Page 26 of Save Me
“Are you jealous, Moneypenny?” He comically narrows his eyes at me, but still with that ridiculous Cheshire Cat smile all over his face. The dude totally loves himself. “I can understand if you are, I am quite the catch!”
“And so modest too!” I roll my eyes, laughing and shaking my head at the same time. “See if I were to behave as you do, I would be deemed as easy, yet if you do it, you’re declared a hero amongst the menfolk.”
“Menfolk?” he says with a laugh. “Who the hell talks like that, Moneypenny?”
“I don’t know, maybe the same people who refer to themselves as ‘quite the catch’?” I throw back at him. “Tell me, what are your non-negotiables for your parking lot gropees?”
He bounces into a backward walk, looking young and carefree as he faces me to begin counting them off on his fingers.
“Well, she needs to be attractive, have good breath, curves in all the right places, not be stuck up,” he says, then pauses to give me a wickedly dark look, “and willing, of course.” He suddenly stops directly in my path so that I end up bumping right into him. “Why? You interested in applying, Moneypenny?”
My hands are braced against his hard chest and my chin is pointing upward so that I am looking right into his moss-colored, dopey-looking eyes. Something heats up inside of me, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. He showcases his perfect teeth in a predatory smile, and a wild dance of butterflies begins deep down in the pit of my stomach, igniting both excitement and fear over this new development. I blush when I feel something throbbing between my thighs; it’s the first time I’ve ever felt like this for a man who didn’t exist inside of a television screen. A man who is actually stood before me, giving me lustful eyes with a side ordering of cheeky, I-want-you grins at his disposal.
Walk away, Beth, this can only end badly!
Like they do in romcoms, or dramatic films between the handsome hero and his shy and retiring heroine, he places a hand behind my neck; an act that drains all of the moisture from my mouth. For a moment, I’m lost to it. My rapid breathing and thudding heart give over to everything I want from Xander Fenton. If I were like any other girl, I would be spinning cartwheels inside of my head…but I’m not.
I’m frozen solid, as rigid as a mountain face when his other hand moves to my cheek, his thumb brushing against my lips which instinctively part against his skin. He moves in closer until our mouths are nearly touching, and I know I want him to kiss me. In fact, I want it so much, I might just grab him. But then my situation rears its ugly head, and before this can go any further, I lower my face to get away from both his hand and his lips.
Thatta girl, willpower of a nun!
“Moneypenny?” he whispers, sounding disappointed by my reaction, almost as much as I am. I shake my head, prompting him to finally drop his hands back down beside him. Though I don’t show it, I am so angry I could scream. I don’t, for what good would it do other than to make me look crazy.
“I can’t,” I whisper, hoping that he understands. “Besides, I’m only interesting to you because I’m surrounded in mystery. You’ve been warned away from me for Christ’s sake; it’s just a challenge!”
I play with my fingers in front of him, unable to look at him sporting the same disappointment that’s coursing through my veins. It will no doubt be enough to have me lunging for him. I might be deeply frustrated, but I’m not a bitch. I’m not going to lead him on or let myself fall for someone I can’t have.
“Is that really what you think of me?” he asks with a hint of anger to his voice. When I finally look up at him, he’s sporting the same expression he had worn on the day he had called me a filthy thief. “That I’m just some animal out for a challenge?”
“N-no! I-I didn’t mean…” I stutter, shaking my head rapidly while hating myself for making him think I was having a dig. That’s the very last thing I was trying to do. I just know this can’t happen, and if I’m honest with myself, I’m way out of his league anyway. “I’m nothing like the girls you go for! I mean, look at you…and look at me!”
“You know what, Moneypenny, you’re absolutely right,” he growls, suddenly pacing back away from me and running his hand angrily through his hair. “Forgive my momentary lapse in judgment. You are nothing more than a challenge and I can do way hotter than you!”
“What?! Xander, please don’t be angry with me!” I cry but he’s already got his back to me and is walking away with quick, irate strides. “I’m sorry,” I murmur to myself, knowing he can no longer hear me. I slap away at a few wayward tears and give myself a stern talking to.
This is for the best!
It’s almost dinnertime and I haven’t seen my family all day, so when I finally put my key in the door, Mum is on me like a dog welcoming you home after a long day of believing they would never see you again. The last time she was this excited to see me was after my very first day at school. I have to laugh when she starts kissing me between sobbing, all the while gripping me tightly inside of her arms.
“Are you alright my gorgeous girl? Why didn’t you call?! I’ve been so worried!” she cries. “When Bodhi told me what had happened, I wanted to run straight to you, but he said you were already on your way home. I can’t believe you almost died today and here you are striding up the road like nothing!”
“Oh, that,” I say with a casual sigh, only now recalling that little thing of me almost dying having happened earlier on. My painful moment with Xander seems to have pushed everything far out of my head, telling me that I must have it bad…unfortunately.
“Oh, that?!” She pulls me back at arm’s length and looks at me like I’ve grown an extra head and decided to join the military, all on the same day. “What the hell else happened?”
I merely laugh and shrug my shoulders before she tuts at me. I’m soon pulled back into her firm mum grip, one that has you struggling for breath.
“I didn’t know Bodhi had your number,” I mutter when she finally relents on her death hold. She practically drags me by the hand into the house, gripping on so tightly it tells me she’s not letting me out of her sight for the rest of the day. I love her for it, though; it makes me feel slightly normal again.
“Does Ma-, I mean, does Dad know?”
“Know what? That you almost drowned, or that I have Bodhi’s number?” she huffs and sits me down on the living room sofa, pawing at my forehead like I might break if she doesn’t do a full mum check. This is regardless of the fact that I have already been fully prodded and poked in the hospital for most of the day. “He’s been on the phone ever since we found out, can’t imagine who to. And as for Bodhi having my number, I guess he knows now.”
She shuffles back into the kitchen to switch the kettle on for a customary cup of tea, a beverage that must follow any potential tragedy. Meanwhile, I frown over her informing me about Dad being on the phone. I know full well who he’s talking to, not that I can tell her that. The thought of being discussed and analyzed by those two men is enough to make me want to take up drinking myself into a stupor.
Just as I make my peace with all that has come to pass today, even the fact that my father is currently engaged in a conversation with Oliver Lawrence, my little brother comes flying down the stairs. He looks like someone has just annihilated his Death Star Lego model. However, when I stare back at him wide-eyed, he looks at me with such relief it’s a little unsettling. He then lunges at me, hugging me like he used to when he was only five years old and still looked up to his big sister with a sense of awe.
“Beth!” He pulls back suddenly but now looks at me with angry tears gushing from his eyes. “I am so mad at you! You were going to leave me alone with Mum and Dad!”