BYE!
I tossed my phone aside and rubbed my forehead as I began to pace my office. First of all, why would Marjorie, of all people, think to invite Xavier and me to a family dinner? Who the hell told her about us? I mean, there was nous, but still, how would she know that there was a potential “us”?Wasthere a potential “us”?
Oh, hell! Now I was giving myself a headache with all this ruminating and pacing, and I had too much of a busy day to stop and think about any relationship shit. See, this was exactly why I didn’t need to date. It made me lose focus. I had three clients I had meetings with that day and a deposition I needed to be across town for later that afternoon. I didn’t have time to stop and contemplate Xavier Grant.
I paused in front of my desk, tilting my head toward the ceiling and closing my eyes. Memories of that kiss just minutes ago floated to mind and sent warm currents through my entire body. Then, memories of Friday night came flooding back, and I began to rub the back of my neck, feeling flustered and hot.
“Shit!” I gasped when someone knocked on my door, bringing me out of my reverie. “Yes, come in,” I answered.
“Chanel, Ms. Harding is here to see you,” Liza answered.
“Great, give me about five minutes before you send her in.”
She nodded and closed the door behind her. I blinked and moved back behind my desk, trying to refocus on everything I had to do that day. I definitely didn’t have time to think about Xavier Grant. My head knew I needed to forget about him and get down to business. I just wished my body would follow suit.
Chapter Eleven
Chanel
“You look beautiful.”
I hated the way his words made little tingles of heat flood my belly. Hated even more that the heated look he was giving me in my off-shoulder, purple, yellow and pink Ankara dress was the exact look I was anticipating when I’d chosen this outfit. But what I disliked most was the way the white Polo shirt and dark black shorts hung on his cut-up frame made me want to say fuck this dinner and pull him in my condo, down the hall, and into my bedroom.
“You look great too,” I answered, detesting the way my voice sounded. I’d tried a few times to get out of that damn dinner. When Xavier had made it clear he wasn’t going for that, I gave Marjorie a call to try and weasel information out of her as to whether she’d intended to invite Xavier and me, like together. As it turned out, my sweet, loving, beautiful sister-in-law dropped a hint that there was something going on between Xavier and me. I had a few words saved up for Tori when I saw her that night.
“Thank you,” I told Xavier as he casually handed me a beautiful bouquet of pink and orange buttercup flowers. They were gorgeous. “You didn’t need to get me flowers. Come in while I put these in water.” I motioned with my head for him to enter, and shut the door behind him. “Did you want anything to drink?” I asked, remembering the manners my mother had drilled into me as a young child.
“I’m fine. Go put your flowers in water.”
I turned and headed the short distance to my kitchen, grabbing a vase from under my sink as I went and unwrapping the paper from the bouquet. I became so distracted snipping the ends of the stems, I barely noticed Xavier was behind me.
“Oh!” I jumped as he reached over my shoulder, popping one of the heads of the buttercups off.
“Turn around,” his deep voice ordered.
When I did, there was barely an inch of space between our bodies. He reached down and tucked the flower behind my ear.
“Perfect,” he grinned, and those shiny white, perfect teeth and smooth skin were my undoings. When I felt like I was sinking, he reached down, cupping me at the hips, pulling me into him for a kiss.
As usual, when our lips met, I lost all of me in him. I sighed deeply into his mouth, wishing I could bottle this exact feeling up and keep it with me on lonely nights. I felt something hard pressing against my abdomen and groaned, knowing I wasn’t the only one who was so affected by the kiss. When I felt as if I couldn’t wait for him to rip my dress off, he pulled back. His eyes had gone a shade darker, and the look he was giving me told me he was as far gone as I was.
“Later,” he breathed, stepping back. “Right now I have a family dinner to get you to.”
I blinked, trying to remember where the hell I was. When his words finally sank in, I nodded and handed him a napkin from my counter. “To remove the lip gloss,” I laughed, gesturing to his lips.
“Finish with those flowers.”
I did as I was told.
“You’ve got a nice place here. You’ll have to give me a tour one day,” he stated as we made our way out the door. I grabbed my bag off the table next to the door, and he closed up behind me.
“Maybe.” I tried to give a noncommittal response, but he just chuckled behind me. I could feel his eyes on me as we strolled down the hallway to the elevator. And I’d be a damned liar if I said it didn’t cause me to add a little sway in my hips.
“Watch your dress,” he instructed as he helped me into the passenger side of his black BMW.
“Going low-key today, huh?” I asked once he got into the driver’s seat.
“A little,” he answered with a cocky grin.
