by Jo Leigh
“You make me very happy,” he said, his voice soft and low, with a hint of a quiver just behind the words.
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “No matter what.”
“So, even if I can’t quit and run off to a cabin in Colorado, we can still be friends?”
“I’d like that,” he told her.
“Me, too.”
“Sometimes friends get together from time to time. They go places like, I don’t know, a tropical island,” he said.
“Really?” she asked, much more comfortable with this train of thought.
“Uh-huh.” He scooted a little closer and slipped his leg between hers.
She took the hint and curled up next to him, putting his arm around her waist, her head in the crook of his shoulder. “How often do these hypothetical friends do this kind of thing?”
“I don’t know. Once a quarter has a nice ring to it. Hypothetically.”
“Good to know. Now how about a not-so-hypothetical kiss?”
He touched her cheek with the back of his hand, as if he were touching something breakable. Something precious.
His kiss was even better. It was crazy, but it felt different. He’d kissed her all kinds of ways since she’d gotten here. With passion, with tenderness, with animal heat and childlike happiness. But this was something else. It was as if he was giving himself with his lips, with his tongue. And asking for her in return.
There was no way to say no.
She put her hand on his cheek and she kissed him back. With nothing in the way, no shields, no hiding. This was everything she was—the good, the bad, the fear, the courage. Take her. Have her.
He moaned, his voice warming all the cold places deep inside. A joining in a way she’d never been joined.
With fluttering eyelids and her heart beating a new rhythm, she burrowed closer, wanting to touch him everywhere, to be touched.
His hand moved down her side, then to her back as he pulled her tight. She felt his erection and the power he had even before he was inside her.
She shifted, wanting him. Now, now.
He spread himself on top of her with his full weight, heavy, but good, too. Then he braced his arms on either side of her, lifting just enough.
His knees parted her thighs. She raised her legs and wrapped them around his hips, wanting to open herself as completely as she could.
For a long moment, he didn’t move. His eyes were open, and they were focused on nothing but hers. She felt everything. Her heart, the muscles holding her legs up, every breath, the wetness between her legs. It was all in high definition.
“No matter what,” he whispered. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me that I can remember. When you’re cranky, when you’re silly, when you’re sexy, when you’re sleeping. All of it. All of you.”
She nodded, wanting so badly to believe him. Tears came and spilled, trickling down her temples, hotter than her skin.
Alex dipped his head and licked the trail just over her cheek. An impossibly intimate act. He brought the tears back to her, let her taste them on his tongue.
It was then that he entered her. Slowly this time, a hundred light years from what had happened in the shower. It ached, how carefully he pushed in. Not because she was afraid, but because it was the sweetest of agonies.
His mouth widened and narrowed, his tongue delved inside, then swept her teeth, only to find something new to touch, to share.
She breathed his breath.
Still, he wasn’t in her completely. He trembled above her, where their bodies touched. She wasn’t even sure whether it was his trembling she felt, or her own.
Finally, he was there. Buried inside her. Another connection. Deep, pure. He pulled back again so he could meet her gaze. And as he moved, as he loved her, she knew what it was to be seen completely. To be whole in another’s eyes. In his heart.
She closed her eyes, unable to bear it. Turned her head. Lifted her hips, forced him to move, to go back to the sex, to what she could understand.
He kissed her temple where the tears had dried, and he made sure she came. That they both came.
When it was over, he rolled to her side. Not quite touching. Just being close.
She didn’t cry again, but she wanted to.
19
ALEX STARED AT THE CEILING as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. He’d never felt more connected to another human being, and then she was gone, as if a door had slammed shut.
A gentleman would have stopped, asked her what was wrong. Alex had just been too far gone. Granted, she hadn’t stopped moving. She’d thrust her hips, raked his back with her hands. If he hadn’t known her so well, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the abrupt change. What had surprised him almost as much as whatever had made her turn from him was how she’d come. She’d screamed, clenched her muscles so hard she’d triggered his own wickedly fierce orgasm.
Now she lay next to him, so warm her heat radiated to his body. He turned to find her chest rising and falling fast, like that of a long-distance runner. Every part of her was tense. She stared up at the same ceiling, her lips slightly parted, her skin still moist with sweat.
What had he done wrong? What had he said? Just as he was about to ask her, she startled him by sitting up, swinging her feet to the floor. She picked up her piña colada, and for the next few minutes, all she did was drink. Big gulps through the straw.
He watched her, wishing her hair wasn’t covering so much of her back. He couldn’t get a bead on what was going through her mind, and it was killing him to think he’d upset her.
The hell with it. He sat up. “Meg?”
“Yeah?”
“You want to talk about it?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Okay.”
She sighed, still not facing him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so bitchy. Of course I want to talk, and I will, as soon as I figure out what’s going on.”
“Fair enough. Tell you what. You just stay put.” He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Once there, he ran some warm water, got himself cleaned up and fixed her a warm washcloth. After snagging a towel, he went back to the bedroom. She was right where he’d left her, looking beautiful, if a little sad. He didn’t think it was because she’d finished her drink. She needed some time, that’s all. And if she decided that she wanted only friendship from him, well, then, he’d come to terms.
