Free Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) by Kris Jayne Page A

scowled again.
    He turned to Alexa as she fidgeted. “You comfortable?”
    “Perfectly.”
    “Great.” Looking at her like the Cheshire Cat made her shoot him another chilly stare. Graham snagged one of her curls as it floated past his fingers. He twirled it on his index finger and let it go.
    “Oh, I made coffee and all that. Be right back.”
    Sarah hurried back into the main part of the house. Alexa rotated toward him.
    “Are you going to keep pestering me like a third-grade boy on the playground? If so, maybe we should send you upstairs for an early bedtime, too.”
    Graham detected a tick of amusement, so he didn’t care that the other ninety-nine percent he heard was irritation. He leaned closer and dropped his voice.
    “Maybe. I’m terribly immature. I wish you had actual pigtails. You’d be so cute.”
    Alexa stared for a moment, then burst into laughter. “I don’t do pigtails.”
    “Too bad. I like having handles.”
    “Are always such a perv?” She closed the rapid fire question with pursed lips.
    “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
    Alexa gave him a shove, knocking him against the arm of the loveseat. Then, she straightened up when Sarah returned with refreshments on a wooden tray. Graham pulled his legs together and rested his palms on his knees.
    He could behave—if he wanted to—but he didn’t. And, he might never get her to admit it, but Alexa didn’t want him to behave. The dance of jade in her eyes scintillated. Graham knew she could handle him. Anytime she wants.

Chapter Ten
    A lexa said goodbye to the last client leaving pilates class on Saturday afternoon and glanced over at a now-familiar sight. Graham stepped off the pull-up machine, grabbed his things, and walked her way, angling his path to cross hers just past the elliptical machines.
    “Are you about to get out of here?”
    “I have a little bit more work to do but basically, yeah.”
    “You maybe want to grab a drink?”
    Alexa tugged at the ends of the towel draped around her neck. “I’m not up for that tonight. It’s been a long week.”
    In addition to all of the business on her plate, Adam had texted her to let her know that his plans to visit Austin were starting to come together.
    Her fling with Adam caught her off guard last November.
    The intensity of their liaison sent her fleeing back to the continent, glad for the ocean between them. Adam came at you like a storm—thunderous, beautiful, and dangerous on the horizon.
    Seeing Graham elicited much the same response as well as the same urge to grab her passport and flee the country. Soon, they might both be in Austin, filling up her dance card. The possibilities kept a perpetual quiver in her stomach.
    She managed to smile through her mental conundrum, which Graham interpreted as encouragement.
    “What better way to relieve stress than a night out with a friend.”
    “Is that what you are?”
    “Of course. Come on.” A siren song lifted his tone, melting her resistance.
    Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she took a sudden interest in a piece of lint on her yoga pants.
    “I don’t know. I want to avoid a…romantic dinner scenario. This whole thing…” She waved her hand over her head and dropped her voice. “We’re not a Valentine’s day couple.”
    Graham’s eyes narrowed, more determined than angry. “Come on. It’s dinner. Not Russian roulette.” He tilted his head charmingly to the side, evaporating some of Alexa’s resolve. “I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
    Graham stuffed his hands in the pockets of his loose track pants as if to prove his point. His hair flopped across his forehead, framing his expectant brown eyes. How had she not noticed how impossibly long his lashes were? Keeping his hands to himself was looking like less of a selling point.
    His lips parted into an easy smile. “Valentine’s is tomorrow. Today is not Valentine’s Day. We’ll meet somewhere very unromantic like Tig’s. The Irish Bar. They have trivia tonight. It