who broke Mom’s ceramic elephant from Africa during that party you held your senior year.”
“You little snitch. You promised you wouldn’t tell. I paid good hush money for that,” Erik said, grinning. “I should’ve threatened some kind of punishment for reneging on the deal.”
“Good times,” Alexis said, laughing. “Okay, so is it settled? Erik will go with Emma, and Layton will stay with me?”
They all shared looks and then nodded, agreeing. Emma heaved a breath and then said, “All right, if that’s the case, we need to get moving. If that storm is determined to dump another load of snow, I want to put some miles on the road before it happens.”
“I can be ready to roll in fifteen minutes. That work for you?”
Emma nodded and they both split off to finish getting ready.
“And just like that, it was you and me,” Layton said.
“Yeah...you know you don’t actually need to stay,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I appreciate what you did. Emma wouldn’t have agreed without Erik and you volunteering. As soon as they take off, wait about a half hour and then you can take off, too.”
He shook his head, grinning. “Sorry, no can do. My offer was legit. What kind of guy would I be if I left you to fend for yourself when you’re plainly injured?”
That surprised her. He really wanted to stay? To be truthful, she’d thought he was just giving her backup. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I mean, I know it’s not actually my fault, but I do feel a bit responsible for your laid-up foot. The least I can do to assuage my guilt is to help you out.”
Alexis didn’t know what to say to that. She paused for the tiniest of moments only because a hot guy was her personal weakness, and the last person she needed to mess around with was her brother’s best friend, but what were the odds that anything would happen between them over a weekend? She could be around a hot guy and keep her hands to herself. She smiled with determination—mostly to prove something to herself—and said, “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I wasn’t lying when I said I had a movie marathon in mind.”
“I like movies.”
“Chick flicks.”
“Movies with hot chicks? Sounds good to me.”
She laughed at his devilish charm. Yeah, he was just the sort of guy who’d turn her head. But not this time.
Nope.
Layton Davis...it ain’t gonna happen.
* * *
TRUE TO HIS WORD, Erik was ready to go within twenty minutes. With Emma in her SUV waiting, Erik paused to give the obligatory big-brother speech, which Layton didn’t fault him for, but he was tempted to remind Erik that Alexis wasn’t a kid.
“I know you’re a good guy or else I wouldn’t even think of leaving Alexis with you, but I feel I have to warn you about my sister. She’s...spirited.”
Layton’s brow rose. “Spirited? Erik...horses are spirited. Be more specific.”
“Hell, this is the most awkward conversation ever. Look, she has a thing for falling for the wrong guy and I don’t want to see her hurt. She’s been through enough. Her last boyfriend... Let’s just say I wasn’t a fan. So, yeah, what I’m trying to say is...don’t mess with her and for God’s sake, don’t let her mess with you. Keep things friendly, but not too friendly.”
“C’mon, man, like you would have to ask. I’m not here to hook up with your sister. I’m just helping out.”
The look of relief pinged Layton’s conscience. The fact was, Alexis was hot. She was a grade-A hot piece of ass if he were being honest, but he meant what he’d said. He wasn’t here to mess around with the woman.
Erik clapped him on the shoulder and climbed into the car. “Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge. I’ll call you when we get there.”
“Drive safe,” Layton said, waving.
The snow started to drift lazily from the sky, dissolving into tiny wet spots on his face almost instantly. He glanced at the sky. Hopefully, they made good time before the storm really started up again. Layton turned on his heel and returned to the house, where Alexis was already up and hopping around the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. What are you doing?”
“Preventing you from overdoing it. What happened to the movie marathon?”
“There’s plenty of time for that. I want to make some kettle corn. Want some?”
Kettle corn. How did she know it was his weakness? “You know how to make it?”
“I sure hope so, otherwise I’m about to make a huge mess for nothing.”
He chuckled. “Okay, wiseass, as much as I would love to scarf down some kettle corn, you are getting off that foot. I told you I didn’t think it was broken, but it’s certainly sprained and you need to elevate it with some ice.”
Alexis scowled, but he didn’t give her a chance to argue and simply scooped her into his arms, shocking her into stunned silence as he carried her to the living room. He deposited her on the sofa and then put a pillow under her foot. “You sit here while I get the ice.”
“Is now the appropriate time to admit that Emma was right and that I don’t sit still well?”
“I already had that figured out.”
“Story of my life. I’ve never been able to just sit around. Once I had the chicken pox and I drove my mother crazy because I couldn’t stop itching and squirming, which then made it worse. My mom says it was the longest two weeks of her life.”
Alexis’s story was telling. He held no illusions that Alexis would be an easy patient, but there was something about her that drew him, in spite of all the reasons he ought to keep his distance. Maybe it was the memory of those dream kisses or maybe it was the memory of that near-perfect ass. Ha! Neither memory was safe enough to entertain for longer than a heartbeat.
He returned with an icepack wrapped in a towel and gently draped it on Alexis’s ankle. “That ought to help, but you really have to keep off your foot if you want it to heal.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled. “Are you sure you want to hang around? There’s nothing exciting about watching paint dry.”
“Depends on the company.”
Alexis met his gaze and cocked her head to the side with a sweet, beguiling grin that he didn’t trust in the least but found extremely compelling. “Is that so? And are you saying that you would enjoy my company? The woman who nearly turned you from a rooster to a hen with one kick?”
“In spite of that...yeah.”
Were they flirting? It felt like flirting. And he liked it.
Hell,
