She truly felt like she was in the Twilight Zone as
she watched Marie dig the knife into the soft cake. Perhaps that’s why, though she saw him approaching, she jumped when she felt Marcus’s full lips on her temple.
Flustered, she turned and gave him a smile.
“Sorry I’m late. Happy birthday. These are for you.” He passed her the bouquet of roses, and Alice’s knees actually went weak.
“Roses,” Marie whispered in her ear, then reached for the card. Alice quickly plucked it from Marie’s fingers. “They’re for me.”
“Sorry.” Dramatically, Marie let her empty fingers dangle in the air, then looked at Marcus. “They’re beautiful.”
“Like the birthday girl.”
Alice fingered a delicate flower. Somehow, she was able to contain her smile, though inside she was beaming brighter than a neon sign.
Marie passed Alice a slice of cake. “You want a piece, Marcus?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied. But he was looking at Alice.
Her throat was suddenly so dry, she wondered if it would be suicide to take a bite of the cake. She very well might choke to death.
“This is for you, too.” He passed her the wrapped box.
“Marcus, you didn’t have to. Thanks.”
“It’s not from me. I found it on the porch.”
“You’re kidding.” Who would leave a gift on the porch? “Tanisha, you came in shortly before Marcus. Did you bring this?”
She shook her head. “Not me.”
Alice shrugged and placed it on the table. When
she turned back to Marcus, she found him staring at her. “Wow,” he said, “You look great.”
At that moment, she remembered exactly what she was wearing, and realized that from his vantage point, he no doubt had a great view of her cleavage. Her body suddenly felt hotter than she feared was normal. Or healthy. She’d never felt like this when any other man had looked at her.
She blushed. “Thanks.” Needing something to fiddle with, she reached for the mysterious gift box and began unwrapping it. She’d opened the other gifts and may as well open this one.
Discarding the wrapping paper, she lifted the lid and looked inside the box.
Then screamed.
Marcus’s throat constricted at the sound of Alice’s scream. As the box fell from her hands onto the table, he quickly grabbed it and looked inside.
“Jesus,” he muttered. Inside the box was a brown stuffed teddy bear with a rope tied so tightly around its neck the head was almost severed. There was no mistaking the threat.
“Who left this box on the porch?” Marcus asked, his eyes scanning everyone in the room.
People shrugged and shook their heads as they glanced at one another.
“Someone has to know something.” His gaze settled on Tanisha. “Alice said you came in just before I did.”
“I have nothing to do with this,” she protested.
“You didn’t see this box on the porch?”
“No!”
He eyed her suspiciously a moment longer, won
dering if she was lying. She’d always been so good at it that she’d fooled him often.
Tanisha angled her head to try to see inside the box from across the table. “What is it?”
Marcus couldn’t tell if the question was sincere or not. Did Tanisha already know?
“Marcus, please get rid of it.” From her chair, Alice looked up at him with pleading eyes. Eyes that held fear.
He’d do anything to erase that fear. He reached for the lid and replaced it over the box, but not before Rosa and Marie had crowded around him to peer inside.
“Oh, my.” Rosa inhaled a shaky breath and placed a hand on her heart. “Alice, why would someone send you something like that?”
Her mother’s frightened question drove Alice into action. She couldn’t crumble, though she wanted to. She needed to shelter her family from this, put on a brave face so they wouldn’t be scared. Pushing her chair back, she stood and placed an arm around her mother’s waist. She urged her into the chair she’d just vacated. “Mother, sit down.”
“I don’t understand,” Marie whispered, her voice trembling. “Who would do this?”
Alice looked at Mia, who was staring at her with a terrified expression. “Mia, it’s all right. It’s just a…a crazy joke.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice shaky from fear.
“Yes, sweetie. Now please get a glass of water for your grandmother.”
The party guests mumbled amongst themselves for several minutes, offered apologies, then slowly
dispersed as it became clear the festivities were over. Alice glanced around the living and dining rooms and realized Marcus was no longer here. She suddenly felt like a deflated balloon.
But moments later he returned, no longer holding the box, and a wave of relief washed over her. Why did the mere sight of him calm her? Maybe because he was a cop and she felt safer with him around.
He called to her from the living room entrance several feet away. “Alice, may I speak with you?”
“Sure. Mother, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
When Alice reached Marcus, he said, “I checked the area around the house. I didn’t find any more suspicious packages.”
Alice hugged her torso. “Marcus, I’m scared.”
Marcus surprised her by wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close—and Alice instantly felt protected in his arms.
“I promise you, I’m going to find out who did this.” As a cop, he knew the danger of making such promises, but this was Alice, and it was a promise he intended to keep.
