Page 76 of Bad Boy for Hire
Lou replied with a high-pitched, “Nothing! I meant in general.”
“I love you, but I don’t believe you. If this has anything to do with Xavier, you’d better spill. He is already on my shit list, so say what you gotta say.”
Her friend gave in with an audible sigh. “Fine. I assumed it was a done deal, but apparently not. I hope I’m not ruining the surprise.”
“I don’t want any more surprises.” The pregnancy, the crib, and Xavier suggesting she work from home were enough. “I’d rather know, if you don’t mind.”
“Ant mentioned that you two were…going to be living together.”
A car behind her honked, alerting her that the light had turned green. She gently depressed the gas pedal while deciding how to respond. She bought herself a moment by asking, “Oh?”
“I must have misunderstood. Forget I said anything.”
“Xavier is making a lot of assumptions, and I’m not privy to any of them.” And didn’t cohabitating just take the cake?
“Uh-oh. Besides the crib, was there anything else?”
“One thing, but I don’t want to go into it right now. I’m almost to his house.”
“Well, shit. From now on, I will not repeat what Ant tells me.”
“You’d better.” She softened her voice, allowing her ire to recede for her friend’s sake. “None of this is your fault, or Ant’s fault. When I found out I was pregnant, I drove straight to Xavier to talk to him about it so that he wouldn’t hear from anyone but me. He’s capable of communicating with me the same way.”
“That’s an excellent point. Call me with an update as soon as you talk to him…unless you two end up having sex all night, in which case, tomorrow morning is fine.”
Rather than burst her bubble that sex wouldn’t fix any of this, May promised to call.
In Xavier’s driveway, she breathed slowly in and out through her nose. She was upset, but no good would come from going in, guns blazing, without giving him a chance to explain. And she was owed an explanation for what he’d talked to Jewell about and what he’d said to Ant.
As centered as she’d ever be, she walked to the front door and knocked a few times. It was for the best that she didn’t drink caffeine. She was shaky as it was.
Xavier didn’t open the door; his brother did.
“Mayday!” Lynx grinned, disarming her completely. He was a good-looking guy and?—
“Whoa.” She snapped her attention from the dark bruise encircling his left eye, to the busted cheek, to the scrapes on his neck.
“Looks worse than it feels.” He gestured to a particularly swollen area. “Unless you are offering to nurse me back to health, in which case this hurts like a bitch and I could use some sympathy.”
“That’s enough, Lynx,” Xavier grumbled from somewhere inside.
“Not getting much in here.” Lynx tipped his head in his brother’s direction, totally unfazed.
Xavier opened the front door wider. From over his brother’s shoulder, he nodded at May. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Did you text me that you were coming?” Xavier palmed his phone. “I’ve been so busy this morning, I must have missed it.”
“No, I wanted to get out of the house, and since I needed to talk to you, I decided to just…show up.”
“Uh-oh.” Lynx glanced at his brother. “Sounds like you’re in deep shit.”
Xavier grabbed Lynx’s upper arm, presumably to steer him away from the front door, but Lynx shook off his grip.
“I’m going, I’m going!” Lynx disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.
“He’s driving me crazy.” Xavier leaned, one arm propped on the doorway, his other hand resting on the knob. He looked sexy in a snug henley and jeans, his hair finger-combed rather than styled.
