Had she been easy prey for a stalker on the prowl?
“Damn it, Brianne. Where are you?”
She wouldn’t have made her way to Dean Knight’s office, would she? Perhaps—if she was desperate to talk to the man.
His search exhausted, Alex drove back to his house. He was going to grab his cell, where he could retrieve Dean’s number. If Dean or Ginny hadn’t seen her, then he would have to call the police.
Alex turned into his driveway. Before the Navigator had come to a complete stop, he had the door open. He was charging for the house when a glimpse of pink at the side near the hedges caught his eye.
Was that…?
His stomach flinching, Alex started in that direction. As he got closer to the side of the house, relief washed over him in waves. Yes, he had seen the pink fabric of a shirt.
Brianne’s shirt.
He rushed forward. Brianne was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest. Her body had been almost entirely blocked by the brick wall, except for that small bit of her shirt.
“Thank God.” Alex dropped down onto his haunches in front of her. “Bree, I’ve been so worried.”
She didn’t even acknowledge him, as if she were a mannequin and not a person. But her eyes were puffy from crying, showing that she was very much alive.
Alex wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to her feet. “Come inside.”
She said nothing, but at least she didn’t fight him.
Alex lifted her and carried her into the house. He brought her up to the bedroom, where he laid her on the bed.
She immediately turned her back to him and dragged the pillow over her face.
“I’m sorry, Bree,” Alex said. “God knows, I feel awful for hurting you.”
She didn’t respond. For several seconds Alex watched her, finally deciding that it was best to let her rest. He made
his way to the door. But as he crossed the threshold, he heard Brianne speak.
“Then why did you?”
Alex turned. “Pardon me?”
“You say you feel bad for hurting me. So why did you? Why did you lie knowing what it would do to me?”
Slowly, Alex walked back toward the bed. “Because once I realized that Carter was likely alive, I needed answers. Answers about—”
“And to get your answers, you didn’t care how it would hurt me.” She spoke in a deadpan voice, as though void of emotion. Alex would have preferred her wrath.
“No, that’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
Alex moved forward, aching to reach for her. He wanted to fold her into his arms and hold her until all her pain was gone. But he didn’t dare touch her. Because he knew the gesture would ring hollow.
“You’ve had a rough couple of hours. Get some rest. When you get up, we’ll talk.”
“When I get up, I’ll be leaving.”
“Brianne, we are this close to finding Carter.” Alex held his forefinger and thumb an inch apart.
“Carter was cheating on me. You said so. Which means the chances of he and I getting back together are slim to none. And even if he’d have me, I would never have him. So there’s no reason for me to be here.” She paused, giving him a pointed look. “And you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not exactly fond of spending more time with you.”
Alex closed his eyes. Thought of how to respond. He reopened them, saying, “You said you hate me and…and I understand that.” His stomach lurched as he said the words. Could she truly hate him, after the way she had connected with him? “Honestly, I wish I could have done this without
deceiving you. Maybe I could have, but my gut told me you wouldn’t have helped me if I’d told you the truth.”
“It’s all about you, right? To hell with anyone else.”
“I needed to find Carter.” Alex spoke earnestly, imploring her to understand. “And with your link to Tracy—I couldn’t remember her name, by the way—I knew you could probably be the one to lead me to her.”
“So you didn’t even care about my needs at all. You simply used me.”
Alex lowered himself onto the bed. Brianne wiped at tears that were falling onto the pillow.
“Bree, I didn’t…” He stopped himself. But hadn’t he? He
had
used her, even if he’d been too single-minded in his focus to see that that was what he was doing.
“I’m going to tell you something, Bree, and I hope it helps you understand my motives. When I saw Carter on TV and realized that he had likely staged his whole disappearance, I also realized that he had to be the one who had set up the robbery at our store while we were on our trip. It all suddenly made sense. How the thieves knew exactly where in the store the safe was hidden. Carter had to be the one who—”
Brianne jerked her body upright. “You put me through this hell because you wanted to get some money back?”
