Halloween night should be spent at a frat house, or better yet, at a sorority house finding chicks, getting laid, not meandering the center of campus wondering how I got so whipped over a girl who I will most likely never see again. It’s been two months since my run-in with the queen of mean, and I haven’t been the same since. Case in point, wandering aimlessly on the most hormonal night of the year.

Crap.

I look to the sky, rich with its stars, and hold my arms out at the expansive nothingness. “Is anybody out there?” I shout and listen as the echo of my own voice comes back to me. Whitney Briggs is a ghost town ironically. The campus is drained of its student body as every single person holed up in those dorms bleeds out to The Row where the frats and the sororities sit across the street from each other. It’s just me, my shattered ego, and wounded heart. Hard to imagine that a girl I knew for less than ten minutes could do so much damage. I wish she came with a warning label. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway.

“Should I wait for her?” I don’t pack the same punch as I did the last time. “I think she’s the one.” My voice grows small and my neck hurts at this pitch as I gaze out into darkness. “Anyway, if you could spare a moment, I’d appreciate a sign.” My voice dwindles to a whisper. I doubt anyone is listening anyway.

The peachy glow of Hallowed Grounds beckons to me, and I head on over. It’s either that or head back to my apartment. At least this way I’ll get a cup of something hot and maybe a donut out of it.

I head in and the thick scent of coffee bowls over my senses as if trying desperately to heal me with its hypnotic roasted beans. A smattering of people litter the place, a couple of girls dressed as French maids, a dude done up like Dracula works the line. Just as I’m about to step up to the counter, I spot a lion’s mane of dark cherry red hair, and my heart booms once as if threatening to cut out early.

“No way,” I whisper as I stagger on over. Her back is toward me, head bent over, fingers gliding over a laptop, and not until I make the full radius around the table do I quantify that indeed it’s her.

Someone heard. God himself has taken a moment from his busy night to give my destiny a nod.

I don’t bother asking permission. Instead, I help myself to a seat.

She looks up, her eyes ten times brighter than I remember, her face a thousand times more beautiful than my memory would allow—a young Scarlett Johansson meets Megan Fox. And holy wow, Lex Ximena Maxfield is a fox—just as wily as one, too.

“Oh, it’s just you.” She gets back to work without missing a beat.

“You’re hard to find. You know that?” I knock my knuckles over the table two times fast, but I can’t help but smile. Damn, she’s beautiful.

She takes a bite out of a donut, and it’s only then that I note four different pastries surrounding her.

“Comfort food night?”

“Homework,” she says through a mouthful as if painfully pointing out the fact she’s not out to impress me.

“For that nutrition thing you mentioned?”

She glances up before washing down her mouthful with a swig from her coffee. “Are you always this annoying, or is this something special just for me?” She slips her laptop into an oversized purse and picks up her coffee along with the glazed donut she just took a healthy chunk out of and starts to head out.

“Whoa.” I scoot alongside of her. “Look, you don’t have to take off on my account. Go back and finish your feast.”

“Please, that carbohydratefest? Any food critic worth her salt knows that you don’t down every last calorie. I’d be a cow that couldn’t navigate a pasture if I licked every plate clean that was ever set in front of me.”

The Hollow Brook night air cleanses us as we move swiftly under a crisp autumn moon. She’s headed for the parking lot so I’m guessing she’s taking off.

“Food critic, huh?”

“That’s right. I’m double majoring in journalism and nutrition. I figure I’d meld my love of writing and my love of eating and eventually turn a profit. Probably not a big one, but I don’t really care about much beyond the basics.”

“Wow, I’m floored for two reasons. One, you’re far more verbose than you were the first night we met. And two, you’re about the only girl I know who is at all interested in the basics.”

She belts out a short-lived laugh, and even that sounds like a threat. And God, how I have missed her threats. I’ve missed everything about her.

“So why no social media? How are you successful at being a ghost every day of the year? Any reason why you’re so hard to track down?”

“To keep guys like you from stalking me.” She heads down the brick walk leading to the parking garage, and I jump in front of her, doing my best to stall.

“How about that walk you promised me?”

Lex takes a moment to lean in and glare. “What’s your major again?”

“Pre-law.”

“Figures. One—you’ll make a great lawyer since you’ve just minced my words. I never said I’d play bear bait with you and go for a walk in the woods while we rubbed ourselves down with honey. And, yes, I do believe you’re that moronic. And two, pre-law isn’t a major.” She dives past me and speeds off into the night.

