An Exceptional Twist (42 page)

He stood up, pulling her with him, engulfing
her in his arms. “I’m sorry. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I
swear, I’ve never known any other way until I met you. But I've
learned. It kills me to see that I’m the source of any of your
pain.”

Leah placed her hand on
his chest and pushed away so he could see her face. “I’ve been able
to move on, and I’m grateful for the new ‘us’, but please don't
take advantage of that. I couldn’t handle a second heartbreak from
you.” Her eyes started glossing over. She’d never intended
on
ever
sharing
this with him.

She pulled away a little more to look deeper
into his eyes. “Stefen, I know you’ve changed. I see it.” She moved
her eyes back and forth between his eyes.

Since I’m being honest here, I’m gonna let
him have all of it.

“When I first met you, I saw this incredible
guy lingering inside. You were guarded and yes, arrogant, and also
lots of trouble…” he rolled his eyes before she had a chance to
continue, “but I could also see that deep down, you weren’t
happy.”

He dipped his head, trying to avoid her
stare. She wasn’t going to let him feel shitty about this anymore.
Holding onto his chin, she raised his head and looked into his eyes
again. “Stefen, we all saw it, and don’t even get me started on how
much Madison adores you.”

Neither of them could hide
their smiles when she mentioned the little girl’s name. “You do
deserve my forgiveness, and I agree. Besides Abby, you've become my
closest friend. We’ve already had our truce and started over, but
just know, when you screw up, I'm
that
friend that will point it out.
I won't let you get away with crap. Deal?” She backed away from his
embrace and stuck her hand out to him.

“Deal.” He shook her hand.

“Let's finish eating. This is actually kind
of good.” She motioned to her plate with her lips.

He chuckled and sat back down. “Thanks. I've
got some mad skills in the kitchen now.”

She lifted her index
finger in the air. “Okay, first 'keep it real' moment, Stefen.
That
’
s what
arrogance sounds like.” She pretended to be put off.

He looked panicked for a moment until he
caught her smile and relaxed. “So, now that we’re officially
friends, how do you feel about going car shopping with me today? I
can't keep relying on you guys to cart my ass all over town.”

She looked at him questionably. “Have you
decided to finally set roots here in this 'lifeless commonplace'?”
She put finger quotes around those last two words, reminding him of
what he called Santa Barbara on his last visit.

Raising his eyebrows, he pointed to himself.
“If you get to point out when I'm being a jerk,” he flicked his
wrist to her, “can I point out when you’re being a brat?”

“Oh Stefen.” She shook her
head, chuckling ominously. “I'm
always
a brat. That's part of my
charm.” She smiled smugly and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Keeping it real...that
was very bratty
and
arrogant.” They both laughed.

“I'd love to go car
shopping with you, but you know it’s a pretty serious thing.” She
took a sip of her drink and continued her snarky comment. “Once you
ask someone to car shop with you, help you move,
and
take you to the
airport? You’re bonded for life. So what kind of car are we looking
at here?”

“Probably a Porsche Cayenne. I had one in
Chicago but didn't drive it much. I really liked it.”

“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “What is
it with you guys and your expensive cars?”

He casually mentioned, “Well, not sure if
you know this or not, but Caleb, Bri, and I are trust fund babies.
Our grandfather left us each enough money to never have to work a
day in our lives, and we’ve always had the best of everything. We
love our expensive cars.”

When she frowned at him, he put both hands
up like he surrendered. “Dammit. I heard it, too. No need to point
it out.”

“Good.” She nodded,
satisfied. “Let's get ready to go get your luxury toy.” She started
to pick up the dishes when he stopped her and did it
himself.
Wow.
She
could get used to this new Stefen.

“Leave in an hour?” He asked.

“Works for me.”

She got up and started to head upstairs when
he pointed out, “One of these days, Leah, you will replace that
minivan, and you’ll see what all the fuss is about.”

Without thinking, she blurted out, “Yeah,
when I marry that doctor one day.”

Oh crap!
She froze on the stairs. She really could no
longer see her and Ben lasting long enough to even think about
going down that road, but she knew it was a sore subject for
Stefen. She didn’t want to leave him on that note.

Peeking over her shoulder was a mistake. His
smile had disappeared, and he was looking down at the floor,
mouthing profanities to himself.

Deciding to lighten the mood, she made a
smartass comment. “I was kidding, Stefen. I warned you that I’m
always a brat.”

He snapped out of it quickly, chuckling as
he shook his head. “And that’s part of your charm, right?”

“Yep. You know you love it.” She headed up
the stairs, leaving him to his mumbled words in the kitchen.

After their day of car shopping, Stefen
offered to take Leah someplace nice to thank her for everything.
The black V-neck, open-backed dress and matching strappy stilettos
she’d picked up from home might’ve been a bit much for dinner, but
she loved dressing up.

As she got ready, Leah thought about how
blown away she’d been, watching Stefen in action. He knew how to
conduct himself when it came to business and looked downright sexy
doing it. Every woman in his office must fall at his feet and give
in to his every wish.

