Fourth of July (10 page)

“It’s been all I can do to keep going,” Alexis’ voice rumbled against his chest. “To not give in to despair. The only time I haven’t been upset in the past two days is when I’ve talked to you.”

Her head jerked up. Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at him. “Oh, help,” she gasped. Covering her mouth with her hand, she turned away.

Chris hated her leaving his embrace, but he loved the appealing pink glow tinting her face. “You enjoy talking to me?” he asked, unable to contain a small chuckle or hide the smile splitting his face.

“Yes,” Alexis admitted with a barely audible whisper.

Her head was down as if she were afraid to look him in the eye. Warmth rushed through his body. This woman was amazing. From years of working in the same department, he knew that every comment she made was genuine. Could it be possible she was interested in him? He gently grasped her upper arms, relishing the feel of her warm flesh beneath his hands. He propelled her back toward him.

He was so taken by her beauty he didn’t pause to think as he drew her nearer. He saw her lips part slightly, her anticipation evident. He felt her soft breath against his mouth; they were only centimeters apart. He didn’t waste any time deliberating over his actions. He only felt the rightness of holding her close, completely enraptured by the magic of the moment.

She melted into his embrace. Chris inched her closer. He could feel her heart thumping against his own chest. She closed her eyes. He drank in her beauty. All other thoughts and worries disappeared as he softly brushed her lips with his own.

A tingle radiated through him. He moved to deepen the kiss.

“Chris!”

His head jerked up.

“What are you
doing
?” Danielle’s incensed voice thrust upon him the cold, hard reality that they shouldn’t be together.

Alexis slipped from his arms. She pivoted on her heel and fled the veranda. Chris ached for her to glance back at him. She never did.

Watching Alexis go, he wanted nothing more than to chase after her. He looked into Danielle’s scorching black eyes. What should he say? What should he do?

“
Who
was that?” Danielle questioned.

“Her name is Alexis.” Chris didn’t even attempt a defense.

“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Danielle insisted, arms folded across her chest. She tapped her toe impatiently, glaring at him, her face a twisted mess.

“Danielle.” He wasted little time making up his mind; he was going after Alexis.

“Chris, Danielle, what are you doing out here? James is asking for you, Danielle.”

The mayor interrupted the impending battle, wrapping an arm around each of them and directing them toward the party. He was oblivious to the underlying current as he effectively stopped Chris from following Alexis.

Chris wondered what he should do. Did he really care for Danielle? What was it about Alexis? He had never felt such an intense desire to kiss anyone before. Were his feelings for Alexis worth terminating his relationship with Danielle?

He glanced at his furious date.
What relationship?
He’d been second-guessing why they were dating for the past several weeks. Chris allowed himself to be led into the main ballroom. Half an hour later he watched with indecisive misery as Alexis and her date exited the party.

WHY AM I SUCH AN IDIOT?
Alexis paced the length of the small women’s bathroom. What on earth was she thinking, coming that close to kissing Chris? Wait, not close. She’d actually done it.

Oh, help
. She wrapped her arms around her midsection. She’d never kissed a man without dating him for several months and she’d never dated someone who didn’t share her values.

Heaven forgive her, she’d do it again. She could still feel the length of Chris’s hands on her arms, his breath on her face, and his lips brushing her own.

She looked at her mottled face in the ladies’ room mirror. Splashing her cheeks with freezing water, she tried to reduce the Chris-induced flush.

Gathering her courage, Alexis marched out to the group Robert was socializing with. To her surprise, the ladies in the group murmured their sympathy and the men looked away. Even the ruined-party drama queen looked empathetic. Alexis didn’t dwell on their changes of heart as she asked Robert to please take her home.

“You know I feel sorrow for the lives lost in the bombings,” Robert began explaining as soon as the valet brought his Lexus GS350 and seated them inside. “But you have to understand that not everyone is as passionate or vocal about their grief as you are.”

“Oh!” Alexis’s mouth flew open. “So now I’m too passionate about my sorrow? That is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard. The whole nation is in mourning. There were more than two thousand lives lost Wednesday morning. Don’t you remember how it felt on September 11
th
? This is another attack on innocent Americans.”

“In case you and your
friends
haven’t noticed,” she continued. “Our whole nation is consumed with the sorrow you claim I’m too passionate about, and that
woman
had the gall to be frustrated over her foiled party plans.”

“Calm down, Alexis. I didn’t say I agreed with her, but you need to relax a little bit, be more understanding.”

“More understanding? Relax?” Alexis’ blood began to boil. His attempt to diffuse her anger backfired. “Obviously, you weren’t at the bombing sight. While you stayed with your sailboat, I helped victims deal with losing the most important people in their lives!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t go rushing down to the scene,” Robert said through clenched teeth. “Some of us had other responsibilities to attend to.”

“Other responsibilities?” Alexis dug her fingernails into the car’s soft leather seat, wishing it were Robert’s hand. “Your stupid boat is more important than someone’s life?”

“I didn’t say that,” Robert retorted in his firm, ever calm voice. “There was absolutely nothing I could have done to help.”

The light changed from yellow to red. Robert slammed on his brakes, honking at the driver in front of them who failed to fly through the caution.

