“You son of a—” Carter had spit out.
“Don’t hurt her,” Alex had warned. “Because if you do, you’ll have to answer to me.”
Then he had turned and stalked away from Carter, leaving him on the mountain as the snow had begun to fall.
In the years following Carter’s disappearance, the memory of what had happened on the mountain had filled Alex with guilt. Now, it filled him with anger.
Because if Carter was alive, he had orchestrated the kind of deception that devastated lives.
He’d meant what he’d said to Carter that day. If he hurt Brianne, he would have to answer to him.
And that was exactly what would happen when they found Carter. For the years of suffering, and for the theft of the ring that Alex’s mother had given to him, Carter would have to answer to him.
And if Carter thought he had seen an ugly side of Alex that day on the mountain, he hadn’t seen anything yet.
The next morning, after Alex’s run on the beach and his shower in the outdoor facility, he entered the house to find Brianne in the gym. She was furiously peddling away on his stationary bike and didn’t notice him come in. But after
a moment, she caught his reflection in the mirror, and her peddling slowed.
“Don’t stop on account of me,” Alex said. “I just came to say good morning.”
Brianne slowed to a stop. “I was finishing up anyway.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” A beat. “Any news?”
“I just checked my voice mail and there were no messages from Dean’s friend,” Alex answered. “Either he can’t be reached where he is overseas, or the guy might not be willing to call us back. Regardless, I don’t want to sit around waiting for a call that might come in a few days, or never.”
“What should we do? Call Dean again?”
“Actually, I’m thinking maybe we should go to the police.”
“The police?” Brianne asked, surprised. She climbed off the bike.
“It’s a long shot, but Dean’s guarded reaction got me thinking. What if Carter was ever in trouble with the law? Maybe they know who he is. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a crazy idea.”
Brianne shrugged. “I guess it can’t hurt.”
“Ah, maybe I shouldn’t jump the gun. We can certainly wait another day to hear from Dean’s friend. And then there’s Ginny. She might find some info for me.”
“Right. Ginny.”
Brianne spoke the woman’s name as if she had some sort of gripe with her. What gripe could she have, other than jealousy?
It was a nice thought, that Brianne was jealous. Because it meant she cared. More than she wanted to admit.
“You want to take a dip with me in the pool?” Alex asked. “Maybe use the sauna?”
“No, I’m good. I’m just gonna hit the shower.”
Brianne walked past him out of the gym. Alex wanted to follow her, but he didn’t. She had already become more distant since their kiss the day before, and he didn’t want to risk pushing her away altogether. If she needed space, he’d give her space.
While Brianne showered, Alex prepared breakfast. When he’d spent some time in France, he had learned how to make the best crepes. It was a fine art he had mastered, and he was certain Brianne would love them.
Brianne came down the stairs about twenty minutes later, pausing when she stepped into the kitchen and saw the food on the table. She was wearing another ridiculous long-sleeve shirt and no makeup—as if that would render her undesirable. If anything, it made it clear just how much of a natural beauty she was.
“You made breakfast?”
“It was my turn.”
She inhaled the alluring scent of the food. “Are those crepes?”
“Strawberry crepes. I hope you like them.”
“Like them? I love them.” Brianne pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “You made these from scratch?”
“Yep.” Alex brought the coffee carafe and two large mugs to the table. “I learned to make them in Paris.”
“Paris?” Something flickered in her eyes. “Did you spend time there with that model girlfriend you mentioned? Catilla?”
“Catarina.”
“Whatever.”
A smile played on Alex’s lips. “You sound jealous.”
“Jealous?” she scoffed. “Not hardly. There was only
one time I was ever jealous, and that was when I thought a friend of mine was making a play for Carter.”
“A friend of yours?” Alex asked, suddenly intrigued. It had to be Carter’s other woman. The woman’s name that he’d forgotten.
“A former friend,” Brianne explained. “Tracy. I had to drop her when she wouldn’t stop cooing and cawing over Carter. The few times she hung out with me and him, she was so flirty, as if she wanted to steal my man.”
“Really?”
“She worked in a hotel and was transferred to another location,” Brianne went on. “I don’t know where.”
