“Hard to pass up a free meal,” Lexi said lightly. She and Sophie were in a better place than they’d ever been and, for Kenzi and Willa’s sake, Lexi wanted to keep it that way. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Sophie hugged her. “You know you’re always welcome here. Don’t make us wait until Christmas to see you again. Join us for game night before then. You might be surprised how much you enjoy it.”
“I absolutely will,” Lexi promised and was still smiling as Sophie walked away.
“Liar,” Clay said.
Without looking at him, Lexi answered, “It’s called being polite. You might want to try it sometime.”
“What you overheard was a joke, Lexi.”
“Bite me,” she said between gritted teeth that were still flashing a smile.
“I would, but you keep saying no,” he countered easily.
She met his eyes, reached over, and adjusted his tie. “That’s because I only sleep with men I like.” She trailed her hand down his tie and loved his quickly indrawn breath. Despite what he’d said to Sophie, Lexi knew Clay found her attractive. The turn off was that he found many women attractive. She looked him over slowly, blatantly. There was no denying he was a good-looking man, but the size of his ego overshadowed the temptation to find out how endowed the rest of him was.
His hand closed around hers and held it against his chest. “Try me. You might be surprised how much you like it.”
Despite the warmth that flooded through her at his sultry suggestion, Lexi threw back her head and laughed. “Quoting Sophie as a come-on? Honey, you’re off your game.”
His eyes narrowed. “You can deny it, but I know how I make you feel.”
“Tell yourself whatever you need to.” She gave his hand a squeeze then pulled hers free. Her smile was real now. They’d gone there before and would go there again. It was a flirtatious, harmless sparring. Although she would never do anything about it, these exchanges with Clay always left her feeling young and beautiful, which was sometimes harder to do as she neared thirty.
She looked across the room at her best friend, Kenzi, standing with her husband, Dax. “Is it strange for you to see Dax happily married?”
“Very.”
Her attention slid to her twin sister, Willa, and her husband, Lance. “I can’t believe my sister is married as well.”
“Thanks to me.”
Lexi arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You’re still trying to take credit?”
“A bet is a bet, and I won.”
“Too many shots of tequila were ingested before that bet was made—making it null and void.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I didn’t take you for the type to beg,” Lexi said cheekily.
He placed his hand on her lower back, bent near her ear, and growled, “I won’t have to; I won.”
Lexi ignored her racing heart and the way her skin warmed beneath his touch. The details of that inebriated bet hadn’t survived her hangover the next day, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “Double or nothing?”
“Normally, I wouldn’t refuse such an offer, but I’d rather collect my winnings and go home. Or, more accurately, take you home and collect my winnings.” His breath was a warm caress on her ear.
“Can’t tonight, I have a date after this.”
His hand tightened on her back. “On Thanksgiving? With who?”
“His name doesn’t matter.” It didn’t. She wouldn’t sleep with him. She’d been on one date with the man she was meeting after dinner, and it hadn’t been an amazing one. He had, however, asked her to join him for drinks that night, and Lexi was certain she’d need a few later. She was happy Kenzi had found love, happy her sister had found the same, but things felt different now. Kenzi and Willa walked around with stupid grins on their faces, talking about babies and furniture like either topic was worthy of prolonged discussion.
Even though there had been times when Willa and Lexi had pulled away from each other, needing space, they’d always returned to each other. At the end of the day, they’d always been all the family each other had. It wasn’t that way for Willa anymore. She had Lance now. She was blissfully pregnant and had attached herself to Lance’s parents as if she’d sprung from Sophie’s vagina.
And they love her right back.
Which is good.
Only it didn’t feel that way for Lexi. Even if she wanted to, she would never fit in with the Barringtons the way Willa did. Willa was soft spoken, sweet. Lexi didn’t know of one single person who hadn’t automatically loved Willa. Lexi was honest enough with herself to acknowledge that not everyone had the same reaction to her. She was too much for some people. She always had been.
“You don’t have a date,” Clay said.
Lexi met his eyes. “You almost sound like you care. You’ll get over it, though. Women like me, we’re a dime a dozen.”
Chapter Two
It was a sweet torture to be seated next to Lexi during the multicourse Thanksgiving meal. He enjoyed their earlier banter about the bet because he suspected she didn’t remember what she’d agreed to. The actual bet had been for a dinner out, but he was enjoying seeing how far she’d let him go with it before she called bullshit. That topic was temporarily on hold, though. They were close enough for an occasional accidental touch to be expected, but they were under enough scrutiny from the others that their usual sexually charged discourse was curtailed.
He lowered his voice and asked, “How is the job search going after Poly-Shyn?”
She studied his expression for a moment before answering seriously. “I always land on my feet. I’m doing some short gigs while looking for something more permanent.”
“I heard you left suddenly.”
There was a flash of annoyance in her eyes. “I really can’t stomach another lecture on being more responsible.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise as he realized he’d touched upon a sensitive subject. “I could hardly lecture anyone about anything.”
Her expression relaxed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to snap at you. It has just been a frequent topic of discussion lately.”
“Because you left without giving your notice?”
