Chapter Twelve

Lexi took one deep breath after another, thinking of all the movies set in L.A. that she’s seen.

Beverly Hills Cop, Pretty Woman, 9 to 5, Terminator, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sunset Boulevard, Singing in the Rain.

They should have prepared her for what the city was like, but now that she’d seen it, she was scared. Everything reminded her that she was small and insignificant and suddenly Lexi was completely convinced that if she moved to L.A. she was going to fail.

Fail at her dream.

Fail at life.

What was she going to do?

Hurriedly, she stripped and stepped into the shower, hoping the water would help her regain her composure. Sure enough, as she scraped shampoo through her hair and soap over her body, her rational mind started to take over.

This was normal, she told herself. Normal to be scared when staring something as big as L.A. in the face. It was especially hard given she was with Eric, learning how different they were. Accepting that she wouldn’t be able to rely on him when she was on her own.

But was that even true?

With a deep sigh, Lex turned the water off and dried off. Then she scraped condensation off the bathroom mirror and stared at her reflection.

She was the same old Lexi. In this life she had her father and herself. The two people she could always count on.

And Eric, a stubborn voice inside her head reminded her. Don’t forget you have Eric.

That’s what he’d been telling her. That he was always going to be there for her, no matter what happened in August.

Eric who was sitting outside that door. Eric who’d respected every boundary she’d put up. Eric who’d brought her here to show her the first step in getting her dream. Eric who’d promised not to get her stuck in Montana. Eric who wasn’t going to abandon her in August.

Eric who made her feel safe. And powerful. And believed in the power of her dreams even when she didn’t.

Before she knew what she was doing, Lexi flung open the bathroom door, steam billowing out around her.

Eric looked up instantly from where he still sat at the breakfast table. His shirt was partially unbuttoned, his shoes in a pile on the floor. The dim, ambient lamplight outlined his perfect, movie star face. God. She was such a goner.

Lexi pushed that thought aside and strode toward him. Like a magnet to metal. He was calling to her. In this overwhelming city, he was her safe place. A beacon of all things good and calm.

Eric’s eyes dipped from her toes all the way back up as he took her in. Naked as sin, golden and pink and dewy from the shower. He could have sat where he was, waited for her to come all the way to him. But he didn’t. He met her halfway across the floor, knowing exactly what she was coming to him for.

They tumbled together onto the big sectional couch that separated the bedroom of the hotel suite from the living area. Lexi gasped as she felt the plush material come up against her back.

Eric was over her, surrounding her. Everywhere.

He reared back from her and tore off his clothes with the speed of a man possessed. He needed her as badly as she needed him. There was something burning in his eyes; whether it was the same thing she was feeling, Lexi had no idea, but it was setting them both on fire.

He was naked against her now, gripping her tightly, like he was terrified she would disappear if he let go.

Lexi, riding on the back of that same fear, clamped her teeth into his shoulder the way he’d often done to her. Eric groaned into her skin as she held him in place in every way possible.

He reared back from her and spread her legs wide. He was looking down at her like she was a feast and he was a starving man. Lexi needed him, her body burned for him. But she could either lay there and be devoured, or she could do some devouring herself. Before he could go down on her, Lexi slid herself further down on the couch, so he was straddling her shoulders.

Eric’s eyes flamed bright and hard. “Lex,” he growled out in warning.

But it was a warning she didn’t heed. Leaning up, she fisted the base of his cock and ran her tongue, just once, in a perfect, firm circle around the head.

His entire body went stiff as a board and Lexi was thrilled to see that his hand gripped the back of the couch so hard his knuckles had gone white. So she did it again.

This time he gasped out, as if he were in physical pain.

Looking up at him, keeping eye contact, Lexi licked her palm so that she could jack him more easily. Then she took him into her mouth swallowing him down as far as she could and following each movement of her mouth with her hand so that he was under a constant onslaught of feeling. He was big, so big that she couldn’t even come close to taking him all the way. But she did the best she could, swirling her tongue and swallowing hard.

“Jesus, Lex. I’m going to— Damn, girl, I’m going to—”

And she wanted him to. She wanted to swallow all of him down. Taste him in that primal way. But then his hand was tangling in her hair and he was pulling her off.

“I want it. I want it,” she panted, staring up at him.

“You’re going to get it,” he promised as he swiveled around, so he still straddled her shoulders, but facing away from her now.

He put a big palm on either of her thighs and spread her. There were no pleasantries. He simply leaned down and absolutely consumed her.

