He watched her shoulders sag in relief, but instead of being happy, he found himself almost sad that she hadn’t wanted to try and see him again. His ego was slightly bruised, but her next words brought him back to the task at hand.
“It’s for the best. We might run into each other occasionally at family get-togethers, and I’m cool with pretending this never happened, if you are too.”
Russell nodded his head, something about the situation not quite sitting right with him. He grabbed his things and shoved his feet into his shoes. As he walked through her front door, a strange emotion overcame him. He realized he didn’t want to leave, but the rest of the feeling was so out of place and unusual he couldn’t quite figure out what was causing it.
Allison had been a one-night stand, and while she was a beautiful, vibrant young woman, she didn’t want a relationship with him any more than he did with her. Leaving was the logical conclusion to their interlude. So why was he feeling lost?
Chapter 3
Allison waited until she heard the front door firmly shut before she began bustling around the small apartment. She headed to her bedroom and stripped the bed, gathering up the sheets and pillowcases, and the towels from the floor before heading to the small stacked washer and dryer in the hallway closet.
While the sheets were in the washing machine, she dusted and then swept the floors before heading towards the bathroom. She cleaned everything including the shower, trying to remove every last trace of Russell’s presence from her apartment.
Yet she couldn’t do the same with her thoughts. Her mind kept straying to different scenes featuring him and her together, and it was driving her crazy. Since when was she a prisoner to her thoughts? Dwelling on things that weren’t meant to be?
Her older brother Grant and his girlfriend Samantha had given a housewarming party yesterday. It had been the first time in ages that all the Paxton and Armstrong siblings came together, and the party had been a happy affair with music and dancing. Allison had enjoyed herself immensely, and it had felt natural to flirt with Russell, trying to get him to smile.
He’d been so somber, and at first she’d made it her own personal challenge: get Russell to smile. But when she accomplished her task, she was instantly lost, and swooned over how handsome he was. He wore a dark and almost mysterious expression on his face, but every rare smile dispelled the shadows and captured her heart – smile by smile.
She’d been in a celebratory mood, so when someone had offered her a glass of champagne, she’d accepted it with a nod of thanks. After all, yesterday had been her twenty-third birthday. The first glass heightened her mood and she acted bolder than she usually would have, flirting like never before. And when she’d made Russell smile, he’d offered her a second glass of champagne. How could she have known the momentous consequences of getting a little tipsy? She sure hadn’t anticipated crumpling her sheets with him in the wildest, most satisfying sex ever.
As the party wore down, it became evident that most of the guests had imbibed too much alcohol to drive all the way back to the city. Her mother Bridget had taken charge, delegating people to various spare bedrooms and couches. Why did she assign him of all persons to my place? Why couldn’t it have been someone else? Someone I wouldn’t end up sleeping with?
If her mother even had an inkling that Russell hadn’t slept on the couch…Allison shuddered at the thought, embarrassed beyond belief.
They’d not even managed to get the door closed before their hands had been all over each other. Russell had backed her up against the door, slamming it shut with her body and then throwing the deadbolt before reaching for the zipper of her little white sundress. He pulled the dress from her body in one swift movement, taking her underwear with him to leave her standing against the door in nothing but her sandals.
She remembered how he’d captured her mouth, ravaging it like a wild animal while he helped her undress him. That accomplished, he’d scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to her bed. Remembering how uninhibited she’d been brought red-hot flushes into her face. It was so unlike her.
Allison moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer and then headed for the kitchen to clean up the mess left from cooking breakfast. By the time she finished hand-washing the dishes, she heard the dryer go off and was able to make her bed up again.
Having put her own place back to rights, she still couldn’t get Russell out of her head and thought about what next to do to keep her busy.
She grabbed her keys and headed over to Grant’s new place to help clean up the remnants of last night’s party. The party had been a huge success, and she still couldn’t fathom how so many people had fit into one space. But everyone in the Paxton and Armstrong families plus some friends had wanted to come out to Sandy Beach and wish the new couple a happy future and visit the new beach house.
She walked over, using the time to try and school her thoughts and her expressions not to give away what had happened the night before. Several unfamiliar vehicles were parked in the driveway and she briefly wondered whom they belonged to.
Inside the house she found Grant and Samantha picking up trash along with Douglas and Toni. Russell’s sister was the last person she wanted to see, but short of turning around and leaving, drawing much more attention to herself than she wanted, there was no hope for it but to join in and wish everyone kept their questions locked away.
A few minutes after Allison arrived, Toni came up to her, and after a few sentences of small talk, she asked jokingly, “So, did my brother behave himself last night?”
Allison blushed and ducked her head, not knowing what to answer. He had behaved amazingly. She’d had the most terrific sex ever, but that she would not tell his sister. Under no circumstances.
“He already left for Chicago. He said he had to work.” She kept her fingers crossed, willing Toni to stop asking about her brother and leave her alone. But no such luck.
