“Oh, nothing.” She felt silly for thinking of babies around Xavier. Though thoughts of mentioning the B-word, just to see his expression, made her laugh.
“I’m missing the joke.”
“Nah, just me being a goof. So what are we doing tonight?Arrow Sins & Siegeor another game?”
“I don’t know. Whatever Benji picks. Truthfully, I’m only invited to keep things smooth between him and Auggie. My sister is tough on the most extroverted of folks.”
“That’s true.” She cleared her throat and hastily added, “But in a good way.”
“Nice save.” He laughed with her. “Look, I love Auggie, but I’m not blind to the fact she’s a bit much to take in large doses. And poor Benji. So smart but so stuck in his own head all the time.”
“How is it you always sound like a therapist but you never make me uncomfortable when you do?”
“We’re not all pushy, trying toshrinkeveryone, you know.”
“I know.” She caught his teasing and eased into a smile. “I’m just... Do you miss working with patients?” A different way of asking if he intended to get back to work.
“I do, actually.” He sounded surprised and stroked his jaw, making him look like an academic despite the shorts and tee-shirt. “I’m on a break because I needed to regroup and wanted to work on a side project. But I’m probably going to head back to the office in July. But not until after the wedding, so no worries.”
“Oh, about that. My mom called me today.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Ha. Yeah.” She sighed. “We’re invited to a family dinner tomorrow night. You can say no.”
“I’m dying to meet your family. Heck no. I want to go.”
“Oh man. Xavier, they will be annoying and intrusive. My dad’s a snob, which is weird because he never had money growing up. Most of what he has now he earned before I hit high school. I didn’t grow up being rich or anything, though we were always comfortable.” She grimaced. “Sorry to ramble. Money is not a taboo topic with my family. They talk about it constantly.”
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m great with parents. They’ll love me.”
“Ugh. They’re so annoying.”
He frowned. “Would you rather I didn’t go?”
“Huh? Oh, no. Not at all. I just don’t want them to put you off. I like you.”
He looked her over and smiled. “I like you too. Especially when you dress like this.”
“Like a slob?”
He laughed. “I guess. I meant without makeup or anything fancy. I like regular, funny, slobby Justine.”
“Slobby. Very funny.” She snickered.
The look in his gaze heated her up and had her heart racing.
He stalked her until she had her back against the wall in the hallway.
“Xavier?”
“Justine.” He gave her the whisper of a kiss, and her body tightened all over. “I can’t stop thinking about you.” He planted his hands on the wall on either side of her head. “I missed you last night when you went home.”
“You did?” So it wasn’t just her.
“Yeah.” He kissed her again, the pressure firmer but still not enough. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t do this, but?—”
She yanked him closer and kissed him breathless. So much for taking things slowly with him. She wanted him now.Right now.And in case he didn’t get the message, she kicked off her shoes, shorts, and panties and dragged his shorts and underwear down to grip his cock.