Lexi had never been more turned on or closer to coming. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold on much longer. So as soon as she felt the first echoes of her orgasm start to tear through her, she reared up, took Eric by the hips and guided his cock back into her mouth.

Maybe it was the fact that she was about to come, maybe it was the change in position. But this time Lexi was able to swallow him almost all the way down. He slammed into the back of her throat and she swallowed and swallowed around him, breathing through her nose.

Eric went even more wild and Lexi’s hips went taut, lifting up from the couch and into his face. Her orgasm electrified her, whipping through her so hard she could feel it everywhere. In every molecule of her soul.

And then Eric was coming too. Pumping into her mouth and splashing down her throat. She relished it, swallowing everything he gave her until he rolled to the side, both of their bodies trembling with the aftershocks.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled before he twisted around and pulled her toward him. “I think we both really needed that.”

Lexi couldn’t help but smile as he nuzzled into her damp hair, traced a hand over her belly, then gripped her hips and pulled her into him so he was spooning her.

Never in all their time together had they snuggled like this. Lexi had believed that they never would.

But with the city racing below them and their futures racing out in front of them, it didn’t feel wrong to lay there with him. To feel his strong, steady heartbeat against her back and his arm banded across her body. It didn’t feel wrong, even when he grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over them.

“This doesn’t count, by the way,” he murmured into her hair right before sleep took them both.

“What?” she asked blearily.

“This doesn’t count as breaking a rule.” He smoothed a sleepy hand over her hair and tugged her just a little bit closer. She relished the heat kicking off his skin. “Technically, we never made it to the bed.”

Whether she’d admit it in the morning or not she wasn’t sure. But Lexi fell asleep with a smile on her face that night.

* * *

At noon the next day, Eric and Lexi were at the third place on Lexi’s list of potential places to live once she moved to L.A. Like the two places before it, it was a dump, and as she pulled Eric around the corner of the small house, he was sure she was going to burst into panicked tears. He was prepared to comfort her, to tell her that together they’d find a place that was perfect for her and that yes, damn it, that meant she would accept his help. To his surprise, however, Lexi flung herself into Eric’s arms even as she hopped up and down in excitement.

“I would get my own bathroom here!” She pulled away from him and stared him dead in the eye, just in case he didn’t realize what a big, flipping deal that was. “MY. OWN. BATHROOM. In the history of time that has never happened for me.”

Eric swallowed hard. He was about to point out the place was a dump. Instead he blurted out the biggest thing the place had going against it. “But your roommate would be… a dude.”

“Even at Marina’s we still have to share. Timing showers and such. And even though it’s kind of a small bathroom and the shower was a little dingy WHO CARES right? Because... Wait, what?”

Feeling like an ass at the confused look on her face, Eric swiped a hand through his hair, thought about muttering nothing, then sighed. “It’s just, when you said your roommate would be someone named Aubrey, I assumed it would be a woman.”

Lexi’s brows furrowed. “Aubrey can be a name for either gender.”

“Right. Right. It’s just… I’m pretty sure he was straight too.”

“Your point?”

He sighed again. Told himself he was an idiot for being jealous of the youthful, muscular Aubrey—that wasn’t what he and Lexi were about, he reminded himself—then shook his head. Quicksand. Don’t be her quicksand. “Nothing,” he said. “No point. If you like the place and you like Aubrey, I’m happy for you.”

Lexi tilted her head to the side. Stared at him. And when her eyes widened, he could tell she’d realized what he was feeling. He waited for her to gently admonish him. Instead, she slid

her hands up his chest and back around his neck.

“I didn’t notice if Aubrey was a straight man or a female lion. I was too busy losing my mind over having my own bathroom.” And with that, she brought her grinning mouth to his.

* * *

To hell with the rules, Lexi thought to herself, even as she kissed Eric. He’d looked so damn cute, his hair all tousled from yanking at it, his expression disgruntled. No, not disgruntled—jealous, she’d finally realized. Jealous of a stranger named Aubrey. As if any man could hold a candle to Eric and what he made Lexi feel.

Still, his jealousy pleased her. It made her feel cherished. And for once, she didn’t think about quicksand or whether she and Eric were doing the right thing by spending time together. Instead, she simply did what she wanted to, and that was to touch him. Kiss him.

They were still kissing on the street corner when a group of kids on bikes hooted and hollered as they rode past. Even then, Eric just held her tighter and it was a full thirty seconds before he released her and pulled away, his eyes cloudy and his hands strong and sure on her back.

He stroked one hand all the way up her spine and then all the way down again. “Kissing in public, huh?” he asked.