Toni looked at her half laughing, half worried, “Russell is always working. He’s had some serious issues since our parents died. I’ve told him so many times that drowning his feelings in work doesn’t help.”
Douglas joined Toni and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her tight, while Toni continued talking: “Look at me – I tried to do the same, until I met Douglas. He saved me from being on the run from myself.”
Toni turned and kissed her boyfriend soundly on the cheek, to which Douglas rolled his eyes, but in a kind and loving way. “Love, I’m sure Allison isn’t interested in Russell’s life story.”
He couldn’t have been further from the truth. Allison was intrigued and was dying to find out more about the man who’d rocked her world the night before, but she never got a chance to ask. Samantha arrived, and while Allison loved her like a true sister, there was no way she would interrogate Toni while Samantha was listening.
Everything that happened in the Armstrong family was soon common knowledge to them all. It was the same with the Paxton family, and Allison had learned early on that if you wanted to keep something private, you didn’t talk to family, or everyone would know your business before the evening news came on. Sometimes her big family was a pain in the ass, but usually she loved them and wouldn’t change them for anything in the world.
Later in the afternoon Grant announced the cleanup was finished and reminded everyone to pop by his parents’ house for a barbecue in the evening. Douglas and Toni couldn’t stay, because they needed to drive back to Chicago. Thank God they have to leave.
Allison returned to her own place after hugging everyone goodbye. But even the fifteen-minute walk along the lakeside promenade didn’t help to calm her thoughts. She was still shaken up about the events of last night. It had been her first one-night stand, and the more she thought about it, the more she wondered what had gotten into her. Sleeping with someone she didn’t know was about the stupidest thing she could do, especially with someone she might have to meet again. But then she’d love to see him another time.
Still fantasizing about him, she ran into her mother.
“Allison, how did things go with Russell last night?”
Why does everyone keep asking me about Russell today? Allison paused before answering, inwardly groaning when the expression on her mother’s face changed.
Before she could carefully voice her reply, her mother’s comment beat her to it. “I really like him. He’s a fine young man. Joyce thinks so as well.” What the hell did Sam’s mother have to do with Russell? And why was she talking with my mother about him?
“Great,” Allison murmured, seeing her mother wasn’t done yet with her inquisition.
“Did you make him breakfast before he left?”
“Yes. And before you ask, I made him crêpes.”
Her mother beamed as Allison had known she would. She was very predictable and thought food solved all problems. She’d raised her children that way, teaching them to treat guests well, and on top of that list was serving them good food and plenty of it.
“That’s nice, dear. Well, I’m off to the store. Don’t forget you’re coming to dinner tonight. Ethan and Chase are staying with us, and it will be nice to have everyone around for another day.”
“I won’t forget, Mom.”
“Good. You know, Joyce now has all seven of her kids coupled up and already has two grandkids.”
Allison refrained from rolling her eyes, having heard her mother complaining about the lack of grandchildren more times than she cared to remember. Well, not from me anytime soon. Go bug Grant and Sam with it.
“I hope Sam and Grant won’t wait too long to start a family. I want to still be able to hold my grandkids when they’re born.”
It was useless to interrupt her mother when she was on a roll, so Allison waited out her monologue, nodding here and there to show her approval.
“Well, gotta run. See you tonight, dear. Get some sleep – you have circles beneath your eyes. Not very attractive, if you ask me.”
Chapter 4
Russell got back onto the highway, heading towards Chicago, and tried to keep his mind from delving too deeply into his morning with Allison. Unfortunately, he hadn’t anything other to do than think while driving.
He tried listening to the keynote speeches from a mayor medical event that he hadn’t been able to attend. An emergency surgery had come up and he’d spent his night in the surgery room. A colleague of his had obtained an audio recording of the speech; he popped it into the CD player and attempted to concentrate on the procedures discussed, but his mind kept drifting off to a strawberry blonde with sparkling eyes and an infectious smile.
After twenty useless minutes, he ejected the CD, giving in to his need to just reflect on the happenings. He was puzzled by his lack of concentration, which was unusual for him. Russell was the consummate workaholic, and he liked it that way.
He woke each morning excited for the work day, spent hours going over patient notes at the end of each day, and then went home late to sleep and get up and do it all over again. Sprinkled in there were the occasional medical conference, consultations, and emergencies. He basically was his work, having not much of a life outside of it and not feeling as if that was a bad thing.
The frustration over his lack of concentration increased and he wanted nothing more than to get back to his old self. Driving was futile, so he stopped about 15 miles further south and parked along the beach. Like always, his running shoes were in his car. Exercise was sometimes the only way he could get his brain to shut down enough for him to sleep. It would help to get Allison out of his head, too. Since when did he lose his cool over a woman?
He put on his running shoes, and took a few minutes to stretch his muscles before setting off down the fantastic beach. He loved the lake, and the peace and solitude out here was something he could definitely get used to. It was completely different from the hectic pace in Chicago.
