Allison nodded glumly. “You heard me. I slept with him.”
Reese had difficulties assimilating the information and looked puzzled at her younger sister. “But you don’t do one-night stands.”
“I know. Believe me, I’ve regretted it every single moment.” She was also scared to death at the magnitude of her emotions, and how she couldn’t get him out of her mind, but she kept that bit of information to herself. At least she could try to figure things out on her own before involving someone else.
“Gosh, Ally, I can see why you were tempted. Let’s face it, the man is scorching hot.”
Allison agreed, “He is.”
“And he’s a player. How could you…”
“He’s really not like that. I know he seems grumpy and cold on the outside, but once you get to know him a bit, he’s considerate and tender. He’s much different than he appears, and there’s something about him that sets him apart from the other men I’ve dated.”
“You don’t have to defend him just because you slept with him.”
“I’m not defending him, just saying that there’s more to him than meets the eye.”
“I bet! And you got to see all 6' plus of him, didn’t you?”
Allison blushed and diverted the conversation back to what type of person Russell was. “I think he’s never truly gotten over his parents’ death. I mean, he’s so driven and reserved.”
Reese listened for another few minutes as Allison continued to tell her about Russell’s good attributes. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer and interrupted her: “If you believe he’s that great, then go for it.”
“What?” Allison asked.
“If he affected you this much, I say go for it. Go after him.”
Allison shook her head. “It would never work. Besides the fact that he lives in Chicago and I live in Sandy Beach, we move in two totally different social circles. I would want a more traditional relationship, and he’s used to one-night stands with the flavor of the week.”
“Why don’t you meet him again before you make any rash decisions?”
“No.” Allison shook her head. “It’s better not to see him. He’s not really cut out for relationships anyway.” Didn’t he say this himself?
Reese opened her mouth to say something else but the alarm on her phone went off. “Sorry. Bad timing, I know, but I’m organizing the beach house for a businessman this afternoon. He only comes here for vacation, but he owns a fabulous villa and wants it to feel like home.”
“You are working on a weekend?” Allison asked.
“I don’t have much choice. These super-rich people demand quite a lot. But who am I to complain? They pay my not-so-modest fees without complaint, and I actually enjoy working with most of my clients.”
Allison didn’t say anything as Reese gathered up her things and prepared to leave. Before walking away, she gave Allison one last piece of unasked-for advice. “Think about what I told you, and then do what your heart wants, not your mind.”
Allison let those words play over in her mind during her drive home. When she was about halfway between Ashton and Sandy Beach, she pulled over and made her way through the bushes down to the deserted beach. She walked along the water’s edge, thinking about her conversation with her sister.
When she found a dry rock, she sat down and watched the waves roll in for long moments, meditating on what she wanted. After a while, she came up with an idea. A relationship test, if you will. The idea was totally silly, and after thinking on it some more, she shrugged it off and headed home.
Later that evening, she donned her running shoes and took off along the lake. As soon as she reached the point of blissful blankness in her mind, the idea about the relationship test surfaced again. Without her actively pursuing it, the idea fine-tuned itself in her head until she believed she’d come up with something brilliant. Not brilliant in the common sense of brilliant but it was perfect for her, and it might be perfect for Russell as well.
She’d prove to Russell they were indeed a good couple together and should try to make a relationship work. What did she have to lose? Absolutely nothing!
If the test didn’t work out, at least she’d never look back and wonder what might have been.
The next day she arranged with the souvenir shop to have a few days off. Her colleague readily agreed to switch shifts, because Allison offered to work two weekends in a row. Allison didn’t mind working the weekend shifts, and found the busier the shop was, the faster the time went. And putting her plan into action had top priority at the moment.
When she got back home, she debated about how to acquire Russell’s address. Finally she decided there was no other way and placed a call to Toni.
“Hi. It’s Allison Paxton.”
“Allison. Nice to hear from you. What are you up to?”
“I’m on my way to Chicago and I was wondering if I could get Russell’s address from you. He had expressed an interest in some of my paintings for his office. I thought maybe I’d drop some of them off so that he and his partner could take a look at them.”
“Hey, that’s a wonderful idea.” Toni rattled off her brother’s address and then wished Allison good luck and safe travels.
Allison hung up the phone with a huge smile upon her face. The first task had been easier than she’d feared, and Toni hadn’t asked any tough questions. While she was in the city she hoped to find a gallery or two that wanted to display her work.
She packed as many paintings as she could into her car. As she was searching for yet one more painting in the shed, she bumped into his portrait. His handsome face with the tousled blond hair and piercing blue eyes seemed to look right into her soul, and her heart ached for him. It was the right decision to go see him again.
During the drive to Chicago she almost turned around twice. Suddenly, her idea didn’t seem so brilliant anymore. In fact, it was outright silly. But she pressed forward. After all, Allison was known for her follow-through. She was going to Chicago and she was going to make her plan work. What did she have to lose?
