London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) (17 page)

His gaze flickered to her lips and he leaned in an inch closer as if to whisper a secret to her. “Maybe you should dance with me and see if I’ve managed to pick up the skill.”

Was that flirting? It sounded like flirting. He had the nerve to act like she wanted something from Alexi, and then asked her to dirty dance with him? Okay, maybe she would bash his head in with the pitcher, breakaway glass or not. “Maybe, except I don’t engage in inappropriate relationships with my teachers. It’s not how I roll.”

He kept silent, and she promptly turned her attention back to Maxim. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ilani fanning herself. She was sure to have some questions later.

For what felt like hours, Abbie kept her back resolutely to Xander. She knew he was still there and knew he still watched her simply because the hairs on the back of her neck stayed at attention. Then one minute, the razor sharp attention was gone. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew he’d stopped focusing on her. He didn’t attempt to speak to her again until she grabbed her coat to catch the last bus heading toward Chiswick.

“Going home so soon?”

“Well, I do have this professor with a stick up his ass, so I have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get him some decent pictures.”

He smirked. “This professor of yours sounds like a pompous dick. You should have him sacked immediately.”

Abbie shook her head. “Nah, it would just inflate his ego.” What the hell was wrong with her? This was the man who could fuck up her grades. She shouldn’t be bantering with him. “Goodnight, Xander,” she said politely, very well aware that the remaining stragglers of their party watched them with keen interest.

“Goodnight, Little Bird. Your work today was promising.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “I thought you said it was better than promising.”

“Somebody was paying attention in class.”

“Well, I
am
here to learn.”

Slate eyes studied her intently, and she squirmed under the scrutiny.

“My only concern is what you’re learning, and who’s teaching you those lessons.”

Chapter 20

For the first time in two weeks, it wasn’t a night terror that woke Lex out of a sound sleep. It was thumping on his door.

“Lex, open up.” More thumping.

Lex rubbed his eyes and staggered out of bed. What the hell was wrong with his brother?

When he shuffled to the front door he was thankful for the small favor that Gemma hadn’t stayed the night. He yanked the door open and glared at, from the smell of it, a very drunk Xander. “What the hell is going on? What are you doing here?”

“What, I can’t see my little brother anytime I want?”

Lex stepped back to let him in. “Jesus, mate, you smell like a pub.”

“That’s because I’ve spent the better part of the evening in one.”

Lex frowned. “I thought you had class tonight?”

“I did. First critique. It was brutal.”

Lex put on the water for coffee and snagged a bottle of water from the fridge. He tossed the water at his brother, who caught it with more agility than his condition should have allowed for. “I think you have this all wrong, Xan. When you give a brutal crit, it’s the student who’s supposed to go get pissed at the pub and drink his sorrows away, not the teacher.” He crossed his arms as he leaned back on the kitchen island. “Come to think of it, they didn’t see you like this, did they?”

Xander wavered on his feet a little. “Don’t be stupid. I waited till they all left then got proper pissed on the good stuff. I might like my students, but I wasn’t going to buy them all sodding scotch.”

Lex eyed Xander’s leaning frame and yanked a stool under him, shoving him into a sitting position. “Why the scotch, Xander?”

“Because I felt like it. Now piss off.”

“You’re the one who showed up on my doorstep, remember?” How the hell had the two of them gotten so screwed up?
You know how.
They were close, but the one thing they couldn’t talk about was the one thing tearing each of them up on the inside. The night he’d killed a man to save his brother.
A life for a life
.

“Where else would I go, but to my savior?” Xander pushed himself up off the stool, weaving into the living area before finally collapsing onto the couch.

Lex winced as he watched his brother fall. Nothing made him feel worse than when Xander referred to him as his savior. It reminded Lex of exactly the kind of human being he was. The kind of man who had let his brother take the blame for something he’d done. No, they never did talk about that night.