Right here, Brianne. She moved to Daytona.
Alex didn’t dare say that. Instead he urged, “Go on. Take a bite.”
Brianne did. The expression on her face said she’d died and gone to heaven. “Alex, this is
delicious!
Light and fluffy. I don’t know if I’ve tasted anything better.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
As Alex watched her eat, it struck him that he could really get used to spending each day with her like this. Just the two of them, secluded from the outside world, enjoying domestic life.
At home, Alex was always on the go. When he made breakfast, he typically ate it standing at the counter. It would be nice to sit down at a table every day, have a conversation over a meal. Share a dessert.
Then make hot, passionate love on the counter…
“Did you hear me?” Brianne asked.
Brianne’s words shook him from his fantasy, and Alex had to clear his throat before speaking. “No, sorry. What were you saying?”
“Just that I was thinking that Carter might not even be in Daytona. People travel from all over the country to
attend the Fall Cycle Scene. Honestly, he could be from anywhere.”
“He’s here,” Alex said, with no room for doubt.
“How can you be sure?”
“Just…a feeling,” Alex answered. Daytona was a piece of the puzzle he had missed, given that he’d believed Carter had died. But it was a place he and Carter had scoped for a potential storefront—and the place where Carter’s girlfriend lived.
“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to do the best search we can here. If we don’t hear from Dean today, maybe we should put up posters with Carter’s picture. Someone may know him, see the poster and contact us. In addition to going to the police. We need to do whatever we can to find him as quickly as possible.”
Alex felt oddly perturbed at her words. She wanted to find Carter as quickly as possible. But he wasn’t quite ready to find his former friend. He wanted to spend as much time with Brianne as possible before having to break the truth to her.
“Hopefully we’ll get some answers today,” Alex said.
“Yes, hopefully. Before we…”
Her eyes widening, her voice trailed off. She looked like she had been surprised by the words that had come from her mouth.
“Before we what?” Alex asked.
She ate another piece of her crepe.
Alex wasn’t about to let the unfinished comment slide. “Before we what?” he pressed.
“Slip of the tongue,” Brianne responded, not looking at him.
He wanted to slip his tongue into her mouth. “You’re afraid something is going to happen between us again.”
“
Nothing
happened between us,” Brianne clarified.
Alex hesitated a beat. “I beg to differ.”
Brianne reached for the carafe. “You can’t even look at me,” Alex said.
She put the carafe down. “Why are you doing this?”
Why was he? He knew why. Because he wanted to explore what Brianne was feeling for him
before
they found Carter. Before Carter had a chance to sweet-talk her, play on her emotions and appeal to her sense of loyalty.
“What if I told you that Ginny called and asked me out?”
Brianne’s eyes widened. “Did she?”
“The very idea bothers you,” Alex said.
She filled her coffee mug. “It does not.”
“It does. It bothers you that I might go out with Ginny. You don’t like thinking of me and Catarina together. Why’s that?”
“You are delusional. I’m in love with Carter, remember? You can sleep with all the models in the world, I don’t care.”
Alex was actually amused. It didn’t take a trained therapist to see that Brianne was lying through her teeth. She was doing everything in her power to deny that she felt anything for him.
And once again she was covered up in a long-sleeve shirt. Not quite as bad as the turtleneck she’d donned yesterday, but he would bet his last dollar that her motive was to appear less attractive.
To him.
“Why are you smiling?” Brianne suddenly asked, her tone accusatory.
“Excuse me?”
“That—that smirk on your face. What’s so funny?”
“It’s a beautiful day. Can’t I smile?”
She put down her fork, and it clattered against the plate.
“It’s very obvious that despite what you said about us both being stressed, you’re trying to read more into that…that kiss. It meant nothing. At best, it was a…a gesture of comfort.”
“Comfort?”
“Yes, comfort.”
“If that’s what you need to believe.”
Brianne gaped at him. Why was he pushing the issue? Didn’t he realize that she was consumed with guilt over kissing her fiancé’s best friend?
“Maybe this was a mistake,” she said.
“What? Eating breakfast with me?”
