Vibrizzio (16 page)

“Fellas?” Lyssa said, realizing she might be a touch too anxious for their answer.

Ben clenched his gum between his teeth as he pulled out a football. “Tell you what. When I’m older, if nobody else wants to, I’ll marry ya.” Typical male—he’d only been half listening. What did the opinion of a bunch of kids matter anyway? Especially kids being suckled on her sister’s narrow view of the world.

“A very kind and generous offer, Benny,” Lyssa said. “But I’m pretty sure that’d be illegal in this country.” Before she finished saying it, a car engine purred up the driveway at the side of the house.

The return of the antiquing crew didn’t register with Lyssa until she heard her sister’s boots crunching along the path to the patio. “There’re my babies!” Jessica called as soon as she came into view.

Lyssa shoved her hand forward, wiggling her fingers. “The gum. The gum!” she hissed. “Give it to me quick.” All three kids dropped their wrapped ciggies into her hand, and then Gabby leaned over and let the wad she’d been chewing plop down to join them. The boys followed suit. Lyssa didn’t have a chance to as much as shudder before the gazebo door opened. She clenched her hand into a tight fist and grimaced as the gum squished against her fingers.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jessica asked, giving her a sour look.

“Nothing. How was the market?”

Gabby ran over to hug her mom’s legs, and Jessica ran her fingers through her daughter’s locks as she answered, “I don’t recommend you ever try it with Doug. He was bored after about two minutes and kept whining to leave.”

Lyssa tried to keep her victorious smile internal. He wasn’t totally gone yet.

“But on the way back we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a half-price gingerbread house—naked! So we get to decorate it!”

“All right!” the kids cheered.

Lyssa smiled. It was nice to see her sister so uncharacteristically playful.

“Your grandma and I decided on the way back that we’d have one more night of Christmas. So after supper, she’s going to make hot cocoa, and we’ll decorate the gingerbread house and watch
Elf
. Come, let’s get washed up, and then you can help set the table—with the Christmas plates again.”

Another round of cheers ensued as the kids filed out of the gazebo and into the house, led by Jessica. Lyssa lagged a few yards behind the parade. She was the rebel in the family, the cynic, the anti-Stepford daughter—and she had the saliva-encrusted blob in her fist to prove it—but she’d be damned if the thought of hot chocolate, gingerbread houses, and Bob Newhart as Papa Elf didn’t make her all warm and fuzzy inside.

Later that evening, Jessica supervised the gingerbread decorating while the other adults stood around the kitchen chatting and imbibing in the rum-laden eggnog Doug had bought while the ladies had browsed decorative candies.

“You have a fun afternoon?” Lyssa asked her brother, not even trying to hide her smugness.

“Why did you let me go there?” he asked. “I thought you were my wingman.”

Karin approached from behind her husband. “Don’t worry, you’re not invited next time.”

“Oh no, however will I get over it?” he teased, wrapping an arm around his wife’s waist and rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. Turning back to his sister, he said, “But seriously, don’t ever let me lose my head like that again.”

“Not a problem.” She clinked her stout glass of nog against his.

“No more candy, Ben!” Gabby scolded from across the kitchen, cutting through all other conversation.

“It’s okay, honey. It’s second Christmas, so he can have a couple more gumdrops. They’re small,” Jess said.

“But Aunt Lyssa gave us gobs of gateway candy in the fort,” Gabby explained.

Doug raised a questioning eyebrow at his youngest sister, but Lyssa’s attention was drawn from him when Jessica turned around in her chair, asking, “Gateway candy?”

“Oh, it’s a cute candy shop in my neighborhood,” Lyssa lied, giving an airy swish with her free hand. “I just gave them a few sticks of gum. Sugar-free. I hope that’s okay.” She slid her eyes to Gabby and opened them wide for a second, attempting a subtle warning—when was she going to learn she wasn’t any good at that?

“You’re not encouraging my daughter to keep secrets from her mother, are you?” Jessica asked, shedding all hint of playfulness.

Lyssa opened her mouth, at first to defend herself but then decided to be an adult. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked you before giving them candy. And since I’m coming clean, I should also let you know that once Benny’s of age, he and I are going to run off and elope.”