“No,” Alex answered softly. “This isn’t about the money. I couldn’t care less about the money. It was replaced by insurance anyway.”
“So what, then?” Brianne’s tone was incredulous. “What on earth could be so important that you had such little concern for me that you would hurt me this way?”
“One thing in the safe was irreplaceable,” Alex told her. “One thing Carter knew was more important to me than all the money in the world. An antique ring my mother left me on her deathbed.” He paused, feeling anger and
bitterness and the overwhelming sense of sadness he always did when he thought of the loss. “That ring…it had been passed down through the generations and meant the world to my mother. And it means the world to me for sentimental reasons. That’s why I knew I had to do what I could to find Carter to get that ring back…even if that meant keeping the truth from you.”
Brianne lowered her head onto the pillow. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
Turbulent feelings rolled through Alex like a freight train. Feelings he wasn’t used to.
He wanted to ask her if she understood his motives. Mostly he wanted to ask her to forgive him. But he didn’t want to push her, didn’t want to make her run.
“All right. I’ll be downstairs. Whenever you’re ready to talk. If you want.”
Brianne closed her eyes. Alex watched the heavy rise and fall of her chest and wondered if she had meant what she’d said.
If she really hated him.
Because if the cost of getting his mother’s ring back was Brianne’s hate, then maybe this whole mission hadn’t been worth it.
Brianne didn’t think that anything Alex said would have calmed her ire, but the story about his mother’s ring got to her, tugging at her heartstrings.
When she had run from his house, she had wanted to never stop. To run so far that she could escape the pain his words had caused.
But that was impossible. There was no place on earth she could outrun what Alex had told her.
Carter had been cheating on her. He had proposed but
had been sleeping with her former friend, Tracy. That knowledge burned her at her very core.
But there was also a part, deep in her soul, where the words were like the final pieces to a puzzle. She had sensed that something had changed between her and Carter. Sensed it without knowing what it was. And silly her, she’d believed that
she
had been the cause for whatever rift was growing between them.
She would ask him questions, and he always said she was smothering him, trying to create problems where there were none. Fearful of losing him, Brianne had pulled back, but she still had felt that something was…off.
Was it ever. Carter had been lying to her for God only knew how long. He had proposed to her, yet he’d been playing her for a fool.
But why? That was the question that had plagued her as she’d wandered barefoot around the neighborhood. When the soles of her feet began to hurt, she returned to Alex’s house, but there was no way she was going inside. She wasn’t ready to see him. So she’d sat on the grass at the side of the house, thinking about everything and crying.
Alex had asked her if she was truly so devastated to learn of Carter’s betrayal three years after the fact. Her initial thought was yes, of course she was that upset. But as the hours had passed and she considered his question, Brianne realized that wasn’t exactly true. The truth was, she could probably deal with the news of Carter’s betrayal, but what had really hurt her was the way that Alex had used her.
She cared about Alex. As startling as that reality was, it was true. Somewhere along the way she had discovered that she was fiercely attracted to him.
Rather, she had stopped denying the obvious.
It was just that she couldn’t understand it. And yet, the
feeling was oddly familiar. As if it wasn’t a new attraction, but an old one.
Brianne felt a shocking jolt, as if she’d been struck by lightning.
Had
she been attracted to Alex before?
Oh, dear God. What am I thinking?
And yet, there was something right about the revelation. On some level, she knew it had the ring of truth.
Perhaps not a fully fledged attraction—they hadn’t had the opportunity to explore it before. But there had definitely been a spark of interest the first moment she’d seen him.
That very first moment—seeing him smile at her in the store—something inside of her had melted. And then Carter had suddenly approached her, speaking to her first.
Alex was wrong. She didn’t hate him. She was angry, definitely. But the story he’d told her about the stolen ring did strike a chord with her. He’d spoken so fondly of his mother, Brianne could only imagine that it was crushing blow to have lost an heirloom so important to her.
