The Matchmaker's Replacement - Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,74
kissed the top of my head. “You’re practically starving to death every time you eat, so yeah, I thought it was a fifty-fifty chance.”
Guilt gnawed in the middle of my chest like a stupid parasite. I should tell him about my parents; heck, I should tell Ian too, but . . . Well, it wasn’t just pride. It was the fact that they were both loaded, and they’d feel guilty and maybe even a bit hurt that I hadn’t shared with them earlier.
“I’m probably starving because sleeping with you is like joining a sports team. I hardly ever get Gatorade, and you rarely give me time-outs.”
“I was under the impression that time-outs were frowned upon.”
“Whatever would give you that idea?”
“You pinched my ass when I told you I needed air and then said, ‘You’ll be fine. Man up and kiss me.’”
I shrugged. “Are you . . . complaining?”
“Is the team captain complaining? Hell no!” Lex scooped me into his arms and carried me up the stairs.
“Wait!” I laughed as he juggled me around his buff arms. “Does that make me cocaptain?”
“Sorry.” Lex winced. “The team already voted. You’re the towel girl.”
“It’s a two-person team,” I pointed out.
He ignored me. “Your sole purpose is to serve at the captain’s pleasure.”
“Oh really?”
“Yup, it’s in the rule book.”
“What rule book is this?”
“Lex’s Rules for Bedtime Sports, Section One, Part A.”
I nodded slowly as he set me on my feet in his room. “Did you clean?” It smelled like bleach and Lysol, which was weird, since his room was spotless on a regular basis. I hadn’t even seen so much as a sock on the floor. Odd behavior, even for Lex, to clean what didn’t need cleaning.
“I clean when I’m upset.”
“And throwing out the flour got you all tied up in knots?” I frowned, glancing around the spotless room, and my eyes homed in on his computers.
Lex’s eyes widened. “No!”
“Lex!” I hissed out his name like a curse and stomped over to the main screen. “Have you been hacking him?”
Mark Dawson was printed across the top of the screen. Beneath that, his Social Security number, credit score, and last three addresses were listed. Slowly, I turned to Lex, expecting him to look guilty. Nothing but pride washed across his features.
“Oh good grief, Lex.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re a sick man.”
“You know, hacking is an addiction . . .” He nodded slowly, and his eyes crinkled as his full lips pressed together in a toe-curling smile. “Just like you.”
“Good one.” I pinched his arm. “You can’t just go around snooping into people’s private lives!”
“He had a penile enlargement,” Lex said in a low voice.
“No way!” I gasped.
Lex shook his head. “Yeah, I’m lying, but these are the types of things we need to know, Gabs! He’s your ex. I’m not sending you out into the field with God-knows-who! I mean, he could be a sociopath!”
“Out into the field,” I repeated. “I’m sorry, do we work for the CIA now?”
“I’m ignoring your sarcasm, which, by the way, is harder than it appears. Just let me do my research so I know you’ll be safe.”
“Safe, safe, safe.” I tapped my chin. “Wonder what Ian would think about my safety now, hmm?” I sauntered over to Lex and grabbed one of his hands. “Am I safe now? In your room?”
“Are you asking if being with me is dangerous?”
“Seems like a risk to me.”
He swallowed, his eyes darting between me and the floor. “A risk worth taking?”
“I think I already took it . . . a few times,” I joked.
“Let me go check my bedpost. I’ve been carving out notches.”
“Ass!” I slapped him on the arm and motioned back to the computer. “Can you please just . . . trust me to do my job? Remember, you and I are exclusive, and my official job for Wingmen Inc. is to help him get his dream girl, who just so happens to be some chick in his business class. Give me a week and then he’ll be gone.”
“I love a girl who’s confident in her abilities to seduce.”
“That’s me: seductress.” My phone started buzzing. I frowned and shoved it back in my pocket, planning on ignoring it.
Instead, Lex reached into my pocket and pulled it out. “Answer it. I’ll still be here when you’re done.”
“It’s my dad. I can call him back.”
“Exactly.” Lex pressed the phone into my hand. “It’s your dad. Talk to him. I know how close you are.”