“You can have the spare room, Xan. You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”

Xander rolled over and gave him a wicked smile. “I would hate to intrude on Gemma’s space, in case she comes over tonight.” Xander grabbed a pillow and plastered it over his face. “You can’t have them both, Lex.” The pillow muffled his voice, but Lex felt every word like a blow. “I’ll make you a deal. You take Gemma and leave Little Bird for me.”

So that’s what this was about?
Abbie
. Xander wanted Abbie. “Did something happen with Abbie tonight?” As much as he loved his brother, he wasn’t above giving him a good going over.

“She’s already half in love with you, you know?”

Lex stilled. “What are you on about, Xan?”

“I can see it all over her. She’s caught up in
you
. I don’t affect her at all. Just this once, Lex. Could you walk away? For me?”

The dig of pain in his gut was only matched by the rush of jealousy. “I’m sorry Xander, but I can’t do that.”

* * *

Tamsin’s cheery, “You all right, love?” greeting wasn’t enough to perk up Abbie’s mood. Granted, if she’d wanted cheery, she wouldn’t have had that second mug of Guinness. Her mind was still a little foggy, despite the long walk home from the bus stop.

“Hey, Tams.”

Tamsin bounded from her bedroom through to the kitchen. “Wow, you look wretched. Are you okay?”

Abbie wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, thanks for that.”

“Sorry. But you do. What’s the matter?”

“Well, given Evan’s stalking, I need to give him a call, and I also need to give my sister Akos a call, because I have a feeling that Evan’s calling about our apartment in DC, or rather,
my
apartment.”

Tamsin had the good sense to wince. “Ouch. Sorry. Do you need moral support? I could stand by with vodka shots or something. You know for fortification.”

“I’ve already had two Guinness tonight. When your professor is buying, you don’t say no.”

“Especially if he’s sinfully hot.” Tamsin wiggled her eyebrows.

Abbie rolled her eyes. “You’d think with all your interest in Xander you didn’t have a man. How is Liam anyway? Just a little while, and you’ll be in Dublin, right?”

“Just one more week, then it’s an all weekend shag fest.”

Abbie scrunched up her face. “Okay then. Don’t get pregnant, okay? That would sort of ruin our girl power vibe we have going on here.”

“Noted. I think I’d rather die. Looking after Sophie is difficult enough. Imagine if I had to change nappies too.”

“Rough.” She then noticed the pile of manuscripts on the counter. “Still bringing home work I see?”

“I know, can you imagine? The horror.” She sighed. “I’m convinced I’m actually being punished. I mean most of the other assistant coordinators get an ereader device, and the books that come in are loaded on there, and we go through them that way. But oh no. My client is published by Tristan Publisher, who prefer paperbacks. I mean how archaic is that?”

“At least be happy you’re working for a client in a genre you like and read a lot of. It could be worse. They could have you coordinating a press tour or whatever for a new text book or something.”

“You’re right. Glass half full, I suppose.” Tamsin yawned. “Don’t you have a phone call to make?”

Abbie threw her head back. Who was she going to fall victim to first, Akos, or Evan?

She chose to deal with the most difficult conversation first. She slogged to her room then tossed her laptop on the bed and immediately opened up Skype. Her finger hovered over the start call key to her sister for several seconds before she hit it.

When Akos answered, she wasted no time. “Shit, Abbie, we have all been worried sick about you. Do you know how many messages we’ve left? Mom and Dad have been beside themselves.”

And so it began. “I’m not sure why. I called and left Mom a message, and I tried to Skype Dad yesterday, but he didn’t answer.”

Akosua blew out an exasperated sigh. “Well that’s not the point. You know full well, you taking off like this isn’t good for them. I mean they’re old, for Christ’s sake.” Her sister gesticulated wildly, waving her arms about as she tried to make her point. “Abbie, you can’t just take off on the family.”

“Well, if you remember, I didn’t exactly take off. I’m at school.”