“Exactly!” I shout after her. “It’s a state of mind.”

She gives a light chuckle, and there it is—a crack of light in that dark soul. So I do the only thing I can think of. I run like hell to catch up with her.

Lex pauses to toss her coffee and donut out just long enough for me to jog up alongside her.

“How about five minutes of your time in Founder’s Square?” I nod over to the giant expanse of dark lawn just a few feet away with a fountain lighting up the center with an ethereal baby blue glow. “It will be our third unofficial date, and if I don’t manage to make you want to come back for more, I promise I will leave you alone the next time I see you diligently inhaling carbohydrates in the name of education.” I cross my fingers over my heart and hold up my hand.

She scowls at me a moment, her dark brows each pitched in the opposite direction, one spiking into her forehead and the other dipping down hard into her eye. Lex is the perfect villain. A thief. She’s already stolen my heart.

“Deal. But only because it’s Halloween, and spending five minutes with you in the dark should give me the proper fright this night requires. But then you’ll leave me alone because you’re a man of your word, right?” she scolds in that placating way that a mother might do, and something twisted about her tone turns me on.

“Yes, ma’am.” Most likely. Hell, I don’t know that I could leave her alone if I tried.

We trek over the lawn in the direction of the fountain, and I carefully take up her hand, threading my fingers through hers before giving a gentle squeeze.

Lex glances down with a grunt. “I take it you don’t want that hand back.”

A laugh thunders from me, but I can’t help it. There it is, the knife in the gut I’m guessing she’s an expert at wielding—through words anyway.

“I like your sense of humor.” I bring her hand up and press a light kiss over the back, sending a trail of goose bumps down my arm, through my spine, straight down to my feet.

“I don’t have a sense of humor.” She plucks her hand free and proceeds to speed us to the fountain. “So why the dateless night of horrors? Isn’t it prime picking at Gamma Gamma Gag me?”

“That it is”—we pause next to the quiet rush of waters, the blue reflection from the fountain washing all of the hues from the night, highlighting her eyes, making her face light up like an angel—“and if it were not for you, my queen, I might be playing the part of unholy jester in some unsuspecting coed’s bed, but alas, your beauty has bewitched me and it is only you I seek.”

“Wow”—she muses, taking a step in toward me and the scent of lilacs dances from her hair—“that was a seriously bad mockup of Shakespeare. I’m guessing that move gets you past first base with the girls?”

“I don’t know”—I boldly trace her hair softly before digging my fingers into the back of her silky mane—“I’ve never initiated that particular bad mockup before. But since you promised me first base.” And then I go for it. I lean in and watch as her eyes round out, and I see the reflection of the moon embedded in each one.

“Do you think you’re going to kiss me?” she hisses, her eyes dangerously slit like that of an irate cat.

“Yes.” I inch in ever so close as the warmth of her skin sets me on fire.

“Then I see you won’t need your hand or your lips back for the night.”

“How about this”— my mouth hovers a breath away from hers—“we kiss for the remainder of our five minutes, and if you’re still not interested, you can take whatever body parts you want. I promise I will leave you the hell alone.” Damn. Of all the words to come from my lips.

Lex takes in a deep breath. Her chest rises just enough to graze over mine, and my balls ache from that sweet soft touch ten times more than they ever have for a girl that had actually managed to land in my bed.

“You have less than thirty seconds remaining,” she whispers, all of the wicked intent emptied from her voice and in its place a hint of longing. My ego wants to believe it was lust in bloom just for me.

And I do it. I land my lips over hers and linger. Every last cell in my body detonates with relief, with a hallelujah choir, a roar that screams hell yes right down to the marrow in my bones. I have kissed a thousand girls easily and never in my life, not even with the very first lip-lock have I ever felt so wholly alive, so desperate for this moment to stretch out forever. It’s in this moment I realize I can never be with anyone outside of Lex. No girl could make me feel this way. No girl could possibly replace her. It was just her for me. And if she wanted nothing to do with me, I was doomed to walk the planet with a broken heart for the remainder of my days.

