How could she? Even now, she was up in the stands, oblivious, immersed in whatever she was typing. The worst part was that he realized whatever she was writing, it was undoubtedly about him. That's what she had been after, right?
The thought left him chilled even as his body heated from the memory of her curled against him.
And suddenly Alec wanted to call the whole bet off. It had been a stupid idea. Not even twenty-four hours had passed and already his entire world had been turned upside down. He had no idea what she was writing and a part of him didn't want to know.
With a loud curse, Alec threw his stick and watched it slide across the ice until it crashed against the boards. He looked back to where AJ sat in the stands, watching him. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he looked away and skated off the ice. He didn't have to see her to know she had gone back to typing.
**
AJ chanced a sideways glance at Alec. His eyes were focused straight ahead, concentration—or something else—creasing his brow. His left arm rested against the door rest of the oversized, jacked-up truck while he drove with his right hand. Every few seconds or so, he would clench the leather-wrapped steering wheel—at about the same time his jaw would clench. Even if it hadn't been obvious by his expression and body language, she would have been able to tell something was wrong by the palpable tension that surrounded him. And as much as she wanted to, she had avoided asking him what was wrong for the last thirty minutes.
Her control wavered then finally snapped when he turned into the parking lot of the newspaper office with a squeal of tires. With her right hand still bracing herself against the dash, she turned in her seat and fixed Alec with what she hoped was a lethal stare.
"Just what, exactly, is your problem?"
Alec returned her stare with one of his own. But where she knew her eyes were cold, his were fiery, anger and impatience burning bright in their dark depths. His lips thinned for a split-second as he watched her, then relaxed only enough for his jaw to clench. A slight tic pulsated along his jaw line, removing any idea that AJ might have had that he was only a tad bit upset about anything but her.
Oh no, he was definitely more than just a tad bit upset. And it was definitely aimed right at her.
She sat up straighter, clenching her own jaw as she met his gaze straight on. "Do you want to tell me what it is I did that pissed you off so much, or am I just supposed to guess?"
"What were you typing at practice?"
The simmering anger in his tone distracted her for a few seconds before the actual words registered in her mind. She blinked, hard, not really believing she had heard him right. But she wasn't hearing things, wasn't imagining things.
"You've got to be kidding me." It was the first thing that popped out of her mouth, which was at least a little better than the sarcastic "Excuse me?" she wanted to say.
Apparently Alec didn't agree with her. He leaned toward her, so close that mere inches separated them, so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body. "What were you writing, AJ?"
She stared at him, studying him for a few quiet seconds as she tried to mentally peel through his anger. And suddenly it hit her: he wasn't angry, he was worried.
Why on earth would Alec Kolchak be worried about what she was writing?
Well, okay, so maybe she could understand a little bit of worry. He never gave interviews, ever. To suddenly have to give her one...and be stuck with her on top of it...had to stick in him at least a little. And all because he lost a bet because she actually scored on him...
And then there was that stupid article from a few years ago that had her name attached to it. Never mind that she didn't have a thing to do with it, nobody ever believed that...
A hot flame of anger surged through her but she quickly doused it. She absolutely refused to let that fiasco play a part in who and what she was today. It was behind her.
"What were you writing, AJ?" Alec repeated the question, his voice flat and chilly. She swallowed once, twice, trying to rein in her anger and disappointment.
So maybe it wasn't as far behind her as she thought.
AJ sighed, leaving no doubt about how furious she was in the sound, and shoved open the truck door. Pulling her backpack off the seat as she jumped out, she fixed Alec with as cold a glare as she could manage.
"I was writing about how big an ass you are!"
She slammed the door as hard as she could, gratified at his groan as the truck frame shook with the force. Let him take that, she thought, storming toward the building. It would serve him right if she had been writing about his being an ass. Too bad she wasn't that vindictive. The funny thing was, she hadn't even been writing about him. Not really.
Because she had been entirely too distracted by the memory of waking up with him in bed next to her. She paused before pulling open the door, taking a deep breath and willing the heat in her face to fade. She was about to tell Tim that her crazy idea worked, and that she was going to get the interview. The last thing she needed was for him to sense something else was going on...like this sudden irrational attraction to Alec.
**
Alec glanced at his watch then jammed the power button of the truck's stereo. Twenty minutes had passed already...what could AJ be doing in there for that long? She said all she had to do was run in and get something...
What if she was doing more than getting something? What if she was already turning in her article? Clenching his jaw in frustration, Alec got out of the truck and walked into the building. It wasn't too difficult to find the correct floor, and the elevator ride up was brief enough. Not so brief that his anger didn't have time to grow, which he knew was irrational but didn't bother to stop anyway.
The elevator doors opened with a soft hiss. Alec wasn't sure what he had been expecting, maybe a scene like something from one of the many television sitcoms. The controlled quiet that greeted him was surprising.
He stepped off the elevator and looked around. A central reception area was just ahead of him, with cubicles laid out in a maze on either side of a main aisle. Wood-and-glass encased offices flanked the rear of the floor.