“I didn’t want to believe it before, but someone really wants to hurt me.”
“Alice, I suggested this once and you didn’t consider it, but I’m going to suggest it again. I think you should stay at my place.” He paused as his pulse accelerated. Nerves. “I’d feel much better if I could keep an eye on you.”
Alice looked up at him and offered him a smile, but it wavered, and the sight nearly broke his heart. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
“At least let me get you out of here for a while.”
“Yes, please. Get me out of here.” She stepped out of his arms. “Give me a second.”
Marcus waited for her while she disappeared into the living room, where he heard her tell her family she’d be heading out for a little while. A couple of minutes later she returned.
“You ready?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She grabbed a leather jacket from the coat tree and slipped into it.
He opened the front door and let her pass, then he stepped onto the porch after her. Once again, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Damn, you’re shaking.”
She nodded in response.
Marcus led her down the front steps to his car. He let her in the passenger side, then seconds later, got behind the wheel.
Alice wrapped her arms around her body while Marcus started the engine. She couldn’t stop shaking. As much as she tried to forget the image, she kept seeing the strangled teddy bear. There was no doubt the bear was meant to represent her.
Someone was seriously threatening her. But who? Tanisha
was
the last person to enter the party before Marcus arrived, which made her a suspect as far as Alice was concerned. Maybe she was jealous because she thought Alice was pursuing Marcus.
But Tanisha hadn’t said anything to Alice about her relationship with Marcus until yesterday, and there had been threats before. And Tanisha seemed so grateful for her help at the theater that Alice couldn’t truly imagine her doing this.
“You cold?”
His voice startled her out of thoughts. She nodded. Marcus turned on the car’s heater.
She watched him while he drove. His lips were set in a tight line, his forehead scrunched. No doubt his cop mind was going a mile a minute trying to solve the situation.
“Marcus, I don’t know what to do. All this time, I figured that if someone was trying to scare me, at least they didn’t know where I lived.”
“That’s exactly why I want you to stay with me. If this person knows where you live, then your family is at risk as much as you are.”
She wished it were that simple. But the truth was, staying with Marcus would be extremely difficult. Dangerous. It would be so easy to fall for him again if she spent every day with him. “Do you really think that’s the best thing?”
“I’ve got an extra bedroom,” he replied, as if sensing her concern.
“That’s not what I mean. My mother…”
“She’s recovering from heart surgery. Needless to say, something like this can’t be good for her health.”
“You’re right.” Alice frowned as she lay her head back. She needed to think about the situation. In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to stay with Marcus tonight while she contemplated the best course of action. “Are we going to your place now?”
“May as well.”
“I didn’t bring anything to sleep in.”
“I’ve got T-shirts.”
The idea of wearing one of Marcus’s T-shirts seemed way too personal. “No toothbrush.”
“We can stop at a drugstore and buy one.”
“Okay.” Alice tried to sound cool. They were both adults. She wasn’t going to his place for a romantic rendezvous, but to escape a very real threat to her life. “Don’t you think I should go to the police?”
“I’m gonna solve this, Alice.”
He was so adamant, Alice wondered if he was trying to prove something. Or make amends. Maybe for the case he’d mentioned the other day, where the woman had gotten killed. She didn’t ask about it.
They drove along Lake Shore Drive in silence. Alice didn’t pay much attention to the scenery until Marcus turned left off the main road and onto a side street, then another. He pulled up in front of a small, red-brick house.
They got out of the car and Alice followed him up the steps. It was a quiet, picturesque neighborhood with mature trees, the type of neighborhood where young husbands and wives began building their lives together. And here she was, about to enter the home of the one man she’d loved.
Alone.
When Marcus opened the front door and let Alice pass, he suddenly felt self-conscious. Not only was the house a small bungalow, it needed a good cleaning. The place was dusty and the linoleum floors could use a wash. “I know it’s not what you’re used to,” he announced as he followed her into the house. “Not fancy at all…”
She faced him, giving him a dumbfounded look. “You think I care about how your house looks?”
“Well, I know you’re used to posher places than this.”
Did people really think she had lost touch with
her roots? That she was some prima donna? “I like it. I think this place suits you.”
“Thanks.”
“It does. The colors.” They were strong, like him. “The smell.” She could literally smell his masculine scent in the air.
“Have a seat.” He gestured to the living room. “Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
Alice sat on the sofa, and Marcus sat on the loveseat across from her. “You’re gonna think I’m weird, but you know what I keep wondering about?”
“What?”
“I know I should be concerned about who wants to hurt me, but instead I keep thinking about the gift my family gave me. Marcus, it was a
scrapbook
of my career. My mother disowned me for going to Hollywood to pursue my dream. Why on earth would she care what I’ve done over the years?”