The look she gave him hinted that she had another snappy comeback that she held back. “Yes.”
“Why did you?”
“Because I’m completely irresponsible, unable to understand how my actions affect others, and at the end of the day chronically ungrateful.”
“Ouch.”
“I could go on, but I’d rather not.”
“I’d heard you were enjoying the job.”
She pushed the food around her plate for a moment then laid her fork down and leaned in. “I slept with one of the project managers there and his wife threatened to make a public stink if I didn’t leave.”
“Lucky bastard if it were true, but it’s not,” Clay said softly. He didn’t believe her. There was too much defiance in her tone. “Why lie to me? I don’t care either way.”
She sighed and pursed her lush lips briefly. “That old greasy pig made a pass at me, and I turned him down, maybe more harshly than I should have but he’s married. Then, out of nowhere, his wife confronted me. She told me she knows Sophie and would tell everyone that I slept with her husband if I didn’t quit.” She looked across at her sister then back to Clay. “I don’t want to mess things up for Willa. She’s happy here.”
Clay’s hands clenched on the table. Poly-Shyn would be down a project manager by Monday night. The family who owned the company, the Hendersons, could take care of him, or Clay would handle it himself.
She seemed to sense his thoughts because she reached out and touched his hand. “Please don’t say anything to anyone. It’s done, and I want to forget it. Willa doesn’t need to know.”
He turned his hand so it closed over hers. “This isn’t about her, it’s about you. No one should treat you that way.”
Her smile was thin. “It’s okay. I was ready to move on anyway.”
r /> “The bastard needs to learn a lesson.”
“What he’ll learn is that people like to think the worst of me. Please don’t get involved.”
“So, you’d rather leave him there to do it to another woman?”
She pulled her hand away from his. “Don’t judge my choices. Before you tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, why don’t you share a list of how you’ve made the world a better place recently?”
Clay sat back and glared at her. He wanted to help her. Hell, all she had to do was ask and, with his connections, she could have her pick of jobs at any number of companies in any location on the globe. He had certainly never seen himself as a knight in shining armor, but her low opinion of him stung.
Because she’s right. When was the last time I risked something for someone else’s benefit? He lowered his voice again. “If you need money—”
“I don’t want to work for you.”
“You wouldn’t have to.” Her sister’s short stint as his assistant had been enough to prove he didn’t require one.
“And I’m not for sale.”
That made him smile. “I do like how your mind goes there when you talk to me, but I was referring to a gift, free and clear, no strings attached.”
She shook her head and picked up her fork. “Thank you for the offer, but taking money from you would be right up there with sleeping with that pig at Poly-Shyn. Neither would leave me feeling good, and I’d never hear the end of it from Willa if she found out about it.”
He was torn between laughing and being offended. Lexi was one hell of a woman. She cared about not only her sister but was willing to put her own feelings aside for her happiness. A slow smile spread across his face as a thought occurred to him. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “The reason you won’t sleep with me is because you’re worried it will affect your sister somehow.”
Her cheeks turned a delicious shade of pink. “That’s one of the reasons, yes.”
“One?” He turned fully in his chair to face her. “There are others?”
Dale asked firmly, “Clay, could you pass the stuffing?”
Clay pulled his attention from Lexi long enough to do just that but grew confused when he saw the dish of stuffing was on the other side of the table. It was only then that he noticed all eyes were on him.
Asher, the eldest Barrington son, leaned forward from across the table and said, “That’s code for sit up straight and behave.”
Low chuckles escaped a few tablemates but were stifled. Dax met his look and let out a hearty laugh. The others joined in, some with looks of amused sympathy.
Never in Clay’s life had he been chastised for his behavior, and there was no reason for him to tolerate being the butt of this family’s joke. However, when he looked down at Lexi he was surprised to see real concern in her eyes, and how he felt was no longer important. Did she think he was about to make a scene? Say something to embarrass her?
He turned and faced his plate again, deciding to laugh along with them—for Lexi. He sat straight and picked up his fork and knife. “Yes, sir.”
There was a second wave of laughter then the moment passed. Everyone returned to their side conversations.
Lexi nudged his arm. He leaned down to hear her whisper, “Thank you.”
Those two simple words warmed his heart, and he fell a little bit in love with her right there, right in the middle of all those damn Barringtons. He wanted to be the person she trusted to be on her side. Thanksgiving dinner, beneath a table of watchful eyes, was not the time nor the place to show her how much else he wanted to be for her.
She had a list of reasons she wouldn’t sleep with him. A list. Chipping away at it would be his mission. And she thinks I don’t know how to make the world a better place. He met her eyes and knew he had a big, smitten smile on his face. He laughed aloud even though it brought all attention back to him, then stabbed a piece of turkey and said, “When is the next game night? Lexi just said she could beat me at Scrabble, and I need to prove myself.”
Okay, who is the man beside me and what did he do with the real Clay?
He was not only engaging in idle conversation with everyone at the table, he was also on his best behavior. When Dale had corrected him, she’d expected him to respond with something sarcastic, but he hadn’t. He was acting like he cared what the Barringtons thought of him, and that didn’t fit with her impression of him. Normally, he did what he wanted, when and how he wanted.