But he should have told her the truth. Laid it on the line and trusted that she would help him.
Brianne paced the bedroom floor, another thought taking shape in her mind. Was that what all his kisses were about? A way to butter her up so she would be more likely to forgive him
his
betrayal?
Had he led her on emotionally as a way to achieve his end goal?
Brianne stopped pacing and gripped her stomach, the very thought making her feel ill.
Because if Alex could be so callous as to manipulate her on an emotional level, then that would be the worst betrayal of all.
Chapter 16
A
lex hadn’t been sleeping. So when he heard what sounded like a door opening, he immediately eased up on an elbow and paid closer attention. Ever since he’d brought a plate of food to Brianne’s door and said good night to her, he had been worried that she would try to take off in the night.
Was that another sound? A moment later, when his door opened, Alex had his answer.
Brianne was standing there in the darkness. Alex quickly glanced at his digital clock. Three-thirteen in the morning. Had she come to tell him that she was leaving?
“Alex?” she called softly. “Are you awake?”
He sat up. “Yeah, I’m awake.”
Brianne stepped into the room. It was then that Alex saw she was wearing only a T-shirt.
“Brianne,” Alex said, surprised at how breathless he sounded. “What are you doing here?”
She walked slowly toward him, and Alex’s breathing became shallow. There was something about her movements, something deliberate.
Something arousing.
She didn’t answer his question. Instead, she eased down on the bed beside him, her eyes holding his.
Was he dreaming? Maybe Brianne was a figment of his imagination.
Her hand reached forward. Stroked his cheek.
It certainly felt real.
“Brianne—”
She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. “No. Don’t say anything.”
And then she leaned her face forward and kissed his cheek.
Alex would have been certain he was dreaming—if his body hadn’t totally come alive. He was awake. No doubt about it.
And Brianne was stroking his cheek.
Why? was the question he wanted to ask. She had just learned the truth about Carter. She’d told him she hated him. So why was she here in his room, beside him on his bed, stroking him as if she wanted to seduce him?
Brianne leaned forward. This time she kissed the edge of his mouth. And when she moved her lips to the underside of his jaw, all rational thought fled his mind.
She wanted him. And he wanted her. He wasn’t going to question it, even though he couldn’t believe it.
He snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her onto the bed with him.
“I’ve been so blind,” Brianne whispered into his ear. “All this time, it should have been you.”
Alex had been running a palm over her thigh, but his
hand stilled. His entire body went still. “Wh-what did you say?”
“You’re the one I should have been with. Not Carter.”
Wonder filled him. Was this really true? Perhaps he was dreaming after all. Alex framed her face, staring at her beauty in the moonlit room. She was real in his arms, looking at him with white-hot desire.
He drew her to him and kissed her hungrily.
She kissed him back with abandon, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Her mouth was wide, giving him total access to the soft recesses of her mouth.
Brianne shifted, moving her delectable body onto his. Alex groaned in pure pleasure, growing rock hard with the knowledge that this was really happening.
He nibbled her bottom lip. Suckled it. Kissed a hot path to her ear and flicked his tongue over her lobe.
Heat engulfed Brianne. Her entire body was on fire, her need for Alex stronger than anything she had ever felt before.
He kissed her lips again, his tongue tangling with hers, his excited groans making her entire body throb.
Alex broke the kiss and eased back to stare at her. “I feel like I’m dreaming.” He was breathless. “I keep wondering if this is really happening.”
Brianne felt like she was dreaming as well. As if she had sleepwalked into Alex’s bedroom and joined him on his bed.
She honestly wasn’t sure how she’d gone from being angry to being in his arms.
She didn’t want to think, only feel. Leaning forward, she kissed him again. He growled, a low and hungry sound. He wanted her, just as much as she wanted him.
What was happening between them was real. It had to be. Surely Alex wasn’t faking what he felt for her.
He ran his hands down her back, then splayed them over the small of her back, pulling her against the rock hard evidence of his desire for her. His tongue delved into her mouth as far as it could go.