Nerds Like It Hot (Nerds, #6)(33)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

She closed her eyes, savoring the pleasure. "Yes …the best."

"Gillian, I’m coming."

"So am I. Oh, so am I!" The first spasm rocked through her and she caught her breath.

"I mean I’m coming to South America. Say yes, Gillian."

With the force of a Lex-induced orgasm rolling through her, she’d agree to peddle a tray full of condoms at the county fair. "Yes!" she cried. "Yes!"

"Thanks for letting me …come." Groaning, he shuddered in her arms.

Not until later, as they started to change into their bathing suits, did they realize that the curtains had been open the whole time.

Twenty-five

"THAT WASN’T FAIR," GILLIAN SAID AS THEY RODE the elevator up to A Deck where the pool was located.

"No. but it was a hell of a lot of fun." And he’d gotten the response he wanted. No matter what she said, she wanted him and needed him there when she left tomorrow.

"You can’t hold me to that answer."

His glance raked over her. "I intend to hold you to anything I can get away with, including me. That red suit should be illegal." He was glad the elevator was empty. The sexual vibes were still so strong between them that they needed this extra moment of privacy.

"I think it’s a little tight."

"Want to take it off?" He adjusted the fit of his nerd glasses and tried to look innocent "We can go back to the room, and you can slip it off so you can be more comfortable. I wouldn’t mind. Or you could go back and try on the purple one."

"It’s the same size. It would look the same."

He waggled his eyebrows. "I know."

"Do you ever think of anything besides sex?"

"I used to. Then you showed up."

She laughed. "So it’s all my fault."

"Pretty much." He loved hearing her laugh like that. After the incident with the metal drum, followed by her call to the police, where she had to rehash the grisly details of Theo’s murder, he’d watched her battle fear and disillusionment. Sure, he’d used sex to change her mood, but it had worked, and they’d both reaped the rewards.

"Seriously, Lex, you’re not coming to South America with me."

"Seriously, Gillian, I am."

"We don’t know if we’re compatible enough, and then you’d be stuck down there with someone you didn’t even like."

"Oh, now we’re back to the Aries and Cancer thing." "Maybe."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened into the hallway on A Deck. A few passengers were in the hall, so Lex decided to postpone any further comments for now.

The area around the pool was crowded with bodies, some white, some pink, but none tanned. Lex wasn’t very tanned, either, but he had more color than most everyone except Dante. Apparently nerds weren’t sun-worshipers.

Jared stood on a small platform near the pool and directed the charades with a bullhorn. Lex didn’t know whether to be horrified or relieved that Jared’s bathing suit wasn’t any less nerdy looking than the paisley boxer style Lex had been forced to wear. He checked for Hector and found him, Blues Brothers sunglasses shading his eyes, a navy blue bathing suit paired up with an unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt. He was holding hands with Dorothy.

If Lex thought for sure Hector had engineered the falling-drum incident, Lex would have no trouble taking the guy on, Mafia or not. But he didn’t know. Hector was the guy who looked most like a gangster, but that didn’t mean he was the culprit.

Gillian tugged on his arm. "Nancy’s coming out of the pool. She must have just finished a round of the charades. Now there’s a clue. She has on one of those froufrou bathing caps. If she’s wearing a wig, that would make lots of sense."

"That reminds me. I have a bone to pick with Dante. And he’s right over there, talking to Cora and Little Ben. Let’s go." He caught Gillian’s hand and started around to the other side of the pool.

"Hey, buddy!" Dante glanced up, his flip-up shades clipped to his nerd glasses. "You look about as bad as I do. That pink shirt clashes nicely with the paisley. Good work."

"Dante, have you been spreading stories about me shopping in Victoria’s Secret?"

"Not me."

Little Ben cleared his throat. "Is this about the time I should go for drinks? I mean, first there’s Nancy, and now this."

"No, no," Dante said. "It isn’t what you think." He lowered his voice. "Gillian needed underwear for the trip and she couldn’t risk going back to her apartment. So Lex did some shopping for her, and I kidded him about it, but I promise I haven’t said a word to anybody on this cruise."

Lex gazed at him. "Not even Nancy?"