Lex pulls me in by the back of the neck and meets me with a far hungrier kiss, one that says here I am, make my day, make the best out of these remaining seconds I’ve gifted you. And then the unthinkable happens. Her mouth falls open, and I fall into the warm wet wonderland of Alexa Ximena Maxfield’s beautiful, beautiful mouth. And that’s when I realize I’ve found my way home. I don’t ever want to leave.

Lex and I duke it out with our mouths, with our tongues, with those wandering hands for the next few hours.

Yes, it’s safe to say that neither of us ever wants to leave.

* * *

August in Hollow Brook is hotter than the surface of the sun, and that’s on a good day. On a day like today, when the soles of your shoes threaten to stick to the sidewalk like chewing gum, it’s more like the armpit of that solar menace in the sky.

I open the doors to Hallowed Grounds Coffee Shop, and both a blast of Arctic air and the scent of fresh roasted beans hit me. I’m in heaven. I can’t get inside fast enough. I used to frequent Hallowed Grounds back in my Briggs days. Heck, Lex and I ended up there more than a few times while we were dating. She would bring her laptop and work on her papers, and I’d vie for her attention mercilessly until her lips landed on mine right where they belonged. Lex never made me beg for long. How I miss those carefree days, worshiping at the altar of my favorite goddess. My mouth made a habit of tracing out her curves. Mapping out the landscape of her every inch with my tongue was my favorite pastime. I loved her more than I’ve loved anything or anyone. Lex was more than just a girlfriend. She was my home. She loved me too once. And we all know how that ended.

I grab a cup of iced coffee just as Levi and Brody strut in and do the same. We find a table near the back and slump into our seats. At least twice a month we try to have an official unofficial meeting regarding our investment. We used to meet at the Black Bear, the bar across the street from the university, but since we’ve befriended the guys that own the place, it just doesn’t feel right sharing thoughts of our struggling endeavor in their robust, high economy establishment. Not that The Pelican is still struggling any longer. Low put the kibosh on that, and it happens to be one of the chief reasons I really appreciate her. Ironically, the three of us have never talked shop at The Pelican in the event a stray ear picked up on one of our morbid conversations. And they were all morbid until Low stepped in and resuscitated life back into the menu. Things have been pretty solid since.

“How they hanging?” Levi ticks his head over at me. I know Low’s been pumping him for information regarding Lex and me. He told me so himself. And disappointingly enough, there’s nothing to report.

Brody gives a dry laugh. “He doesn’t have any. Lex has his balls dangling from her rearview mirror like a cheap carnival prize.”

“Crap.” I pluck the laptop out of Brody’s hands and open it up to a clusterfuck of numbers. I can’t help but laugh. I talked to the boys at the accounting firm, and they’re having a good ol’ time giving poor Brody here the runaround. “Looks like shit. You sure you’re a numbers guy?” I slide it back to him with a grin on my face.

Brody looks as if he’s about to take that laptop and shove it down my throat. “What are you smiling about? This financial knot is going to take me weeks to undo. Hope Daddy doesn’t fire you from the firm. Your services are needed at the bar, my friend.”

“No way.” Levi shakes his head at me. “You get back to the courtroom where your ass belongs. I’ll just tell Low that I need to spend more time at the bar.”

“Dude.” I laugh at the thought. “Your wedding is weeks away. There’s no way I’m having it. Do what you need to do and don’t worry. I’m covering your honeymoon, too. Take a couple of weeks. Take a couple of months. I gifted my workload to Chip and Shep. They love it. Believe it or not, people enjoy being busy. Everyone’s happy.”

Levi and Brody exchange a brief glance.

“What?” I take a long swig of my drink—and swear to God, on a hot day, iced coffee tastes just as good as an ice-cold beer.

Levi folds his hands onto the table. That shit-eating grin he gets when he thinks he’s got something over you takes up precious real estate on his face. “You seem happy. Especially now that Lexy is waiting tables for us. Coincidence?”

“Maybe I hate law. You ever think of that? I like the bar.”

Both Levi and Brody light up with a laugh.

Brody wipes a tear from his eye as if it were too much to handle. “Dude—we know you’re loving it. We know you’re loving her in your airspace. But seriously, Lex is one brutal lady. You sure you want to ride that crazy train again?”

“I’m already onboard. Never left.” I didn’t even need a second to think about it because I’ve spent the last six years thinking of Lex. If it came right down to it, I’d swear it was one long continuous stream of consciousness. I’ve thought of her so much she’s become a part of me, encoded in my DNA, ingrained on a cellular level.