“No, coming here with you. To Daytona.” She glanced at the backyard, her chest heaving. “I don’t even understand why you’re trying to make a big deal out of the kiss. You never even liked me. Why would you even try to act like a kiss between us would mean something?”
One of Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “I never liked you?”
“You know you didn’t,” Brianne said. “You barely tolerated me when I was dating Carter.”
Alex actually chuckled. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
Brianne scoffed. “Now you want to change history?”
Change history? Was she serious? “Why would you ever say that I didn’t like you?”
“Because you did your best to avoid me like the plague,” Brianne said. “I’d come into the store to see Carter, and you would barely utter a hello. I know I wasn’t gorgeous or thin like the women you typically date, but I thought you would accept me because I loved Carter.”
If Brianne had just told Alex that she had shot someone in cold blood, he would have been less surprised. “You think I didn’t like you because you weren’t gorgeous or thin?”
Brianne gave Alex a defiant look, challenging him to deny her accusation.
“That’s insane,” Alex said. “I always liked you.” When Brianne rolled her eyes, Alex shot out of his chair and rounded the table until he was standing in front of her. He braced his hands on both sides of the chair’s arm rests and stared into her eyes. “And I always thought you were gorgeous. Do you forget me telling you that I always thought you were beautiful—even when you weren’t as thin as now? In fact, I distinctly remember telling you that I liked the curves you had back then. Do you want me to kiss you again to prove just how much I’ve always liked you?”
Brianne said nothing, but Alex could see the rise and fall of her chest. The startled yet wild look in her eyes. He also saw the way her bottom lip quivered and
knew
that she did want him to kiss her again. Oh, she might pretend that she didn’t, but Alex was past the point of pretending.
So he curled his hand around her neck and pulled her toward him while lowering his face to hers. Their lips met in a fury of passion. This time, Brianne didn’t hold back, taking her time to warm to the kiss. She opened her mouth wide, allowing his tongue total access.
Alex flicked his tongue over hers, nipped at her bottom lip, then suckled the tip of her tongue.
Brianne purred, and it was Alex’s undoing. He slipped his other hand around her waist and pulled her to her feet. He crushed her body against his, kissing her with the kind of fervor that said he had waited far too long to do this.
Brianne curled her arms around his neck. Alex slipped his hands beneath the hem of her shirt and moved them up over her hips slowly, enjoying every inch of her delectable curves. When his palms reached her waist, Brianne shuddered.
Alex raised his hands, moving them along her heated skin until he reached the curve of her breasts. A groan tore from his throat.
He wanted all of her. Now. One hell of a kiss simply wasn’t enough.
Tearing his lips from hers, he brought his mouth to the underside of her jaw, using his tongue to tease her soft skin. While his tongue flicked over her flesh, his thumbs flicked over her nipples.
Brianne’s body went boneless. If she didn’t have her arms secured around Alex’s neck, she was certain she would collapse in a heap on the floor. His fingers and mouth were driving her crazy.
Far more crazy than Carter’s ever had.
Carter… The moment she thought about him, her body went stiff.
What am I doing? What am I doing?
She jerked backward, away from Alex’s touch. His eyes were heavy-lidded and smoky, radiating raw desire.
Brianne brought a hand to her mouth, touching her swollen lips. “Alex…”
“You are beautiful and sexy,” Alex said, his voice husky. “But besides that fact, I always liked that you were grounded. You’re a real woman. Caring and thoughtful and genuine.”
“But…but you never liked me. Even Carter noticed.”
“Carter noticed?” Alex said, and Brianne was certain that his voice was tinged with anger.
“He even said that you told him you thought I was flighty.”
Brianne gasped when Alex snared his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He kissed her again, deep and hot. When he pulled away, Brianne was actually disappointed.
“Don’t believe what Carter told you. You were the perfect woman for him, and he didn’t—”
An alarm bell went off in Brianne’s brain. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Alex. “Didn’t what? What were you about to say?”
“Didn’t appreciate your beauty,” Alex finished. “The fact that he wanted you to lose weight…”
“Oh.” Brianne was certain he’d been about to say something else.