Sandy Beach had made the top spot on his list of favorite places as soon as he’d set foot in the town yesterday. Even though he’d spent less than twenty-four hours there, it had been enough to slow him down. He felt much less stressed and more relaxed than he’d felt in months.
His time in Sandy Beach…Allison. She had knocked his socks off. And it wasn’t because he’d been hard up for female companionship.
As one of Chicago’s most successful plastic surgeons, he never lacked for a willing bedmate. While he usually didn’t sleep with the same woman more than once, he always had women throwing themselves at him.
Maybe that was what had struck him differently about Allison. She had been flirting with him, but she’d never intended to sleep with him. Her flirting was an expression of her own happiness and her love of life, not a desperate attempt to get him into her bed, that she expected he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Under normal circumstances, he would have never touched her. Anyone meeting her for the first time could see she wasn’t the type of girl to sleep around, and definitely not one a man could sleep with and then just toss away like yesterday’s trash.
And yet, that’s exactly what he had done. Guilt and shame burnt their way up to his ears. He couldn’t even blame the alcohol. Two glasses of wine and another of champagne with the beautiful Allison. Not enough to get drunk, but too much to drive.
He’d spent too many hours correcting the damage done by people who drove when they shouldn’t have, and he knew better than to attempt the long drive back to Chicago. Thankfully Allison’s mom had taken charge, assigning sleeping quarters for him and all of the other guests finding themselves in similar circumstances. Now he wondered if it had been the wrong decision to stay.
The moment she’d opened the door to her apartment, the sexual tension between them had burst into flames. Instead of sleeping on the couch, he’d devoured her with a need and a passion he hadn’t experienced before.
The sex with Allison had been different. Apart from being absolutely terrific, she had touched his heart deep down. A heart he’d forgotten existed. And didn’t want to have. Having a heart meant being vulnerable, open to hurt, to grief, and to pain.
Russell didn’t do pain. At least, not anymore. Before his mind could go down the dark tunnel that led to his parents’ death, he shut it down. He never could go there without being overwhelmed by the emotions, and he didn’t need to deal with those. Not now. Not ever.
I’m here, in the present. That was the past. This is why you don’t want to get involved with her. She’ll make you vulnerable. She’ll make you examine the past and that will bring pain with it.
He jogged back to his car, repeating his new mantra over and over. It meant nothing. I won’t see Allison again. No need to think about her. Russell was an expert at avoiding things, especially emotions. Avoiding unpleasant things was what he had done best for the last twelve years.
With a flash of anger he tossed his running shoes into the back seat and then got back onto the highway. Pictures of Allison kept flashing through his mind, and his body was paying full attention. Just remembering the feeling of her soft and silky hair had his groin throbbing and his heart beating faster. Another odd sensation in the vicinity of his heart appeared, but he pushed it away.
He needed to get her out of his head. Soon.
His patients demanded and deserved his complete focus. He never took on easy cases, and some of patients desperately needed him to help them heal. Inattention in the operating room could mean a disastrous outcome for them.
Back in Chicago Russell gathered his things together in preparation for going to his clinic. He co-owned a private clinic servicing the rich and famous of Chicago and surrounding areas. It paid very well, but sometimes he missed using his talents to help those in need, rather than those in want. Let’s face it, no one ever died from not having a tummy tuck or a facelift
.
But fixing a cleft palate or restoring a burnt face – that was fulfilling. A while back, he’d started working in a community hospital twice a month. He did so at a drastically reduced fee, providing plastic surgery to accident victims who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford such expensive treatments. Those two days each month were something he looked forward to, and tomorrow was one of them.
For today, he’d spend his time preparing, looking over medical assessments, x-rays, and case histories to decide the best fix for each patient he would meet with tomorrow. This was his usual operating procedure, since he hated going into a surgery blind. He’d need to deal with the attending physician and the anesthesiologist as well, and he normally jotted down a few notes for them as he went through the files.
His colleagues often teased him about the time he spent preparing for these cases, but he believed in taking every patient as seriously as if he was preparing to operate on himself. He prided himself on being thorough, and if his colleagues did things differently, well, that was on them. He was going to be the best damn plastic surgeon he could be – no matter if it was a nose job or helping reset an eye socket. Every patient deserved the best care he could provide. Regardless of the price they paid.
Chapter 5
Allison returned home and couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling the meeting with her mother had left behind. It was almost as if her mother knew something she didn’t, and that was rather enervating.
In an attempt to clear her head, she donned her running shoes and set out for the lakeshore. Running had always been a way for her to calm her mind and find her happy place once again. As a painter, she loved being out in nature and seeing all of the beauty around her. She usually came back from a run with the next painting in her mind.
But today things were different. The wonderful scenery was completely lost on her. Her thoughts kept circling back to the blond god that had graced her bed last night. Try as she might to forget him, he wouldn’t be forgotten.
Momentous Kisses: Love in Sandy Beach Page 2