“Dude”—Levi leans in hard—“the chick is batshit.”

“Say it again and I’ll bash your head through the window.” I give a sly smile because we both know it’s true. “Same goes for you.” I kick Brody’s foot from under the table. “She’s”—my voice pitches with emotion—“she’s the love of my life.” I press out a peaceable smile at the two of them, hoping they’ll go easy on my sudden urge to share my affection for Lex.

“Okay.” Levi nods just once as if I put out a war plan and he were grimly going along with it because there were no other alternatives.

“It’s fine by me.” Brody practically gouges his eye out with his palm and the action alone makes him look all of twelve. Brody is the same age as the rest of us, but for some reason I’ve always thought of him as being much younger. I know it’s not fair to say, but I pegged him for having a lack of direction in his life up until we embarked on The Pelican endeavor. In a way, I guess I’ve always envied him in that respect. I hauled ass getting my law degree, passing the bar—making partner at my father’s firm may sound like nepotism, but my father doesn’t adhere to archaic standards of climbing the corporate ladder. I had to prove myself. And it was tough as shit.

“Tell me something”—Brody cocks his head to the side, those narrowed eyes let me know he’s already come to a conclusion about whatever it is he’s about to inquire—“what attracted you to Lex—I mean, other than the obvious. Sure, she’s hot. She’s smoking. Anyone with eyes can see that, but once she opens that mouth—”

Levi cuts him off, “Once she looks at you—”

“Glares at you,” Brody adds. “You realize she’s got a chip on her shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar.”

“The moon,” Levi counters. “She’s about as stable as plutonium. The girl is pissed at life. How’d you manage to see past that? She must have opened up to you, but was she ever—you know, nice?”

My gaze settles somewhere between the two of them, straight through the wall, straight through Hollow Brook, into the nebulous past where I try to decipher this for myself.

“Yes,” I say, lacking the confidence something of this magnitude requires. “She was great. It’s true we had our ups and downs, and unfortunately toward the end it was all downhill—but that sweet spot we shared…” I drift right back into the memories we built, her at my place, in my bed. Those nights where we attacked one another under the sheets like charging lions. Lex has always been a force to be reckoned with in and out of the bedroom. “She’s nice. You just need to crack the armor.”

Levi’s brows flex and he looks momentarily pained for me. “Low says she’s pretty steady across the board with that caustic personality, but she likes her and I’m hoping the vice versa is true. She’s in our wedding.” He leans over and socks me on the arm just enough to make it hurt. “And she’s paired up with you.”

“Perfect. By then I’m hoping she’ll be exactly that—paired up with me.”

Both Levi and Brody groan at the idea as if the thought wrenched their balls.

Brody shakes his head with that despondent look on his face. “You really like a challenge, don’t you?”

“If her name is Lex Maxfield, then I love her.” There. I said it.

A sobering silence crops up in our circle before we meander to the topic of the bar. We spend the next hour looking at numbers, talking strategies before the realtor calls Levi and hauls him away. Brody finds himself getting sucked back into that vortex of the trap I’ve laid out for him and he too staggers out of the place.

No sooner do I rise to leave than my favorite redhead struts on in, shoulders back, hair wild and flowing, that look on her face says I will slit the throat of every person in here without thinking twice, and something about that makes my lips twitch with a smile and I sit right back down. My heart starts in on a few quick stomps. It’s never in rhythm when Lex is around. It’s a long-standing tradition that she makes my heart beat faster, my entire body shakes as it begs to have her. And right about now, it’s downright pleading on a cellular level. My balls ache, my mouth salivates just wishing for one more night, but my heart knows better. I don’t want just a singular night with Lex—but hell, I would take it. What I really need is all of her. Her beautiful complicated mind, her energetic spirit that keeps me on my toes, and that heart of hers. I’d do anything if she’d let me dust it off for her one more time. Lex was never a fan of that particular beating member of her anatomy, nor was she a fan of the one I happen to harbor myself. Nope. Somewhere along the line she closed it off, buried it under a layer of ice—about the time her mother skipped out on her in what would pan out to be a long line of disappointments. That’s all people were to her, disappointments. And I happened to fall into that category. Here I sit, one of Lex’s disappointments, my own biggest disappointment.

