A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (5 page)

There was that, and the fact that the woman had been physically
hurting
her. Her own daughter. It was a lot to absorb, and quite honestly, the young man found himself at a loss for words.

“You don’t have to say anything.” It was like she could read his mind. Sighing, Helena ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it back from her forehead. “Just promise you won’t tell anyone about what you saw.”

Even if she hadn’t asked, the thought wouldn’t have crossed his mind. “Of course.” Another very long moment passed in which Xavier’s mind worked overtime to try and break the very tense atmosphere between them. Extending his hand for her to shake, he tried a small smile. “I’m Xavier. Xavier Thompson.”

To his surprise, she chuckled softly. The sound was like music after walking in on her literally crying her eyes out. Helena took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly. “Everyone knows who you are.”

He flushed, a bit perturbed, in that moment, that she knew him by his reputation when he knew close to nothing about her; save, perhaps, the fact that she and her mother had…issues. “Well, damn. I feel slightly at a loss here.”

“Why?” A well-manicured brow shot up at his statement.

Xavier shrugged. “Well, you know everything about me but I don’t know anything about you.”

Another laugh escaped her, this one with a cutting edge. “Why on earth would you want to know anything about me?”

Didn’t she know? Jesus Christ, she was one of the most startlingly beautiful women he’d ever seen, even with her eyes still red from crying. He refused to believe that no one on campus had ever approached her for a date – or something more carnal.

He certainly hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since the first time he’d seen her. To admit that would be suicide, though – and so he tried something a little more subtle. “Well, this is the second time we’ve run into one another in a week. Gotta be some kind of sign, right?”

Helena stared at him for a moment, her gray eyes filled with confusion. Then, all at once, her lips parted in surprise. The young woman gave him a long once over that made him feel acutely self-conscious. “Oh my
God
.” She breathed the words incredulously. “You’re hitting on me.”

Xavier took one look at the shock on her face and burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. She looked so goddamn taken aback – like she’d never be able to believe in a million years that such a thing could possibly happen to her - that his nervousness evaporated and all that was left was amusement.

Helena’s expression quickly changed from one of surprise to mortification, and Xavier was forced to stifle his mirth. God forbid she believe that he was laughing at her. “Is it
that
funny?”

When two bright spots of color appeared high on her cheeks, the young man quickly switched gears. At any rate, she wasn’t crying anymore, which, in his mind, meant that he should take the plunge. “No. What’s funny is that you seem to have
no
idea how ridiculously gorgeous you are.” Helena immediately sprang to her feet, staring down at him as if he’d sprouted another head.

“Are you out of your
mind
?”

Well, that was
not
the reaction he had expected. Call him spoiled, but most of the time, when Xavier hit on a woman, she all but killed herself trying to get close to him. Helena seemed to be doing the exact opposite. “Not that last time I checked.” His words had a slightly sarcastic edge and the woman before him merely sighed, shaking her head as she bent to gather the books he’d brought her.

“Look: Thanks for bringing me my books, but I have to go. I’m late for a tutoring session.”

Oh no.
Hell
no. He wasn’t going to let her get away this time. As she breezed through the front entrance of the art building, Xavier sprang up to follow her. “Helena, wait!” He fell into step beside her, his long stride just keeping up with her despite her tiny stature. “Hold on a second!”

“I told you, I’m late.” Her tone was curt when she spoke – and she didn’t even spare him the slightest of glances. She seemed completely recovered from whatever it was that her mother had done to her and had now shut herself off completely.

“Well, can I get your number? Can I give you my number?” He knew he should be embarrassed by how desperate he sounded, but he didn’t know if he would ever see her again. She might try to make sure that they didn’t run into one another after this little incident, and he’d like to avoid that if at all possible.

All at once, the young woman stopped in her tracks, whirling to face him with a queer mixture of exasperation and frustration on her face. “Why the
hell
would you want
my
number? You’re fucking Xavier Thompson! You could have literally any woman you wanted! I am
no
one
. Absolutely no one! And my mother…” She trailed off, her eyes suddenly just as haunted as they’d been in the wake of her little tiff with the woman supposed to be her own flesh and blood. Helena’s little outburst made Xavier’s eyes widen.

Was that
really
what she thought of herself? If that was the case, he was sorely tempted to tell her just how frequently she’d invaded his thoughts the past week after he’d seen her a measly single time. How much her face had popped up the moment he closed his eyes and just how many times he’d woken hard and aching from dreams of her lush, chocolate hued skin sliding against his own.

But that would be highly inappropriate. Instead, he answered her accusation with a much more subtle version of the truth. “I don’t really care about your mom. I would, however, like to get to know you….if that’s alright.”

He watched her guarded expression, waiting with bated breath for her reply. Xavier knew he couldn’t be imagining the touch of intrigue he saw in her gaze. For some reason, it intrigued him far more that she didn’t fall at his feet and beg to be ravished. She wasn’t going to make things easy for him.

And he loved a challenge.

“I’m busy.” He cursed inwardly as she came up with yet
another
excuse. “I have a
ton
of work to do before exams, and then I have to start preparing for practice exams. I don’t have any time for…guys.” She turned to begin across the campus once more, and at that point, Xavier accepted that he was going to have to go to extreme measures to gain her attention.

Breaking into a light jog, he caught up with her once more. “I see you take Organic Chemistry.” How could anyone miss it? It was the thickest volume that she carried with her, and he’d be willing to bet that it was half her weight. “I’m taking Chemistry, and I suck at it. I could use a tutor.”