“And holding hands,” she said, lacing her fingers through his and strolling down the block.

“You’re really flying in the face of all these rules, you know.”

Lexi strolled along with him, hand in hand, too happy, too excited to think twice about her words. “Oh, whatever. The rules don’t apply in L.A.”

Eric stopped walking and tugged her back against him. “Is that so?”

His words and tone were light, but the way he dragged her against him, the way his eyes suddenly bored into hers, Lexi could see that her words had affected him.

She shrugged and opened her mouth, not sure what to say. Not sure what she could say to explain all that she was feeling for him.

* * *

Once they were back in the car, Eric tuned out Lexi and George’s conversation about all the different parts of L.A. as he stared out the window and watched it all rush past. The rules don’t apply in L.A. Her words echoed through his head again and again. What did she mean by that? Did she mean they didn’t apply this weekend? Or was she telling him that if they both lived in L.A. they could be together?

He scanned back through all their conversations. Nothing she’d ever said had made it seem like she was intrinsically opposed to relationships. She was just opposed to a relationship that would keep her from her dreams in L.A.

He thought about kissing her on the street corner. Holding her hand.

He watched Echo Park roll past. He’d always liked this neighborhood.

Could he live here?

Maybe. But then images of his ranch flashed through his head and he barely kept from groaning. Yes, he could live here with Lexi, try to beat out a new path in L.A. But no, he couldn’t leave his ranch half finished. His dreams half finished.

He looked at Lexi, leaning up against the partition and animatedly talking to George.

Quicksand.

For the first time since he’d met her, Eric finally, truly understood her fears.

She could so easily suck him back into L.A. And if she did, no matter how happily he went, it would mean losing a part of himself that he might never be able to get back again.

The rules don’t apply in L.A.

Well, this weekend, he would hold tight to that thought. This weekend, he’d make sure the rules didn’t hold them back. They’d have one for the record books. One they could remember fondly as they lived their separate lives in separate parts of the country.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, jolting him out of his depressed reverie. “Hey, Mom.”

He listened for a second and then immediately held it out for Lexi to take. “It’s for you.”

She frowned at the phone, like he was handing her a live grenade. But she took it and held it to her ear. “Hi, Mrs. Davenp—”

Eric grinned as he listened to his mother launch into a long speech about something. Lexi barely had time to make sounds of approval before she was handing the phone up to George. “She wants to talk to you now, George.”

“Yo, Mrs. D.”

His driver and his mother chatted for a moment while Eric raised his eyebrows in question at Lexi.

Her brow was furrowed and her fingernail had made its way back into her mouth. “Apparently I have a massage and a manicure and pedicure in twenty minutes. Then your mom wants to take me to get my hair done and shopping.”

Eric frowned, about to tell her she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to, but then he saw the light of excitement in her eyes. Like last night, she was fighting conflicting feelings. “Is that something you want, Lex?”

She shrugged. “It will be too expensive. Your mom said she wanted to treat me, and I don’t want to offend her, but—”

“Don’t worry about that, please. My mom doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to, and I know she’d love to spend more time with you. But you didn’t answer my question. Do you want to do all that? Because if you don’t…”

She stared at him before speaking. “I think I do. I mean… You know I—I grew up with my father…”

Yes, he did know. During their time at the hardware store, they’d talked a lot about Lexi’s childhood, including how her mother had died when she just a baby and how her father had raised her. He knew that Lexi adored her father, and felt guilt that he’d given up his dreams as an actor to give her what she needed. She still felt guilty, given that he was getting on in years and she wished she had the money to help him retire and move on to a simpler, easier life. It was a big part of what motivated her to make it big in L.A., that and the fact that she simply loved movies and writing.

“Go on, Lex,” he prompted when she fell into silence.

“I haven’t had a mom/daughter day, not in a long, long time. And the fact your mom wants to do all this for me? It’s…nice.” Her lip trembled, and Eric couldn’t help leaning down to kiss her gently.

He rubbed his thumb against her cheek. “Then have a wonderful time, Lex. You deserve it.”

They dropped her off at the salon, but not before Lexi leaned across the seat and kissed him again, breathlessly, almost desperately. George let out a long whistle as soon as she was out of earshot.

“Quite a girl you found yourself, Eric.”

He could barely bring himself to respond. It wasn’t safe to speak until his heartbeat resumed its normal pace. “I know. I want to do something for her this afternoon. You want to drive or you want to take me to my car?”

“An errand for that girl? I’ll drive.”