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“You act like I mean to scar the woman.”
He huffs out a breath. “Ry, I don’t know what you do to them. But, every time you’re with a woman for longer than a month, they end up so screwed up I have to get them into therapy. I love you like a brother, but I cannot let you near my wife’s friend.”
I raise my hand in surrender. “Geez, I’m not that bad.” What am I, contagious?
“Really? What about India?”
I recall the doe-eyed brunette. “You know she had daddy issues.”
Xavier goes a little green.
“What the fuck, man, you used to get through just as many women as me and now you’re suddenly acting like a saint.”
“For one, I never put any of my exes in a shrink’s chair, you twisted fuck. Now, get this; you’re not playing games with Stella. I don’t care if she tells you she’s up for it.”
I shrug. “She said no anyway.”
“Smart move.” Xavier’s deep scowl disappears in relief. “So, where does that leave you?”
I’d been hoping to steer the conversation along the lines of Xavier putting in a good word for me, but I see that has zero chance of happening. Shame. I was starting to get excited and yes, more than a little nervous about living under the same roof as Stella. She does something to me. Arouses me to no end and threatens my iron-clad control.
And there’s the other matter of her eyes. Christ. They feel like lasers burning into me, leaving behind the most delicious sting.
And the way she responds to me like she’s made for me. Her flawless skin and that sexy butterfly tattoo. As if she knows how I like to fuck, and got that tattoo just to drive me crazy as I slide in and out of her tight, clutching depths.
When she left my office last week, I’d caught the sheen of tears and the slight tremor in her voice. She’d been hurt. Was it something I said? Something I did? She’d been crying the other day in her apartment, too.
Perhaps Xavier is right. Stella might not be as tough as she looks.
“Have you considered asking Vanessa?” Xavier suddenly asks. “I know she’ll be more than happy to help you.”
I frown. Vanessa is a mutual friend from college and an old flame of Xavier’s who had a bit of trouble letting him go. “I don’t want to marry Vanessa.”
“We both know you don’t want to marry at all, Ry. It’s only a transaction. Vanessa is an attractive woman, and I’ve not known you to be choosy; you do friends and foes alike.”
“Fuck you.”
He only laughs. Xavier has climbed this disgusting high horse since getting married. The jackass probably gets laid several times a day but somehow is still above reproach because he happens to be married.
“Ry, I mean it. When you’re done throwing a fit, you’ll see I’m actually handing you a lifeline here.”
I shake my head. “It’s no use. Vanessa won’t cut it because I already told my family I’m marrying Stella.”
Xavier rears back in shock. “You told them about Stella without first asking her? Have you lost your mind?”
I shrug. “I must have.”
“Unbelievable. Well, you could tell them Vanessa’s middle name is Stella. Or perhaps see if Vanessa wouldn’t mind being called Stella for six months.”
“Such a genius idea,” I mutter.
Ignoring my sarcastic reply Xavier continues, “Ry, you know Stella could even be an endearment, it means star, doesn’t it?” He murmurs as if testing it, “My star. My Stella. Could work.”
Xavier is trying his hardest to push this. I imagine it’d be nice to be able to tell Brooke that Vanessa is now being shipped off to Seattle, where she is unlikely to be making eyes at her husband.
I shake my head, feeling somewhat sheepish to admit the rest. “Save it, Einstein; they know what she looks like. Gina nagged a photo of me and ended up showing it to everyone.”
The two women couldn’t be less alike. Vanessa is a tall brunette. Stella is petite and blonde. And so fucking beautiful.
