Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

“ O h my god, I can’t believe he’s bailing again. Asshole!” Lucy screams, throwing her phone onto her coffee table.

“Woah, what happened?” I ask. I’m used to Lucy’s dramatics. She’s always been one to overreact to situations.

“Xavier, I’m going to kill him. He’s bailing on dinner tonight. Again ,” she groans.

At the mention of her brother’s name, my shoulders noticeably stiffen. Memories of his hands all over me, his mouth kissing up the side of my neck, his fingers…

Shit, no, I’m not thinking about that again. I ran out on him on Friday night for a good reason. What kind of girl lets their best friend’s brother finger-bang her in the middle of a dance floor?

Me, apparently.

“It’s dinner with your parents, Lucy. It’s hardly a disaster. I’m sure you’ll survive,” I tell her, plopping down beside her on the couch.

“No, I won’t. They’ve been trying to set me up with Dominic McKinley. I wanted Xavier there to act as a buffer.”

“Who?” I ask.

“The son of some business associate of theirs from Sydney. Doesn’t matter who he is; he’s a psychopath and I want absolutely nothing to do with him.” She scowls.

Reaching over, I press the pad of my thumb against her mouth. “Stop frowning. You’ll give yourself wrinkles.”

Lucy swats my hand away from her face. “Good. Maybe if I get ugly, Dominic will take one look at me and won’t be interested in pursuing this stupid setup from our parents.”

“Sure, that’s likely to never happen. There’s no way you can make yourself ugly, no matter how much you try,” I tell her.

“Argh, maybe I’ll just call my mum and dad and tell them I’m coming down with the flu or something.” She throws her head back against the couch, closing her eyes.

“If you do that, your mum will be on your doorstep within the hour with a doctor.” I laugh.

Lucy and Xavier really lucked out in the parental department; their mum and dad are both really involved in their lives, especially their mother, Shirley. I lucked out in the mother department too—mine was just taken from me far too early.

“You can come with me. Yes, let’s do that. That way, if I give you the signal that we need an escape, you can say you have to leave and I have to go with you because I’m the driver.” She smiles like she’s just thought of the best plan in the world.

“Sure, I’ll come and have dinner with your parents. But you’re definitely overreacting, Lucy. They’re hardly going to make you date some guy you’re not interested in.”

“Maybe, but they haven’t stopped talking about him and how they want us to meet. And blah, blah, blah. Anyway, it’ll be fine if you’re there.” Wrapping her arms around me, she whispers, “I’m so lucky I have you.”

“Right back at ya, LuLu.” I use the nickname I know she pretends to hate but secretly loves whenever I say it.

“It’s good to see you again, Shar. Come on in. Everyone’s in the dining room.” Shirley smiles at me before giving Lucy the type of look that only a mother can.

“Sorry we’re late, Mum. Traffic was backed up,” Lucy lies. We’re late because, up until we exited the car two minutes ago, she was still trying to find creative ways to cancel.

“Mhmm, I’m sure it was. You look lovely, darling. Come on, let’s eat before everything goes cold.” Shirley turns, leaving Lucy and me to follow her.

I’m entering the dining room, behind Lucy, and ram straight into her back because she halts just over the threshold. “Lucy, what the hell?” I hiss. Stepping past her, I see what has her attention. The dining table is full of people. There’s another family sitting on one side, but they’re not what has my breath hitching at first sight. It’s the one person sitting alone, opposite them. The person who’s not supposed to be here.

Xavier. His eyes travel up and down my body, sending goosebumps along their path. I was not prepared for this. I’ve been mentally talking up what I’m going to say to him tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning, when I knew I would finally have to face him in the office.

I’m not ready to face him yet. Also, what do you say to your boss after he finger-bangs you in a nightclub, giving you one hell of an orgasm? Is there specific etiquette for that sort of situation?

“Lucy, you remember the McKinleys and their son, Dominic,” her father, Gerry, says.

“Ah, yeah. Hi, how are you…?” Lucy responds, her steps reluctant as she approaches the table.

“Shar, this is Dean and Ella McKinley and their son, Dominic,” Gerry explains as I take my seat. “Shar is a good friend of Lucy’s, almost like a second daughter to us really,” he adds.