“Thank you,” she said.
He nodded. “I’m going to put on some clothes,” he said. “You take your time, okay? Whenever you’re ready to go out, just let me know.”
His gaze moved to the alarm clock next to the empty glass. Eleven o’clock. They’d been together for twenty-three hours. It felt like weeks. More, it felt like a year.
“I’m sorry, Alex,” she said.
“Don’t be. Just relax and smell the ocean.”
That got a smile out of her. It seemed like a good time to make his exit. He went for the stairs. She stopped him with a hand on his arm.
He waited. She didn’t say anything, but the way she looked at him made him want to comfort her.
“I just need to get my head together,” she said.
“I’d imagine so.”
“You get to be cranky about this, if you want.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “No need. Just remember there’s nothing you have to do.”
She nodded.
Alex couldn’t help it, his gaze moved down her lovely body, fascinated by her beauty. It was the first time he’d paid attention when she was naked like this, when he wasn’t consumed with need for her body. Not that he didn’t need her, but it was a banked sensation, wrapped in gauze for the time being.
She really was stunning, but that was only an added bonus. He would have felt this way if she’d looked different. He hadn’t needed those dark eyes gazing at him when he was in D.C.
He stopped. Just stopped. She would let him know when she was ready to talk. I
nstead, he’d walk up the stairs and wait. He would read, listen to music. And think.
DESPITE ALEX’S kind gesture, Meg went to the bathroom and got cleaned up there. It took a while to untangle her hair, but once that was done, she went to the closet and pulled out a pair of khaki shorts and a T-shirt. She smiled as she pulled on yet another pair of white panties, and her thoughts moved straight to the man upstairs.
Could he truly be in love with her? He’d sounded so sincere. He’d looked at her with naked eyes, a voice raw with emotion.
She had to stop thinking of him as Alex, and remember that he was also DCWatcher. The one person in her life she had no reason to mistrust. She’d told him so much about herself and she hadn’t censored much. Did he remember that stuff? Or was he so taken with the atmosphere that all he could see was what he wanted to see?
The sound of a golf cart approaching the bungalow chased her thoughts to the background. She crossed the room quickly and looked out the window. “Alex.”
“Yes?” he called down.
“We’ve got trouble.”
She heard his bare feet on the stairs, and then he was standing next to her, both of them watching Charlie Hanover, looking hot and irritable as he pulled off the path right up to the side of the building. “Oh, no.”
“It’s all right.” Alex squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be back.”
He turned to leave, but before he took even a few steps, Meg heard Tina’s voice from just outside their door.
“Hello, again.”
She watched Charlie’s eyes widen in horror as two pairs of feet hurried down the wooden stairs outside. Tina and Walter came into view, flanking Charlie’s cart.
“Oh, no. You’re not doing this again,” Charlie said.
“Doing what again?” Tina asked, the picture of innocence.
“I know you’re hiding him. I just want to talk to him, that’s all. If you’ve got a problem with that, call the editor of the New York Times, lady. There’s such a thing as freedom of the press.”
Meg turned to Alex, but he wasn’t there. He’d crossed the room and was opening the door. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“It’s enough. I’ll get rid of him. I won’t be five minutes.” Then he was gone.
She wasn’t about to sit here and let him face this alone. She dashed for the door, and by the time she was on the stairs, Alex was standing in front of Charlie’s cart, but Alex was looking at Tina.
“Thank you,” he said. “Both of you. But I’ve got it covered.”
“We could call Mr. Castellano,” Walter said.
“No need. It’s fine.”
Tina moved a little closer to Hanover. “The man is on vacation. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Charlie didn’t give her so much as a glance. “So what the hell’s going on, Alex? You’ve caused quite a stir.”
“I imagine so.”
As quietly as she could, Meg joined Tina as the older woman headed back to her own bungalow.
“Should we stay?” Tina whispered.
Meg took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “No, it’s okay. Thank you.”
Tina nodded and kept on going. Meg stayed where she was, never taking her eyes off of Alex.
Charlie climbed out of the cart. He looked like he’d been in his own island hell. His shirt was wrinkled and sweaty, his hair, what there was of it, stuck up at odd angles. He was sunburned and his lips looked parched. “You broke the code, buddy,” he said. “Didn’t anybody tell you that’s not the way things are done?”
“I was tired of the way things are done,” Alex said. In contrast, he looked cool and calm. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans, and his Hawaiian shirt billowed with the breeze.
“What the hell did you think you’d accomplish?” Charlie walked closer to Alex, who didn’t budge an inch. “Did you think you’d end up the hero in all this?”
“I wasn’t aiming for hero, no.”
