I frowned, unable to find the phone where I normally put it. As the thing continued to ring, I pried open my eyes and stared down at Lexi for a moment. She was still curled into my chest, and even though I normally didn't let women stay the night, I was irrationally glad to have her there still. She looked cute like that.
My phone.
I rolled out of bed and managed to locate the thing in the pocket of the slacks that I'd been wearing the night before, which I'd left in a pile on the floor. They were going to need a serious ironing before I could wear them again, I thought distractedly.
I picked up the call right before it rang over to voicemail. “Hello?”
“Still in bed, I guess,” the woman on the other end of the call sniffed. “Should have expected that.”
I glanced at my watch and groaned when I saw it was Saturday morning. “Katie, I can explain,” I said.
“You can explain what?” my younger sister asked, her tone clipped. “There's nothing to explain. I know better than to agree to have breakfast with you. This isn't the first time I've ended up sitting by myself in a café, and I doubt it's going to be the last.”
“Something came up,” I told her, glancing back towards the bed where Lexi watched me uncertainly. She'd made no move to get up yet, though, and I moved back to the bed, sitting down next to her. I splayed a hand across her back and r
ubbed absently at her skin as I continued to talk to Katherine.
“What's her name, then?” my sister asked mockingly. “You probably don't even know.”
“It's not like that,” I protested.
Katherine sighed. “Sure, it isn't,” she said, and I could practically hear her shaking her head. “When are you going to settle down, Andy? Sleeping around like this isn't healthy for you, or for the women that you're with. You should know that by now. Anyway, you deserve better than that. I know you've been busy with work, but I'm sure there's some beautiful woman out there who's willing to put up with all the late nights and weekends away.”
I sighed. “I'm not looking for that,” I told her, momentarily ignoring the fact that Lexi, my latest conquest, was right there in the bed next to me. Based on my side of the conversation alone, she was probably smart enough to figure out what I was talking about, even if she didn't know who I was talking to. But that didn't really matter. I was never going to see her again. We both knew that.
“But the women that you're sleeping with are looking for that,” Katherine insisted. “I don't care if they've told you otherwise. Women are always looking to settle down into a relationship with the right man. And despite all your flaws, you are a kind man, deep down.”
I snorted. “They all know exactly what they're getting into,” I said, hating the defensive note that crept into my voice.
“I don't think they always do,” Katherine sighed. Her tone was somewhere between exasperated and annoyed. “And even if they do, I'm getting sick and tired of always being stood up when we're meant to meet up. You may not give a shit about any of them, but it hurts to know that you don't care about me, either.”
“Katie, you know that's not true.” I sighed, running a hand back through my hair. “Look, I'm sorry about this morning. We can reschedule. Let's meet up for lunch instead.”
“The whole reason we agreed to meet up for breakfast, even though I knew you weren't going to be there, was because my flight leaves at three, remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, falling silent for a beat. “Well, I'll see you when you get back. You're only going to be gone for, like, a week.”
“Try three weeks,” Katherine said, sounding pained. “It's not just San Francisco, remember? That's just the first stop. Then I'm going to London for that work thing, and then I'm going to Barcelona to visit some friends.”
“Right,” I said. “But it's not that long. I'll see you soon, okay?”
“Sure, whatever,” she said, abruptly hanging up.
I winced, but there wasn't much that I could do now.
“Who was that?” Lexi asked, sounding mildly jealous.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “My sister,” I told her, feeling irrationally annoyed at her for still being there, despite the fact that I'd been glad for it when I'd woken up. But now, it was all too easy to transfer the blame for that missed brunch meeting onto her.
I rolled out of bed and dug through my dresser for something to wear, beginning to throw clothing on. “Come on,” I said, glancing back towards the bed. “Hurry up and get your clothes on so that I can take you home.”
For a moment, her feelings were naked on her face. She was taken aback by my words, and she was hurt by them. I felt my lip curl at that. Like I'd said to Katherine, they knew that this was a one-night stand. Lexi, especially, must have known, because, beyond the vibes that I'd been giving out the night before, beyond everything that I'd said to her, there was also that small matter of the fact that she had done a presentation for me at work. I was under no illusions that she must have researched me prior to giving her presentation. She must have read all the newspaper articles.
She had known exactly what she was getting into. I felt no remorse.
She rolled out of bed without a word, though I could see the tightness around her lips. She yanked on her bra and panties and then pulled her dress on over her head, covering those curves. For a moment, I almost wanted to take her back to bed, to strip her down again and kiss apologies into her skin.
I wasn't sure where that notion had come from. I shook my head, shook away the thought, and grabbed my keys, waiting impatiently for her to follow me out of the house.