This time, when the young woman ground to a halt, she fixed him with a skeptical look. “
You’re
taking Chemistry? As a grad student?”

He shrugged, trying for a convincing smile. “I thought it might interest me, and now it’s too late to drop.” It was utter bullshit, but it seemed that academics was a language that Helena seemed much more comfortable with than flirtation. Her eyes narrowed as she assessed him.

“You’re talking about a
study
session, you realize that? And if I were to help you, there won’t be any BS, Xavier.” Hefting her books under one arm, she lifted a finger to poke into his chest. “I told you, I don’t have any time for dating. Which means I’m not going to be the latest in your long line of conquests.”

He winced at the remark. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to shake that particular persona, it would always follow him. Part of being a Thompson, he supposed. But, her comment aside, she almost sounded like she was agreeing to tutor him.

Which would give him the opportunity to see her again for as long as he could continue the charade. Sticking out his hand, he made a show of keeping his face open and free of any lasciviousness…which was hard when she was standing so close to him that he could feel the warmth of her incredible body. “Understood. We can shake on it. How’s every Monday in the library?”

The young woman eyed him warily for a moment more before shaking his hand dutifully. Her skin was soft, but her grip was firm, belaying the strength in her small frame. “Fine. I’ll see you Monday then.”

The warmth of her touch still lingering against his palm, Xavier watched her arrange her books once more before turning back towards the science building. He would admit that he took far too much pleasure watching the sway of her behind as she left him, but the moment she was out of sight, his mind turned to less alluring matters.

Her mother.

The woman trespassing had been Helena’s mother – and if that was the case, then it was very apparent that their relationship was dysfunctional, to say the least. Of course, he didn’t plan on telling anyone about what he’d seen, but what if the woman returned? He couldn’t help but think that Helena wasn’t very safe if that was how her mother acted when she thought they were alone.

Kicking at the grass before him, he shoved his hands into his pockets before starting in the direction of the library.

It was none of his goddamn
business
. If he were in his right mind, he would wonder why he cared so much. The problem was: Xavier wasn’t in his right mind. There was something about Helena that bowled over his rational thoughts with pure, unbridled want – not only for her body, but also for her safety.

And that was certainly something he’d never experienced.

***

“I cannot
believe
you are tutoring Xavier Thompson.”

Helena couldn’t believe that this was the thirtieth time her roommate had mentioned the fact in the last hour. When Magda had asked where she’d gone after class – as she usually came straight home to study on Monday nights – Helena had been forced to tell her about the arrangement she’d made with Xavier, and her roommate had hit the roof.

She herself wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about the deal they’d made.

Xavier was absolutely hopeless when it came to mathematical science. One would think that being an IT guy, math and science would be his thing. However, after their first session, it was painfully apparent that the young woman had her work cut out for her. Even the simplest chemistry concepts were like a foreign language to him – and so she had to teach him like she would a student half her age, instead of a man four years her senior.

Indeed, his difficulties seemed almost comical. For about half of their hour session, she’d found herself on the edge of laughter, the other half on the edge of losing her temper. Overlaying the whole situation was the inexorable pull of attraction she felt towards the man. If she’d thought it might fade because she was supposed to be concentrated on Chemistry, she’d been sorely mistaken.

For sixty minutes, he was seated perilously close to her in the privacy of one of the library’s small studying enclaves. Every time his shoulder had brushed hers, she’d forgotten balancing chemical equations and instead had marveled at the strength of his arms concealed beneath a long-sleeved sweater. How the hell did a nerd get arms like that?

How the hell did a programmer get to be so goddamn attractive anyway?

She supposed he
did
have good genes. His father was a media darling, and Xavier did share with him the same strong facial features and deep mahogany hair. However, where Garret Thompson was never seen with anything less than a deep tan and was always perfectly shaved and coiffed, his son had an entirely different sense of style. His skin was paler, and he liked a thin layer of stubble covering his jaw. His dark hair curled carelessly around his forehead, and he sometimes sported thick framed glasses that gave him a decidedly scholarly air – even if he was absolute shit at science.

The thought made the young woman smile slightly.

His scent had been heavenly – some mixture of pine and spice that made her lightheaded – and every time he spoke, it was a struggle not to stare at the fullness of his beautiful mouth….and all the ridiculousness it spouted.

He had asked for her number.

The memory was enough to thoroughly blow her mind. Not only that, but he thought she was
gorgeous
. Xavier Thompson thought she was gorgeous.

She figured it had to be a line he was used to using on girls. After all, there were very few women who wouldn’t bend over backwards for a date with Xavier. Wherever he went on campus, he was flocked by gaggles of women hungry for the mere sight of him. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before.

Once upon a time, Helena had been so absorbed in her studies that she hadn’t been very aware of their university celebrity at all. Now, he was all that was on her mind. The man was infuriating. Persistent, invasive, and apparently spoiled. He was hopeless as a tutee and, most detrimental of all, he knew about her mother.

The thought turned her mouth down as she remembered all too vividly what had happened between her and Janette. Absently, she reached up to her shoulder, where bruises from the encounter were slowly fading.

How long had it been since she’d seen her mother before that little encounter? Close to a year, she would say. Somehow, in her little bubble of academic aspiration, she’d managed to push her mother and their distorted relationship to the back of her mind. Unlike her father, whose presence and death were at the forefront of her consciousness every day, she didn’t like to remember her and her mother’s issues.