Human Hieroglyphix - Dex & Leila (20 page)

Along with the pumps, I was color-coordinated and dressed to kill.

And my man noticed.

And my man liked.

Dex was dressed much like he was the first time I saw him at Henry's.  He had on a blue button-down shirt, with a pair of dark jeans.  Only this time I got to see the belt buckle that he was wearing, with the tails of his shirt tucked behind it.  Top to toe, every inch was gorgeous. 

But Dex was gorgeous wearing nothing at all.

Sorry, didn't mean to go there.

But, believe me, it's true.

"Okay, Elle.  Brought the bike.  So we have two choices.  One," he said holding up a finger. "You can change or two," he held up another finger.  "We can take your car.  I'm voting for number two 'cause you look…" I watched as he did another head to toe scan.

"Let me just get my keys," I said trying not to smile.  I liked the way he thought.

We were in my car, Dex driving, after stowing his motorcycle in my garage when I ventured to ask where were we having dinner.

"Luigi's is finally open and we have reservations, which Dominic recommended in his email," Dex explained.  "You good with Italian tonight, princess?"

"You got an email from Dominic?"

I watched as a smile played across his face.

"Yeah, I'm kind of on his preferred customer list."

Good to know.

The new décor at Luigi's was stunning and a complete change than it was before the small fire had happened.  Before it was red naugahyde booths, topped with candles shoved in the mouths of an empty Chianti bottles. 

Now it was black leather and the tables were a very light wood.  On top of the tables were these smoky black holders for salt, pepper, etc that had a space for a single flower.  Even the lighting had changed to the recessed LED lights, giving the whole restaurant an updated ambience. 

It was beautiful.

Dex was greeted by name by the hostess who said there was probably and half-hour wait.  Dex said that was okay and led me to the bar with a hand on the small of my back.  Luigi's, before the fire, didn’t have a bar area, but they did now, and holy cow, it was gorgeous.  It was the same color scheme as the restaurant, but the ambient lighting highlighted the glassware behind the bar and with circles of light that ran down the length of the bar.

Dex led me to a barstool right at the end of the bar and stood next to me.  At my questioning glance, he explained that he sat all damn day and standing was more than alright with him.

After the bartender had filled our drink order, red wine for me and a light beer for Dex, who explained he was driving precious cargo tonight, I told him about my conversation with Mrs. Gunderson thinking he would find it funny.

He didn't and I saw his jaw flexing as he listened.

It wasn't until we were seated at our table and perusing the new menu, that Dex spoke about my story.

"Remember how you asked me about the words at the bottom of my list?" he asked.

"Yeah.  Live Free or Die, right?"

"That shit your neighbor was spouting was the same kind of shit I heard every fucking
day
of my life.  Because my father was a politician and my uncle is CEO at one of the top four accounting firms in the country, I had to toe the line and was expected to be
exactly
who they fucking wanted me to be.  To fucking blend in.  Represent my family well, as my mother used to put it."

He stopped and took a drink of his beer.

"Hated that shit then, and hate it even
more
now."

I understood what he meant.  I'd had a little bit of that at the University, especially with the rules of Tenure, but today was the first time I'd ever had it slammed in my face.

I reached for his hand and rubbed it slowly.

"Guess we're both a couple of rebels, huh?" I asked with a smile.

I felt better when he chuckled before asking me what I was going to order.

The concert Dex took me to was at the University, which was putting on the concert for Bach's 'Brandenburg Concerto's'.  I wasn't certain if we would hear all six movements, but I was excited to be there anyway.

"What made you choose this, honey?" I asked as we were finally seated.  The hall that the concert was going to be performed in was almost standing room only, but Dex had gotten us seats about eight rows back from center stage.

Dex put his arm on the back of my chair and leaned in, speaking softly.  "Because my girl downloaded each and every one of the selections I gave her on my song list."

"Yeah, so?" came my breathy comeback, almost dizzy from being so close to him.  God, would there ever come a time when him touching me or talking softly in my ear wouldn't have my heart booming or make my panties wet?

I hope not.

"Babe.  You downloaded every song, including the albums."

When I didn't respond, he pulled back a bit and captured my eyes.

"Meant something to me, Elle, you doing that."

Holy crap.

I think my fella was as enamored with me, as I was him.

"Glad you liked it, Dex.  But you really did pick some pretty terrific music for me to listen to."

I got a nose slide for saying that.

Was beginning to enjoy those, like, a whole lot.

At intermission, we made our way outside, neither one of us interested in having a drink.  It was a beautiful night, so we just meandered the paths enjoying being outside.  Actually, I didn't care where we were, I was just enjoying being with Dex.

We were just about to go in when I felt a hand on my arm.

"Leila?"  Dr. Evan Griffin asked.  "Is that you?"

"Hello, Dr. Griffin," I mumbled.  I really didn't like Evan for a number of totally aesthetic reasons, but especially because he had broadcasted to a number of the faculty that I was his girlfriend even though we had never even had a date.

"Dex, this is Professor Evan Griffin from the Math department.  Evan, this is Dex Nelson."

Evan pushed his fingerprint smudged glasses up before reaching for Dex's outstretched hand.  After they had done the 'nice to meet you' thingie, Evan turned back to me and looked me up and down. 

Isn't it funny that when Dex did it, it got my motor running in a big way. 

But when Evan did it, it gave me the heebie-jeebies.

"I was hoping, Leila," Evan began eyeing my breasts and taking a step towards me, which made me take a step towards Dex, who was already close.  "That you might accompany me to the…"

WTF?

