Page 39 of When We Fell Again
She inclined her head to one side, a smile twitching on her luscious plump pink lips as she pointed to the empty beer bottle against my chest. “Oh, really, Mr Bowie. Is that so?”
Placing it on the tall table we stood next to, I shook my head. “Always ready to see through my lies.”
“Always.” Lex leaned in closer to me, and I caught the faint scent of her perfume, a deliciously fresh jasmine I associated with her. “Tell me I’m not going to regret this.”
“Why would you? You know how good we are together.”
Her lips fluttered against the side of my neck so softly a shiver shot down my spine, despite the warmth of the bar. Her body pressed into contact with mine, and I slid my arms around her, the silkiness of the fabric of her shirt almost making me lose my grip.Almost.
“Lex,” I breathed, guiding her mouth back to mine tentatively, as if we’d never kissed before. In some ways, this did feel like a first kiss. A kiss with so much promise, so much riding on it. If we got it wrong this time, there could be no coming back.
And then, there was no hesitation, no dancing around each other, and we were kissing, tongues entwined as we breathed the same air. My fingers wound their way into her hair as I held her close to me, her breasts rising and falling as I trapped her against the table, never wanting to let her go again. She clutched at my shirt, skimming her palms over my chest and abs, fingertips dipping in and out of the waistband of my jeans. If it had been anyone else other than Lex and anywhere else apart from where I wanted to be, I’d have been covering up in embarrassment. But despite our very public display of affection, we may as well have been the only two people in the bar. Sliding my hands down her back, I cupped her arse and felt her thrust her hips towards me.
Then, as I was about to suggest we went somewhere else, Lex shoved me away.
She put some distance between us, touching her lips with the tips of her fingers, her ocean-coloured eyes almost black from her dilated pupils and shiny with potential tears.
“We shouldn’t have done that.” Her voice rasped, barely above a whisper. “Jordan, I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Before I had the chance to answer, she turned on her heels and fled, leaving me with even more questions than I’d started with.
CHAPTER16
Alexis
Three weekson tour with Jordan Bowie had beenintense.
Topped off by a kiss that had affected me way more than any other in the past. One which scared me so much, I ran.
Without saying goodbye to anyone, I left the club and headed home. Now, properly alone for the first time in weeks, I could think. I sat on the sofa, clutching a glass of water in one hand, staring straight ahead, my mind rehashing everything that had happened since Jordan had barrelled back into my life.
It wouldn’t be him if there wasn’t some sort of drama; his dislocated shoulder, the hospital visit, two nights sleeping in the same bed,the kisses.
At the start of the tour, our relationship had been frosty, almost hostile. After I’d taken him to the hospital, the dynamic between us changed. We weren’t snapping at each other and he had treated me differently. I wasn’t just the woman dishing out his painkillers and making sure he turned up to the gigs on time any longer.
We were friends again.
Jordan wanted more. And I wasn’t sure what I wanted.
We hadn’t talked about what could happen next. I’d dashed any chance of that by running away. But I was afraid of talking properly. It would mean opening up to Jordan, telling him how I really felt about us. How I saw the future going.
The nagging thought in the back of my mind told me that some of the elements that tore us apart back then were still there. The thing which split us up was still very much in evidence now. If I mentioned all the work Theo had me booked in for, the red flag was right there.
Had Jordan changed enough to accept that?
My phone, turned face down on the sofa cushion beside me, vibrated with a message, then again, and a third time. It didn’t take a genius to work out who it was. Taking a sip of water and wishing it was something stronger, I flipped it over, squinting at the screen.
Jordan: Lex, where are you?
Jordan: Why did you run out on me? We need to talk.
Jordan: Please. Don’t leave it like this. Don’t leave us like this.
Placing the glass down on the table in front of me, I picked up the phone. I didn’t want him to know I’d seen the messages, so I didn’t even open the app. Instead, I went to my socials and found pictures and videos of the tour Claudia had posted for the band. There were shots of Jordan onstage, sometimes with the band, sometimes on his own. The reels of him in action showed how much he and the band had matured over the years. Looking at the shots, you would never believe what he’d been through in the past twelve months, in the last month even. Polished, professional, the audience eating out of his hand.
Me eating out of his hand.
I shut down the app and threw the phone onto the cushion again, resting my head on the back of the sofa. Staring up at the ceiling, I willed some higher existence to come and help with this decision.