“Look, the point is that you said you would put it on hold for at least a year to wait for Evan, then you turn around and decide to suddenly go. With no word as to why. I mean, can you imagine how Evan feels?”

No, but she could imagine how it would feel to dole out some of the same bullshit he’d force fed her for years. She forced herself to take a breath. And they all wondered why she ran away and didn’t call. She tried to get her sister back to her point. “Akos, you have been calling me urgently, and you’ve sent no less than four emails about my apartment, so what’s the matter?”

“Well, we need to have paperwork signed for a new renter. But Evan says he wants to just stay there.”

Abbie frowned. “He cannot stay there.” Her stomach rolled. She couldn’t tolerate the idea of him in that place.

“Look, okay, you guys broke up or whatever, but he’s still a guaranteed renter, and I don’t have to play property landlord till you get back. What’s so bad about him staying there for now? He’s your boyfriend.”

“Ex.” Abbie corrected automatically. She wondered how her sister would feel if she found out how Evan really was. How he’d treated her. What she’d put up with for far too long. But Akos had never been the one she could confide in. She was nearly ten years older and too similar to their mother.

“Whatever. I started interviewing renters, and out of the pool of ten, four were promising. I’ve pulled their credit checks. I need you to sign and scan one of the agreements back to me. I just think it would be better if—.”

She didn’t let her sister finish. “Not Evan. I’m done talking about him.”

While her sister talked, Abbie tried to work her brain around the fact that Evan thought she’d let him stay there. Was he that clueless? Had he not seen how close she was to snapping?

“Okay, sure fine, Akos, send over the agreements. I’ll pick one and send back to you. Listen, let me go. I need to call Evan.”

Akosua paused and studied her. “You look tired, Abbie. When are you going to give up this bullshit dream and just come home already where we can take care of you?”

“I don’t need taking care of.”

“Look, so you weren’t happy. It’s fine. We all need a change sometimes. But why not get that change in a new city here? Maybe you and Evan can—.”

“Let it go.” She had to get off with her sister before she lost the fight for civility and control. “Okay, Akos. Sorry. I hear Tamsin calling. Check you later.” She hung up on her sister in mid-stream.

Cracking her neck, Abbie moaned. She’d need a whole lot more liquor if she was to have more conversations with her family.

Tamsin popped her head into Abbie’s room, brandishing her cell phone. “It’s rung twice since you’ve been in here.”

“Who was it?”

“Just a number showed on the display. UK mobile, if that makes you feel any better.”

Abbie frowned, then realized it must be Lex. “Uhm, thanks. Maybe one of my classmates.”

“Uh huh.” Tamsin raised an eyebrow and hovered in the doorway. “You sure about that? Because just now you had a look of elation about you. It is a bloke?”

“Tamsin, when would I have had time for a guy?”

“You do spend quite a few hours at school and on your little jaunts about London. You could be having some secret tryst I don’t know about. Are you dating Daniel Craig, and you didn’t tell me? I mean, I can understand why you wouldn’t tell me, because let’s face it, I might kill you for him, but honestly, Abena, you should learn to share.” She grinned.

“I’m not having secret trysts. I’ve been too busy working and avoiding my family and Evan. No secret boys to speak of.” She lied smoothly. It wasn’t like she could claim Alexi as her boyfriend or anything.

“Come on. I’ve been man deprived for weeks. Just tell me who it is. Is it Xander? When you showed me his picture, I knew you were going to try to sleep with him. I just knew it. Now you two are carrying on some secret love affair.”

Abbie giggled. “You’re crazy. I’m not shagging my teacher. I promise. I get my A’s the old fashioned way.”

“Sure sure. But can you do me a favor and bring him by one of these nights, so I can ogle him?”

Abbie threw a pillow at her friend. “I’m not stupid enough to do that. I mean, sleeping with my professor, no matter how spectacularly good-looking. So not my style. Besides. I still have some unresolved Evan business. I’m not just going to sleep with some guy.” No matter how much Lex tempted her.