Read Online Wanderlust by Roni Loren - Free Book Online Page B

conversation with Grayson quite yet, but knowing she couldn’t very well leave him on the doorstep. She swung the door open. “What now?”
    Lex slid his aviator sunglasses down his nose. “Damn, is that how you greet people? What happened to Southern hospitality?”
    Great, just what she needed.
    “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.” She gathered her robe more tightly around her when Lex’s gaze flicked downward to her state of dress. “What are you doing here? Wait. How do you even know where I live?”
    He held up a greasy paper bag. “I come bearing beignets and an apology.” He gave her a grin bordering on boyish. “And I know where you live because I jumped in a cab and followed you last night to make sure you got home okay.”
    “How chivalrous—and stalker like—of you.”
    He set his sunglasses on top of his head. “That’s me. Like you said, I try to make my mother proud.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure you do. Come on in, but those better be from Café Du Monde and not some knockoff.”
    He sauntered in, openly appraising her living room. He leaned to the side and looked through the open doorway, which provided a straight-shot view to the kitchen at the rear of the house. “Your house is cool. You can see every room from here.”
    She grabbed the bag from him and indicated that he should follow her. “It’s a shotgun house. They’re pretty common around here.”
    “A shotgun house?”
    “It’s named that because you could shoot a gun through the front door and the bullet would go straight through all the open doors and not hit anything.”
    “That’s morbid.”
    She smirked. “Yeah, I guess, especially for those standing in a doorway.”
    “I’ll be sure to stand clear then.”
    She led him through a narrow hallway, passing her bathroom and bedroom, and then stopped in the kitchen. She dropped the bag onto the small bistro table that served as her dining area and hit the on button for the coffeepot. “Go ahead and sit down. I need to get dressed. Be right back.”
    He opened his mouth like he wanted to make a comment—lewd, she’d guess—but he refrained and shut his mouth. She grabbed a tank top and shorts from her dresser and then hurried into the bathroom to change. When she returned to the kitchen, he was rummaging through her cabinets.
    “Make yourself at home, why don’t you?”
    “Coffee cups?”
    She stepped around him and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet on his right. Her arm brushed against his, and she cursed inwardly at the electric current that raced across her skin. When he touched her shoulder, the cups almost slipped from her hands. He turned her toward him. “Hey, I’m sorry about last night. I was an asshole.”
    She put the mugs on the counter and eyed him suspiciously. She wasn’t sure what to think of this version of Lex. He had to be up to something. “You were, but I can accept your apology and move on if you’re actually going to give me a proper interview.”
    “Of course, I always keep my promises.” He lifted the coffee carafe and filled both their cups. “So what was up with you at the door? Who did you think I was?”
    He followed her to the table. She considered lying to him, but what did it matter? He’d be gone in a few days and wouldn’t remember her name, much less her personal business. May as well be honest. And maybe it’d be a good way to start open conversation between them so he wouldn’t be so guarded in the interview. “My ex-boyfriend showed up at my door this morning after five years of no contact.”
    “Fun.” He blew across the top of his coffee. “Was that the Mercedes parked in front of your house?”
    She bit off a big chunk of beignet, getting powdered sugar all over her fingers, and lifted a shoulder as she mumbled, “Probably.”
    “Blond guy?”
    She nodded.
    “That douche almost took off the front bumper of my rental car when he was pulling away from the curb. I didn’t curse him out ’cause I