An Exceptional Twist (16 page)

Raising one eyebrow while scrunching the
other down, Leah sneered, “Are you kidding me? How could you stand
that smell when you opened the fridge?” Just thinking about it made
her want to gag again.

He shrugged. “I really don’t use it much. I
eat out most of the time and when I don’t, I have something
delivered.”

That’s just sad.
Leah loved to eat out occasionally, but the best
meals always came from home. “You made pancakes,” she pointed out,
recalling the mess in the kitchen earlier. “Didn’t you have to get
the eggs and milk out?”

He shook his head. “It was one of those
mixes that you just add water.”

“How did those taste?” Leah scrunched her
nose. There was no way those pancakes tasted even remotely
decent.

He grimaced again. “Horrible, but I just
thought it was because I burned a few.”

She stifled a laugh, wondering how often he
cooked. Must be a rare occasion. “I’ll take care of everything
else, but you can get that rotten thing out of the fridge.” She
shivered at the idea of doing it herself.

Once the rancid offender
was out of the house, Stefen helped Leah open all of the windows. A
nice breeze blew in, clearing out the house.
Nothing like the fresh ocean breeze to clear the
air.

“I didn’t think to keep up on the cleaning.
I assumed they had a maid coming soon. Caleb’s always had one.” He
leaned on the island, opposite from where she stood in front of the
sink.

“Abby doesn't believe in wasting money on
things she can do herself. It's her home now, and she plans on
cleaning it herself.” Pulling a bucket out from under the sink, she
poured some floor cleaner in before adding water, then went in
search for a mop.

Stefen trailed behind. “Really? I've never
heard of a woman that would turn down a maid service.”

Of course you
haven’t.
She knew he’d grown up spoiled.
It wasn’t necessarily his fault.

Finding a closet under the
stairway, she opened the door and
bingo
, the mop, broom, vacuum and
everything else she would need were neatly nestled in there. She
reached for the broom and mop, then returned to the kitchen. “I’m
the same. I like taking care of my own space.”

Stefen looked at her like she’d just grown
two heads. “If you say so.”

Leah tried to put him out of her mind,
committing to the task at hand as she cleaned the rest of the
fridge then moved on to mopping the floor. Stefen silently sat at
the breakfast bar, observing her.

“Either help or stop
watching me please.” Looking over her shoulder, she caught him once
again staring at her butt as she bent forward.
Dammit, stop doing that!
Her eyes
narrowed on him.

Surprised out of his daydream, he didn’t
hesitate to set the record straight. “Uh, no thanks. I’m not a
housekeeper.” Without delay, he strode toward the stairs.

Leah let out a breath, shocked that he just
abandoned her, but relieved that she was finally alone.

Done with the downstairs, Leah headed up to
the second floor. “Stefen?” She called out.

I do not need to walk in on him
changing.

“In here.”

Treading softly, she reached the guest room
he’d been staying in and poked her head in. “Is there a bathroom I
can clean in here?”

“There is, but I already did it.” He was
pulling the covers up on the bed.

“Okay.”
He can’t clean the kitchen, but he’ll clean the
bathroom?
“I just wanted to make sure I
didn't miss anything.”

“No. I think you’ve done enough.” The snippy
tone surprised her. He was irritated again, and she had no idea why
this time. Although nothing had been settled, he seemed okay just
moments ago.

What the heck happened in the last five
minutes?

“I'm leaving then,” she said, dejected,
heading into the hall.

He dashed up behind her, asking in a rush,
“Will I see you again before they get home?”

Leah turned and, seeing how close they were,
she took a few steps back and set the pail down between them.
Stefen grinned in the arrogant sexy way only he could get away
with.

“Probably not. I'm going home. I was going
to make them some lasagnas to bring over after they get home. I
work all day tomorrow, but I’ll be here in time to serve
dinner.”

“I don't have anything else to do tonight,
do you mind if I come and hang out?”

Folding her arms over her
chest, Leah tried to hide her irritation from his smirk. “Why? You
were acting all pissy just a few seconds ago, and now you want
to
hang out
?”

“I know, sorry.” He reached out and grazed
his finger back and forth across the hem of her shirt before
letting it go “I just want to move on from what happened. We were
having a great time before the wine tour.”

Full of remorse, she let her arms drop to
her sides, her head falling as her eyes looked up at him. “I’m
sorry about that. I really am. I had no right to say what I did. I
was having a great time, then everything just blew up.”

Breathing deeply, he replied, “How about we
let bygones be bygones, okay? I’d love to join you for dinner at
your place tonight, if you don’t mind.” He cocked his head to the
side, waiting for her answer.

There was a lump in the
pit of her stomach. She wanted to believe him, but it wasn’t
enough. She couldn’t just sweep everything under the rug.
Maybe we can talk about it over dinner. In my
home, where I’m more comfortable.

“Sure. I bought enough
ingredients to make an extra. We can have it for dinner tonight. I
hope you don’t mind eating vegetarian lasagna two nights in a row.”
She clasped and unclasped her hands.
This
is such a bad idea.

