me from beneath her thick black lashes. “Now who’s lying?”
“Calling my bluff?” A smile erupted before I could stop it. She was so tiny, and yet I experienced a bit of terror whenever she was angry, and whenever that anger was directed at me, which was daily.
“Lex.” She backed up, and my body yearned to press against hers again. “Just . . . no fighting, no . . . whatever this is.” She stared down at the floor. “Are you the one dropping off food?”
I licked my lips.
One of her eyebrows arched.
Damn it. “Yes.”
Her face softened, and she managed to look both pissed off and slightly ashamed at the same time.
“Oh no you don’t!” I held up my hands. “Do not give me that look! I’d rather you threaten to run me over with your car, Gabs. I am not that guy, so don’t.” I closed my eyes and turned around just as she wrapped her tiny little arms around my waist and squeezed.
“You found your heart!” Her teasing tone was back as she sidestepped the giant issue in front of us—where the hell the food was even going—and attacked me.
“Oh dear God, this is hell, isn’t it?” I pried myself from her arms and turned around, gripping her wrists. “Gabs, don’t read into this. This isn’t a peace offering or any other friendship crap you’ve got going on in that tiny, small little head of yours.” I dropped her wrists. “I just . . .” The last thing I wanted was to be her friend, for her to think it was okay for me to step into that territory while completely ignoring where I wanted to step, or lie, or just . . . screw. “Ian said something about you being short on funds, you took that extra job, and it just seemed like it might help. Besides, Ian’s been busy with Blake and he doesn’t notice shit anymore, which means all that shit piles onto my shit and stresses me out. Therefore, the baskets. Just filling in where he can’t, that’s all.”
There, that sounded good.
Gabs’s face fell. “Yeah, he’s been really busy lately.”
“Yes, let’s talk about Ian. How do you feel about his newfound romance?”
“I’m glad you asked. Honestly, I don’t think that—”
“Stop it!” I yelled. “That was a test! You failed! I don’t have tits, this isn’t a slumber party, and if you yell ‘pillow fight,’ you sure as hell better be naked!” I took a step backward, my legs colliding with her bed. “This changes nothing.”
“It changes nothing,” Gabs repeated.
The room fell silent.
If the baskets were our elephant . . .
The sexual tension between us was a freaking dinosaur.
Gabi’s annoying ring tone went off. Thank God.
She reached for her phone and pulled it out. “Yeah? Okay, I can fill in. Sure . . . No, no, it’s fine. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Who was that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you under the impression we were friends?” Gabs tilted her head.
“I merely wanted to get the point across that I wasn’t some chick you could gossip with, that’s all.”
“Exactly.” She smirked. “Now out, I need to change.”
“I’m really great at getting women out of their clothes. It would probably be faster if you let me help.”
“Ahh, the asshole’s back.” She made a sad face. “I missed you.”
I made a heart shape with my hands and held it out to her, then flipped her off and made my way out of her room. A pillow slammed into my head just as I was about to walk down the stairs.
“Seriously?” I roared.
“Stop being such a cheap ass and getting the small bags of Pirate’s Booty. Girl’s gotta eat, Lex. Just saying.”
“Stop bitching,” I grumbled with a grin that didn’t disappear the entire night, not even when I woke up at two in the morning and made a quick shopping list.
Damn it.
She was in.
And there was no way I was going to be able to get her out.
Stupid heart.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Lex.
My prayer that night was that Ian would at least let me explain before he shot me in the face.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabi
Your attention to detail needs some serious work.” Lex closed the binder that held all of my progress reports. “How about a trade?”
“I’m listening.” I leaned forward, propping my elbows on his kitchen table.
Lex slid a grape over to me. “You give me better progress reports on clients, more than a one-word answer, meaning you separate business and personal, and I give you food.”
I stared down