Lexis
Checking her phone for what seemed like the ten millionth time that night, Lexis sighed and sank back into her well-loved couch. Bryan had a demanding job, that was all. No need to think he’d blown off her suggestion of getting together that Sunday.
Granted, Sunday wasn’t the best night for a date, but it was the only time she could get her parents to watch Ash overnight, and she didn’t have to work. And she would need the whole night with Bryan.
She really didn’t care if others might say she was a slut for sleeping with a guy on the first date. Screw that. It had been over six years since she’d conceived Ashton, and that was the last time she’d partaken of any carnal pleasures that didn’t require batteries.
Bryan had worked for her attention, had proven that he didn’t just want an easy lay. If that had been the case, there was no doubt he could go to the local bar and take home any number of easy options. But she had made him work for it. Plus, she trusted the words he had so earnestly whispered in her ear earlier that day.
But maybe she had worked him too hard? Perhaps he had thought better of his attraction to her and decided she was too much work.
No. Stop it.
He had a demanding job that wouldn’t always allow for normal hours or prompt responses. Lexis just had to get used to that fact if she was going to pursue a relationship with a cop.
Her schedule wasn’t exactly the norm, either. Speaking of which, she only had forty-five minutes before she had to login. Ashton had been blissfully tired after a full day at school and then his martial arts class, and had passed out cold by eight thirty. That gave her exactly an hour before she had to be in place to start receiving calls.
At first, she had been thrilled to have some time to herself that didn’t involve caring for a small human, working one of her three jobs, or trying to keep her house semi-reasonably clean. But she had spent the first quarter of that hour obsessing over Bryan’s lack of response, instead of relaxing.
She heaved a sigh. What she wouldn’t give to have a glass of wine right now. But the end of her shift was still eight hours away, and after that she’d need to get Ashton off to school. Her bed seemed so far away. Her big. Lonely. Empty. Bed.
Needing a distraction, Lexis popped up from the couch and started a pot of coffee. She loved her job as a telephone triage nurse, but it meant odd hours and lots of caffeine. She had to sign into her computer by nine thirty. At that point, the company she contracted with would start routing calls to her work cell phone, and she would talk worried parents down from the ledge all night.
Lexis had been lucky to snag this job when she did. She hadn’t worked many hours as a nurse in a practical setting when she’d discovered the condom—that she had insisted Ashton’s deadbeat sperm donor wear—had broken, and she was pregnant. But the country-wide nursing shortage had worked to her advantage, and she was able to get a job that allowed her to be home whenever Ashton needed her, and that paid well. Plus, she was doing what she loved, assisting people with their health concerns, all while wearing PJs and snuggled on her couch.
A huge lion-esque yawn ripped through her while she waited for the coffee to percolate. As great as the job was, it did, however, mean that she got very little sleep. She had to have Ashton up and dressed for school by seven thirty in the morning. After dropping him off, she would get back home, clean up after breakfast, throw some laundry in the machines, do a couple of odd chores, and hope to fall into bed around nine.
Five hours later, her alarm would go off, she would shower, go pick up Ashton from school, take him to one of his many activities, and then get him home, fed, and into bed by nine, so she could get ready to start work at nine thirty.
Then she answered calls and filled out charts online until seven thirty, when she would start all over again. That was her schedule Tuesday night through Friday morning. Then most Friday and Saturday nights she spent hosting the Naughty and Nice parties for women looking to spice up their sex lives. Saturdays she also worked in her dad’s garage, helping him with his filing and invoicing. Sundays were reserved solely for her and Ashton and fun.
And now, hopefully, for Bryan as well.
If he ever answered her.
Coffee made, Lexis settled back into her spot, laptop ready for work, and Gilmore Girls on mute in the background. Her phone taunted her from its resting place on the coffee table. She wouldn’t check again. She knew she had it set to vibrate. If he texted, she would hear it.
Oh well. Time to put the hot cop out of her head and get to work. So what if she logged in a little early? It was better than sitting there torturing herself.
Lexis grabbed her headset from the drawer in the side table and attached it to the phone she used only for work. Not two minutes after logging into the triage system, the first call came in and she accepted it. “After-hours triage line, how can I help you?”
“Um, hi, yes, I have a four-month-old baby, and she is vomiting, like real vomit, not baby spit up. It came out her nose and everything.” The frantic voice of an overwhelmed mother echoed through the earpiece.
Man, Lexis knew that feeling, all too well. There was nothing worse than the child you loved with all your heart being in pain and you not being able to do a damn thing about it. “Okay ma’am, don’t worry. Let me just get a little more information.” She went through the checklist of questions, all while trying to calm the woman down. She wouldn’t do her baby any good if she was all wound up.
“Can I give her some aspirin? I mean, her fever is really high, like almost one hundred.”
Lexis’ personal cell rattled on the table, signaling a new text. The laptop almost crashed to the floor as she lunged to grab the phone. Flipping it over, she saw the notification that she had a text from Bryan before the screen went dark again.
“Yes!” The exclamation slipped out before she remembered the woman on the other side of the phone line and her question. “I mean, no. Sorry, no. Definitely do not give your baby aspirin. It can be very dangerous for those under eighteen months old. Ninety-nine degrees isn’t actually considered a fever in infants her age. But if it would make you feel better, you can give her a low dose of Tylenol.”
