The room emptied quickly, leaving her clutching the blanket to her chest as she decided how to make her excuses and go to the washroom.
Dred walked toward her and joined her on the sofa. “Morning, Snowflake,” he said, following it with a soft kiss, his lips warm and inviting.
She wanted to know what happened. “What was that about?”
“Lennon being an idiot.”
“So you hit him?”
“Yeah. He was disrespectful of this.” Dred used his hand to go between the two of them and the sofa.
“Of you and me?”
“No, that we slept on the sofa.”
“Because the sofa’s bad?”
“Geez, Pix, are you gonna make me say it?”
“Say what?”
Dred put his head into his hands.
“Because we weren’t naked or in bed, fucking each other. He implied we . . . that I wasn’t—”
“I get it.” Because they’d slept on the sofa, clothed. “So your pride was hurt.” Pixie tried not to think about what Lennon would make of her secret.
Dred turned and looked at her. “No, definitely not that. I couldn’t give a shit about how long he thinks I lasted, or didn’t. I didn’t want him saying anything about you. And this. It’s too important. Too . . . God, I don’t know.”
There he was. Protecting her again without even realizing he was doing it. Yes, the man had a short fuse, but he also had a fiercely loyal sense of right and wrong, and his inherent instinct was to always look out for her. “I’m not sure I get your methods, but thank you for defending my honor,” she said with a smile.
“Anytime, Snowflake,” he leaned to whisper in her ear. “Best. Fucking. Night. Ever.”
“You don’t mean that,” Pixie laughed, sadly.
Dred growled and grabbed her, pulling them both to their feet. “Want me to show you how much I enjoyed it?” He pressed up against her and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her stomach. It aroused and terrified her in equal measure.
It would be so easy to say yes, and let him lead her upstairs, but the familiar emotions would swamp her once she was there.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, Dred. I just . . .”
“It’s fine, Pix. I’m not pushing. I’m chasing away any doubts lingering in that brain of yours that Lennon had a point.”
Stepping up on her toes, she kissed him and he sucked on her lower lip.
“What was that for?”
Pixie smiled. “I’m chasing away any lingering doubts in that brain of yours that I might think he did.”
While Dred went down to the recording room to have a quick discussion with the band, Pixie took a long shower in his luxurious bathroom. But beyond the high-end shower with more dials than could possibly be useful, and towels that were softer than anything she had ever felt, it was sparse and bare, nothing a plant and some accessories wouldn’t solve. Wrapped up in her towel, she blow-dried her hair straight, and deciding on a light makeup day, applied some mascara and lip balm.
Putting everything away neatly in her suitcase, Pixie heard her phone ping.
So glad dude is not lover #2 . . . we’d be having words about your taste!
Lia had attached a photograph. Her stepdad had attempted to see her at the condo. Pixie put her phone down. His presence confused her. There were so many things she wanted to ask him. Like what had happened after she had fled the trailer. There was no way Arnie would have called the police with all the drugs he had stockpiled around the place. So whatever happened next would have required someone to move the body. Her stomach roiled at the thought.
The smells of breakfast frying wafted into the room, making her feel even more nauseated.
There was something symbolic, or maybe simply ironic, about the timing. In the past, she’d been out on dates because it felt like that was what she was expected to do. Or because Lia had set her up on one. Occasionally, she’d started talking to a visitor to the shop and hit it off, accepting their offer of coffee. But Dred was the first man she could see potential in. That what they were building might have enough momentum to see them over the starting hurdles, even if they didn’t finish the race. So wasn’t it strange that as soon as she found him, her stepdad reappeared in her life, the complete opposite of her guardian angel?
Pixie sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. Not knowing what Arnie intended to do was torture.
Now, she was going to put it all aside. She was in Canada. With Dred. She wanted to enjoy spending time with him, not worrying about what her stepfather wanted. There was a sexy-as-all-heck man downstairs waiting for her. One who had put her comfort first, and hadn’t pushed her, although his whispered words lured her to let go of her inhibitions. To let him take the one thing her stepfather and his cronies had never been able to.
She wandered back down to the kitchen, praying her tummy would settle.