“Hey Dex,” Paul greeted him casually.
“Hey,” he said, his eyes narrowing on him for a split second. Then he brought them to me. “I was just going to get the car from the shop when I saw my poor dog tied outside, looking like he just ran a marathon.”
“Sorry,” I said, looking for my wallet. “I ended up talking to my parents. Took longer than I thought.”
“And getting beer,” he remarked. He smiled at Paul. “She’s a troublemaker, this one.”
Paul looked between us both as he placed the jug on the counter. “You know Perry?”
I could have sworn Dex winced. “Yes, I know Perry. And it seems like you know Perry now too. She just moved in with me.”
Paul’s face reddened. “Oh, I’m sorry, I-”
“I’m his new roommate,” I said quickly.
“She’s my partner,” said Dex.
“Work partner,” I clarified to Paul with a smile.
“But we live together,” Dex shot back.
I tried not to glare at him. “For now.”
“Right,” said Paul in that I’m going to back away slowly kind of voice. “Well, Dex. Here’s your beer, uh, Perry. It’s on the house. A welcome to Seattle thing.”
“Thank you, that’s mighty kind,” Dex said with a slight bow and plucked the beer off the counter and headed out the door.
I shot Paul an apologetic look and ran after Dex, out of the store and onto the frigid street.
“Hey,” I said, pulling on his coat for him to stop.
He turned and cocked his head. “Yes?”
“What was that about?”
“What? Oh right, here’s your beer.”
Dex shoved the cold jug into my hands. Then he undid Fat Rabbit’s leash and handed that to me too.
“No,” I said, trying to juggle the items. “The cockblocking.”
He burst out laughing, his brows raised as he looked at me. “Cockblocking? What? You have a c**k now?”
I stamped my foot. “No, Paul. He was flirting with me and you totally shot him down.”
His chin lowered and pulled back against his neck. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. You were just chatting, from what I saw.”
“He was flirting and you know it. You wanted to make it look like we were together.”
“Why would I do a thing like that?”
“Because you’re a jerk.” I said the first thing that came to mind.
He looked around him, as if for backup. “Wow. Maybe we should add a no name-calling clause to the house rules.”
“Enough with the damn rules already.”
“Hey,” he growled, coming right up to me, chest against mine. “If it weren’t for those damn rules, we’d already be having dirty sex all over that apartment.”
Whoa. Whoa.
Either it was the words “dirty sex” or the way he was looking down at me so intensely, or the fact that he might have been telling the truth or how damn confident he sounded, I was stunned and at a loss for words. My cheeks immediately flushed.
He kept his shining, dark eyes on mine until I had to look away, while my brain struggled to come up with something other than playing images of us having dirty sex together.
“That’s right,” he continued, voice low and velvet smooth. “You know it’s true. I’m not saying I agree with the rules though, but you know, you started them.”
I cleared my throat, finding my footing. “And I’m glad I did. Man, you are way too confident for someone who keeps getting shot down.”
His eyes widened humorously. “Shot down? And who’s doing the shooting, you?”
I opened my mouth then realized how egotistical I would have sounded.
“No, you’re not shooting me down, kiddo,” Dex went on. “Because I’m not really trying. When I do try, you’ll know it. And then you’ll throw the whole damn rulebook out the window.”
He flashed me a smile and then turned and strolled down the street with wide, powerful strides. I watched him go, my brain still on the fritz, until Fat Rabbit started anxiously pulling at the collar. In a daze that made my heart feel like it was on spin cycle, I let the dog lead me across the street and back home.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The days leading up to our trip North went by quickly. Which was both a good and bad thing. Ever since our altercation and sexual threats outside the convenience store things were kind of strained between us. Well, they were to me. Dex seemed completely fine and at ease, despite dropping some suggestive comments here and there. They never went further than that, which meant Dex wasn’t really trying and just teasing instead. I could live with that…for now.
Of course, I felt a lot better now that I had the IUD inside me. Not that I got it because of Dex, because really, I didn’t, but it was nice knowing it was there for protection in case something happened. I couldn’t go down that road again and I had to play it safe.
Rebecca was so sweet to take me and I apologized profusely to her, feeling bad for dismissing her problems and for ragging on Dex so much. She understood, cuz she’s made of awesome, and I made a promise to myself not to put him down when I was around her. Besides, the longer I was living with him, the more I was warming up to him. Maybe not my heart - I liked to keep that in the deep freezer - but definitely my body. Sleeping in the room next to him, hearing him in the shower, sneaking around for moments with his shirt off just so I could get a glimpse of what his tattoo was (regrettably, he’s remained clothed around me) was making me a bit crazy and my libido was off the charts. I couldn’t even masturbate without fearing I’d cry out his name and scare the damn dog.
Hence why the IUD seemed smarter with every waking second.
We had to rise early on the day we left for the shoot since the drive to the town of Snow Crest, BC, was at least eight hours away. We were still in Washington, just passing the snow-covered town of Ellensburg, when I noticed Dex’s eyes weren’t quite on the road but on my chest.
I sunk back into my seat a bit and lowered my scarf over my V-neck. “Can I help you?”
He grinned and popped a piece of gum in his mouth. For once, it wasn’t Nicorette.
“Just wondering why your br**sts are on display when we’re heading up to the Canadian Rockies at the end of winter. That’s all.”