Lexis tried to ignore the waiting text, while she finished consulting with the woman and advised her to call her doctor in the morning if the baby’s condition didn’t improve. Once she hung up with the woman, Lexis made a few notations in the child’s chart before frantically opening her phone to read the text.
Bryan: Sorry Lex, working on a tough case and got bogged down today. Sunday sounds great. Did you have any ideas on what you wanted to do? Or can I wing it?
Lexis squealed like a little girl and did a little happy dance in her seat. He hadn’t been blowing her off. It was just his job. With a grin so big her cheeks started to cramp, she started in on her reply.
Lexis: Sorry about the tough case. I know you can crack it though. Wing away, sexy. I’m excited to see what you come up with for our date.
Bryan: I’m shocked you're still awake. I figured you hot moms went to bed early to keep up your MILF status.
Lexis: Ugh, you did not just call me a MILF! That is so wrong.
Bryan: But true. You are a mom. And I definitely want to fuck you.
Cheeks burning, Lexis laid her free hand against her heated skin, trying to cool it down.
Lexis: You are bad.
Bryan: No, I promise I am very, very good.
Annnnd her panties were soaked. Saying goodbye to Bryan, Lexis turned back to her work, determined not to get distracted for the rest of the night. But the stupid happy grin stayed glued to her face, no matter how many grumpy parents she talked to for the next seven hours.
***
Four days simultaneously flew by and dragged on for what seemed like ages. Lexis both couldn’t wait for and wanted to put off her date with Bryan. After Ashton, dating had been put on hold for an undetermined amount of time. She had had offers here and there, but no one that made her want to risk the delicate balance that was her busy life.
Until Bryan.
He made the risk seem worthwhile. But as date night approached, her heart stayed in a perpetual gallop, and she had to talk herself out of no less than three panic attacks. Crazy questions kept popping into her head.
What if they had nothing to talk about?
What if he suddenly realized that dating a single mom was too much trouble?
What if her long streak of celibacy meant that she was basically a virgin and sex suddenly hurt like hell again? Losing her virginity had sucked enough once; she really didn’t want to go through that again.
But then she thought of the way Bryan looked at her. The way he had continued to patrol the neighborhood, even though she knew the police department had stopped assigning the detail to anyone. And her anxieties eased. Slightly.
After dropping Ashton off at her parents’ house, she raced back home to get ready for the date. It wasn’t unusual for her son to spend Sundays with his grandparents, but it was unusual for him to spend the night. But it would be good for him. For her parents too. They loved their grandson completely and were always trying to spend more time with him. After five years, it was time for Lexis to spend a night away from Ash. And long past time for her to have a hot roll between the sheets.
Lexis hated running late, ironic considering how much of her life was spent being late for things. She rationalized that if she got home by four, she could shower, dress, and get ready in time for Bryan to pick her up at six.
Forcing herself to remain below the speed limit, she pulled down her street at what seemed like glacial speed. Her first surprise for the day was the van sitting in the driveway of the house next door. That place had sat empty for the past year, in large part because the previous owners had been a bunch of partying football players who had trashed the place. She’d been glad to see them go.
Lexis parked in her driveway and ambled over to the connecting yard to meet her new neighbors. The houses on her street were all fairly close together, with only a few feet separating her bedroom wall from the side of the neighbor’s house. Just as she stepped onto their driveway, a thin man in frayed jeans and a white tank top came out onto the porch.
“Hi, I’m your new neighbor.” She pointed to her house over her shoulder and plastered a smile on her face. “Just wanted to come over to introduce myself and see if you needed anything.”
The man walked closer, closing the van door on his way. “Hi, name’s Wyatt. I don’t believe I caught yours.”
“Oh, right, sorry, it’s been a day. My name is Lexis.” She held her hand out, and he took it, pumping it up and down with a loose, sweaty grip. As she pulled her hand away, Lexis shoved down the need to wipe her palm off on her own jeans.
“Well, it is nice to meet you. My son and I have lived next door for three years, and the last year of that, this place has been empty and falling deeper into disrepair. Good to see there’ll be someone here taking care of the place now.”
Lexis pushed her hands into her pockets, resting on her heels to get an extra inch or two between them. The way he looked at her made her skin crawl. Of course she was used to men looking at her. The large chest and big butt were to blame for that. But this guy leered a little too much.
“I’m glad you’re happy we’re here. I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a bit of each other.”
Not knowing how to respond, Lexis simply smiled and took a step toward her own home. “Well, I have to get ready for my boyfriend to pick me up. Good luck with the move.”
She spun on her heel and headed back to her side of the grass. She didn’t know why she had called Bryan her boyfriend. She just wanted the guy to know that there was someone in her life. Make it clear she had no interest in him beyond being neighborly and waving hello on occasion.
When she stepped back onto her porch, she turned to see if he had gone back inside. But instead she found Wyatt still standing where she had left him, only another, larger man had joined him. They both stared at her, the larger of the two with a sneer on his face. Turning quickly, Lexis hustled into her house and locked the door behind her.
All through her shower and getting dressed, she tried to shake the odd feeling the men had given her. She was being ridiculous. They were just two guys checking her out. Nothing new. But the unease wouldn’t leave her chest, no matter how many times she tried to tell herself she was being silly.