I wonder how many of their desires he
fulfilled.

Chastising herself, she moved on to another
image.

The moment they stepped onto the luxury car
lot, everyone practically tripped over each other to serve them.
He’d called ahead to arrange a meeting with the manager, rather
than have any of the salesmen on the floor attack them like
sharks.

Once they were seated in his office, the
manager tried to push them off and have one of his ‘top guys’, as
he called him, help out. Stefen wasn’t going for that. He’d sat
back comfortably, his elbows leaning on the armrest of his seat,
his leg crossed over the other as he simply asked, “Do you want my
business or should we move on to the next lot? It’s all the same to
me.”

She’d never seen a grown man jump into
action as fast as that manager. It was pretty funny, but her
attention had been occupied by the confident man that sat next to
her. He explained exactly what he wanted and how much he was
willing to pay.

The next thing she knew, Stefen was reading
through the paperwork, pointing out and amending all the errors.
Moments later, they pulled up with the exact car he wanted. She
couldn’t believe it when he handed over his credit card.

Who the hell pays for a car with a credit
card?

She leaned over and whispered, “Aren’t you
going to test drive it first?”

He smiled. “No need. If there’s something
wrong with it, I’ll just bring it back.”

What?

He signed the last piece of paperwork, they
got up, and headed out to his new toy. “Here.” He tossed her the
keys. “I’ll drive Abby’s car and you take mine.”

She handed them back. “No way. You haven’t
even driven it yet.”

Smiling, he grabbed her hand, opened her
fingers and placed the keys back in her palm. “I trust you.
Remember?”

Damn, that smile could melt the panties off
of a girl.

Who was she to turn him down?

Needing to reel her lustful thoughts in, she
tried to be mindful. They were finally in the friend zone, and she
needed to stop looking at him like he was the last tamale on the
Christmas dinner table. If he was, though, she would willingly
wrestle anyone to the ground to get to him.

Ahhh, stop it. Friends. Okay a really
smokin' hot friend. But still, just friends, and it’s for the
best.

No lustful thoughts, no
lustful thoughts, no lustful thoughts,
she
chanted to herself.

Her heels softly clacked as she strutted
down the wooden stairs. Stefen was sitting in the living room,
scanning through his phone. The smell of his cologne hit her first,
tantalizing her senses. Her heart rate picked up as she took in the
sight of him. As usual, he was gorgeous dressed in his suit, and
she was glad she’d decided on this outfit.

Without a doubt, Stefen was one delectable
man and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. As silly as it may
be, she’d even come to appreciate the way his eye drooped just the
slightest bit. It was healing nicely and probably wouldn’t have
caught a stranger’s attention, but she loved it.

“Friends, just friends,” she whispered to
herself. She made the mistake of taking in what she thought was a
deep calming breath, but ended up with a lungful of his delicious
cologne.

His easy going smile and mesmerizing hazel
eyes met hers, and she had to fight all the naughty thoughts
running through her head.

He grabbed his keys off of the table.
“Ready?”

To take you upstairs? Um, yes.

She smiled. “Yep. Let’s get out of
here.”

Is she trying to give me a damn heart attack
with this outfit? That red dress is nothing compared to this
one.

Stefen scanned his eyes up Leah’s body,
taking in every sensual inch. Her sexy ass, mid-thigh length black
dress hugged her curves in all the right ways. The heels she wore
emphasized how long and kissably beautiful her tanned legs
were.

If she was his, they wouldn’t be going
anywhere tonight. The evening’s feast would be on each other. How
Ben could ever leave her side was beyond him.

Clearing his thoughts and his throat, Stefen
led her out of the house toward his new car. She stepped down the
stone stairs to the driveway and his hand twitched, wanting to
wander down the thin material of her dress and onto her ass.

How the fuck am I going to
get through this evening without touching her
?

Opening the car door, he held her hand while
helping her in. She didn’t have to tell him how much she liked when
he did this. The smile on her face said it all. He jogged around
the car, then got in and started the ignition.

Discreetly, he adjusted himself before
putting his seat belt on and turning to her with a grin. “I hope
you like French cuisine.” He handed over his phone to show her the
website. “I read about this place online. The restaurant is in an
old historic house on a bird sanctuary. It got great reviews.”

She leaned forward and smoothed the material
of her dress. “I’ve heard of this place. I don’t know much about
French food. I never wanted to try it without someone who knew what
to order. My luck, I’d end up with a plate full of snails.” She
giggled. “Do you speak French?”

“
Oui.
” His grin turned into a
smirk.

That got her attention. Swiveling, she gave
her full attention to him. “Oh, say something else.”
Subconsciously, she ran her fingertips along the outside of her
thigh.

At least, he thought she was doing it
without thinking. If he knew for sure that she was purposely
teasing him, he would throw all this friend bullshit out and tackle
her right here and now.

“
Je t'aime de tout mon cœur
.”
Surprising himself, he spoke the words he would love for her to
understand but was thankful that she wouldn’t.