Right now the reception area was empty. Muted voices and assorted noises drifted from the maze of cubicles, their owners hidden behind the fabric-covered portable walls. Alec looked around, searching for AJ, then started walking past cubicles, ignoring the curious glances as he peered into each one as he passed. Laughter caught his attention and he turned in time to see her stepping out of one of the offices, her profile turned to him as she continued talking with whoever was in the office.
Alec noticed a subtle stiffening in her posture a half second before she turned toward him. A flare of impatience erupted inside him, quick and irrational, as the laughter faded from her eyes. He watched as she stood there in uncertainty, their gazes locked for the briefest moment. His eyes drifted to her mouth as she pulled on her lower lip with her teeth, and he suddenly remembered Sonny's earlier comment: Sleep with her. That was quickly followed by the memory of her body curled against his, soft and flush with sleep.
Something must have shown on his face, because AJ's expression quickly turned to one of bewilderment. Her brow furrowed for a quick instant before she turned her attention away from him, apparently listening to whoever was in the office. She shot a quick look back at Alec, another to the invisible speaker, then back to Alec. Her body language screamed that she would rather have him leave, but she motioned him forward instead.
Alec closed the distance to the office, only partially aware of the stares following him as he focused more on AJ's face. There was something in her expression, a look in her eye that he didn't quite understand. Was he imagining things, or was she warning him about something?
He stopped next to her, still studying her, watching the blue of her eyes darken even as she reached for his arm and yanked him into the office. "Alec, this is Tim Norton, my editor. Tim, meet Alec Kolchak."
Alec pulled his gaze away from AJ and turned in the
direction she was motioning, only to find himself being studied by a set of narrowed eyes peering from behind thick-rimmed glasses. A rapid tat-tat-tat of a pencil tapping against the desk echoed in the otherwise quiet room as Tim continued to study him. A long minute passed before the narrow-eyed gaze shifted to AJ.
"Close the door, AJ." The request was issued quietly, but with enough authority that AJ quickly complied. Tim stood and walked around the desk, leaning against the edge as he folded his arms across his chest and looked at both of them. "Is anything going on here that I need to know about?"
Alec wouldn't have known right away what the comment meant if not for the flush coloring AJ's cheeks. As soon as the insinuation sunk in, he stood straighter and took a step forward. He was stopped by Tim holding a placating hand in his direction, accompanied by a raised eyebrow.
"Easy, son. I'm not implying anything, just asking a question." The editor turned his gaze to AJ. "Gerry Brown came charging in here yesterday—"
"Oh, great. I can just imagine what that asshole—"
"AJ, enough. If you're serious about this, you have to stop letting people like Gerry Brown get to you. It's seen as a weakness, and as soon as any of these sharks—including me—see a weakness, it's a feeding frenzy and you know it."
AJ's jaw tightened, her entire posture stubborn and defensive. It was so completely different from her reactions around Gerry Brown that Alec wondered why the asshole had such a negative effect on her. He watched her for a few more minutes, finally relaxing his own guard a bit when he noticed the stubborn lift of her chin settle.
"So you were saying?"
Tim shook his head, just a small movement as he lips lifted into a small, brief small.
"I do like your style, AJ, you know that." He moved back behind his desk, sitting in the chair with a creak. "Gerry was extremely glad to let me know that you propositioned our hockey player here in order to get an interview."
"That's—" She was interrupted by Tim's quick hand motion.
"Semantics. After questioning him, I was given the details of your proposition. He also admitted he had been given the same chance but didn't take it. That I would have liked to see." Another brief smile lifted one corner of his mouth before he focused his attention squarely on Alec. The sudden intensity caught Alec off-guard, especially since he had felt invisible right up to that moment. "So, Mr. Hockey Player...my girl actually scored a goal with you in the net, huh?"
Now it was Alec's turn to flush, a disconcerting feeling, especially since he had just been made to feel as if his athletic abilities had been called into question. He opened his mouth for what surely would have been a stammered reply but was interrupted by AJ.
"It was a lucky shot, trust me. I fell on the ice and slid straight into him. The only reason the puck crossed the line is because he was more worried about me plowing into him."
Tim flicked his gaze between the two of them, watching. Alec was barely aware of the scrutiny because his attention was focused on AJ. She stood with a feigned casualness, her gaze forced straight ahead on the wall behind Tim. Alec cleared his throat.
"Actually, it was a pretty decent shot and I wasn't expecting it. I have no idea if I would have stopped it even if she hadn't, you know...slid...into me." Alec couldn't believe he had just admitted that. From the look AJ was now giving him, she couldn't believe it, either. What the hell had just gotten into him that he would ever admit that?
"Hmm. Regardless..." Again, Tim divided his gaze between him and AJ, accompanying each glance with a tap, tap, tap of his pencil. "I don't care about any physical relationship you two have. What I need to know is if it's going to get in the way of this interview."
