Page 26 of A Wrong Bed Christmas: Ignited\Where There's Smoke

He laughed and tossed back some kernels. “You’re a hypocrite.”

“Am not.”

“You are. But you’re still cute so I forgive you.”

“I am not a hypocrite. I just...ugh. I can’t stomach the idea of my brother getting jiggy with my best friend since grammar school. Is that so wrong?”

“It’s a little selfish,” he said with a shrug.

Alexis gasped. “You don’t know me well enough to pass judgment.”

“Maybe not, but it seems to me that you’d want your best friend to end up with a good guy. I’m surprised you haven’t tried to hook them up.”

Alexis frowned. Emma and Erik? It made her feel squicky. “Erik looks at Emma like a kid sister.”

“Not the way I saw him looking at her.”

“What do you mean?” Alexis stared hard at Layton, wondering what the heck he was talking about. “Erik thinks of Emma like a sister,” she repeated, stubbornly refusing to believe that her brother was thinking of Emma in any other way besides brotherly.

“Look, it’s not a big deal, but I think Erik was seeing that Emma was all grown up. I mean, she’s hot. I can’t blame him for looking.”

Alexis glared, feeling a tad bit jealous, and she had no right to. “I know what my friend looks like.”

Layton leaned forward and surprised her with a kiss. “Calm down, tigress. Emma’s not my type.”

“And I wouldn’t care if she was,” she quipped a little too quickly. Her heart rate had kicked up a notch and she realized she was being ridiculous. “Okay, I’m a little reluctant to admit that you may have a point. But there’s no sense in worrying over something that hasn’t happened, right?”

“Right,” he agreed. “But I know what I saw.”

“You think you know what you saw,” she returned stubbornly. “But in the meantime, I just want Emma to call so I know they’re all right.”

Layton nodded with understanding. “So, where are your parents this holiday?”

“Scotland,” she answered with a sigh. “Something about checking off items on their bucket list before they die. I think my mom just didn’t want to host Christmas dinner and this was a convenient way to get out of it.”

“Scotland is pretty far to travel to get out of dinner.”

“You don’t know my mom,” she said dryly. “She’s not your average-mom type.”

“How’s your foot?”

She slowly rotated it. “Not bad. It feels much better. Just a small twinge.”

“That’s good. You should still baby it though.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

His gaze turned playful. “I’ll play doctor if you’ll be the naughty nurse.”

Alexis tossed a popcorn kernel at him with a grin. “And that is not happening, so lose that idea. If anything, I’ll be the doctor and you can be the naughty nurse.”

“Intriguing. I’m secure enough in my manhood to try a little power exchange. Are we talking spankings and bondage? Be gentle, I’m a beginner.” She barked a shocked laugh and he tackled her to the sofa cushion to kiss her hard and fast. “You’re just full of surprises, Alexis Matheson,” he said, pulling away.

“That was not an invitation to go buy whips and chains,” she joked. “I’m mostly vanilla with a dash of chocolate on top.”

“My favorite flavor is vanilla,” he said, smiling. “So that’s fine with me.”

She sobered. “What are we doing?”

“Whatever we want,” he answered.

“Will it be weird to see each other socially like nothing happened?”

“Yes.”

She frowned then groaned. “I wish you would lie to me a little.”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right. I hate liars.”

He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “I don’t know what’s in store, all I know is that right now you are the center of my universe, the storm is going to knock out the power at some point and all I care about is spending whatever available moment with you. I’m not even thinking beyond this weekend.”

“Me neither,” she admitted, looping her arms around his neck. “Is it bad that I don’t want to think about tomorrow?”

“If it’s bad, I’m right there with you.”

“It’s strange, don’t you think, that we have this connection? I’ve never felt so comfortable with another person I just met, especially a guy.”

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