How to Resist Prince Charming(17)

She walked with Braxton to his car, and he escorted her to the passenger side where he manually tried to unlock the door.

“Jesus.” He winced and tried to focus on the car handle. “I can’t even get the key in the lock.”

Lenna laughed. She propped herself against his passenger side back door, because it was the closest support around, and held her stomach as mirth consumed her. “Too bad you don’t have remote locks,” she said between her giggling hiccups.

Braxton paused. After a moment of intense thought, he met Lenna’s eyes and grinned. “Oh, right.” He lifted his key ring to show her the remote dangling from his palm.

Lenna started all over again with her hiccupping giggles. To muffle the sound, she slapped her hand over her mouth, only to frown and pat around her face. “Hey, I can’t feel my nose.”

Paying her no attention, Braxton scowled at his set of keys. “So, what button do I push?” He tried one and the alarm went off with flashing lights and a honking horn. Yelping out a curse, he slapped his thumb over another button, and another, until the car calmed. Lenna dropped her arms to her sides and couldn’t stop the next round of hiccup-giggles bursting from her as if her life depended on it.

When Braxton finally discovered how to unlock the automobile, he opened the passenger door for Lenna, who was now sitting on the ground, wiping tears off her cheeks.

She looked up, still shaking with silent mirth, and met his gaze. “Are you sure you can drive?”

He nodded his head yes, but said, “Absolutely not.”

Lenna laughed again.

He shut the car door and tugged her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s find a cab.”





CHAPTER 5




By the time the taxi pulled to a stop in front of Lenna’s apartment building, she swore every nerve in her body had to be high on steroids. The Red Bull from their J?ger Bombs had definitely kicked in. But she didn’t feel like laughing anymore. No, her adrenal boost had moved on to other parts of her anatomy.

As she paid her half of the fare and slid from the back seat, Braxton followed her. “I’ll walk you to your door.”

She wasn’t about to say no.

As soon as they exited the car, the cabbie put the engine into gear and drove off. Braxton whirled back and frowned after the departing automobile. “Where the hell is he going?”

Lenna covered her mouth with her hand to hide one of the giggles she thought she’d drained from her system at the club, but it blurted out between her fingers.

Braxton turned toward her. He pointed after the departing cab. “That was my ride.”

She nodded. “I know.” She kept in a smile as she said it, but a moment later, she laughed outright.

Finally, Braxton shook his head and joined her with his own chuckle.

“Come on up,” she offered, holding her hand toward him. “You can call another cab from my room.”

He paused, looking uncertain. Then he sighed and took her fingers. “I did leave my cell phone charging in my car.”

Lenna nearly whimpered with want as the warmth of his touch spread up her arm.

Mr. Perfect was proving to be a lot more damn wonderful than she’d originally figured. He wasn’t so debonair and pretentious that he intimidated her with his wealth and status, but he had these slight little flaws bringing him down to earth and making him practical. He could tell the corniest jokes and was clumsier than one would think. He’d tripped at least twice on the dance floor tonight, only to laugh at himself and say he’d meant to do that.

Then, when Lenna discovered a chip in the corner of one of his top teeth, confirming he wasn’t faultless, he’d touched the dental flaw with the tip of his tongue, making her stomach quiver in response. Chuckling, he had explained its origin.

His sister had punched him in the face when he was thirteen because he’d murdered one of her dolls, hanging it by the neck from the stairwell of their house. His parents had decided not to repair the chip so he’d always remember not to underestimate the roundhouse of a ticked off sibling. And he’d never gotten around to fixing it since he’d moved out onto his own.

Smiling over that story, Lenna tried to block out how warm his body was behind hers as he followed her to her room. When she stumbled on a step, he caught her waist to steady her. “You okay?”

If he wanted her, he could have her, right then and right there on the stairs of her apartment building.

She managed a quick nod. “Yeah. Thanks.”

A distant voice in the back of her brain told her to stop this insanity. She should send him back down to the entrance and tell him she’d call the cab for him. But she didn’t want to.

She wanted one last moment alone with him. So, she paused at her door and tugged her room key from her front pocket without shooing him off.

The back of her neck tingled with awareness.

Knowing he was right behind her, watching her, she fumbled with the lock. She couldn’t get past the fact he was about to enter her apartment.

“Did I tell you how incredible you look tonight?”

His voice spiked through her, making bumps lift along the back of her neck. Her nipples perked to attention. The insides of her thighs tingled and her skin turned so sensitive, even the shift of her panties against her genitals made her shiver. She lifted her face.