Nerds Are Freaks Too (12 page)

“When?” Roxanne’s eyes widened at her own question, more
surprised she didn’t need time to think about it than she was by Leo popping
the question.

His slow grin softened his handsome features, causing her
heart to somersault. “So, that’s a yes?”

Roxanne wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him
close. “A big, fat
yes
,” she purred, enunciating every word with a kiss
on the side of his neck. “I’m going to plan the biggest damn wedding Chicago’s
ever seen!”

She started to lie back, pulling Leo with her, but he
crushed her to his chest and captured her lips. Roxanne melted. He kissed her
with such an intense thoroughness she didn’t know which way was up. But she
definitely knew who was in charge. His command of her body excited her, made
her feel alive and coiled as tightly as a spring ready for release. Knowing
just how to get that release, she reached between them and unbuttoned his
jeans.

Leo leaned back, breaking their kiss. Roxanne almost groaned
at the sudden loss. “I don’t care if you plan a circus rivaling Barnum &
Bailey. But it better be before winter’s over. I’ve waited years to be with you
and I’m not going to wait another.”

Roxanne unzipped his pants. She smiled to herself as he
lifted his hips, helping her to undress him. “You haven’t really waited
that
long for me, have you?” Leo nipped at her jaw. Feeling it all the way down to
the apex of her thighs, she moaned and started tugging at his jeans.

“Ever since July 31, 2001.”

Roxanne’s hands stilled on the waistband of his boxer
briefs. “Freshmen orientation?”

“Love at first sight.”

Sickened by her utter idiocy, Roxanne fell back against the
bed. “I can’t believe I’ve been so blind this whole time!” She placed her hands
over her face and groaned. “I’m so sorry for being such an idiot, Leo.”

Hearing him chuckle, she peeked through her fingers. “I know
a way you can make it up to me.”

While she’d wallowed in guilt, Leo had removed the rest of
his clothing. He now stood before her with nothing on but his birthday suit. A
very, very
hard
birthday suit.

Roxanne knew Leo worked out regularly. Still, she had no
idea his button downs and khakis hid all this. His bronze body sported very
little fat. It didn’t have room with all the lean muscle.
And don’t get me
started on that cock…

Hypnotized by the girth, Roxanne didn’t object when he
suddenly grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her to the edge of the bed,
placing her feet on the mattress.

“Didn’t you say I could make it up to you?” she asked,
clutching the sheets.

Leo crouched before her. “Yes, but it would require you staying
in this bed for ten whole days. One day for every year you made me suffer.”

Roxanne groaned and shifted her hips closer as he ran his
finger through her slit, opening her pussy lips to his perusal. “Ten days?” she
panted, her lungs constricting in excitement.

“I need at least that much time to memorize every single
inch of you. So ten days of straight lovemaking should suffice.” Pausing, Leo
looked at her through inky black lashes.

Be still, my horny heart!

“Of course, the first time or two might be considered
fucking, since I doubt I’ll be able to control myself.” He turned his head and
kissed the inside of her thigh.

“But what about our jobs?”

“We’re both due a vacation.” Leo rubbed his chin against her
leg, tickling her with his five o’clock shadow.

Roxanne bit her lip. She couldn’t just abandon the shop,
could she?

“If you’re worried about the boutique, I’ll send someone
over from a temp agency and pay their salary.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can ask Jessina to bring in
one of her daughters to help out.”

“So what’s your answer?”

“I’ll call Jessina in the morning.”

Leo grinned wickedly. His tongue darted out to lick the
curve of her ankle, catching Roxanne by surprise.

This man is going to be the death of me!

“Leo,” she whispered, running her other foot over his cock.
She wasn’t verbally telling him what to do, but he’d have to be a fool to not
know what she wanted.

When he broke away to retrieve his trousers, taking his body
heat with him, Roxanne almost regretted her impatience. He was starting to
become her drug. And she seemed to need constant contact. Unable to help
herself, she ran her foot over him and teased his cock with her toes while he
fumbled inside one of his jean pockets.

She must have gotten to him because he dropped his wallet
next to her on the bed. “You do the honors, Ms. Impatience.” He chuckled,
standing between her legs and pulling her closer. His thumb latched onto her
clit and Roxanne’s eyes almost crossed.