“Obviously, she’s loved you all these years.”
“She hardly talks to me. She won’t tell me how she feels, even when I try to get her to open up. Sometimes she’s deliberately difficult, like she’s trying to push me away. Then she’ll suddenly be nice, or reach for my hand—she did that today—and I don’t know what to think.”
Alice sighed. “I want to understand her, but she’s a complete mystery to me.”
“She loves you, Alice. That much I can see.”
Alice shook her head, her mind still trying to digest it all. “Except for my father, sometimes I really do wonder if I dropped from another family tree.”
“Clearly, while they haven’t been able to show
you their support outwardly, deep in their hearts they must support you. I think they’re proud of you.”
“Maybe they are,” Alice conceded.
“Well, I’m proud of you.”
Alice raised her gaze to his. “You are?”
“Of course.”
“I wasn’t sure what you thought.”
“I’ll admit when we first met again, I wondered if you’d ‘gone Hollywood,’ but after spending time with you, I realize you’re still down to earth.” He smiled. “You’re still my girl, Alice, and I’m proud that while you achieved success, you didn’t lose your sense of self.”
“Thank you.” His comment meant more to her than he knew.
Alice glanced around the living room, at the afrocentric paintings on the walls. Photos of him and his father, his sister. A large portrait of his mother. When she looked at him again, she was jarred to find him staring at her with narrowed eyes, as though studying her. She glanced away.
“You don’t want to be here, do you?”
She looked at him again, surprised. “Excuse me?”
“You feel uncomfortable around me.”
Alice laughed her disbelief. “Of course I’m comfortable around you.”
He shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t think you are. Every time I look at you, you either give me that deer expression or you look away.”
Her eyes widened. “Deer expression?”
“That,”
he said, gesturing to his eyes and imitating the wide-eyed look. “Your eyes widen like a deer trapped in headlights.”
Alice flashed him an incredulous look, then immediately looked away—and realized her mistake.
“See. You just looked away—”
“What is your point?”
“You’re uncomfortable with me because I kissed you.”
Her gaze flew to his in that classic deer look. God, she had such sexy eyes. Marcus’s mouth went dry as he realized how turned on he suddenly was. He had hoped to discuss what had happened between them in a mature fashion, but the mere mention of their kiss jump-started his hormones. All he could think about now was how wonderful and soft her lips had felt crushed beneath his, how aroused he had become when her nipples had hardened against his chest.
She was so damn beautiful. Even that deer expression made her look more incredible—fiery, passionate, vulnerable. And damn if he couldn’t avoid dropping his gaze to her full, luscious breasts. They were firm yet soft, and his mouth very nearly watered at the swell of her cleavage. He forced his gaze back to those cinnamon-colored eyes. God, how could he live in the same house with her and manage to keep his hands off her?
“Look, Marcus, I realize the kiss just happened. I’ve already forgotten about it.”
“Oh.” His ego deflated. “I just thought…maybe we should discuss it. You know, in case you were worried that staying here…”
“I’m not worried,” she said matter-of-factly.
“All right. I guess I didn’t need to bring it up.” Had she really forgotten their kiss already? Marcus tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter, but disap
pointment the size of a golf ball stuck in his throat. Anxious, he stood. “You sure you don’t want a drink?”
“I’m fine. But I will use the phone, if you don’t mind.”
“No problem. I’m gonna take a shower.”
Upstairs, Marcus closed the bedroom door behind him and rested his forehead against the wood. Damn, he’d made a fool of himself bringing up their kiss! He’d thought that Alice might have given it a second thought, but clearly she hadn’t. Hell, she’d spent years in Hollywood with guys fawning all over her. Why
would
she think twice about a kiss from a lowly cop?
He told himself that was a good thing, that maybe they’d both fallen into each other’s arms simply because they’d been curious. With their curiosity satisfied, Marcus wouldn’t have to worry about his judgment being clouded while he did his best to protect her.
But as he stepped into the shower and let the cool water run over his body, he wasn’t quite convinced of his own argument. Curious or not, he knew he wanted to kiss her again.
Alice waited until she heard the shower running upstairs before she lifted the receiver. Even then, she couldn’t bring herself to punch in the number she wanted to call.
God, she prayed Marcus hadn’t known she was lying! She didn’t want him to think the kiss meant something to her, when for him it was no doubt a reaction to spending time with the woman he now
knew as Desirée, not his once homely best friend, Alice.
Glancing at the ceiling, she listened to the sound of the shower. Marcus was naked upstairs. The mere thought was enough to make her body thrum with desire.