“You’ve seriously pissed off every newsperson in Washington, did you know that? Not to mention the entire Senate and House. No one’s going to talk to you. You don’t have a single source left in the city.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Charlie’s eyes narrowed as if he were studying an unknown species. “You destroyed Senator Bradley. You told the world he’s been manipulating the appropriations committee to get his brother-in-law’s company a sweetheart deal from the Navy. You’ve accused Gary Shayner of taking bribes from the gaming commission.”
“I know.”
“The only thing I can think of is that you’re dying. Are you?”
Alex chuckled. “No, Charlie. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not dying. In fact, I’m just starting to live.”
“Oh, Christ,” Charlie said, loudly. “Don’t tell me you’ve found religion.”
“The only thing I’ve found is my integrity,” Alex said, not rising to the bait. If anything, he lowered his voice. “But then, I don’t expect you to understand that.”
“Cut the sanctimonious crap. I’ve known you for too many years.”
“And I’ve known you. Charlie, go home. I’m not going to do this. I’m on vacation. When I get back to D.C., you can lay into me, but not now. Not here.”
“You think after all the crap you’ve put me through I’m gonna sit on the sidelines? You’re no better than the rest of us. I’ve seen you in action. You wouldn’t know integrity if it bit you in the ass.”
Alex shrugged. “What you believe is immaterial. I’m taking myself out of the game. That’s all. I’m no longer willing to abuse the system. I’m out. I’m gone. It’s over.”
“Unless you’re planning on living in a cave somewhere, I don’t think it’s going to be quite so neat. People are going to want proof.”
Alex looked out at the ocean for a moment. “Shit, Charlie. I’ve got proof. You’ve got proof. Everyone tapes everything, we write down everything, we never let a bad deed go unrecorded. I’ve just decided it’s about time I shared what I know.”
“Oh, my God. You are amazing. Just amazing.” He stepped closer to Alex, and Meg could see he was trembling. His face was red, and she didn’t think it was sunburn.
“And you know what? I’m gonna crucify you, Rosten. I’m gonna spill every tiny tidbit I’ve collected over the years. By the time I’m through with you, you won’t get a job writing for the Pennysaver. You got that?”
“Whatever makes you happy,” Alex said.
Charlie stared at him for a long time, his body still vibrating. Finally, his gaze shifted to Meg. “Is she the reason?”
“In a way.”
“What does that mean?”
Alex turned to look at her. His smile was sweet and easy, not the least bit strained. “Because I want to be a good man for her. She deserves that.”
Ignoring Alex, Charlie started toward her. “What’s your name, honey?”
Alex stopped him with a firm grip on his arm. “Get out, Charlie. Now. You’re not getting anything more from me, or her, so you might as well pack it in.”
“She can speak for herself, can’t she?” He shook his arm loose, but he didn’t move toward her. “He’s just as dirty as the rest of us, sweetheart. Once the novelty wears off, he’ll be begging to come back.”
“I don’t think so,” Meg said. Her shoulders went back and her gaze zeroed in on his. “You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
Alex walked between Charlie and Meg. His body had tensed, although she could see he was still in control. “Get out of here, Charlie. Write whatever the hell you want to, I don’t care.” He walked to Meg, capturing her hand as he went to the stairs.
“I’m not letting this go, Rosten. I’m gonna find out everything. You’re through. You hear me?”
Alex walked her up the stairs, opened the door and followed Meg inside. He closed and locked the door behind them. “Sorry about that.”
“Can he cause trouble for you?”
Alex shook his head.
/> “He sounded serious.”
“He sounded desperate. There’s a difference. He just can’t stand it that he couldn’t ruin me personally. He hates that I blew the whistle on myself.”
“I think I understand what it is you did. And what kind of courage it took,” Meg said.
“Not really.”
“Quit being so damn humble and let me say this. I’m amazingly proud of you. And somewhat intimidated.”
He laughed. “By me? Are you kidding? Don’t you get it? All this has come about because of you. Not just because I want to make you proud, but because I want to be like you.”
“What? Like me? Why?”
“Because you tell the truth whether it’s pleasant or not. You don’t pull any punches. You never let me get away with any crap. You’re a tiger when you need to be. I admire the hell out of you,” he said.
All she could do was stare at him. That wasn’t at all how she saw herself, and it was a little frightening. But it was also kind of exciting.
Was the excitement about Alex, about the idea of true love, romance, all those wonderful things he represented, or was the excitement about finding out who she was? Who she was meant to be?
“I love my work,” she said. “I’ll never stop wanting to be a vet.”
“I know.”
“But that doesn’t mean I have to be a vet on the mountain. I could work in a hospital, or a clinic. I could work anywhere.”
Alex smiled. Just smiled.
“I want to travel, too. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. And India,” she said.
“Yeah?”
Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked into his dark, wonderful eyes. “Did you take dancing lessons?”
“Huh?”
“When we were in the disco. You danced really well. How come?” she asked.
“Yes, I took lessons. Remember when swing was so popular? ‘Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’ and all that?”
“Did you go alone?”
He nodded. He still hadn’t lost his somewhat bemused grin.
“I did. But it wasn’t simply to find my inner Fred Astaire. I was trying to pick up chicks.”