Now it was Jessica opening her mouth and pausing. But instead of continuing the inane conversation, she exhaled and shook her head, turning her focus back to the gingerbread house.

The evening progressed, and with eggnog coating her digestive organs, Lyssa looked around at her family while they watched the movie. Doug snuggled up with his adoring wife on the oversized easy chair while Jessica and Sam lounged on the floor with their children lovingly nestled around them. Even her dad had his arm slung comfortably over her mom’s shoulder as they sat close to each other on the sofa. Lyssa hadn’t been lying to Gabby earlier when she’d said she was happy, but times like this made it difficult to not wonder if she could be even happier with a husband and children … someday.

Mentally shaking herself, she realized she already had the best of both worlds. She had family all around her, who, despite their differences, loved her, and she loved them. Plus, she had her friends and coworkers to fulfill her need to be appreciated and accepted. And, of course, she had Vibrizzio to take care of those needs not fulfilled by others. She also had the benefit of being single and not having to deal with the day-to-day irritations that came with marriage and children. Everything was perfect the way it was.

After the movie ended, she puttered down the hallway with Doug and Karin, saying good night as they walked hand-in-hand into their room while she went into hers. Alone. She changed into her pajamas, and she noticed a stray piece of wrapping from Hayden’s gift when she pulled the covers back. She sat down on the bed and held it to her nose, inhaling. Closing her eyes, she laid back and breathed in again as the eggnog sloshed into her brain. The wrapping simply smelled like paper, but she tried to detect a whiff of Hayden’s cologne, of him.

She thought of his sure hands on her as he had spun her around the dance floor at the museum. She pictured his smile and replayed his smooth voice telling her she looked pretty in a dress. The memory of his mouth on hers rushed at her. He was such a good kisser. Amazing, really …

In the next second, she was off the bed, crumpling the scrap of paper and dropping it to the floor as she went to her case of toiletries and retrieved her vibrator. She hadn’t been sure she’d partake while staying at her parents’ house, but three days without was a longer span than she’d gone in a while, and she wasn’t trying to be a hero. She needed this. If it ended up being a marathon session, she’d have Hayden’s gift to keep the party going.

Back in the bed, she flicked through the faces of the usual celebrity suspects as she rubbed the trembling gadget over herself, but her mind wandered away from all of them. Had she opened her mouth first or had Hayden? She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter once they’d fully tasted each other. Their mutual hunger had taken over and they’d moved together. Vibrizzio was now inside her; she’d slipped him in without thinking about it.

“Hayden,” she whispered into the empty room. She didn’t want to push him from her mind again. When she thought about it, her self-imposed rule shouldn’t apply to him because it had been put in place to discourage hope. The hope of anything romantic with Hayden was already dead, so it was perfectly safe to indulge.

She slid the device in further, rocking her hips. Hayden had her pushed up against a wall of the museum, behind a display of ancient pottery. Earlier that day, he’d ordered her to not wear any panties, and now he ran his hand up the back of her bare thigh to verify her obedience.

“Good girl,” he murmured, and then bit down at the base of her neck, sucking and chewing as his hand maneuvered to her front, his thumb gliding along her, stopping to pulse at her most sensitive point. Twisting his fingers, he slipped them deep inside while his mouth calmed to tickling baby kisses up the side of her throat until his lips were at her ear. “Such a good girl.”

She should stop. This was a bad idea. How would she look at him straight when they were both back in Illinois? His unoccupied hand slid around her back and pulled down her zipper as his mouth moved to hers. He was hot and wet and demanding. Just one night … a Christmas gift to herself … one carefree night with Delicious Hayden. She flashed to both of them completely naked. She was perched on the back of the maneless lion Mfuwe with Hayden bent over her, his face buried in her folds, his tongue surging and expertly molding her into a mass of unadulterated pleasure. It didn’t mean anything. It was only fantasy.

Now she stood among Egyptian treasures with some of the ancient jewelry adorning her. Gold and turquoise cuffs wrapped around her wrists, held high in the air while Hayden gripped her hips, pressing into her from behind. A thick collar of beads and golden falcons hung from her neck, ending just above her buoyant breasts. His sure hands cupped the supple mounds of flesh, kneading them. She twisted her neck so their tongues could dance together, mimicking the slippery movement of the slender asp that encircled her waist …

… They were in the main hall, on a giant elephant, her back pressed against its rough, arched neck. Her legs formed a perfect V as they pointed into the air, and Hayden lay on top of her, driving himself ever more forcefully into her until he cried out in ecstasy. She exploded and shook all around him, screaming along with him in her mind, though it came out as a muted whimper in real life.

