A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (2 page)

One more year.

He had one more obligatory year of courses before he finished graduate school and could begin looking for funding for his IT company. He had no doubt that his parents would try to steer him in a direction more conducive to promoting their illustrious family name, but in the twelve months before that happened, he planned to put a number of measures in place.

Measures that might just help him raise the money he needed for the startup himself. The thought made him smile – and for a bit of show, he even pretended to take notes on his pinch-faced professor’s lecture. At least for the last five minutes. When the class was over, his was the first one out the door.

It wasn’t that Lachey was a bad programmer. Quite the contrary, actually. She was pretty decent - second in the department. But when it came to speed and accuracy, Xavier found few that matched himself. Of course, he didn’t actually
need
to be good at programming. His family name could hypothetically carry him through any degree that he wanted. His father was a trustee on the University board – he’d bought in as soon as Xavier had been accepted.

But if there was one thing that Xavier was sick of, it was being lauded, idolized and adored when he had done absolutely nothing. Sure, there were people in his family that were genuinely talented. Certainly, his grandfather had been a pioneer in the clean energy business, and had made his first million by the time he was twenty five. But, unlike the rest of his family, Xavier didn’t necessarily see being nationally recognizable as anything convenient.

He didn’t want to coast on someone else’s expectations, and while he’d never been ungrateful for what he had, he wanted to make his own name – leave his own mark. Unluckily for him, it would take a lot more than sheer ambition to break free of the Thompson name. He’d been at Antioch for a year, and just now, he was beginning to be recognized not because of who his parents and grandparents were, but for his own talents. Xavier’s undergraduate years had been fraught with both professors and students wanting to be his best friend – paying him favors he didn’t deserve and genuinely treating him like some kind of pseudo-celebrity.

His own identity was liberating. It was a small triumph that left him feeling utterly elated. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t Garret Thompson’s son, or Reginald Thompson’s grandson. He was just Xavier. It was nice to know that he could make it on his own steam – both in his academic and social life.

Xavier couldn’t lie. When he’d first arrived at college, he’d thrown his name around almost recklessly, gaining entry to every party and free drinks at every bar. It wasn’t until people started asking him for things in return –expecting boons from him that he didn’t necessarily owe them –that he realized that it wasn’t him that people liked.

That
women
liked.

As he headed towards the library, the young man frowned. How many women had he fallen head over heels for only to realize that they only saw dollar signs when they looked at him? Of course, as a freshman he’d been young and naïve, susceptible to the wiles of many a college co-ed offering him a post-party tumble. Women were his weakness. Both of his sisters attested that his heart was large when it came to the fairer sex. He tended to trust too easily, and fall too quickly – which, Brandy, the eldest, was very happy to remind him he certainly didn’t need to do.

As many times as she’d explained to Xavier that he was literally the definition of what women wanted in a man, he tended to ignore her. His sister could be very material, and she changed men like she changed outfits. What Xavier was seeking – unlike most men his age – was commitment; and he honestly could give two flying fucks about his looks if they didn’t help him in that department.

Sure, he was tall. Most people never realized how tall because he was usually sitting in front of a computer, but his long form topped out at a few inches over six feet. As he stepped in front of the mirrored exterior of the library, Xavier examined his reflection critically. He wore a gray sweater over a black button up and dark wash jeans – his usual uniform. Blue eyes were framed by dark rimmed glasses and a few days-worth of dark stubble spread over his sharp chin and high cheeks. His mouth, Brandy had informed him, was criminally full – even if he didn’t understand how, and genes had given him a head of dark mahogany curls that were cropped just above his ears.

He supposed that, in reality, he wasn’t the typical nerd. He always knew when it was time to take a break from his programming and hit the gym. In fact, when he hit a roadblock in his business plan, or couldn’t crack a specific code, it was to the gym he turned first. He couldn’t take out his frustration on volatile technology, but he could take it out by pushing his body to the limit – to exhausting himself to the point where his anger dissipated and he could begin anew.

As a result of this little quirk in his personality, he wasn’t as skinny as his fellow programmers – even if his skin was just as pale from lack of sun. His broad shoulders filled out the clothes that he wore, and he sometimes had trouble finding shirts that would fit comfortably over his biceps.

Xavier supposed that he was decent looking enough. He never had any shortage of girls chasing after him – though they did it for all the wrong reasons. As his more bookish friends attested: he was a god among nerds.

He was sure his sister would take that statement and run – which was exactly why he’d never told her about it. As close as he and Brandy were, she could be a bit overbearing at times.

With a sigh, Xavier headed into the library, making a beeline for the gleaming Apple desktops that lined the back walls. He had been doing a bit of freelance coding in a bid to raise money for his startup, and it was better that he didn’t do it on his personal computer. God knew what his parents would think if they discovered that he was putting skills they disliked to good use.

The very thought made the young man smile. Said thought, however, enveloped him so completely that he ran straight into someone emerging from the catalogued rows. To his horror, books and papers immediately flew everywhere and the young woman he’d collided with gave a low cry of dismay.

Embarrassed, Xavier immediately dropped to his knees to begin gathering up the items that he’d spilled. “I’m
so
sorry.” His words were earnest as he stacked several print outs on top of a number of books. “I didn’t see you.”