He turned then, caught her watching him, and smiled. The pleasure that rushed through her confused her all over again. She knew how to deal with the outrageously flirtatious Clay. She could easily dismiss the self-absorbed, easily bored billionaire he’d portrayed himself to be in the past. This Clay? The one who seemed to care how she was doing both that night and in general—I could like him.
No, he’s still Mr. Turn-everything-into-an-innuendo Clay.
Tonight is an act and I’ll prove it. Watch his pretense fall away when he hears this.
She tapped his arm and motioned for him to lower his head toward her. “So, I’m trying a new kind of cleansing program. I’m going cold turkey, completely celibate until the new year.”
“Do you have a date for New Year’s Eve? It’s a day early, but a better choice for such an anticipated indulgence,” he said without missing a beat.
His expression was so serious Lexi laughed louder than she meant to. There’s the Clay I know.
Sophie piped in, “Lexi, dear, did I hear you mention New Year’s? Does that mean you’ve decided to join us in Vermont?”
“I—I—” Shit. Kenzi had told her about the charity event her mother was planning, and Lexi had been deliberately vague about committing. An evening with the Barringtons was one thing, but a long weekend? Those were best avoided. Somehow, no matter how Lexi tried, she’d find a way to offend one of them.
Lexi acknowledged it was her own fault. Sophie hadn’t met her at the best time in her life. Still reeling from the loss of both parents, Lexi and Willa had been sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Canada. Willa had withdrawn, practically non-verbal despite being in her teens. Scared, Lexi had tried all sorts of stunts to make her sister smile. She’d felt as if she were losing her sister as well and had been desperate to help her. Perhaps that was why the conversation she’d overheard between her aunt and uncle still stung each time she remembered it.
She’d been sitting on the bed beside with Willa when her aunt’s voice had carried through the wall. “It’ll be for the best. Boarding schools know how to raise children, we don’t. If it were just one, just Willa, maybe we could do it. But Lexi’s already difficult. Can you imagine her in a few years? I don’t know if I have it in me to raise her.”
Willa’s eyes had filled with tears and she’d shaken her head as if Lexi had let her down. The rebel in Lexi had taken root that day. A few months later, when Sophie had come out to their school to meet her daughter’s new best friends, Lexi had enjoyed shocking her. Over the years, Sophie had invited Lexi and Willa on family vacations, but had always seemed genuinely afraid that Lexi would date one of her sons. It had made flirting with them childishly entertaining.
At twenty-nine, Lexi knew her pride was one of her greatest faults. She didn’t blame Sophie for thinking the worst of her at times, especially considering the grief she’d given the woman for over a decade. In moments of weakness she still caught herself saying things to get a rise out of her, but it was a pattern Lexi was determined to break.
“Lexi and I have plans for that night,” Clay said smoothly, “but we’ll see if we can change them.”
Kenzi hugged her husband’s arm. “Did you know they were hanging out now?”
“I did not,” Dax said blandly.
“It’s been too recent to mention,” Clay said.
“We’re just friends,” Lexi stressed at the same time. They both stopped and looked at each other.
Grant chimed in with a clarifying question. “So it’s not a date?”
Clay turned toward him and asked, “And if it were?”
Grant’s eyes narrowed. “I’d rather you called it off. Lexi has been part of this family for a very long time.”
Asher spoke to his wife loudly enough for all to hear. “It’s kind of cute to see Grant riled up.”
Ian, the third son from the top and a career politician like his father had once been, interjected. “I had no idea he had it in him.”
Lance asked, “You don’t think he—?”
“I don’t. No offense, Lexi,” Grant said gruffly.
“None taken,” Lexi said with relief. Of all the Barrington boys, Grant was the most like a big brother to her. She didn’t want him to like her in any way but that.
Grant continued, “Clay and I run in many of the same circles. I know how he operates. Don’t bring that shit here. Be careful. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Dax leaned forward. “Grant—”
“Please pass the salt, Grant,” Dale said firmly.
No one moved at first, held still in a tense silence. Clay opened his mouth then closed it. He looked from Grant to Dax and back.
Lexi doubted anyone knew what Clay would say, not even Clay.
Sophie took her husband’s hand in hers and said, “Do you know what I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving?”
All eyes turned to her.
She smiled at Grant and then Clay. “All of you.” In a perfectly proper voice, she added, “What Grant is trying to say, Clay, is that we love Lexi. Hurt her and my sons will line up to kick your ass.” There was a shocked collective gasp, but Sophie continued on as if she hadn’t said anything the least bit out of character, “Now, who would like coffee?”
Never one to hold back, Lexi stood, walked over to Sophie, and gave her a long, tight hug. Dale nodded at Lexi in approval.
Dax put his arm around Kenzi and announced, “I love this family.”
Lexi returned to her seat and used her napkin to dab away the tears from her eyes. “Me, too.”
“I’m still on the fence,” Clay said with dry humor. When everyone looked at him, he smiled and added, “I was the only one threatened at the table tonight. Now, someone, please, pass the gravy.”