She collects her coffee, grunting at the barista’s attempt to make small talk as she stalks her way past me as if I were invisible and sits near the back. Lex opens her laptop and ducks in close, pounding at the keyboard like a woman on a mission.

I don’t hesitate in getting up and heading over. I may have hesitated before the big reprisal in my life, but now that we’re working together, that she’s working for me, it feels like fair game.

“Okay, now I’m curious,” I say as I take the seat across from her, but Lex doesn’t bother to look up, her fingers never slow as they dance across the keyboard.

“Go away,” she says it so curt and quick I half-wonder if she even knows it’s me or if that were some stock answer she’s tossing at me. “I mean it, Ax, stat.”

Mystery solved.

“How’d you know it was me? My firm masculine voice? That familiar scent of my cologne? I believe you once bought a bottle just so you could wear it to remind yourself of me.” And when she told me that, it melted my heart on a level I never thought possible. Lex loved me so much she cherished my scent. The thought still makes me ache for what we once had—that I believe we can still have.

“I saw you through the window before I entered,” she says it so low and fast I had to struggle to grasp it. “But I didn’t care that you were here.” She looks up for less than a second before returning to her task. “You see, Axel, I don’t really care about you.”

There it is, the hot poker through the stomach that inevitably arrives each time I’m around her, at least lately. But in all honesty, it’s a complete upgrade from the silent treatment. At least I know what she’s thinking, how much she’s actually detesting me. It’s nice on a cerebral level to know these things, I suppose.

“Duly noted.” I bounce my seat next to hers until I have full view of her computer screen, and she quickly lowers it an inch.

“Do you mind?”

“Yes, actually, I do. I’m dying to know what you’re hammering out on that keyboard. Let me guess. A statement to the police why a restraining order against me might be in order in spite of the fact you work for me?”

She belts out a short-lived laugh, and I’m jarred by this. First, Lex doesn’t laugh—not really. And second, well, she just laughed.

“Wish I would have thought of that.” She leans back in her seat before sealing those serious eyes of hers over my own like a magnet. “Even though I’m technically working for you, I consider myself jobless. I’m trying to make a better way for myself in this world like everyone else, if you must know. I’m creating my destiny. That, my ex-friend, is what I’m hammering out on my laptop. It’s called the future.”

“The future?” I boldly scoot the laptop screen back to its upright position, and sure enough it looks to be a business proposal of some sort she’s working on.

I absorb my attention to the screen, completely ignoring the fact she just referred to me as her ex-friend. I was sort of hoping we had already meandered into that thorny friendly territory. “The Epicurean Elite,” I muse at the title of the doc.

She snaps her laptop shut and takes a long swig of her iced tea. “That’s right. It’s my baby, and I’m running with it.”

My heart gives a few more wallops because it actually seems as if we’re in a bona fide conversation. She hasn’t kicked me out of my seat yet, so already we’re off to a great start.

“What is it?” I take a careful sip of the sludge at the bottom of my drink, afraid to elicit any sudden movements, thus reminding her of her primal urge to bolt whenever I’m around.

“I’m a food critic, Ax. It’s what I do. And if Food Crack Nation won’t have me, then I’ll simply go ahead and create my own food critic database, only I’ll do it on a public forum. Bigger and better, of course.”

“Sort of like Yelp for Help?” In no way did I intend to burst her bubble by way of even hinting that there’s another place out there that does this very thing. But still, she should be apprised.

“Like Yelp for Help minus the yahoos. The only people eligible to submit ratings on my site will be real deal food critics, none of that attention-seeking stuff that pulls the idiots out of the woodwork. No one couldn’t care less if your waiter was slow. We want to know about the cuisine.” She pulls her purse onto her shoulder and scoops up her laptop as if she’s about to take off.

“Whoa—while I have you here, what’s the name of the yahoo living across the street from you?”

“Stumpy?” She relaxes back in her seat, and I can’t help but notice her tits jumped in her T-shirt with the action. Lex has a body that is every thirteen-year-old boy’s wet dream, and essentially that’s what her body has the ability to reduce me to whenever she’s around.

“Yes, Stumpy. What’s her legal name? One of those protesters nearly dented my car the other night. I happen to think they’re a menace to society, and at this point so is she.” I’d love to channel all of my frustration into smashing that troll with my judiciary thumb. Who the hell does she think she is making Lex’s life so miserable? A hot wave of guilt washes over me because I happen to have done the very same thing.