"Especially not Nancy. Sheesh. Do you think I’d get you into that kind of trouble? Next thing you know she’d be offering you shaving tips." Dante shuddered. "I’m afraid to get in the pool with her. Him. It could be catching."

BJ jabbed him in the ribs. "You are such a homophobe." "You were the one freaking out when you first heard about it!"

"I know, and I’m not proud of that. But she—he—was really nice to me and Dorothy. I’m cool with everything now."

"Goody for you. You’re so evolved. Me, I’m staying out of the charades round she’s in."

"Well, she’s not in this one," BJ said. "Lex and Gillian? What do you say?"

Lex figured they might as well. "Sure." He turned to Cora and Little Ben. "Are you two playing?"

Cora shook her head. "That chlorine is really hard on my hair. We’ll watch you."

"And I’ll get us all drinks," Little Ben said. "Name your poison."

Lex felt Gillian tense, and he didn’t blame her.

"Uh, let me rephrase that," Little Ben said. "What would you both like to drink?"

"Something virgin," Gillian said. "A mai tai would be great."

"I’ll have a virgin, too," Lex said. "Pina colada."

"I can take a hint." Dante rolled his eyes. "Virgin for me, too. Bloody Mary. Maybe I can talk BJ into a real drink."

BJ shook her head. "Mineral water with lime."

"Some cruise this is," Dante muttered.

Little Ben stood. "So that’s a mai-tai for Gillian, a pina colada for Lex, a Bloody Mary for Dante, and a mineral water with lime for BJ. I’ll be right back."

"Next round!" Jared called out over the bullhorn. "To refresh your memory, one partner gets in the pool, and the other one gets the word from me. Then both partners submerge themselves while the one who knows the word tries to communicate it to the one who doesn’t. You can say the word, act out the word, whatever you want. The first partner who leaps up and says the word out loud wins that round for their team."

"I’ll get in the pool," Gillian said. "You go get the word."

Lex hesitated. "Get in the shallow end, okay?"

"Are you worried about me drowning?"

"No. I’m … uh, the thing is, I can’t swim."

Dante stepped up. "But that doesn’t mean he’s a nerd, or anything."

"Of course it doesn’t." Gillian smiled. "The shallow end’s fine."

Lex was grateful she was okay with his non-swimming status, but he was also grateful they’d had plenty of sex leading up to his revelation.

"I’ll get in the pool with her," Dante said. "Just to make sure she’s okay."

Lex gave his partner a sharp glance. "Behave yourself."

"Like you have to say that. Have I ever poached on your territory?"

Lex lifted his eyebrows.

"I mean, recently?"

Gillian laughed. "Let’s go, Dante. And don’t worry, Lex. I’ll keep him in line."

Lex felt certain she would. On the way over to the podium where Jared was giving out the word, he checked to see if Hector was still in his lounge chair. He hadn’t moved, and Dorothy was still by his side. Once again, it seemed unlikely that anyone would try something with all these people around. But Lex had thought that before, and then a large metal drum had nearly crushed the woman he loved.

Loved? Where had that come from? Sure, he was planning to go with her to South America, but that was so that nothing horrible would happen to her. That didn’t mean he loved her… exactly. Then again, that was a fairly drastic move to make for someone else.

"Ready for the word?" Jared asked him.

"Yeah, sure." He took the card that Jared handed him and shielded the contents as he opened the flap. Commitment. Son of a bitch.

"Got it?" Jared peered down from his perch atop the podium.

"I’ve got it." He walked back toward the pool where everyone’s head bobbed above the surface, including one particular head, a blonde who kept telling him how ugly she’d look once her roots started to show.

There was nothing particularly significant about that word showing up right now, he told himself. This was a couple’s cruise, so of course they’d choose words that had significance for people who were hooking up. Commitment was a good word for charades, because it wouldn’t be that easy to say underwater.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that the word was meant for him, so that he’d understand what he was about to take on. He’d told Gillian he was coming along, but he hadn’t told her why, maybe because he hadn’t been clear on that himself. And yet the word love had just appeared so naturally in his brain, as if it had been simmering there, waiting for the right moment to shine.