Alexis glared at the perfectly-aligned features illuminated by the streetlights. “As far as I’ve heard no one was turned away who offered to help. One man carried the wounded to ambulances but I guess you couldn’t have done that. Someone might have bled on your Ralph Lauren shirt.”

Alexis knew it wasn’t fair to compare Robert to Chris but she couldn’t help it. Chris was warm and compassionate where Robert was a selfish, egotistical... She shouldn’t even think the word she wanted to call him.

Robert raked his hand through his hair. “Come on, Alexis, that isn’t fair. I didn’t help. So sue me. I thought Christians were supposed to be forgiving.”

“I thought you
were
a Christian. Christians are supposed to help their neighbors or don’t they teach you the principles of the Savior at the high-dollar church you go to?”

“Don’t make fun of my church,” Robert said through clenched teeth. The light changed and he sped through the intersection. “And help people? You don’t have a clue. I help people all the time. My family donates millions of dollars to charities.”

Take some deep breaths
. Alexis wondered if he even recognized how shallow his statement was. His family giving money that wouldn’t make a dent in their annual income didn’t make him charitable. She decided lecturing Robert wouldn’t do any good. The man obviously didn’t possess a heart.

“You know, there is one thing I hope we can agree on,” Alexis softened her tone.

Robert’s eyes left the road for a second as he eyed her warily. “What’s that?”

“That we
never
want to see each other again.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Oh, come on Alexis, be reasonable. We’ve had a great time together. You don’t have to get all fired up and act like this.”

“Like what?”

Robert flew around a corner, his wheels squealing. “Like an idealistic psycho.”

Alexis raised her eyebrows. “Ooh, so we’ve resorted to name calling like two-year olds.”

“Alexis.” He blew his breath out. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you. I really care for you.” He tried to reach for her hand. She jerked it from his grasp.

“Robert, the only thing you care about is your political ambition.”

He slunk several inches lower into the leather seat.

“I’d be willing to bet all those millions you’ve donated to charity,” Alexis continued, contempt for him oozing from her voice, “that you’ll be giving some speech within the next few weeks using every word I’ve uttered tonight to make yourself sound more sympathetic.”

Fiddling with a button on the dashboard, Robert refused to meet her eyes.

Alexis rushed on. “Sure you care for me.” She laughed. “Until I make you look bad.”

“Alexis, you know that’s not true—”

“Why didn’t you follow me and make sure I was okay?” What was she saying? The last thing she wanted was someone else interrupting her interlude with Chris.

The gas pedal was jammed further into the floor. “What was I supposed to do? You were extremely offensive to Mrs. Geary. Do you have any idea how influential she and her husband are in D.C.’s political society? I had to smooth over everything you said.”

“I’ll bet you did. What lie did you tell?”

When Robert didn’t respond to her question, Alexis could only guess what the answer would be. Remembering the sympathy the women showed on her return only added to her distrust. His silence incriminated him.

“You claim to be an upstanding person and a Christian as well,” Alexis said. “I guess tonight I’ve seen a glimpse of your true character.”

The interior of the vehicle rang with Alexis’s final statement. Robert seemed to be grappling for some kind of rebuttal, but really, what could he say?

After several agonizing minutes they arrived at Alexis’ apartment complex. She leaped from the car as soon as the tires stopped rotating and ran for her apartment building. Running in heels proved difficult, but her pace never slowed.

She banged through the exterior door and sprinted the three flights of stairs to her apartment, listening for footsteps behind her. The key wouldn’t cooperate as she worked it into the lock with fumbling fingers. Finally, the door opened. She slid inside and slammed it behind her. Quickly turning the deadbolt, she fell onto her plush couch. After several deep breaths, she was convinced Robert hadn’t followed her.

“Probably afraid to park his car in my ‘poor’ neighborhood.”

She was soaking in her tub before she calmed from her argument with Robert. Her thoughts swung to Chris. She closed her eyes and allowed herself the indulgence of reminiscing. His warm breath on her face, his strong arms around her, the amazing sensation of just being close to him, his mouth brushing hers, the intriguing smell of his cologne. Oh my, but he smelled good.

“Stop it,” Alexis said aloud. “Nothing will come of it. It was just a silly, impassioned moment.”

Alexis readied herself for bed. She spent a long time on her knees. Her prayer was filled with pleas for so many people—the bombing victims and their families, the rescue workers, the doctors and nurses, Jerome and his father, and her own family. She was especially worried about her parents and her sister Brittany. Prayer was the only thing she could do to help them.

She slept fitfully. Her dreams filled with images of Chris.

DANIELLE ASKED CHRIS TO TAKE HER home immediately after the party. She let him think it was because of his interlude on the veranda. She was upset, but the truth was she had an appointment. She could not be late. Her superiors would not be happy with her. Nothing to report. Chris never relayed any significant information and all of her contacts from work were dry as well.

Heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete, she hurried to the scheduled meeting place. Tempting fragrances from an Italian restaurant wafted past her. Just once she’d like to eat a breadstick and food oozing with cheese without worrying about compromising her size two.

She pushed food from her mind. What if the events of the evening were any indication of Chris’s feelings for that little woman with the red mop of hair? The redhead wasn’t as thin or as beautiful as Danielle, but what if Chris wanted her? Her jaw clenched. She gripped her purse tighter.
She
would be the one to choose when she was finished with him.