Page 10 of Solstice

I’m just tired. And I think you are, too.

Was that what I was?

Tired? Tired of pretending? Tired of sneaking around with Carter and Miri? Faking a loving relationship with Lex? Yearning to be with a child that needed a mother, knowing damn well no one in my life could ever know about her?

Lex wanted to break me down. He wanted me to admit that what we had was real, outside of the fairy curse, outside of Carter and Miri. I didn’t know where this newfound desire for my returned affection came from, but as I watched him wink and smile and stand by my side through the entire election, I found myself wanting to give in to the fantasy.

What if I let him?

What if I sank into this complicated thing between us, knowing it would devastate me when it was over? I could let myself have Lex for these brief fantastical moments, completely aware that once we broke the curse, we would go back to the way things were at the beginning. Perhaps I could steel myself against it from the start.

Lex let me work for a few hours, but he soon grew impatient. I looked up when his big body blocked the door. He leaned against the jamb, one arm crossed over the other, that petulant, annoyed look on his face.

“Yes?” I raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to smile.

“I brought you up here to seduce you, not lose you to America.” He pushed upright and stalked closer, dropping his hands to his sides. He wore gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt, the uniform of a man snuggling into a log cabin for an extended stay in the snow. I traced over the dark lines on his arms, the tattoos snaking up under his sleeves, peeking out again near his collar. I’d always loved his ink, and he must have known that because he practically preened for me as he walked.

His hazel eyes shimmered in the firelight, the flames casting shadows over the angles of his cheekbones as they faded into his pouty lips and perfect blue-blood nose, making him seem like a villain from a fairy tale.

God,he could have been a model. Even when I hated him, I couldn’t deny he was painstakingly beautiful.

“You know,” he said, coming around the desk, making me turn my chair to face him. “The last person who eye-fucked me like that”—he leaned down, his hands going to the armrests, his face coming inches from mine—“ended their night with my cock in their ass. You sure you don’t like me, X?”

I inhaled his clean scent and clenched my thighs together, an automatic response to being near someone with whom I shared the curse. It had nothing to do with him.Not at all.And once we broke the fairy gift, this fantasy bubble would pop and we’d realize why it was such a bad idea for the two of us to do this in the first place.

I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. “I don’t.”

He smiled and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Excitement mixed with trepidation in my gut, seizing my lungs and forcing my heart to pound against my rib cage. My shoulders trembled, and my cheeks burned, the X on my neck blaring to life. I dug my fingers into the leather seat to keep from reaching up to cover it. He’d see. He’d know.

He already did.

He narrowed his eyes as they ran the length of my face and settled on my lips. “I made you dinner.” Then he stood, stepped back, and nodded toward the door.

I took a slow, deep breath, letting it out through my nose as I tried to slow my racing pulse, and I pushed to my feet to follow him downstairs. I stopped at the entrance to the dining room, gasping as I swept the scene. Tall candles sat at either end of the table, plates with salmon and vegetables in the middle. I glanced in the kitchen to confirm the dirty dishes in the sink.

Yes,he had, in fact, made this himself.

“Where did you learn to cook?”

He winked and stood behind one of the chairs, pulling it out before saying, “Carter, of course. And Miri.”

I walked toward him and sat while he pushed the seat under for me, taking the spot immediately to my right at the head of the table.

“Lex, this is…” I didn’t have words. What could I say? The last person who’d cooked for me had been Carter, and he did it because he liked to. “Thank you.”

“You deserve it,” he said. “You’ve worked so hard.”

“We both have,” I said, giving credit where it was due. It wasn’t just me smiling and waving to the crowds. Lex had shown up for every event, fundraiser, and speech, all while working a caseload on his own. He’d been the dutiful man behind the great woman, and he’d played his part well.

A comfortable silence descended on us while we ate, and he poured wine that immediately made me feel warm and fuzzy as soon as I took a sip. Lex continued to surprise me. I hadn’t expected the cabin in the woods or the home-cooked dinner or whatever that was in the office upstairs. I rubbed my left thumb over the scars on my right hand, scars he also shared.Until the end.I’d made that vow to him as well. Not just Carter and Miri.

Halfway through the meal, Lex took a sip of wine and leaned back in his seat, looking over at me with a dark set to his gaze. “I want to amend our deal.”

I sat down my fork and wiped my mouth with my napkin before saying, “Typical.”

“Forty-eight hours with me…but I meant what I said about seducing you.”

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