"Excuse me?" Alec's remarkably controlled response was much tamer than AJ's outburst.
"That's bull, Tim! There is no relationship. Trust me. Especially not physical—"
"AJ, I am not blind, even if you two are. And I don't really care what goes on behind closed doors. But make sure it stays there. Be discreet. Any hint of indiscretion is going to taint whatever article comes out of this. You don't want to lose this opportunity over something like a sexual indiscretion."
Alec was stunned into speechlessness. Even if he had known what to say—and his mind was completely, unforgivably blank—he wouldn't have been able to utter a single word.
"Gee, Tim, thanks for the vote of confidence. Thanks for thinking I would stoop so low as to trade sex for a story. Un-freaking-believable. You know, you rank right up there with Gerry. Worse, because I thought—"
"AJ, save your breath. I don't think that. But you know how this business works. You don't need something like that tied to your name."
"Yeah, whatever."
"AJ..."
She shook her head and gave her editor a 'talk to the hand' gesture. "Don't even. I don't want to hear it."
A long silence stretched around them, but still not long enough for Alec to think of anything to say. He stood there, in the middle of the room, feeling like an outsider despite the fact that he was very much a prominent subject of the conversation.
But I don't even like her. The thought crossed his mind, followed by swift denial. He did like her. He'd been thinking just this morning—hell, just two hours ago!—what it would be like to be tangled in the sheets with her, her luscious curves draped around him, her long hair caressing his bare skin—
"Oh for crissakes, Kolchak. Give me a break. You're as bad as Tim. I'm out of here."
Alec watched in bewilderment as AJ stormed out of the office. Had he missed something?
A chuckle pulled his attention back to the man seated behind the desk.
"Don't ever play poker, son. Everything you're thinking is written clear as day on your face."
"Shit. And people wonder why I hate reporters." Alec turned and skulked out of the office, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now.
SEVEN
AJ breathed in deep, held it, and tried like hell not to let it out in a rush but God, it hurt. She would not look at him, would not let him see her struggle, would not look at him—
The weights crashed down with a loud bang, which at least hid the sound of the breath rushing out of her as she grunted in both pain and exasperation. This is why working out was unnatural.
"You okay?" Alec barely spared her a glance as he effortlessly raised and lowered the weights against his chest.
His bare chest.
Double damn, she looked.
She mumbled a reply, afraid that her voice would sound anything but calm and collected. It took a lot more concentration than she would have thought necessary to control her breathing, to take slow, measured breaths instead of gulping in air. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face and she had to resist the urge to reach up and press her shirt against her chest in order to stop the trickle of sweat dripping between her breasts. Her pulse pounded, and she swore to herself that it had absolutely nothing—nothing—to do with the fact that Alec Kolchak was less than five feet away from her, half-naked, buff, and gleaming in the fluorescent lights.
Her arm muscles quivered and her legs felt like jelly, and there was no way that was from watching the play of Alec's muscles as he continued his bench presses.
Nope, she was not affected in the least by the smooth motion of his arms as he lifted up, down, up, down...as the bar came so close to that sculpted chest, as his muscles stretched and contracted with each movement. She was not captivated by the sight of his sculpted jaw, covered in dark stubble; she was not fascinated by his full lips and how they quirked with each breath he took in and let out.
Nope. She was not sneaking looks at him as he laid back, stretched out on the bench, his abs so tight and defined that she wanted to reach out and touch them, feel if his skin was warm over all that muscle. She did not want to reach out and trace the thin line of hair that disappeared into the waistband of his loose gym shorts.
And she absolutely was not remembering the look he gave her the other day in Tim's office. The lo
ok that had started out vaguely confused then quickly morphed into one of smoldering liquid heat. Aimed at her.
God, what was she supposed to think about that? The look had caught her so completely off-guard that at first she was stupefied into silence. Then, as the heat from his gaze seeped into her, warming her from inside out, her mouth came to life.
Of course, that would happen seconds before her brain kicked in. She was an idiot. She couldn't remember her exact words, but she knew they were stupid and exasperating. And then she just turned around and left. Walked out. No sassy comeback, no sexy retort, no whimsical reply. Just idiocy and...escape.
Alec had looked at her with heated desire deep in his eyes. After sleeping with her the night before. After taking care of her. After wrapping his arms around her and comforting her. After sleeping in the same bed with her!
Which meant absolutely nothing. But still...she could have come up with something a little wittier than whatever stupidity stumbled from her mouth.
Only now, she was beginning to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing. Alec had followed her out of the office only minutes later, and there was no indication on his part that there had been any look of any kind. He was back to being the quiet, reserved, grumpy guy he usually was around her.
Which was just as well, because no matter what half-baked fantasy was trying to form in her mind, there would be absolutely nothing happening between them. This article—this story, and her chance for the column, her chance at redemption—could not be tainted in any way. And after Tim's comments the other day...
Crossing the Line (The Baltimore Banners Book 1) Page 6