Read Online Good Morning Heartache by Audrey Dacey - Free Book Online Page B

she
shook off the idea before it could get any real bearing.
    “Let's go get your food and
bowls. Then we'll get out of here,” she said as she rose to standing.
    A deep voice rumbled behind
her, “I swear I'm not stalking you. I'm supposed to be here.”
    Alexis whipped around to see
the Untappable standing at the top of the half-flight of stairs that led to the
main part of the house with his hands held up in surrender. A rush of anxiety
swept over her as she tried to make sense of what was going on. This was her
greatest fear. That another guy would just invite himself into her life. Once
Frank was gone, she made damn sure there wasn't room for anyone else. This had
not gone over well with several of the guys that she had slept with. She was a
manizer and damn proud of it.
    In the beginnings of her
promiscuity, she didn't have rules and had sex with any willing penis. She
quickly found out that this was a bad plan. Longest-lasting and most annoying
was Richard, and she took care of that with a little help from the sheriff’s
office.
    After Richard and a couple
other creeps, she made it clear to everyone she slept with—no strings. She
didn't get the stalker vibe from this guy, but that wasn't always the best
gauge.
    Then it hit her. Webb. Ryan
Webb. He was the nerd from Arizona. How did this slip past her? She really
wanted a “that-was-nice-but-I-hope-I-never-see-you-again” situation, and since
he was visiting from out of town, she thought…crap. He wasn’t going back to
wherever he came from; he was staying in her best friend’s house a few miles
away from her home for the next two weeks.
    Alexis stared at him
tensely. His ice blue eyes seemed softer than they had over the weekend. Maybe
it was the asparagus green button up he was wearing that softened them, but she
got a sense that he was just more relaxed because he was more in his element.
    He slowly descended the
stairs. Alexis could see the strength of his forearms below the rolled up cuffs
of his shirt. This small reminder of his masculinity kindled her imagination,
and she began to undress him with her mind.
    In her head, she carefully
unbuttoned the shirt with a flick of her thumb and forefinger after untucking
it from his slacks. She slid it off his shoulders, grazing his neck and back.
She ran her fingers along the muscles of his chest, through the coarse hair,
and down the thin happy trail to his belt.
    Before she could get his
pants off, he spoke. “I'm innocent. I swear. I am doing a job for Michael and
Caitlyn. Two weeks and I'm gone. I didn’t know you were the dog sitter.” He
stopped on the last stair before the landing and stood directly in front of
her.
    “You're the lost roommate?
I’m sorely disappointed. I expected someone more studious. With glasses or something.
Just goes to show that nerds are lurking everywhere, and if a girl isn't
careful, she may take one to bed.” Alexis gave him a glance up and down and
made a chiding tick with her tongue. “You should have warned me.”
    She looked up at him and
could see that he, too, was taking her in. He managed to give her a crooked
half-smile before saying, “You say that like you gave me the opportunity to say
anything beyond a primitive grunt. Besides, no personal information. No
strings, right?”
    Ryan lifted a hand, and she
thought that he was going to touch her. The tingle of anticipation filled her,
but it was quickly squelched when he instead ran his fingers through his hair.
    “Let's go get Sam's stuff.”
    The warmth of his body, the
spicy musk was drawn away from her. It was for the best. He was making her
light-headed. Alexis took a moment before she lifted herself up the half-flight
of stairs and followed him into the kitchen.
    When she entered, Ryan was
standing over the kitchen table looking at blueprints. His focus was completely
on his work, and it was like she had never come in. He acted like they hadn't recently
exchanged words or been so close to one another that