“I don’t know, Carrie—Karen? Stegmiller, Stegmiestser, or something random like that. If you throw the book at her, let me know. I might actually show up in the cheering section.”

A smile dares bloom on my lips at the thought of Lex and me on the same side for once. “Courtrooms don’t traditionally have cheering sections, but I will be sure to let you know what comes of it.”

“Speaking of which”—she tilts her head, and her hair perks up and waves over at me before resting on her shoulder—“whatever became of Emilia? By the way, speaking of your siblings, Shep and I have been spending quite a bit of time together.” She bites down on her bottom lip as if the thought of making me jealous through her relationship with my brother—which I know is strictly related to the fact she’s struggling financially. But I’m far more stuck on the fact she’s just asked about my sister. The one that isn’t here anymore.

Any trace of a smile defuses from my features. “Emilia died.” I hear the words tumble from my lips, but they sound foreign. It never feels right that my sister is dead.

Lex straightens as if I just electrocuted her. Those large doe eyes of hers round out the size of golf balls. A moment of stunned silenced bounces between us, thickening the air with a palpable grief, but our gazes have locked and remain unbreakable.

After a few hypnotic moments, Lex collects her things and zips through the doors, back into the heat of a sweltering Hollow Brook afternoon.

I was looking forward to seeing her tonight at The Pelican, and now after this awkward exchange, with the ghost of my sister lingering between us, I’m not so sure. For whatever reason, sharing my sister’s death even topically with Lex had the power to rip that wound right back open.

Lex and Emilia, my twin wounds. How I wish I could heal them both. How I wish I could have the two of them back in my life where they belong.

* * *

The Sloppy Pelican is a glacial oasis compared to the triple digit humid hot box otherwise known as Hollow Brook. That partially explains the elbow-to-elbow room at the establishment. The other part is due to the fact the 12 Deadly Sins are playing here tonight. Bryson, one of the owners at the Black Bear, called and asked if the Sins could play at The Sloppy Pelican. It’s their house band, and so the fact he offered means a lot. I know for a fact they have a huge following that extends far past the borders of Hollow Brook, thus the wall-to-wall bodies in here tonight. Bryson’s brother-in-law, Blake, is the lead singer of the band. He introduced himself when the band arrived, along with his wife, Annie. I remember Annie. She was in the news not that long ago. She was born deaf and had an implant put in to give her the gift of hearing. I remember thinking, now that’s a miracle. I might have even shed a tear or two. Hell, I know I did. It was Emilia who forwarded the story to me. It was always Emilia showing me the human interest pieces, pointing out that life was still good even though my broken heart insisted it wasn’t.

Lex walks in with that gorgeous mane of hair trailing her like a river of fire, those lasers she sees the world through already cutting me down to size, and something in me warms at the sight of her. And then she does the unthinkable. Lex pauses mid-flight and gives a slight wave before getting right to her station.

She waved. At me. The fact she didn’t highlight her middle finger leaves me more than stunned. Not that Lex has ever stooped to such levels. Her own boycott on expletives has always amused me. That, much like her need to barricade her heart, was because of her mother. I wish I could heal her wounds. I’d love nothing more than to sew her heart up with mine, stitching them together—two ragged halves to make a whole. I’ve always believed that Lex was my other half even that first day we met. Just as I’m about to segue into an entire mental montage of our entire relationship from start to finish, a body crashes into mine. I look down to find Abby Wilcox pressed to my chest with her tits pinned so tight against my body it feels as if I’ve just fallen against a pillow.

“Watch it, cowboy.” She gives a little wink but doesn’t move an inch.

I take a full step back and look up just in time to see Lex glance away with a scowl.

“Yeah.” I frown over at Abby. “I should watch it.” Odd thing was that I wasn’t the one in motion. She was.

She reaches up and curls her finger under my chin, and instinctually I flinch. “But while I’ve got you here—is there any way I can get you to help me out with a few tips and tricks on how to make it in this crazy world? Waitressing is a great gig, but I’ve got a mountain of debt and a degree that could use some dusting. I hate being busted. You’re a smart man. I’d love to spend some time with that brain of yours.” Her eyes drift down to my crotch. “Among other parts.”

And there it is, the overt invite she’s been hinting at for the last few weeks.

“I’ll see what I can do—about the brainstorming.”

Her lips twist with annoyance at the last part of that sentence. “Good enough.”

