Hooking Up Page 18

“Hold on. Let me help.” Lex’s hand trails down the outside of my thigh. I grip his shoulder, unsure whether the aching throb between my legs is related to my bursting bladder, or if the feel of his hand skimming the entire length of my leg is creating a different kind of ache. He turns his face, his cheek pressed up against my hip as he wrestles with my tangled purse strap.

“Okay, you’re good.” He pats my ass and sits back in his seat.

His eyes go wide, just like mine, but I don’t have time to call him on the ass tap because my bladder reminds me just how precarious my situation is, and how much more embarrassing it could get.

I rush down the aisle, more grateful than I’ve ever been in my life to see that little green vacant sign. I throw myself into the bathroom, pull the door shut, hike up my skirt, and drop my panties. They’re sapphire blue satin with black lace accents. I bought them a long time ago, before Armstrong and his “I only like white lingerie” ridiculousness. Now I get to wear them whenever I want. I wonder if Lexington would like them.

“Stop it,” I chastise myself. I can still feel his hand on my butt, though. It was clearly an accident. I shocked him awake with my boobs in his face. The ass tap was purely reflexive.

I sigh with relief as the pressure in my bladder slowly dissipates, but that ache, the one low in my belly, still remains. I have no idea how many more hours I have on this plane with Lex, but it’s going to be serious torture to sit beside his hotness, replaying the humiliating, albeit clit-throbbingly, amazing moments in which his mouth was connected to mine and his hard-on was between my legs.

As I’m reliving that moment in my head, a sudden bout of turbulence shakes the plane and rattles the door. I hope it’s an isolated event and that this isn’t going to be one of those flights where I spend the entire time white-knuckling the armrests. I rush to finish my business so I can get back to my seat before we’re hit with more turbulence. I open the door, still adjusting my stupid skirt so it covers the damn garters, and find Lex standing on the other side, wearing a placid smile. My cheeks are once again hot as I move past him, muttering “Excuse me” to the man waiting behind him.

I return to my seat and check my phone for the time. We’ve only been in the air for little more than two hours. Awesome. More than fifteen hours to go and the embarrassing moments keep running like ticker tape. I realize I didn’t even let Ruby know I made it through security safely, or that I’m in the air. I quickly connect to WiFi and compose an email.

Made it through security. Full carry-on search—which was awesome considering I packed ALL of my toys and checked the wrong bag. My humiliation is extreme and overwhelming. I also have an interesting seat partner on the plane. I’ll call when I land and tell you all about it.

XO

Anarchy Amie

I fire it off just as Lexington sits back down. The flight attendant stops by with drinks and snacks. I accept some champagne, because it’s free and I might as well get my buzz back. Or fall asleep again if I’m lucky. Lexington orders coffee and water. He’s too well behaved to be the bad boy I originally thought he was.

He smiles wryly at my champagne, pulls out his laptop and a couple of files, and unfolds his seat tray from the armrest. I pretend to leaf through the airplane magazine while I sip my bubbly, watching curiously as he reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out a small case. Flipping it open, he withdraws a pair of glasses and slides them on.

Dear sweet lord of all things panty melting, this has to be the sexiest man to ever walk the planet. The only thing that would make him sexier would be if he was holding a puppy, or better yet, a baby.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses.” It comes out all soft and breathless.

He touches the frames, and for the first time he looks a little embarrassed. “I don’t wear them often, mostly just when I’m on the computer for long periods of time.”

“They suit you.”

That earns me a smile. “Thanks.”

I gesture to his laptop, struggling for topics of conversation. I don’t know why I’m bothering. Clearly, he wants to work and I should just leave him alone. “You expect to get a lot done during the flight?” I don’t know Lexington well apart from the occasional mutual dinner parties we attend, mostly because I’ve only ever been around him with Armstrong present, and their dislike for each other has always been very apparent. My first impression of him, which initially was of his overwhelming attractiveness and his intense flirty-ness, was also tainted by Armstrong’s warning that he was bad news. Based on what I now know about Armstrong, I’m not so sure I should’ve listened to him in the first place.

Lex shrugs. “We’ll see. I have a few properties I have to visit and some projects to work on, so it doesn’t hurt to start laying some of the groundwork before I get there. Besides, I fully expect my father to come at me with a million questions within an hour of landing, so it helps to be prepared.”

Lexington tugs at his tie, loosening it until he can lift it over his head. He unfastens the top two buttons on his shirt. I gasp and skim my fingertips over the faint purple mark low on his neck. Touching him feels like running my fingers past a live wire. He jerks at the contact and I snatch my hand away, pressing it to my lips. I can both smell and taste his cologne.

“I’m so sorry about that,” I say from behind my fingers.

He chuckles and strokes the dark spot. “Don’t be. It makes me nostalgic for my teen years.”

I bite my lip to contain my grin. “Oh my God. I was grounded for a month the first time I came home with a hickey.”

“First time? Were there multiple infractions?”

“I had a boyfriend in high school who liked to mark his territory. Needless to stay, he was not a family favorite.” But he sure was good with his mouth. I don’t mention that while I was in high school he was in his second year of college.

“I dated a girl who hickeyed her name across my stomach.” Lexington’s eyes light up with the memory.

“Did she at least have a short name?”

“It was Jennifer, but she went by Jen with one N, so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Well, that’s not true. She made those letters big and it was pool weather.”

“Oh my God.” I can totally imagine Lexington with abs covered in hickeys.

“I was a lifeguard. I had to wear a tank top in the water for almost two weeks. Mimi was not happy.”

Mimi, or Meredith—Lex’s mother—is a lovely, mostly proper woman, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of what might be impishness. It’s just the little things she says, the digs she gets in with her sister, Gwendolyn—Armstrong’s mother. “How old were you?”

“Maybe seventeen or eighteen. She was concerned about the negative influence on Bancroft, not that she had to worry, he was all sports, all the time. I don’t think he even knew girls existed until college.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Especially with the way he is with Ruby. Those two treat sex like it’s an Olympic sport. I want that kind of connection with someone. I’d hoped I would have that with Armstrong, eventually, but in the back of my mind I think I knew it would never be like that.

“He was a bit oblivious.”

“What about Griffin?” He’s the oldest of the Mills brothers, Lexington being in the middle.

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