Eyes slightly unfocused, Roxanne groped for the wallet.
Finding it, she pulled out a yellow-foiled condom from the billfold. Before she
closed the wallet, her eyes drifted to his driver’s license. It had been taken
several years ago, when his curly hair fell to his shoulders and his eyeglass
frames were tortoiseshell, not black. Roxanne smiled. Even then, her geek was
handsome.

“Leonidas Constantine Papadopoulos,” she whispered.

Leonidas
Constantine Papadopoulos?

Purely a coincidence? Or were Leo and Constantine actually
one and the same?

Then who was the hottie at the hotel?

Roxanne rolled away from him.

“What’s wrong?”

Roxanne thrust the wallet between them. “Are you
Constantine
?”
she choked. Her body was so numb she felt paralyzed.

Leo stiffened. “Roxie—I can explain.”

“Explain?” she mumbled as if from a thousand miles away.
Leo’s heart constricted. He’d never seen Roxanne at a loss for words. “There’s
nothing to explain. I thought I was talking to someone else and it was you the
entire time.”

Leo tried to dredge up a viable excuse for his actions, but
he couldn’t find one. Well, not one that would lessen the blow of his
treachery.

The bed dipped as she stumbled to her feet. “Why did you do
it?” She looked as if she were in a daze. Leo had to clench his fists to keep
from dragging her into his arms. Instead, he watched as she snatched up a
pillow to cover her nudity.

Leo lifted his head to look her in the eye. “I was being
selfish. I didn’t want you to meet anyone else. And I guess I wanted to prove a
point. I wanted to make you want me as much as I wanted you, without our friendship
being used as some lame excuse.”

“Lame excuse?” Roxanne choked. “Who died and made you the
cupid? What, you can’t accept rejection?”

Leo knew he shouldn’t take the barb personally, but it
pierced his heart just the same. One of his eyebrows swept upward. “It worked
didn’t it? You were so hot for me you were ready to milk
Constantine’s
dick.”

Leo regretted his words even before she flinched.

When she finally spoke, her voice was low. “But it was all
about
you
. I decided to sleep with Constantine because I was jealous
after seeing you with Vicky. But I
didn’t
sleep with him because, stupid
me, I was in love with an asshole.”

Leo raked his hands through his hair. “If it’s worth
anything, I went to The Geneva tonight to tell you the truth. I even tried to
tell you downstairs, but things got carried away.”

Roxanne opened her mouth then, as if thinking better of it,
turned to leave. She barely took a step before Leo blocked her path. She
couldn’t leave. Not like this.

“Please don’t,” she muttered. “I’m sorry I ignored you for
so long. But I didn’t deserve this.”

Expertly sidestepping him, she made it halfway across the
room before he roped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him.
Leo nearly moaned as his cock grew instantly hard. All he had to do was touch
her and he turned into a horny teenager.

“Forgive me, Roxie,” he whispered in her ear, pleading,
hoping to weaken her resolve. “Please don’t go.” Leo pressed his body even
tighter to hers. “It was wrong, what I did, and I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

“You crossed the line, Leo. You manipulated me, made a fool
of me.” She grabbed his hands and pulled them away. “Friends forgive each
other, but a true friend would never have done what you did.”

She turned slowly to face him, the sadness in her eyes
nearly killing him. “With friends like you, Leonidas Papadopoulos, who needs
enemies?”

Leo stepped back as if she’d hit him. And in a way, she had.
She hit him right where it mattered—his heart. “So that’s it?” he asked
quietly. “Ten years of friendship down the drain despite my apology?”

“For right now, yes. I need some distance to figure
everything out.”

As she walked out the door without a backward glance, Leo
prayed she wouldn’t need another ten years.

Chapter Nine

Sharon McGee, the host for
Morning Buzz
, accepted a
mug from her co-host, Ben Fox, and then looked into the TV camera with a bright
smile.

“Welcome back, everyone. Glad you could remain with us for
our second hour. And if you’re just joining us, good morning!” Sharon paused to
take a sip of her drink before continuing. “We still have tons of things to
cover this morning. So sit back, relax and grab a hot cup of coffee.”

“So what’s the top story of the hour?” Ben asked, flipping
through a stack of blue cue cards.

