He grabbed my face and our lips crashed together in a bruising kiss.
He ended the kiss and asked, “Then can we be exclusive?”
“I’m kinda thinking that way. I just want us to take this a bit slower.” He smiled and it felt like sunshine bathing my body in its warmth.
“You have plans for today?” he asked.
“Only with you.” I grinned.
“Good. Let’s shower and then I want to take you somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Huh-uh. It’s a surprise.”
He tugged my hand, and I followed him to his massive shower. An hour later, we finally emerged scrubbed, shampooed, conditioned, and thoroughly fucked as well.
While we were getting dressed, I told him about my Christmas present from Lisbeth. He shocked me by saying, “I heard about it from my grandmother.” My jaw sagged. “Alexia, this is Charleston. Not much goes on south of Broad without everyone knowing about it. Especially if it has to do with Lisbeth and my grandmother. They’re best friends, you know.”
He was right. I hadn’t thought about it, but south of Broad, or SOB, where all the blue bloods lived was a well-known gossip arena.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?”
“Aren’t you going to ask?” he teased.
“Ask what?”
“What my grandmother said.”
“Okay, I’ll take the bait.”
“Let me see if I can get it right. She said, ‘Pearce, you know your friend Alexia must be mighty special if Lisbeth bought her a brand-new Toyota Highlander for Christmas. Lisbeth Rutledge usually doesn’t let loose of a penny unless someone forces her to.’ I think I got it right.”
A fit of the giggles hit me. It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. He used a high soprano-like voice with an exaggerated Charleston accent.
“Oh my God! I wish I had recorded that. You were perfection. And that accent!” I was still laughing so hard that my sides were beginning to hurt.
“Honey, growing up here it comes with the territory. I had to temper it when I went to Duke. My patients couldn’t understand me half the time and asked what country I was from.”
Charlestonians had serious accents, particularly if they were the offspring of blue bloods. “I bet! Chicago was probably even worse.”
“No, by that time, I’d learned to control it. They could still tell I was from the South, though.”
“Well, Dr. Middleton, I think your accent is mighty sexy.”
“Hmm, do you now?” He grabbed me and bent me backward over his arm and kissed me. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to me. It started out as a fun kiss but quickly turned into a heated, passion-filled one, as I hugged him tightly to me.
“We’ll never get out of here if we don’t stop now,” I said against his mouth.
“True,” he said back against mine.
We reluctantly let go and headed out the door.
Ten
Pearce pulled into my driveway, and we walked into the house.