Page 27 of A Wrong Bed Christmas: Ignited\Where There's Smoke

“I can’t explain it, either. Maybe it’s fate.”

“Do you believe in fate?”

He hedged with a guilty smile. “Not exactly, but I am a closet romantic and I like the idea that fate exists.”

“Me, too.”

Too bad it wasn’t as black-and-white as I like you, you like me. Erik had always been her champion, always seeing the best in her. How would he react to knowing that she’d gleefully seduced his best friend? She couldn’t stand the idea of suffering Erik’s disappointment in her behavior. She should’ve kept her hands to herself and just white-knuckled her attraction to Layton.

But even as she knew they’d both jumped feet first into the pool without caring if there was water beneath them, a part of her wasn’t sorry and maybe that was a problem.

Maybe the worst part was knowing she’d do it again.

* * *

LAYTON KNEW HE was playing with fire, but the more time he spent with Alexis the more he wanted. He had an insatiable need to know her more deeply, to touch and feel, and he was a little disconcerted by how easy they slipped into an effortless familiarity with one another. Would they be able to pull off a nonchalance among other people? Erik would know right away. Hell, maybe he ought to just spill his guts and hope for mercy.

He sat up and pulled Alexis with him. “How’s this for an idea...let’s just tell Erik that we hooked up and let the chips fall where they may.”

“That would go over like a lead balloon. I don’t recommend it.”

Clearly, Alexis didn’t find as much merit in the idea as he did. “Don’t you think Erik would respect our decision to come to him instead of letting him find out by accident?”

“No. A big fat no. My brother is very protective of me, and ever since I broke up with Riker, he’s been superprotective.”

“I’m not like Riker,” he pointed out, trying not to suffer a ruffled ego at any accidental comparisons. “And your brother knows I’m not a bad guy.”

“Of course not but just because he thinks you’re a swell guy to go fishing with doesn’t mean he wants you hooking up with his little sister. Besides, what’s the point of sharing? We’re not planning to be a couple anytime soon, so why rock the boat unnecessarily.”

Ah, there was the heart of the matter, right? Maybe he wanted to explore the possibility of a relationship with Alexis. But did she want that? He decided to test the waters. “And what if that changed?”

“What if what changed?” she asked, confused.

“What if...we wanted to try out a relationship?”

For a split second he caught a sliver of yearning in her gaze, as if she might like to try a relationship on for size, but she shut it down quickly. “You know that’s not going to work between us. Let me just tell you... I’m a mess right now. I’m smashed against deadlines, midterms, impossible classloads and I’m moody as hell, to boot. I am not girlfriend material.”

“Usually people list the pro points instead of just jumping straight to the con list.”

“Yeah, well, maybe if more people were starkly honest there’d be a whole helluva lot less heartache. I think people should just put it all out on the table and let people decide if it’s something they can handle. I mean, I wish Riker had admitted to me on our first date that he was a serial cheater without a loyal or faithful bone in his body because then I could’ve decided right then and there that I didn’t want to take that on. But instead, I had to find out the hard—and painful—way.” She drew a deep breath before asking, “Don’t you think you would’ve liked to know that Julianne was a cheater before you took a chance on her?”

“Sure. But love is a risk. Even if I had known up front she had a wandering eye, I’m not sure I would’ve done anything differently.”

“Yeah, well, I’m telling you right now... I’m a bad investment.”

Layton heard the pain in her voice, hidden beneath the false bravado, and it struck him that she was scared of being hurt again. That’s what it was all about for them both, right? Maybe that was the connection drawing them, which meant eventually such a flimsy connection would fade. Rebound relationships were transient for a reason.

“Okay,” he accepted her reasoning with a small nod. “I guess you make a good point. We’ll keep our weekend to ourselves and I’ll do my best to pretend that I don’t know what you sound like when you come.” She sucked in a wild breath and he grinned. “Sorry?”

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