“God
.” The girl answered in a long suffering voice, kneeling next to him as she sifted through the papers that littered the floor. “I just collated these…I’m going to have to go through them all over again.” She looked up to meet his gaze, and Xavier’s stomach did a strange little number that left him feeling hot and cold at the same time. His breath was stolen from him, and for what seemed like the better part of an eternity, all he could do was stare. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m just a little….stressed right now.”

He hardly registered what she was saying.

The woman before him had to be a freshman – and he said so not because she appeared particularly young, but because he hadn’t seen her before. Xavier was sure of it. If he’d ever caught even a glimpse of her, he would have remembered. Her skin was the color of coffee with cream – milk chocolate – smooth and unmarred by a single scar. The color contrasted sharply with uniquely colored gray eyes that peeked out at him from beneath a fall of straight, glossy black hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her mouth was small and pert, her lips lush and full – and her body.

Christ, she was living sin.

Poured into a pair of jeans that hugged her ample hips like a second skin and a cream-colored cardigan open over a camisole that dipped low over her chest, exposing the vee of her cleavage, he was sure she hadn’t planned on trying to draw every man within a ten mile radius that morning; but Xavier certainly felt the pull of her allure. Her beauty was exotic – captivating – and atop that, she smelled like absolute heaven. Some mixture of vanilla and lavender that made him want to taste every part of her. His reaction to her was sudden, visceral, and completely unexpected. The moment between them stretched until the girl arched a brow at his vacant expression.

“Um…I’ll take those.” When she indicated the pile of papers and books in his arms, it broke him from his trance. He cleared his throat, handing them to her. “I’m…I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“Obviously.” She shot back with a small, strained smile, taking the load from him and staggering under its weight. She was a tiny thing – well under five and a half feet – and yet she was carrying enough material for two people her size. “Don’t worry about it. Thanks for your help.” And just like that, she turned from him – revealing an ass that he swore had its own spotlight.

There was no way he could just let her walk away.

“Hey, wait!” He called after her softly, careful to keep his voice down. The dark-skinned girl paused to glance over her shoulder at him, her expression impatient.

“Yes?”

Xavier stepped forward, trying his warmest, most charming smile. “Can I help you carry any of that? Where are you headed?”

“I’ve got it.” She stepped back before he could shoulder any of her load, her expression wary. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine.” Before she could hurry off, Xavier couldn’t resist trying one more time.

“Could I get your name, then?”

At the inquiry, the young woman’s eyes widened. Without a single word, she made her way for the main entrance of the library, leaving a disappointed Xavier in her wake.

What the hell had that been about? She’d seemed all but terrified to even talk to him. Frowning, he leaned against a nearby bookcase, staring after her as she headed towards what looked like the tutoring center. Her reaction wasn’t the one that he was used to. Usually, women fell all over themselves to get to Xavier, and while he had come to find the attention annoying in recent years, for once, he wished he could have garnered that reaction from a woman who genuinely held his interest.

She hadn’t even given him a second glance.

Then again, she’d mentioned something about being stressed. Xavier had gotten a look at the books in her arms and the mere memory made him wince. Biochemistry. Anatomy and Physiology. He was good with numbers but science had never been his forte. Her major must be in the health field – which might explain why she was so harried.

That wasn’t, however, going to keep him from salivating over her.

He hadn’t seen curves like that in a good long while – and if Xavier was a sucker for anything, it was a woman with curves. He tended to shy away from women who were stick thin – girls with fake breasts who wore contraptions to give themselves boosts they didn’t naturally have. While he respected women of all shapes and sizes, this one had impacted him in a way that had him making a beeline for the computers the moment that he realized that his reaction to her was quite noticeable.

Once he was seated in front of a monitor, Xavier forced himself to take a breath. They both went to the same school. There was no way he’d be able to graduate without running into her again somewhere. He would simply have to bide his time.

Though he could make himself force the image of her full mouth and miniscule waist to the back of his mind, he couldn’t forget the dark beauty entirely. It was an effort to set himself to the coding he had slated for that day. Xavier knew that throughout the entire afternoon and into the evening, he would be tormented, not knowing her identity.

Which meant he’d have to go on the hunt.

At the thought, he smirked. If Brandy ever got wind of this, she would
never
let it go.

**

She
had
to pass this exam.

Despite the fact that her tutor had left almost three hours earlier, claiming that there was nothing left to teach her, Helena remained in their cubicle, trying to absorb every word of her biology book.

She supposed she should count herself lucky that she found the information stimulating. Before she’d discovered her passion for science and health, there had been a decided lack of stimulation in her life. She’d been working with her father to find her passion for about three years before he’d finally suggested to her that she accompany him to work one day.

Mind you, it had never really been part of Helena’s plan to go into the medical field. She was squeamish beyond measure, and the poisonous years she’d spent with her mother had taught her that doctors were charlatans. That they took your money and gave you very little in return. Of course, she now realized the naiveté of that idea. Her first day following her father to work had been one of the most eye opening of her entire life.

Doctors were healers – amazingly educated people who learned to save lives – who helped people wherever they went. Helena had never before contemplated that such a thing might be within her power. Up until she started living with her father, she’d been told she was nothing at every possible opportunity.

Isaiah Graves had shown his daughter that there was an entirely different side to life as she knew it. When her mother had deserted her, he had taken her in utterly without question. He’d revealed to her how hurt and desolate he’d been that he hadn’t been allowed in his only daughter’s life and promised to make amends for all the time they had lost with one another.