By going with Gillian to South America, was he saying that he wanted to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her? He hadn’t been willing to put that kind of weight on the decision, but it wasn’t fair to tag along on such a momentous journey without giving her some idea of his intentions. No wonder she hadn’t been excited about his announcement. He hadn’t framed it right.

Vaguely he remembered some of the points from Little Ben’s astrology report. Cancer and Aries were supposed to have problems because Cancer wanted to be romanced and Aries wasn’t into that. Judging from his behavior toward Gillian, he’d been a textbook case. All sex, no hearts and flowers.

With luck, he had some time to remedy that.

GILLIAN COULDN’T GUESS THE WORD. WITHOUT HER glasses, all she saw were a mass of bubbles when Lex tried to say it. Then he kept patting his heart, and she was convinced the word was angina. But when she leaped up and yelled it out, she was wrong. Then she thought it might have something to do with his lungs and she guessed congestion. Dante and BJ were declared the winner before she had even a clue.

"Commitment!" Lex said as they climbed out and grabbed towels.

"Oh." No wonder she hadn’t guessed it. Commitment was the last thing on her mind right now. Sex, yes. Despite the paisley trunks, Lex was looking mighty fine. Even those nerdy trunks couldn’t spoil the effect of wide shoulders and excellent pecs. Besides, she knew what was under that paisley, and it turned her on.

They agreed to wait out the next round and enjoy the drinks that Little Ben had brought them.

"Nancy was over at the bar," Little Ben said. "We had a chat, and I tried to tell if she was wearing. . . you know . . . falsies. I couldn’t tell."

"She has this routine down pat." Gillian glanced over to where Nancy lounged on one of the bar stools. "But you notice she hasn’t taken off her bathing cap ever since she put it on. That’s because her wig would come off with it."

"Why would she even want to go on a cruise like this?" Dante sipped his Bloody Mary and kept sneaking glances at Nancy. "I don’t get it."

"For the same reason I did, maybe," BJ said. "She’s looking for someone special. And you never know. One of the nerds might be kinky."

"Not Jared, apparently," Cora said. "That romance is definitely off. He’s staying far away from Nancy. My guess is that he found out the truth."

"It must be sad, in a way," Little Ben said. "To be so sexually confused."

Gillian watched Nancy laughing with the bartender. "I don’t think she’s the least bit confused. She’s happy with the way she is. Maybe she’ll luck out and find somebody who’s happy with the way she is, too."

"Hey, there’s another charades round starting, Dante," BJ said. "Let’s go rack up some points."

"We’re going to give you some competition this time." Gillian turned to Lex. "You go in the water and I’ll get the word."

"Yeah, we’ll switch around, too," Dante said. "That way one of us is always with Gillian."

She appreciated that. Although she was determined to spend this last day of the cruise having a good time, it was nice to know that several people were watching her back. She got the word from Jared.

This time it was aphrodisiac. She wondered if Lex ever needed anything other than visual stimulation. He might not think aphrodisiacs made any sense, which would make it tough to communicate the concept.

She shouldn’t care whether they won or not, but as she hopped into the pool next to him, she felt her competitive urges rising to the surface. She caught him looking at her with an odd expression on his face.

She sighed. "My hair’s a mess, huh?"

"No. I like it all wet like that. I was thinking you look great, so excited and happy. I wish we were on the cruise to have fun and play games, enjoy sex and great food."

"I wish that, too."

"Contestants, duck under!" Jared announced over the bullhorn.

"Here goes." Gillian submerged and began mouthing the word. It had so many syllables, and the more she tried to say it, the fuzzier her brain became.

Lex popped to the surface, and she rose with him. Wow, she was really dizzy. Maybe she’d held her breath too long.

"Androgynous!" Lex shouted.

"Wrong!" Jared shouted back.

Gillian couldn’t see well without her glasses, but she could swear that Jared blushed. Poor Jared. His sweetie had turned out to have extra body parts he hadn’t counted on.

"Let’s try again." Lex sank beneath the water.

Gillian sank, too, but she was having trouble with her coordination. She kept drifting sideways, and she couldn’t seem to hold her breath. Somehow she made the mistake of breathing in, and then she couldn’t figure out what to do about it.