“My father also owns and operates Collins Enterprises. It’s the umbrella company he uses to acquire new businesses. You might want to check in with HR and see if they’ve got anywhere they can plug you in. Feel free to use my name. It’s quite possibly the only place on earth it does any good. But if I’m about to lose you to my father, give me a heads-up. I’d appreciate it.”

Her arm swivels around my waist like a cool slithering python, and a dark laugh brews in me. It was girls like Abby that I tried to fill the void with when things fell to shit with Lex. But now that’s she’s here, in the very same room, I’m afraid nothing in Abby’s bag of tricks will have an effect on me. Carefully, I peel Abby’s arm from my body, and we end up doing an odd little dance in the process. I glance up to find Lex outright glaring at the two of us, and this time she doesn’t bother to look away.

“What’s this?” Abby follows my gaze. “Oh, hon, her bark is worse than her bite. Who does she think she is staring down the boss like that? Don’t you worry. I’ll set her straight.” She makes a move in that direction, and I pull her back gently by the hand. Oddly, it looks like yet another dance move as she twirls and curls right into the crook of my arm.

“Don’t worry about Lex,” I say and I nod over to the station Abby should be tending to. “I’ll take care of her myself.”

Abby offers a dark giggle. “Sounds like something I wouldn’t mind you initiating on me sometime.” She gives my ass a quick pinch. “You better watch your back. The girls around here are tougher to handle than you think.” She takes off with a bounce in her step, and I can’t help but shake my head.

“Don’t I know it,” I whisper as I take off for Lex. Truthfully, I could have blown it off, been happy that Abby is busy doing what I pay her to, and left it at that. But Lex is here, and I can’t deny the gravitational pull any longer. I need to be next to her even if it’s simply to say hello.

Lex says something to a customer she’s tending to, and the entire table breaks out into laughter. She offers a sly wink to the merry bunch before taking off and bumping straight into me. Her body adheres to mine, and unlike the repulsion I felt with Abby, this is a private heaven that I don’t dare back away from.

“Hey,” I say as my heart ratchets up again, thumping so hard I’m sure she can feel it.

“Huh.” She takes a step back, her stance suddenly set in defiance with her knee turned out her left hip hiked up. “It seems bumping into women is suddenly your new specialty. Is that how they taught you to cop a feel in law school? Make it look like an accident and that way your victim might actually apologize to you.”

Any trace of a smile I might have had slips right off my face. “I don’t need to invoke juvenile moves to get any action, Lexy.”

“Aarrggh!” Her face turns purple with rage as she hikes up on her feet. “I abhor that name, and you know it! I demand you rescind and never call me that again.” She takes a step in close and the warmth of her body touches over my chest, reminding me I’ve gotten a little too close to the flame.

Our eyes latch, and I can’t find the words, nothing clever, nothing serious as shit, and nothing in-between. A part of me demands to know how she could not ask anything about Emilia after the way we left that conversation this afternoon. It’s most likely too painful. I get it.

Just as I’m about to suggest we both get back to work, a familiar dark-haired ponytail bops in this direction—Teagan. She’s full on vamped out with a skirt that’s a little too short, a top that I can garner too much information from, and high heel shoes that seem to lift her a foot in the air.

“Hey, big bro!” She leaps over me and offers a quick embrace. “Shep brought a few friends and me over tonight to check out the Sins.” She hitches her thumb my way while shaking her head at Lex. “He thinks he’s it now that the big boys have jumped on stage.” Her shoulders hike to her ears as she bleats a little laugh. “And he totally is.” She lets out a scream and hugs me all over again. “I can’t believe you pulled this off! I might actually want to hang out at this place now. Thanks for upping the cool factor. It’s about time.” She leans into Lex once again. “It was beyond embarrassing telling my friends that my brother owned the old miners’ fart downtown. But now I might actually spread the word.” She gives me a little hip bump. “Oh, hey!” She bounces in front of Lex, and I can tell by that look on Lex’s face she’s getting ready to bolt. “I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye but I also know you have great taste—pun intended—and I would love it if you could spare a few ideas for this party I’m having here in a few short weeks. Is there any way we can get together sometime? The clock is ticking, and I really want everything to be perfect,” Teagan pleads with those watery eyes of hers, and Lex gasps as if she doesn’t know what to do with her.

