Love Takes Time (19 page)

A
lyssa smiled as Quentin greeted her with a brief hug and a casual kiss against her cheek. As she glanced around, she took in the party's elaborate decorations and huge crowd and wondered for the umpteenth time whether she was about to make the biggest mistake in her life.

Probably.

“I can't tell you how happy I am you decided to come,” Q said.

She smiled and clutched the glittering silver gift box—her excuse for attending this thing in the first place.

“I don't believe it,” Roger boomed. “Is that little Ally?”

When Alyssa turned toward the birthday boy, Quentin's arm fell from her shoulders to loop around her waist. “Hello, Mr. Hinton.”

“Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?” He approached and delivered his kiss against her cheek. “I haven't seen you since…”

Alyssa dropped her head. “Yes. It's been a while.” Then belatedly she handed over her gift. “Happy birthday.”

“Now you know that you didn't have to do this. It's good enough just to see you.” His gaze swung low to his son's arm wrapped around her waist. He didn't comment, but instead seemed to sigh with acceptance.

Suddenly self-conscious, Alyssa pushed his arm down. It wasn't two seconds before it was back.

“Well you two enjoy yourselves. Kitty is around here somewhere. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you.” He nodded toward Q with a look that said we'll-talk-later.

“Would you like something to drink?” Quentin asked, eagerly.

“Sure,” she agreed and then relaxed when he rushed off.

“Ally. Is that you?”

Alyssa turned and saw a cotton-haired Beatrice sneaking over in a black-and-white serving uniform. “My goodness. You're still beautiful as ever.”

Alyssa ran a hand down her long, white, beaded dress, which came with a matching beaded headband
and white feather. “Thanks. It wasn't easy finding a twenties costume on such short notice.”

Clearly, not wanting to talk about fashion, the old maid leaned close and whispered, “So have you finally done it? Are you and Mister Quentin an item now?”

The assumption made Alyssa laugh. “No. We're just friends.”

“Humph! That man ain't tryna be your friend.” She glanced around and knew that she needed to get back to work. “We'll talk later.”

Alyssa smiled and shook her head. She nervously scanned the crowd again and finally landed on the man that she really came to see.

Sterling.

The moment their eyes clashed, a fire ignited and scorched her from the inside out. The instant and painful attraction caused a fresh rush of tears to burn her eyes. He was the most beautiful sight to behold. He towered above the crowd. His stern and disapproving glare made him look more like a stone statue than a living, breathing man.

“Here's your drink,” Q said, rushing back to her side.

“Thanks.” She flashed him a smile then glanced back toward Sterling.

He was gone.

Alyssa's heart sank.

This was a mistake.
The realization hit her so hard her knees buckled.

“Are you all right?” Q asked, his expression a mask of concern.

“Yeah.” She nodded and took a long gulp of her drink.

Q chuckled. “Thirsty?”

“Something like that.” She drained the rest of her glass and willed the alcohol to kick into her bloodstream faster.

“How about a dance?”

“No. I don't—”

“Come on. It'll be fun.” Q took her empty glass and set it down on a passing tray then led her toward the floor. At first she took consolation in the fact that at least the music was upbeat, but the minute she and Quentin stepped on the dance floor, the big dance number was replaced by a slow song. Couples gathered close and literally danced cheek to cheek. If Alyssa didn't know better, she would swear that the sudden tempo shift was prearranged.

With no resistance, Alyssa allowed Quentin to pull her into his embrace. He took the lead and glided her around the floor with the fluid style of a modern Fred Astaire. Had it been another time…or a different brother, Alyssa was sure that she would have been swept away in the moment.

If only…

Alyssa closed her eyes and laid her head against Quentin's. “I don't think I can stay long,” she said. She wanted to go home.

“What?” Q leaned his head back so that he could
look at her. He was clearly surprised to see tears shining in her eyes. “Whoa. What is it?”

She shook her head. “I'm sorry. But I shouldn't have come. I don't belong here.”

“Of course you do.” He gently wiped one of her stray tears from her face. “I invited you here because…well, I think you know why.”

Alyssa continued to shake her head. Her tears started flowing faster. “Q, don't.”

“Alice—”

“Don't.” She closed her eyes in hopes of stemming the flow. “You don't understand.”

He frowned as they rocked back and forth. “Make me understand.”

 

The glass in Sterling's hand broke.

Sierra's and his mother's gasps drew his attention before the throbbing pain in his hand.

“My goodness. You're bleeding,” Kitty announced and then glanced around. “Beatrice, get me something for Sterling's hand.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Another employee quickly took the broken glass from his hand.

“Are you all right, darling?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, yeah.” He blinked and then took the white napkin Beatrice offered. As he wrapped his hand, he joked, “Guess I don't know my own strength.”

The small group fluttered awkward smiles.

“I better go into the house and clean this up.” He
turned and stormed off. Against his will, his gaze shot back over to the dance floor. The sight of Alyssa locked in his brother's embrace had the effect of a jagged knife plunging into what was left of his heart. He tried to drag in a deep breath but the pain he felt exuded from his tear ducts causing his vision to blur.

“Hey, Sterling,” Jonas called, approaching.

