Striving to maintain composure, she wandered into the kitchen, her bare feet padding across smooth hardwood. The mouthwatering aroma of braised baby back ribs wafted from the microwave. “Mmm, that smells good.”
As she brushed past Quentin, he sniffed appreciatively at her. “Yousmell good.”
“What—as opposed to the way I normally do?” Lexi quipped.
He grinned, playfully tweaking her nose. It was something he’d done a thousand times before. But now, even the simplest touch sent shivers up and down her spine.
Fighting to ignore her body’s traitorous reaction to him, Lexi walked over to the gleaming Sub-Zero refrigerator and pulled one side open. “What’s your poison?”
“Water’s good, actually.”
She grabbed two bottles of Perrier.
As she handed one to Quentin, he made a face. “Don’t you ever have anyrealwater?”
“Nope. Want real water?” She grinned, pointing to the sink faucet. “Knock yourself out.”
“Damn, Lex, that’s cold.”
She laughed, hopping onto the granite countertop. “That’s what you get for complaining about my Perrier, you ingrate.”
“Keep talking and I’ll eat all these ribs by myself. And you know I can.”
“Don’t you dare!”
He laughed, removing their hot food from the microwave. He passed her a plate, then lowered himself onto the long center island so that they were facing each other.
Lexi bit into a juicy rib, closed her eyes and groaned. “Mmm. How’d you know I was in the mood for barbecue?”
Quentin gave her a lazy smile. “Don’t you know by now that I can read your mind?”
She grinned weakly. “Of course. How could I forget?”Thank God you really can’t!
“How was your day?” They spoke at the same time, then laughed softly.
Quentin said, “Do you realize we ask each other that question every day?”
“We do?” At his nod, Lexi shrugged. “So? What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. It’s just that…Mike and Reese…” Trailing off, he shook his head with a low chuckle. “Forget it. It’s nothing.”
Lexi ate a forkful of bourbon baked beans. “So howwasyour day?”
“Busy. Productive.”
“I bet. Big day tomorrow.” She grinned at him. “How’s your adrenaline? Through the roof yet?”
“Not quite.”
“Really?” That gave her pause. “Well, give it a few more hours, and you’ll be bouncing off the walls.”
“Probably.” His answering smile was distracted. “How wasyourday?”
“Good. Samara and I had a conference call with Reese’s sister, Raina, to finalize the plans for Reese’s baby shower next Saturday. We really wanted to have it in Sterling’s garden, but it’s going to be too cold. So we’re having it at the restaurant. Wait till you see how we decorate the place. It’s going to be so beautiful.”
“Yeah?” Quentin murmured, chewing his food.
Lexi grinned wryly. “Wait, what am I thinking? You don’t care about decorations. You probably won’t even notice them ’cause you’ll be too busy flirting with all the single women there.”