Chapter Fourteen

“We’ll make our recommendations to the client in March,” Hayden explained as he pumped fists with a small team of investment managers in Baltimore.

He’d sprouted a light beard during the ski trip and had kept it perfectly trimmed to just a hair longer than whiskers. The look suited him. Lyssa liked the way the dark shadow over the bottom half of his face made the blue of his eyes seem even more brilliant, and her surprise over the change had helped mask any awkwardness she’d felt upon seeing him again after mentally ravaging him. By the time they left for Baltimore, ten days into the new year, she’d been able to set the fantasy aside as a fading, glorious memory that had nothing to do with her relationship with her business partner.

“The board will have to take a vote,” Hayden continued, “so it’ll be at least eight to ten weeks before anything is final.”

“We appreciate you making the trip out here and considering us for this placement,” the firm’s founder said. “It’s an innovative concept, and we’d love the chance to prove ourselves to one of the big boys.”

After making their exit and stepping out onto the sidewalk, Hayden pulled his wool collar up against the icy wind and nodded toward a coffee shop. “Want to stop in there?”

“Sure.”

Once inside, he told Lyssa to go ahead and place her order, saying he didn’t want anything.

“Then why did you want to come in here?” she asked.

“Sabine texted right before the meeting started and asked me to call her as soon as we were done. I didn’t want to do it from the street.” A small crease formed between his eyebrows.

“What’s the scrunched face about?”

“Nothing really. It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked to her on the phone before.” His eyes darted around the crowded coffee shop, then he nodded toward the empty hall by the bathrooms. “That looks like the quietest spot.”

“Okay, well, I’ll grab a coffee and a table, and you can join me when you’re done.” There was a queue at the counter, and by the time she got her latte and nabbed a small corner table as another customer was vacating it, she didn’t have long to wait before Hayden rejoined her.

He didn’t say anything, only pulled a chair out and lowered into it, keeping his gaze fixed on the table. His expression was vague. If Lyssa were pressed to label it, she’d have called it mild amusement.

“So how did it go?” she asked.

Raising his eyes to hers, he lifted one side of his mouth in a crooked grin. “You know all that trouble you’ve been giving me about my stable of women? Well, looks like I wasn’t the only one diversifying.”

Lyssa let the warm latte sit on her tongue and squinted at him. If he was saying what she thought he was saying … why was he smiling?

He leaned forward with both elbows on the table. “She’s been seeing someone else, and apparently things are getting more serious with this other guy, so she cut me loose. Now who’s the philanderer?”

She gulped down her mouthful. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Nope.”

“For a guy who just got dumped, you don’t seem very broken up about it.”

He shrugged. “She’s just one woman.”

“Gee, I wonder why she picked the other guy.”

“Did you know about him?”

Lyssa scanned her mind for any clues she may have overlooked but came up empty. “No. No idea at all.”

Hayden sat back in his chair and tapped the fingertips of one hand at the edge of the table. “It’s possible she’s making him up, an excuse to end things. I think our little getaway was eye-opening for both of us. Your friend’s a bit of a princess—which is nice in small doses, but five days of it was too much. To be honest, I was planning to phase her out by Valentine’s Day, and her phone call has made things a whole lot easier.”

Lyssa nodded, wondering if this was for real or false bravado—an attempt to hide his vulnerable side.

“Almost done with that?” he asked, nodding toward her coffee. “I feel like something stronger. The hotel isn’t far; we could walk in that direction and stop in somewhere for a drink on the way. Want to?”

She didn’t—it had been a long day, and she wanted to go back to her room and change into cozy clothes—but she figured he probably needed to talk more about the breakup, so she agreed. Half an hour later at a bar a few blocks closer to the hotel, they were starting in on their second round of beers, and he’d not yet made another mention of Sabine. All they’d talked about was the DH project. They’d interviewed several candidates for the wildcard pool by now and were hashing over their options.