“Lexy is sort of busy.” My jaw tightens because I just called her the very name she demanded I never use again.

“With what?” Teagan whines, stomping her heels to the floor. “I swear, it will take less than ten minutes of your time.”

“Teagan,” I bark louder than I meant to, and my sister freezes solid. I can see Emilia there in her eyes, her own shock and disappointment gutting me without meaning to.

Lex lifts a hand as if to wave me away. “Of course, I will. It’s dead here in the afternoons. Whenever you’re free, give your brother a call, and I’ll meet you down here. I just threw my sister a big birthday bash a few months ago, so I’m an old pro at it.”

“Thank you so much!” Teagan wraps Lex in a hug before bolting for the group of girls she walked in with who have already hit the dance floor.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I try to catch Lex’s gaze, but she’s still staring at Teagan, most likely wondering what the hell she’s gotten herself into.

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you.” She barrels past me, and thus ensues an odd dance of avoidance for the next few hours, on her behalf at least. The night is wrapping up, but the 12 Deadly Sins are still going strong. I’ve watched Teagan cutting loose with her girlfriends as if global peace depended on those moves they’re doling out. I’ve also watched as a few frat boys made their way over and hit on them, but before I could break any noses, Teagan and her crew effectively shut them down. And unfortunately, I’ve also bared witness to Lex taking her break with none other than my brother. Abby happily took their order, and the entire alliance seemed unholy if you ask me.

I head over to the bar and man the fort while Mojo, the head bartender, takes off for a quick smoke.

Lex speeds this way, and her eyes widen in haste once she sees it’s me she needs to deal with.

“I need two cosmos and a redneck cotillion.” The redneck cotillion is a drink that Mojo invented himself, too much whiskey and a dash of Coke and Tabasco sauce. It sells mostly because of the name he christened it with. I’m still waiting for a defamation lawsuit from the Redneck League. The world is so PC there has to be one.

I put the drinks together one by one and land them on the counter in front of her.

“Two cosmos and a redneck, all for you, Lexy.” The muscles in my jaw flex when I say her name that way. There’s a method to my madness, but I’m not up for sharing.

A dull huff escapes her lips as she leans in, wild-eyed with rage as if I just crossed the line. “Where do you live, Collins?”

Lex only invokes my last name when she’s had it with me. Usually it’s in jest—hell, she even called me that in bed a few times, and the thought alone curves a smile on my lips.

“Jepson Towers. Penthouse.” A part of me wants to impress her with it.

“Excellent. I’ll find a way to bribe the doorman and knife your balls off while you sleep.”

My dick twitches with the threat as if something about it had the power to turn it on. Hell, it did. Just the thought of Lex crawling into bed with me to do anything with my balls makes me happy.

“Massage them first and it might be worth it.” I can’t believe the words as they leave my lips, but they did and I decide to own them.

Her perfect pink lips fall open at the audacity I had to speak with her that way. The real reason I went there was because that’s the way we bantered once upon a time. She was sharp and caustic, and I’d lob it right back. We both loved every minute. Right now, I’m probably staring down the barrel of a sexual harassment suit. That too might be worth it if it means I get to spend more time with her—even if it is in a courtroom.

Lex pushes a quick breath from her lips as if centering herself in the madness. “What on earth do I have to do to get you to stop calling me that?”

“Go out with me.” I don’t miss a beat. Although, in hindsight I probably should have been more specific.

Lex tips her head back so quick you’d think someone had shot her.

“Okay.” She snaps her gaze to me once again.

“Okay?” I parrot back in disbelief. My heart slams against my chest so loud and fast it drowns out all of the chaos in the bar. There’s no way I heard that right.

“Don’t make me change my mind, Collins.” Her nostrils flare with rage as she piles the drinks on her tray and whisks off toward her table.

Holy shit. Lex and I are going out. Hell has frozen over. Pigs are flying. It’s the twelfth of never. Every idiom of improbability is employed in my life all at once.

My entire body enlivens with adrenaline. You could light a match under my feet and I’d rocket straight to Mars.

Lex—my Lex is back in my life. We’re going to work this time come hell or high water, and we’ve already been through both. She’s softening, molding to me, no longer able to avoid the gravitational pull of who we are—or at least that’s the version I’m feeding myself. Nevertheless, Lex and I are off the ground. We have liftoff, and I’ll make sure we never come crashing back down to earth again.