Chapter 8
Russell needed to relax. He’d had a damn hard day at work. His plans for the evening included putting on his running shoes and heading down to the lake to run the frustration out of his system. He was still trying to shake that stale and empty feeling he’d brought upon himself by sleeping with that prospective patient a few days ago. He couldn’t even remember her name, but the hollow sensation had followed him day and night.
On the bright side, it had challenged him once again to change his life for the better. He was more than willing to do so, if it didn’t require releasing his locked-up emotions and revisiting the hidden pain and grief.
He was just heading for the front door when the bell rang. He glanced at the clock, wondering who would be visiting him this time of day.
When he opened the door and saw Allison standing on the other side of the door with a shy smile upon her face, it took him a moment to recover his composure. His heart racing and his groin throbbing, all he could do was to close his dropped jaw and wonder if he was hallucinating.
She was even more beautiful than he had remembered. He’d been comparing her to his patients, and each and every woman had paled in comparison to Allison’s authentic beauty. She wasn’t self-conscious about her body at all, and he found that refreshing. He loved confidence in women, probably because he saw it so infrequently.
Finally he was able to speak again. “Do you want to come in?”
She nodded with nervous laugh and then reached down and picked up a small suitcase. “Thanks.” Why would she bring her suitcase all the way up here?
“I didn’t know you had my address,” he said, because he couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say. Her presence held his brain cells captive.
He led her towards his living room, unsure what to do next. Where were his manners when he needed them? He stopped and turned, bumping into her. To prevent her from falling, he reached out a
hand to catch her shoulder, and the zing that rushed through his body caught him even more off guard. Whoa!
All thoughts of taking a run to clear his mind fled. There it was again, that unwanted but undeniable thrill of attraction. He struggled against the urge to pull her against his chest and repeat that one night they’d shared together. She wasn’t there to be laid, and even if she were amenable to the suggestion, he wouldn’t do it. Allison deserved more than he’d given her the last time. A lot more. She wasn’t a one-night stand and he wouldn’t cheapen her by putting her in that position again.
Besides, their families were entwined now and he didn’t want to complicate things for the future. Russell Barkin didn’t do relationships. They were synonymous with grief and sadness, emotions he evaded like the plague.
A little voice inside his head reminded him that he did have relationships. With Toni. With the Armstrongs. But it almost killed you to see her suffering after your parents died. Emotions make you vulnerable.
“So…what are you doing here?” he asked her, wincing inwardly at how harsh that had sounded. He expected her to respond but instead, her eyes jumped around the room, until she finally opened her mouth.
“Could I get a glass of water, please?”
Russell nodded his head and walked towards the kitchen. While he waited for the glasses to fill, he glanced back at her, puzzled by her obvious nervousness and the lack of words. That was so unlike the Allison he knew. She always wore her heart on her sleeve and it didn’t take long to know exactly what was on her mind. She told anyone, if they asked or not.
He turned the tap off and pulled the dish of lemons from the fridge. “Lemon?” When she nodded, he dropped the slices of fresh lemon into the glasses and brought one to her.
“Thanks.” She sipped from the glass and then looked around his apartment. “I like your place.”
Russell gave his apartment a cursory glance and shrugged. “It works.” He paused for a moment and then told her, “You never told me how you got my address.”
“Toni gave it to me.”
“Ah.” He nodded, blood rushing through his ears. What did she tell my sister?
Allison took another sip of her water and then set the glass down on the side table. She took a deep breath and then looked up at him. He watched her biting her bottom lip, apparently in an attempt to gather her courage. With a swift nod of her head, she tensed her shoulders and looked right into his eyes. “Russell, I haven’t been able to forget you like we agreed.”
Hearing her put a voice to what he’d been going through was the last thing he expected. Part of him wanted to hop up and down with joy she’d been feeling the same way, but the bigger part recited all of the logical reasons why a relationship between them wouldn’t work.
He looked at her, and suspected there was more she hadn’t told him yet. She hadn’t come all the way down to Chicago just to tell him that. Had she? Judging by her nervousness there was more to her visit, and he was dying to find out what exactly. “Continue.”
Allison didn’t leave him wondering for long.
“I came here to test something out,” she said, folding her hands together so she wouldn’t wring them.
“A test?” Now she was talking in riddles. That just didn’t make sense.
She nodded. “Yes.” After a pause, the words tumbled out of her mouth almost faster than he could process them. “I thought maybe I’d stay with you for the week and if at the end we are still of the opinion that a relationship won’t work, then we just forget it. I mean, I could leave with the good feeling that at least we tried. No regrets. We’d never have to wonder ‘what if’. If at the end of the week we think we might work together, we can talk about the details then.”
Russell was baffled. Totally baffled. He looked around, half expecting his in-laws showing up and laughing at the prank, but no, her determined face taught him she was dead serious about this test. He tried to contain his laughter, barely managing it as he replayed her words in his mind. Her idea was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.
He spied her suitcase and knew she’d come here expecting he would agree to this crazy idea of hers. She continued to talk without a pause while he tried to form a response, and finally he stopped her chatter.