Xavier starts choking on something, quickly picking up a glass of water before gulping it down. Ignoring his theatrics, I look to the McKinleys and offer a polite smile. When my eyes land on Dominic, he isn’t looking back at me—no, he’s staring directly at Lucy, who is now sitting to my right. Thankfully, she placed herself in the middle of the table, between Xavier and me.

The McKinley kid’s stare is lethal; it kind of reminds me of a panther. Something hunting its prey. Lucy being his intended target. Intimidating glare aside, the guy is freaking smoking hot. Dark hair, tanned skin like he spends a lot of time at the beach, and tattoos that climb beneath the sleeve of his polo on one arm.

I reach my hand under the table and link my fingers with Lucy’s. She’s shaking. I turn my head in her direction and whisper, “Are you okay?”

“Fine, just bloody fine,” she hisses back under her breath.

Half an hour later, dessert is being brought out. I’ve done my best to avoid looking across at Xavier. It’s not easy but it’s also not that hard, when I’m hyperfocused on Lucy’s reaction to her dinner guest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so flustered and fidgety before. Although, if I had the attention of Dominic all night, I’d probably be squirming too. That guy’s intense, so serious. He hasn’t said much. He just keeps staring at my best friend, as if he’s either planning to eat her alive or trying to figure her out. Like she’s a puzzle he can’t quite unravel.

Good luck to him if it’s the latter—that girl is far from an open book.

A plate of chocolate sponge cake is placed in front of me; it’s covered in ice cream and whipped cream. I’m suddenly thankful I tagged along. The Christiansons sure do know how to host a dinner party. I wait for everyone else’s plates to be served to them. As much as I want to pick my fork up and just shovel a heap of this deliciousness into my mouth, I try to remember my manners.

“Triple honey chocolate trifle, as requested, sir.” A waiter places the last plate in front of Xavier.

“Thank you,” he says with a smirk.

“You requested a different dessert?” Lucy asks him.

“Honey’s my new favourite flavour,” he says in reply.

“Excuse me.” I stand abruptly and practically run out of the dining room, his words from the nightclub playing on repeat in my mind.

“ Fucking honey .” That’s what he said while he was licking his fingers clean of my… well, you know what. Damn it. Entering a bathroom, I lock the door behind me. I splash my face with cold water. I need to get out of here. I can’t be blushing at the damn dinner table.

It’s almost over , I tell myself.

Except I know Mr and Mrs Christianson will soon move the gathering to another room for after-dinner drinks. I can’t be trusted around Xavier—that much is clear. I just need to come up with an excuse to leave. Steeling my nerves, I exit the bathroom and reclaim my seat at the table.

Lucy’s eyebrows draw down at me. “Are you okay?”

“Ah, yeah, I just feel a headache coming on,” I tell her.

“I can take you home,” she offers.

“Do you mind?” I ask, knowing full well she’s dying to get out of here just as much as I am.

“Not at all.” She smiles. “Mum, Dad, Shar’s not feeling well. I’m going to take her home.”

“Oh, honey, is there anything I can get you?” Shirley asks.

“Oh, no, I’m okay. I’m sure I just need to sleep.”

“Okay, well, you call if you’re not feeling better tomorrow, and I’ll get the doctor to come see you.” Mrs Christianson smiles. And I fully expect to have a doctor show up on my doorstep in the morning. If it were left up to me, and I actually were sick, I’d be taking a trip to the free clinic, not having a doctor perform a house call.

Lucy and I stand, and I make the mistake of looking at Xavier as he follows suit. “Lucy, you stay. I’m heading that way. I can drop Shardonnay off. I have an early case in the morning. I need to leave anyway.”

“What? No, it’s fine,” she says, then glances from me to her brother. I’m not sure what she sees, but I see red and the impending murder of my best friend at the smile that spreads across her face. “Actually, Xav, that would be really great if you could. I’ll just crash here tonight,” Lucy replies, hammering down that final nail in my coffin.

“I’m going to kill you,” I hiss at her.

“Sorry, not sorry.” She shrugs before plopping back down on her chair.