Sharon rolled her eyes, her hand to her chest in a fake
swoon. “Our top story is for the romantic in all of us. Leonidas Papadopoulos,
local internet guru, millionaire and total hunk, has created buzz with his
single-minded pursuit of another local by the name of Ms. Roxanne Simmons. Over
the past three weeks, he’s
literally
bought every rose in the city and
inundated the young woman with enough flowers to rival a Mafia funeral.”

“And frankly I wish he’d stop, he’s making the rest of us
look bad,” Ben pointed out as he settled back into his tall leather stool.

Sharon clasped her hands together. “I know! Don’t you just
love it?”

Chuckling, Ben shook his head. Perfectly coiffed, his blond
hair didn’t move an inch. “I feel for the guy. If he keeps this up, he’ll own
half the flower shops in Chicago.”

“So you’ve already seen the video?”

“I’ve seen the tale of woe,” Ben corrected.

Sharon clucked her tongue. “It’s not a
tale of woe
.
It’s romantic that the man is trying so hard to win his lady love. Even more
endearing is what Ms. Simmons has been doing with all those beautiful
arrangements. Our very own Keilani Summers got that scoop.”

“Yeah. A scoop of
ice queen
.” Ben winced when his
co-host smacked him on the arm. “It’s true! Come on, she’s frozen the poor guy
out for weeks, even
with
all the local media attention.”

“Well, we don’t know what’s transpired between the two. But
that’s not the gist of this piece. Instead, Keilani is highlighting how Ms.
Simmons has turned a hell of a lot of thorns into happiness.” Sharon smiled
into the camera. “Max, could you roll the piece, please?”

* * * * *

“Someone once said that love is like a rose. When pressed
between two lifetimes, it will last forever. This can be applied to a tale of
two lovers who have all of Chicago talking. But this isn’t just another guy
trying to buy his way out of the doghouse. It’s a story of how one man’s
determination has allowed a woman to bring happiness to hundreds of hospice
patients, nursing home residents and even Meals on Wheels clients across the
city.”

The camera panned from Keilani Summers, a mocha-skinned
beauty, to a shot of Roxanne in front of Golden Years.

“You look great, boss.” Jessina waved the remote control at
the flat-screen television mounted behind the checkout counter.

Roxanne snorted. She had refused an interview, so the
reporter and crew had filmed her opening the boutique yesterday morning. She
continued working as Jessina turned back to the TV.

“Every single day for the past three weeks, Roxanne Simmons
has received ten dozen roses. No one knows the significance of the flowers, or
what exactly Mr. Papadopoulos could have done to warrant such a grand gesture,
but we
do
know the grateful beneficiaries. And we have a few of them for
you tonight.”

Roxanne couldn’t resist watching when the segment cut to a
shot of several elderly residents at the Sunrise nursing home. One by one,
Keilani interviewed the latest recipients of Roxanne’s impromptu recycling
program. Each wrinkled face beamed as the residents recounted the day they’d
received the flowers.

Mr. Percy Kelly, from Oak Grove, Illinois, said, “I’m not
really a flower guy. Heck, I don’t think I ever stopped to smell any. That’s
female stuff.” A toothy grin changed the man’s craggy countenance. “But I’ll
admit I was tickled pink when the nurse brought ’em in. These four walls can be
rather depressing sometimes. It’s nice to know that someone cares, even a
stranger.”

About half a dozen other recipients followed Mr. Kelly’s
heartfelt thanks.

Then, to Roxanne’s surprise, Leo appeared on the screen with
the reporter.

Attired in a navy-blue suit dressed down with a
navy-and-white-checked dress shirt, he was so strikingly handsome, Roxanne’s
stomach did a cartwheel.

“I didn’t know he was going to be on!” Jessing hurriedly
smacked the volume button, turning it up.

“We appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to
speak with us, Mr. Papadopoulos.”

“My pleasure, Keilani.” Wearing a boyish grin, Leo winked at
the reporter and she giggled. “Hopefully this will help my campaign.”

Roxanne’s hackles rose.
Are they flirting?

“Speaking of your efforts to woo a certain young lady, most
guys would be disappointed that their displays of affection were being given
away to strangers. How do you feel about Ms. Simmons’ acts of generosity at
your expense?”