” Lexie replied smugly, upset that Will hadn’t even tried to make a move. Maybe it was best that he was killing her libido because the more time she spent in Will’s company, the more trouble it would mean for her.
“Good. Be ready at eight P.M.”
Eschewing all that “what do you want to do” stuff, Will was a man who took charge, and although she would never admit it, Lexie loved it. Will Kennedy was no wimp.
“And who am I going as this time?” Lexie inquired from the sidewalk. “My date, what else?”
Later while driving home in his Lexus, Will thought about the entire evening. It had surprised him to discover exactly how much Lexie needed her mother’s approval. Oh, sure, Lexie acted as if she didn’t jump when her mother said how high, but Lexie was constantly trying to win her mother’s acceptance. Gone was the confident, self-assured woman he’d met that first night at the theater, and in her place was an insecure daughter in need of her mother’s love and affection.
Will recognized the feeling because he’d seen it in himself. Eve Kennedy was not an easy woman to love. She constantly saw Will as his father, always blaming Will’s father for what went wrong in her own life. At times he’d wanted to walk away and leave her, but he’d endured for his little brother. And he’d do it all over again because family meant everything.
Chapter Eleven
“I thought we were going to the Bradleys’?” Lexie asked when they drove in the opposite direction of the Bradley family home in Country Club Hills the following weekend.
“We are.”
“What’s the big mystery?” Lexie wondered aloud.
“We have to make a pit stop first,” Will replied and slowed down the car as the traffic signal turned red. Will hazarded another glance over at Lexie. When she’d opened the door earlier, he’d nearly fallen over. The woman was stunning.
Her tumbleweed of hair had been all swept up to reveal a beautifully slender neck, while a few wisps of hair graced either side of a perfectly divine face. Was she wearing any makeup? With her clear complexion, Will couldn’t tell. Surely a heavenly creature like her didn’t need any. And the dress—if you could call it a dress—was two pieces of satin fabric that clung to her slender body like a second skin. Will didn’t see any panty lines so he could only imagine she wasn’t wearing any underneath the ensemble. Was she trying to drive him crazy with desire? It appeared she had no idea of the effect she had on him.
He’d fantasized about her all day, unable to focus on any one thing. He’d stared endlessly at the computer screen, attempting to complete his monthly reports, but to no avail. He didn’t know how, but somehow Lexie Thompson had gotten to him and there was no cure in sight.
He’d nearly gone out of his mind thinking about the smell of her fragrant her hair and her pert breasts. He was ready to continue their relationship on a physical level so why was Lexie keeping him at arm’s length, yet still wearing enticing outfits?
Gripping the steering wheel, Will turned the corner to his mother’s house. He’d promised his mother that he would pick her up. Pulling into a parking space, Will jumped out to open Lexie’s car door.
“Where are we?”
“My mother’s.”
“What!” Lexie eyes widened in fear. “Will, what are you pulling here? I can’t meet your mother now, not dressed like this. Is this punishment for Sunday dinner with my mother?” She had selected tonight’s dress with the thought of pleasing Will. Putting the dashing club owner out of her mind hadn’t worked and now she was standing in front of his mother’s door looking like a harlot.
“Don’t worry.” Will grasped Lexie’s hand. He was surprised to discover how cold and clammy they were. Was Lexie, Miss Ice Princess, actually afraid of meeting his mother? Surely she could charm Eve.
“Will, I can’t.” Lexie snatched her hand away.
“Don’t worry; my mother is very excited to meet you.” Lexie pulled her hands from her side and placed it in the crook of his arm. “You told her about me?” Lexie asked as she cautiously walked toward Mrs. Kennedy’s front door.
“Of course I did.” Will pulled out his keys and opened the door, allowing Lexie to precede him. “I think she’d be curious to meet my new girlfriend.”
Lexie smiled to herself. First he was romancing her at the club and now this? If he kept it up, she’d be in the position permanency.
Meeting Lexie would settle his mother’s worries about his future. The idea had come to him last night while he watched a bevy of beauties parade around him at the club. None of them held a candle to a certain woman who was naturally blessed with a wealth of silky jet-black hair and a pair of killer legs.
“Mom!” Will called up the stairs. “Are you ready?”
“There is no need to holler,” his mother answered testily, rising from her seat in the adjacent living room. “I’m right here. And ready to go. You do realize you’re a half hour late. We’re going to miss their arrival.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, that was my fault,” Lexie interjected, coming forward to shake Eve’s hand. “I wasn’t ready when Will came to pick me up. It’s really a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kennedy.”
“My, my, well, aren’t you all fine and proper?” Eve Kennedy chuckled, returning the handshake. “There’s no need for such formalities around here. Please call me Eve.”
“It’s a pleasure, Eve.”
“We really should be going, ladies, if we’re going to make this party,” Will interrupted. He didn’t miss the astonished look on his mother’s face that he’d actually brought a woman home to meet her. Had he ever done it before? Not that he could remember, but then again he had never met a woman that fascinated him as much as Lexie. She had spirit, fire, and beauty, and all in one dynamite package. Had he finally found that diamond in the rough?
“All right,” Eve conceded. “Will, grab my present on the cocktail table.” Eve nodded to the large box decorated with wedding bells.
“Where’s Ryan?” Will asked, searching downstairs. “I thought he was coming with us.”
“He had other plans with the boys.”
“What boys?”
“I don’t know, Will. Don’t twenty-question me to death,” his mother fired at him.
“Well, you should know who he’s hanging with.”
“Boy,” his mother began, “don’t tell me how to raise my son.”
Will held up his hands in defense. “Mom, I don’t like the idea of him associating with the hoodlums in this neighborhood.”
“I know, but leave the boy be. So he didn’t want to spend the evening with a bunch of stuffy adults. What’s the big deal?”
“I agree with your mom.” Even though it wasn’t her place, Lexie stepped in. “I doubt the Bradleys are a place for teenagers this evening.”