Sterling made a sharp right and marched to the main house.

Jonas called again; Sterling ignored his older brother. He had to get away before he either melted down or torched the place—and right now he was leaning toward the latter.

Avoiding the traffic on the bottom floor bathrooms, Sterling jogged upstairs and went to the bathroom adjoining his bedroom. It turned out that the cut on his hand wasn't as bad as it first appeared and he took his time to clean it up. One thing he was trying to do was avoid looking into the mirror. Again, his willpower was shot to hell and he stole a glance.

A broken man stared back.

 

Instead of answering Quentin's question, Alyssa pried his arms from around her waist and tried to ease away. “I'm sorry. This is not the place. Please understand.” She turned, but Quentin grasped her hand.

“If you don't want to talk right here then let's go somewhere we can be alone,” he suggested.

“Q—”

“Please,” he added. “I don't want you to go.”

The music's tempo shifted into another dance number. In order to be heard, Quentin led Alyssa off the dance floor and then continued to press his case. “Let's go into the house and we can talk there.”

They glanced up at the house, but it was teeming with people.

“Well, what about the solarium. I know no one is there. We can sit down and talk.”

Alyssa kept shaking her head.

“No funny stuff,” he promised. “Something is obviously bothering you and as your friend I want to help.”

At last she stopped shaking her head. She studied him, weighed his sincerity.

“We
are
friends, right?” he asked.

Finally, her lips twitched upward.

“All right. I'm going to get us a bottle of wine and some glasses. Why don't you meet me there?”

Doubt etched back into her features.

Q smiled reassuringly. “It'll give you a few minutes to dry your eyes.”

She relented. “Okay.”

 

Sterling flipped off the bathroom's light switch and then wondered whether he should return to the party. It would save him from having to watch Quentin and Alyssa flaunt their relationship in front of him.

Quentin and Alyssa.

The dagger plunged deeper into his chest as unbidden images of Alyssa flooded back into his head. Eighteen months of hard work went up in smoke.

Somberly, Sterling walked over to his bedroom window and stared down at the crowd. At that moment, everyone stopped what they were doing and started singing “Happy Birthday” to his proud and beaming father.

Sterling looked on without a smile. He couldn't. He felt like a dying man.

He told himself not to do it, but the temptation to seek Alyssa out in the crowd overwhelmed him. He almost sighed in relief when he didn't spot her. Then, his gaze snagged on a white dress, heading west from the party. Sterling frowned, and then quickly scanned the perimeter again until he saw his brother making a slow progression toward one of the bars.

The solarium.

 

The moment Alyssa strolled inside the solarium, she felt as if she had somehow transported back in time. It was another full moon and another night where she was waiting for Quentin. She wondered whether she really should tell him about the brief affair between her and Sterling. Should she tell him that even after all this time, she still loved him?

That she craved him?

A hand brushed against her shoulder. She whirled around and gasped, “Sterling.” She stepped back.

“I take it you were waiting for someone else…
again.
”

The implication was clear. “What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you that same question.”

Alyssa swallowed. Sterling's dominating presence absorbed most of the oxygen.

“Maybe I should just ask you how long you've been with Quentin?”

She frowned. “Quentin and I—”

“You know what? It doesn't matter.” He stepped back, shaking his head. “
He
was who you really wanted anyway.”

“Did you
forget
that you were the one who dumped me?”

“So you ran to my brother?” he accused. “You like to stay in the family, is that it?”

Her hand whipped across his face. Hard.

“How fast did you go to him?”

She slapped him again. Harder.

“Is he a better lover?”

Slap!

Sterling grabbed her hand and pushed her back up against a stone ledge. He could no longer hide his hurt and anger behind a carefully constructed mask. “Answer the question,” he hissed. “Does he make you feel the way I do?”

Alyssa's mind went blank at the feel of Sterling's steel erection pressed against her pelvis while his free hand pulled up her dress. “When he touches you, does it make you hot?”

She couldn't breathe.

“Do you purr his name when he hits your spot, hmm? Do you like to compare us? Is that it?”

“Sterling…”

“What is it, baby?” He thrust his hand into her panties and slid his finger inside her. “Look at how wet you are,” he groaned against her ear. “I bet you don't get this wet for him, do you? Hmm?” Sterling dropped his head down and dragged his lips against the long column of her neck.

“Sterling…”

“Open your legs wider for me, baby,” he ordered. “Let me feel you.”

She obeyed and her knees nearly buckled when he slipped in a second finger. “Oh, yeah,” he panted. “This belongs to me, doesn't it, baby?
You
belong to me. Don't you?” He released her hand and pulled up the other side of her dress. “Do you know how much I missed you, baby? Do you know how hard I've tried to forget what it feels like to be buried deep inside you?”

Heady from his confession, Alyssa's hands fumbled with his zipper. Her body had gone haywire and she sought the one thing that it desperately needed. Within seconds, she freed his unbending erection and he pushed her panties aside and penetrated her with one mighty thrust. At that thrilling moment, there was an undeniable click in her head—the coming together of two puzzle pieces snapping in place.

“You belong to me,” he insisted as his hips pumped and then rotated. “Say it,” he ordered. “You'll always belong to me.”