“Oh, it was a doozy.” She snorted. “Incredibly intricate and well thought out.”
“Is that so?” I looked from her to him.
“Stick around as much as possible until you gave in.” He shrugged.
“And it worked!” Cathy laughed.
I shook my head with a smile. It certainly had.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re covered in goop?” Alex reached out and scooped a chunk from my hair.
“Pizza party.” I led him to the kitchen.
“The pizza party from hell.” He whistled. “Margie is going to have a heart attack.”
I looked around and cringed. He was right—we had made a mess. “Yesh.”
“You’re lucky I’m a good cook.” He moved past me and went to work. I looked over at Cathy, who was nodding her head.
“Sit! Talk.” She patted one of the chairs at the island. “What happened?”
“Um.” This wasn’t really a talk I wanted to have with Alex’s sister, especially not when he was listening in. “I just realized I was being dense.”
“And what was your big clue?”
“Chadwick poked me.”
Cathy threw her head back and laughed. “I’ll have to remember that in case you decide to overthink things in the future.”
“I need to tell him thank you.” Alex winked at me over his shoulder. His hands were busy turning our sloppy mess into something familiar.
“I thought you left last weekend for Paris.” Cathy grabbed some of the cheese from a bowl on the island and popped it in her mouth.
“I did. I left the next morning.” Alex laughed while I blushed.
“Then you definitely owe Chadwick a thank-you.” She shook her head. “And I’m leaving after dinner.”
“But I invited you to stay the weekend!” I frowned.
“I have to go back in the morning anyway. And there’s no way I’m staying here while you two act like horny teenagers.” She winked at me. “I’ll stay at D’Lynsal tonight.”
“I can behave myself.” I frowned.
“I can’t.” Alex didn’t look up from what he was working on.
“Yech.” Cathy grimaced. “Really, it’s fine. You can make it up to me and come out with me in the city. I’m tired of it being a boys’ club.”
“Cathy, I hate clubs and bars.” I shook my head. “I’ll do anything else.”
“Please?” She looked up at me with her big eyes and I almost caved.
“Hey! Stop that! No anime eyes.”
Alex chuckled. “I thought Tabitha was still in town.”
My stomach clenched at the name of his ex and I had to stomp on the jealousy. Who cared if she was at the palace? Alex was here in my kitchen.
“It’s not the same. She’s all over her new boyfriend.”
“What about Kyle?” I narrowed my eyes. He was the person she normally went with to the clubs.
“That’s who I’m talking about.” Cathy frowned.
I reached over and grabbed her hand. No wonder she wanted someone to come out with her. It was obvious that even though she had thought she was being careful, she’d still ended up hurt.
“I just don’t want to stop doing things because it’s uncomfortable.” She sighed. “Besides, you’ll have Alex to keep the guys away.”
“Samantha and I are keeping this quiet for now.” I could see Alex’s shoulders tense.
“Why?” Cathy narrowed her eyes at me.
“I just don’t want the attention.” I shrugged. “Or the pressure.”
“We’re just taking our time.” Alex slipped the pizza into the oven before turning around.
“Oh.” Cathy’s mouth pulled to the side and I could see she thought it was a bad idea. “It won’t stay quiet forever.”
“We know.” Alex shot me a look.
After dinner I called Becca and asked her to drive Cathy to Alex’s home. Even though she’d only had one glass of wine, I didn’t like the idea of her making the trip. I took my time cleaning the kitchen because I didn’t want to leave a mess for Margie, but it took a lot of willpower. I wanted nothing more than to drag Alex up to my bedroom. I figured if I took care of it now I wouldn’t have to worry about getting to it in the morning.
I was wiping the island off when Alex moved behind me. He placed a hand on either side of me on the counter and nuzzled my neck, sending shivers over my body. When he pushed against me so I could feel how hard he was, my breathing picked up. He tugged my rubber band loose, letting my hair fall around my shoulders.
I leaned on the counter for traction so I could rub against him and was rewarded with a growl of pleasure. He pressed against me so I was almost bent over completely, his body bracketing mine. Pulling my hair to the side, he ran his lips over my neck and up to my ear.
“Are you expecting anyone else tonight?” His teeth tugged at my lobe.
“No.” The word came out on a groan as he ground against me.
“Good.” He slid his hand between me and the counter to undo my jeans. “Because I don’t think we’re going to make it upstairs.”
His hand slipped into my pants and I moaned with desire. Pressed between him and the counter, I had nothing to do but enjoy the attention. My breaths were coming in pants and my knees were starting to feel weak. I moved my h*ps so that I was rubbing against him and he groaned deep in his throat.