“Allison, stop. Are you sure you want to do this?”
She nodded her head and he sighed, “I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not.”
He was about to say no, but then she smiled at him. Her wonderful, lighthearted smile that had originally drawn him across the room to her side. It was as if the sun was suddenly rising in his apartment, and he felt a warmth spread throughout his body.
Against his intention, he found himself agreeing to her request. “If you’re sure, I guess we could try it.” He thought it was a bad idea, and agreed for a single reason: so she’d see herself it wouldn’t work out. Whom am I kidding? I agreed, because her smile captured me. This is such a bad idea.
Still, he hoped after a day or two she’d find out a relationship with him wasn’t in the cards and both of them could happily pursue their own lives again.
Chapter 9
A stone the size of an airplane fell from Allison’s heart when Russell agreed to her suggestion. She’d been paralyzed by fear he was going to send her away. When he’d first opened the door, the sight of him had sent her body into overdrive and short-circuited her brain. She had barely recovered, when he returned with the glass of water and sat in the chair next to the couch. The smell of his aftershave wafting in the air fired up a chain of memories in her body.
How would she be able to live with Russell day in and day out, if she lost it every time he entered the room? One thing was for certain, she needed to get a handle on her attraction to him or he’d think she was a tongue-tied idiot.
Russell gave her a brief tour of his spacious three-bedroom apartment. It was very modern, but the décor was cold and didn’t show personality. The grays, blacks, and whites were almost sterile. There were no pictures on the walls to brighten the mood, and if she hadn’t known he lived there, she might have mistaken the apartment for a showpiece where no one actually resided. It wasn’t what she would call a home, but merely a place to sleep.
Allison loved decorating her house and taken great care in making sure it felt lived-in and homey. Her own place, though small, was full of decorations and paintings. Russell’s was empty. Apart from the modern furniture, there was nothing else. No décor stuff, no candles, no knickknacks.
“You need some pictures on the walls,” she commented as she followed him.
Russell grinned at her. “I don’t have time for stuff like that. I work too much.”
“You should make time.”
“Maybe.”
He stopped at the smallest room, clearly furnished as a guest room, and made an inviting gesture. Another stone fell from her heart. In her hurry to leave Sandy Beach and set her plan into action, she’d forgotten to think about sleeping arrangements. She could feel her cheeks redden and turned her face away. So he didn’t expect her to share his bed, which she was grateful for. And a tiny bit disappointed.
“Look, why don’t you unpack? I was headed out for a run when you arrived.”
Allison waved him off, “Don’t stay here on my account. I’ll be fine.”
Russell looked at her once more and then nodded. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
She watched him leave with a queasy feeling in her stomach and then set to work unpacking her suitcase. When she unpacked her running shoes, she put them neatly besides the guest couch. We already have something in common. Perhaps we can run together.
But for now, she was grateful for some time alone. The reunion with Russell had her head spinning, and emotions flooded every inch of her body.
She stowed her suitcase in the closet and decided to check out the kitchen. While she was waiting for him, she could cook. Wasn’t good food the secret to a man’s heart? She might as well use it in her favor.
; But when she opened the fridge, an unpleasant surprise waited for her: it was empty. A lonesome package sat on the shelf, a package of hard bread. Who stores hard bread in their fridge? She put it back and noticed the only other item in the fridge was a jar of mustard.
She closed the fridge and opened the freezer, spotting a few frozen pizzas in there, and she suddenly had a very good idea of Russell’s daily diet.
Worst bachelor apartment I’ve ever seen. It was even worse than those of her brothers Ethan or Chase. They didn’t care about putting food in the refrigerator either, but hard bread and mustard?
With a quick glance to her watch she noticed Russell wasn’t due to return for another forty-five minutes, and decided she had enough time to get some groceries. On her way in, she’d spied a convenience store around the corner from his apartment. It was open twenty-four hours a day, and she was pleasantly surprised at how well stocked it was. I’ll have to ask Russell about the closest supermarket when he comes home.
She returned to his apartment twenty minutes later with two steaks and salad fixings. There was no way she was going to live on pizza for the next week, and since she loved cooking, there was no reason he should either.
Back in the kitchen, she switched on the radio and turned it on to her favorite station – Radio Windy City. Trevor Armstrong’s girlfriend Nicole worked there, and Allison listened every chance she got.
While she put the steaks on to brown, she started cutting and slicing up vegetables for the salad. She was humming along, finally feeling at ease again. In her mind she already added a few homey touches to his apartment, before she caught herself. Remember you’re only a guest here. You might not even come back after this week is over. Don’t go overboard.
A popular tune came on the radio, and she was so busy singing along she didn’t hear Russell had returned. She spun around to check on the steaks and was startled so badly, it was a blessing her hands had been empty. With one hand placed on her chest she said, “I didn’t hear you come back.”
Momentous Kisses: Love in Sandy Beach Page 4