I'm standing here, practically shoulder to shoulder, holding hands with my sexy, smart and unbelievable boyfriend and this lanky piece of yuck is
asking me out
?

"Sorry, Evan, but I'm kind of seeing someone," I explained as I cut him off.

"You can't be serious, Leila.  I'm not aware that you are with anyone here on campus," Evan said with his slight lisp catching on his 'S's'.

"Dude, get a clue, okay?" Dex said letting go of my hand but putting an arm around my waist.  "She's with me."

Evan gave Dex a head to toe roam, stopping only on the arm that Dex had around me.

"That's impossible," Evan said with a smirk.

"As I said.  Get a fucking clue.  She's taken, alright?"

They stared at one another for a few seconds before Dex started moving me towards the doors of the hall.  He stopped and turned back around to Evan.

"And if I ever fucking see or hear that your checking out Leila's tits again, you and I will have to throw dogs.  Got it?"

Evan had a very confused look on his face but he nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Dex called over his shoulder, continuing with a soft, "bonehead."  Which made me laugh.

"Actually, Dex, I'm ready to go if you are," I said as we got inside the hall.

"Yeah, babe, I am," Dex said putting a finger in his ear and wiggling it.  "Don't know if my ear drums will ever be the same, though."

I tried but couldn't stop my smile.

"Aw, suck it up and put on your big boy boxers, 'kay?" I teased as he opened the passenger door for me and I saw that he was staring at my legs as I seated myself.  Just a look and I got a tummy-tumble.

"Dex?  What did that mean, that 'throw dogs' thing that you said to Evan?"

"Ever seen a dog fight, Elle?"

"No,
gladly
, I haven't."

"They're vicious and bloody and not something anyone should see."

"So throwing dogs is somehow related to a dog fight?"

"Yeah.  It basically means a vicious fight between two people.  But it is just street slang and not something that 'normal' people say."

"Kind of like 'boo-yah'," I said making the motion that Crystal had made.

Now, I didn't think it was that funny.  I thought it was a cool word with a cool hand movement.

But Dex did.

Dex was laughing so hard, he pulled the car to the curb and turned the ignition off.  I mean he was laughing so hard that he was practically
wheezing
.

When he had calmed down, he wiped his eyes, and looked my way.

"Okay, Elle, do it for me one more time," he said, his voice tight.

I just looked at him.  Actually, if you want to know the truth, I gave him the 'Leila Death Ray' look which didn't seem to affect him in the least.

"Please, babe.  Just once more," he pleaded.  "It's just so cute when you talk 'street'."

"So, if I say
'true, dat'
, you're going to laugh until you…"

I stopped talking because Dex was back to laughing so hard, his head was on one of his arms that was on the steering wheel while his other hand was slapping the dashboard.

I just stared out the passenger side window as I waited for my man to
get his
shit sorted
.

See?  I can talk street.

(insert Boo-yah here).

Chapter Twenty One

Dex eventually got over his fit, which is what I was calling it, and we made our way back to my house.  I was careful to close all the curtains and even the mini-blinds over the kitchen sink just in case we were 'spotted' by a nosy neighbor.

Dex snagged me around the waist after I finished closing the mini-blinds, pressing my back to his front.

"Sorry for laughing, Elle.  But, babe, sometimes you're so fucking cute," he said nuzzling my neck.

I was getting pretty freaking tired of being called cute.

Cute girls weren't sexy.

Cute girls didn't wear pencil skirts that showcased their round booty or wear $300 purple sling back heels.

Cute girls didn't get laid by men like Dex.  Or, at least, I hope they didn't.

I unwrapped Dex's arms before making my way to the stairs, putting one foot on the first step before I flipped my hair and turned my head to look back at him.

I knew I was poking the bear in the cage, but I wanted Dex to see me as a sexy, accomplished professor.  Sure I couldn't show him my smarts at the moment, but I could show off my ass and fantastic (thanks to Frank-kay) hair.

When I turned back, I could see that Dex's eyes were checking out all the portions of my anatomy that I was trying to display.  And when his eyes met mine, he definitely had a 'deer in the headlights' thing going on.

"Wanna play, Dex?" I said softly before I moved slowly upstairs, making sure to swing my ass as I moved.  When I got to the top, I glanced down and saw that he was still at the bottom.

"Said it before, babe, and I'll say it again. You don't play fair," he said before he ran up the stairs and pulled me to him.

That night, Dex insisted on undressing me and sat down on my bed, while I stood between his legs. He removed my skirt and my sweater slowly with lots of small kisses on the skin that he uncovered, giving me full body rushes with every touch of his lips.

"Babe, we really need to talk about your underwear," he said against the skin of my belly, his hands holding the cheeks of my ass.

"But, I really like this set," I said, wondering how he could possibly complain about what I was wearing.  The purple demi bra and matching thong I found extremely attractive and I was kind of crushed that he didn't think so too.

He looked up at me and, without thought, my hands entangled themselves in his hair.

"Wasn't complaining, Leila, not in the least.  Was going to talk about going shopping with you the next time you needed underwear," he said with a cocky grin.  "I find you sexy as hell no matter what you're wearing, and especially when you aren't wearing anything."

Okay, then.

"Open your legs, babe," I heard him whisper and I moved my legs to the outside of his, careful not to step on his feet with my heels.  He ran his fingers around the gusset of my thong, which was close, oh so close, to the area I
wanted
his fingers to be.