“Vegetarian?” He grimaced, then seemed to
resign to it. “Okay, works for me.”

Swiftly gathering the cleaning supplies, she
bounded down the stairs, “I'm ready when you are.”

He charged down, meeting her at the bottom.
“I need to make a quick stop on the way. Wanted to pick up some
wine. You can head home. I’ll be there shortly after.”

That reminded her of the really nice
vineyard owner, Zachary. He’d given her a couple bottles of his
wine before they’d left. In all the chaos, she’d lost them.

She raised a finger to ask him, but stopped
herself at the last second. Probably wouldn’t be wise. Smiling, she
said, “See you soon.”

After buying the items at the liquor store
he needed for later, Stefen headed to Leah’s loft. Tonight had only
one purpose—getting Leah out of his system. Tonight would be
romance and seduction.

“I’m through with being her emotional
punching bag,” he said aloud to himself, fully ignoring how crazy
he sounded. “I have sex with women. I don’t get involved with their
drama.”

But even as he said the words, he hated how
much they sounded like a lie. Frustrated, he hit the steering
wheel. His stomach was churning. She wasn’t just another girl to
screw, and he knew it.

“Dammit, why did I let her get to me? I know
better.” He always kept women at a safe distance for this exact
reason.

Hearing a gasp, he looked over to see an
older woman in the car beside him, gaping as if he had in fact lost
his mind. He gave her an annoyed smile and hit the gas once the
light turned green.

This is better,
he told himself. He got to see her true colors
the other night. She had outed herself. Good thing he hadn’t
confessed anything to her yet.
Thank god,
she ruined it.

Parking in a spot behind the flower shop, he
grabbed for the box he’d just purchased and opened it, which was
easier said than done, but he managed. He shoved a handful of
foiled wrappers into his front pockets, tossed the remainder into
the glove box, then picked up the bottles of wine he also
bought.

Climbing the stairs, Stefen reassured
himself that this was a good idea. At least he hoped. When she
opened the door, he got a whiff of her floral scent. It was
concentrated in the small space she lived in. Up until this point,
Stefen hadn’t been inside her apartment and was pleasantly
surprised by the rustic but feminine décor.

Scanning the room, he asked, “What, no
pink?” Stefen had never been inside of a single woman's home that
didn't have some tone of pink in it.

Leah followed his eyes.
“No, that's Abby's color. She helped bring this place together, but
I insisted
no pink
. I prefer red.”

Perfect time to pour on the charm. “I've
noticed.” He smiled in that way he knew women loved, adding, “And
it looks stunning on you.”

“Thank you.” A bashful smile lit up her face
as she took the bottles from him. Stefen followed her into the
kitchen, taking a seat as she put the wine away and gathered some
items from the fridge. He enjoyed watching her fluid movements
through the small space.

“How do you feel about chopping vegetables?”
 She turned, handing him a cutting board, knife, and a couple
of veggies. Without waiting for his reply, she went back to
stirring a pot of pasta sauce.

The only sauce he’d ever used was poured out
of a jar and sent into the microwave for heating. Even then, he
burned the edges. Leah was gifted in many areas, including the
kitchen.

After watching her dance at their dinner
date and at the studio, he had no doubt that her talents extended
to the bedroom. His senses went on hyper alert as she tasted a bit
of the sauce from the wooden spoon.

“Mmm,” she moaned, “that's good. Wanna try?”
She held the spoon up to him.

His lips parted as he reached out and gently
stroked his thumb along the contours of her hand, guiding the spoon
toward his mouth. He flicked his tongue around the edge, then
dragged it slowly across the bottom, licking every tantalizing
drop.

Leah watched him, her pupils expanding as
his tongue slid out of his mouth and across his lips with a pleased
look on his face. Energy sizzled between them. This was going
exactly as he’d planned.

He gave her a devilish smirk. “Outstanding.
I can't wait to taste everything you have to offer.”

Her eyes widened further before she turned
back to the range, and he hoped she caught his double meaning. But
if he didn’t put some space between them immediately, he was going
to take her right there on the kitchen floor.

“Bathroom?”

“Sure, just give me a minute.” She ducked
into what he thought was the bedroom and wondered what she was
doing. A minute later, she opened the door wider and called him
over. “It's in here.”

Then it hit him, Stefen had gone to enough
women’s homes to know that Leah probably wanted to make sure she
hadn’t left any panties on the floor. He walked past the doorway,
making sure to graze her chest with his arms along the way.

When he was finished, he
stepped out into her bedroom, taking a minute to feel it out. He
ran his hand along the red velvet comforter, noting the crapload of
throw pillows leaning against the headboard.
Why do women always have so many damn pillows?

Attached to the wall across the room, were
black wooden letters that spelled out the word ‘Bucket List’.
White-washed, framed chicken-wire hung under those words, along
with pieces of flower-pressed paper fastened with clothes pins.
Within the frame, sat a small silver bucket. He got closer and
started reading the little slips of paper. They were the usual—fall
in love, get married and have kids, girly kind of wishes. But the
ones that specifically caught his eye, read: