Southern Romantic-Suspense Boxed Set (Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel Book 0)

by Carmen DeSousa

  “Excuse me,” Alexandra grunted, covering her mouth as she sprinted down the hallway to the bathroom.

  “Is everything —” his words emptied into a slamming door.

  His mother stepped around the wall bordering the kitchen and foyer and glared at him.

  As he stood outside the door, he was surprised to hear that Alexandra was sick. She hadn’t seemed ill earlier. In fact, she had been rather playful in the water. He was just impressed that she’d been willing to swim in the ocean without all the ridiculous complaints about getting her hair wet and the possibility of sharks.

  He knocked on the door. “Alexandra, can I get you anything?”

  “No, I’m fine. Sorry …” her words came from behind the door, “maybe a toothbrush if you have an extra one.”

  “I have one,” his mother offered.

  Again, Cameron was astonished. His mother was behaving rather unusual. She must really want to make a good impression. Returning a few seconds later, she shooed him away with her hand.

  “Here you are, honey,” his mother said as she lightly tapped on the door.

  Alexandra cracked the door, accepting the toothbrush. “Thank you,” she said, obviously embarrassed.

  His mother swatted him down the hall, then walked back to the bathroom door. Sheesh. Where did this woman come from?

  “Would you like some Pepto-Bismol or something else?” his mother offered.

  Cameron heard the door open, so he stepped back around the corner to investigate.

  Alexandra walked out and sheepishly took in the two of them. “I’m sorry. I guess I must be coming down with something.”

  “It’s okay, honey. Happens to us all at one time or another. I’m Candice Collins, by the way. But you can call me Candy.”

  “I’m Alexandra Nicole Dellas.”

  His mother’s eyes widened. “Oh … are you Greek?”

  This time, Cameron tugged his mother away. “Mom, can you allow her to relax before you start inundating her with questions?” He took Alexandra’s hand and led her down the hall. “Are you okay? Come outside and get some fresh air. It was probably the smell of the food.”

  He tossed a glance over his shoulder at his mother, and she crinkled her nose at his remark. Alexandra followed him out to the lanai, taking a seat in the same chaise she’d sat in the first evening she was here.

  She dropped her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, Cameron.”

  He pulled her hands away so he could look at her face. “You’re apologizing for being sick?”

  “I told you I don’t make a very good first impression.”

  “Do you normally throw up when you meet someone the first time?” he asked, smiling.

  “No …” She giggled. “That’s definitely a first … even for me.”

  “So, are you still hungry?”

  “I’m starving!” she admitted.

  “Do you want a little of what my mother prepared? I know it smells god-awful, but it really is good. She is Greek, by the way.”

  “Actually, it smells good. Yes, I’ll attempt a little.”

  Cameron returned to the kitchen where his mother stood, arms folded across her chest. “You didn’t have to be rude, Cameron.”

  “I wasn’t rude, Mom. I just thought you should give her some air. How would you feel if you got sick the first time — Never mind. Stupid question. You’re used to — I’m sorry. Hey, let’s not fight. She wants to try your food. That’s a first for someone I’ve brought home.”

  Candice beamed. “Is she your girlfriend? I like her.”

  “You just like her because she has a Greek name. She may not even be Greek. I never asked. Besides, you married an English man.”

  His mother giggled. She was in a peculiar mood today. He wondered if she’d already started drinking. Though, he didn’t recognize the familiar smell or the glassy eyes. All telltale signs of his mother’s addiction. She prepared a plate with a scoop of yellow rice, marinated chicken covered with peppers and onions, pita bread, and a dollop of tzatziki sauce. Entirely too much food for lunch, but when his mother cooked, she always went overboard.

  Cameron carried the plate to Alexandra. Surprisingly, she already had more color in her face. Strange to suddenly get so sick, then be okay minutes later.

  His mother followed him out to the lanai with a tray filled with two additional plates and three glasses of lemonade. Again, something she hadn’t done in years.

  Alexandra looked at his mother as she sat down beside her. “Yes, Mrs. Collins, my father was Greek, but my mother was German and several other nationalities that I’m not even sure of, but I mostly look like my mother.”

  “Call me Candy, please,” his mother said.

  Cameron resisted rolling his eyes. He hated the name Candy; it sounded like an exotic dancer. Candice was more appropriate for a forty-five-year-old woman. But then again, that was the problem. His mother didn’t want to be forty-five. She’d only been eighteen when she had him, so it seemed she was always trying to make up for lost time.

  The roles had reversed so long ago that he actually felt as if he was the parent. He’d been taking care of her ever since his father had passed away, shortly after his eighteenth birthday. He knew if his father had any inkling he had heart trouble, he would have put everything in his name instead of hers. And they wouldn’t have lost everything that they owned within a year of his death. Luckily, he had his own accounts that his father had been on jointly. Within days of his father’s passing, before she discovered the accounts, Cameron had removed and reinvested every dime.

  His mother rambled on about the weather, cooking, anything to keep the conversation flowing. She couldn’t comprehend just sitting and eating.

  “This is very good, Candy,” Alexandra said between bites, scarfing down the food as though it were her final meal.

  Cameron couldn’t help but laugh. “You are Greek. You have a wonderfully healthy appetite.”

  Alexandra looked down at her plate as if she hadn’t realized she’d eaten every morsel. “Oh …”

  “Would you like more?” his mother asked, standing up.

  “No. Thank you,” she said, looking extremely embarrassed again.

  Then, thankfully, his mother left the table, giving them time alone.

  He reached across the table and stroked the back of her hand. Her skin was golden as always but especially radiant today from the sun. “So, do you have to work tonight?”

  “No, I usually take off on Sundays.”

  “Did you bring a change of clothes, or do you need to go back home to change?”

  Her mouth quirked up. “Are you asking me out on a date, Cameron?”

  “No. I’m planning to take my girlfriend to someplace nice this evening and was wondering if she was prepared.” He smiled.

  She smiled back. “I don’t need fancy. I’m pretty simple.”

  “Let me worry about that. Do you have something nice?”

  She nodded. “At my apartment.”

  “Good. I’ll follow you back to your place and just hang out while you get ready if that’s okay with you?”

  “Okay …” she hedged.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “No … Yes. My place is rather rough. I’d rather just meet you somewhere. Or, I could drive back out here.”

  “I don’t care about that, Alexandra.” He lowered his gaze to her. “Unless there’s a reason you don’t want me to see your apartment.”

  She sighed.

  He wondered what she was hiding, but decided not to press the issue. Maybe her ex wasn’t away after all. “Okay. Can I pick you up outside your apartment at least?”

  “Sure. What time?”

  “Is six too early?” He wanted to give her time to explain or whatever it was she needed to do without him being there.

  “Perfect.”

  The rest of the afternoon went well. Alexandra and his mother got along splendidly. Almost too well. He hoped that wasn’t a bad sign. After
giving him directions to her apartment, Alexandra left his condo around three.

  Cameron arrived in front of Alexandra’s apartment building promptly at six, surprised to see her standing out front.

  The place wasn’t so awful. Why was she embarrassed? He shuddered to think that maybe Jonathan might still be there. God, he hoped not. Alexandra had not moved since he’d pulled up to the curb. Then he realized she probably didn’t know it was his car. His car had more than the legally allowable window tinting so she wouldn’t be able to see him.

  He enjoyed watching her for a few moments. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her curves nicely and came just above her knees. Her shoes had a slight heel; she probably stayed away from high-heels because of her height. She pulled her fingers through her hair as she had done on that second evening he had watched her outside the nightclub. Only this time, she was anticipating seeing him, not Jonathan. He couldn’t help but notice how his name left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d asked her not to repeat it, so why was he thinking about him?

  He exited his Acura TL, and she looked up, shocked.

  “You have this, too?”

  “I couldn’t very well take you to dinner looking like that on the back of a motorcycle or in a Jeep. By the way, you look incredible.” He slid his arm around her waist and leaned in for a kiss. She obliged, and he felt comforted. He realized it had been a test. If she had been fearful of showing him affection, he would have wondered if someone was watching them from their apartment.

  He ended the kiss quickly; there would be time for kissing later. Right now he’d planned a wonderful evening for Alexandra. He escorted her to the passenger side of the vehicle, opening the door for her to enter.

  Cameron pulled into the parking area of the Cocoa Beach Pier with time to spare. “Have you been here before?” he asked, hoping she hadn’t, but there was little chance of that. The Pier had been around longer than they’d both been alive. His mother had told him how she used to work there in the eighties when they’d only had two restaurants. Now there were five.

  “Mm-hm. But I’ve never eaten here. I just hung out on the boardwalk a few times as a teenager.”

  “Perfect. Atlantic Ocean Grille is where I made our reservations. It’s not my favorite place to eat, but the view is spectacular.”

  Since they had a few minutes, Cameron led Alexandra to the railing that overlooked the ocean. Sunday afternoons were crazy on the pier. But once the band stopped playing at six, all the partiers would leave, the reason he hadn’t wanted to come here earlier. Alexandra leaned over the railing, watching a few young children playing in the surf.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Nice, huh?”

  She just nodded and leaned back against his shoulder.

  He pulled her closer. “Let’s go eat. We’ll walk out to the end of the pier after dinner.”

  Alexandra turned to him and let him direct her to the restaurant.

  The host sat them against the glass as he’d requested when he called this afternoon. The marvel in Alexandra’s eyes was a beautiful sight, and he couldn’t help but wonder when was the last time someone had treated her as she deserved. Such a beautiful woman, and yet she’d wasted the last six years with a man who’d allowed her to end up incarcerated and on probation.

  The waiter approached. Cameron looked up at him. “We’ll start with the Lobster dip,” he said immediately, then thought better of it. He should have asked her first. “Unless there is another appetizer you would prefer.”

  She shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

  “And to drink?” the man asked.

  “Water is fine,” Alexandra replied.

  Cameron nodded. “The same. No lemon, though.”

  He reached across the table. “Alexandra, I don’t want this to sound arrogant … but I have plenty of money. Please order whatever you wish. Remember, we’re not on a first date, and we don’t have to do all that dating nonsense of ordering the cheapest thing on the menu and water.”

  “I wanted water, Cameron.”

  “Okay. But you’re at a seafood restaurant, so order seafood. Don’t choose chicken unless you really want to.”

  She smiled. “You’re so sweet.”

  “Sweet?” He looked out at the water below them and exhaled a breath. After a moment’s pause, he turned his eyes back to her. “A woman telling you that you’re sweet is like the kiss of death to a man.”

  She reached across the table and ran her fingers across his hand. “Only if you’re on a first date,” she whispered. He accepted her response with a smile and she continued, “So … tell me. What did your mother really think? Did she absolutely hate me?”

  “Are you kidding?” he burst out. “She’s thinking of Greek names for our children.”

  Alexandra blanched.

  “Hey. Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you. I didn’t say I was thinking that.”

  She laughed lightly, shaking her head. “I’m not frightened. A little surprised, though. Really?”

  “No, not really. Not audibly anyway. She likes you, though.”

  The waiter returned, halting their conversation, turning to Alexandra first.

  “I’ll have the Honey Nut Encrusted Mahi Mahi,” she requested.

  “And I’ll have the Seared Peppercorn Tuna, medium rare please,” Cameron told him.

  The waiter nodded. “And for a wine selection this evening, may I recommend the Sonoma Cutrer, a perfect Chardonnay for your different fish selections.”

  Cameron looked to Alexandra. “Do you like wine?”

  “I love Chardonnay. I’ve never tried that brand, though.”

  “We’ll take that then,” he responded, looking up at the waiter. He wouldn’t drink any, but he didn’t mind if she did. She’d admitted she didn’t drink much … that the Jim Beam had been a spur of the moment idea. He hoped she was telling the truth, the reason he hated dating —

  “Oh, wait!” Alexandra called out to the waiter, and he returned to the table. “I changed my mind. I don’t want any wine, but you can still drink some.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait … I thought you said you didn’t drink.”

  “I don’t.”

  The waiter patiently waited for their decision.

  “Alexandra, if you want wine, order wine. I don’t care.”

  “No, really, I changed my mind. Thank you, sir. No wine.”

  Cameron shook his head. “Why?”

  “I told you. I don’t drink much. You caught me on a very bad day. I would never do that again.”

  He scooped up her hand. “I’m glad. But I don’t mind if you drink wine with dinner.”

  “Thank you. But I really don’t want to drink. And … if I wanted to, I would.”

  “Okay. Enough about that then.” She was obviously making it clear that she didn’t need him to take care of her, nor would she allow him. That was good; he didn’t want to take care of anyone.

  As promised, they walked to the end of the 800-foot pier after dinner and watched fishermen pull up all sorts of oddities, including a hammerhead shark, which didn’t thrill Alexandra. They moved to different sections of the pier every few minutes and just peered out as if the view had changed from the last three times. It was wonderful just standing next to her. After the sun had dipped behind the trees, the breeze off the ocean seemed to pick up. She wasn’t wearing a jacket, so he pulled her close to his side.

  They walked down to the beach and strolled along the edge of the water, hands intertwined. As they walked, they talked about nothing in particular. Just a few snippets here and there about his job and his mother. When he tried to talk about her life, she changed the subject. Maybe because she had spent so much of her life with her ex, and he’d asked her not to mention him.

  Every time he caught a whiff of the salty air and whatever she used that smelled like coconut, his mind whipped him back to their first night together. He ignored the thoughts the best he could, knowing there was no way it could happen again. Well, not
under their current arrangement anyway. He had taken an oath. It was bad enough challenging God to give him his heart’s desire; it was another thing altogether tempting God by reneging on his promise.

  The drive from the beach to her apartment was quiet. Alexandra didn’t seem to feel the need to fill the air with empty chatter. She fiddled with the stereo, pushing each of his pre-set stations. Was she quietly trying to figure out what he liked? His radio choices wouldn’t show who he was … he liked everything.

  She stopped on a country station he’d programmed in, then sat back in the seat. She sang softly to the words, and he wasn’t surprised to hear she had a great voice to go along with her beauty.

  Cameron pulled into a parking spot directly outside her building but left the car running. He couldn’t help but ask, “Can I walk you to your door? I feel ungentlemanly-like not doing so.”

  “I would certainly hope you would walk me to my door.” She grinned. “Otherwise, I would have to take back all those good things I thought about you all night long.”

  “But I thought —”

  “Shh,” she cut off his words. “You think too much, Cameron.”

  Cameron didn’t think about anything additional at the moment. He exited the car and quickly walked around to the passenger side, thrilled that she’d waited. He offered his hand, and she accepted it gracefully. As he pulled her to the sidewalk, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

  When they reached her door, he waited while she unlocked it, but he didn’t enter. This would have to be enough for now.

  Alexandra gathered his hand in hers, then tugged on him lightly. But unlike the last couple of times when he’d allowed her to pull him, tonight he couldn’t budge. Maybe after he became accustomed to being around her, her scent, her beauty. Why was he kidding himself … it wasn’t going to get easier. He’d had a taste of what it felt like to be happy and the pleasure of making love to her, and now he would crave her more and more. So he couldn’t allow himself in the way of temptation again.