Not Just Friends (Brookfield) (5 page)

Alyssa
wasn’t going to let it bother her. Tonight would be fun. And as long as she
kept her feelings for him suppressed, she wasn’t going to get hurt.

She
left her room and Zoe was on her heels, like usual. The cat rubbed its body against
her and meowed at her. Alyssa rolled her eyes and picked up her pet, placing her
on a pink fleece blanket left upon the couch. The cat was satisfied with that
and began kneading her paws in the blanket before burrowing herself in its
folds.

Alyssa
gathered her purse and decided to wait outside for Connor. As she stepped off
the last stair, she noticed a familiar red sedan parked there. Connor drove a
black Mercedes. She walked closer to the car and covered her mouth when the
driver turned to look at her.

Matt.
What was he doing there?

The
door to the sedan opened and Matt climbed out. He still looked as handsome as
ever. He had light blond hair and blue eyes. He was more muscular than the last
time she’d seem him. But then a painful memory flashed through her mind. He’d
been kissing her sister.

“Alyssa,”
he said.

“What
are you doing here?” she asked, still not believing her eyes.

“I
came to see you and apologize.”

She
shook her head. “It’s over. The past is the past, after all.”

“I
realize the mistake I made and I want to make things right.”

What?
Was he here to get her back? The nerve! “Are you wanting to get my forgiveness
or something? Because you can have it. Like I said, it happened over a year
ago. I’ve gotten over it by now.”

Matt
closed the space between them. “I’m happy about that. But I want more. I want
us
again. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately and I want another chance.”

Another
chance? Matt had been her boyfriend for over a year. She’d thought she was
going to marry him, but there was always something that delayed an engagement.
She took that now as a sign it wasn’t meant to be. That they would just be
settling for one another. And then he kissed her sister. Diane hadn’t been
sorry. She’d done it because they had recently had a fight over something
stupid, as usual, but for Matt to do that after all their time together, that
was what had hurt.

“I
don’t think so,” she finally said.

“Oh,
come on. I see you have your purse. Let’s go out.”

“She’s
going out with me.” Alyssa turned to see Connor. She froze, wondering what he
thought. But as he walked closer, he put his hand out to Matt. “I’m Connor
Phillips, and I’ll be escorting this lovely lady out for the evening.”

“Are
you seeing him?” Matt asked, not shaking Connor’s hand.

Oh
God, what a question. What was she supposed to say?

“Yes,
she is,” Connor answered. “And we have reservations we don’t want to be late
for.” He took Alyssa’s hand. “Are you ready?”

She
nodded. “I’ll see you around, Matt.”

She
squeezed Connor’s hand and felt courage she never had before as he led her
toward his car and away from her past. She still couldn’t help but wonder
why
was Matt there?
But for now, she’d worry about that later.

Chapter Six

Connor
sat across from Alyssa at the steak house she had chosen. She was as beautiful
as ever. She wore her hair down as she usually did and the pink sweater was the
perfect shade to make her face glow. But tonight he could tell something was
off and he had a feeling it had to do with the man he’d found her talking to.
He thought about asking her about it but decided to leave it alone for now.

“Did
you ever finish the book?” she asked.

“I
tried. The storyline was good, but I couldn’t make it through the intimate
scenes without…” He stopped himself, realizing he was about to say something he
didn’t want to.

“What?”
She grinned.

Connor
wasn’t about to tell her that he thought about her. “You know.” He hoped she’d
take the hint.

Before
she had time to speak, the waitress arrived with their drinks and bread. He
sliced into the loaf and then buttered the bread before handing her a piece.
She took it from him, but he could see the hesitation on her face.

“Does
it bother you that I take care of your bread for you?”

“It’s
just weird. No one’s ever done it before.”

Connor
set his own bread down and wiped his hands on his napkin. “I grew up with my
dad always doing it for my mom. She did so much for us, that he did little
things to try and make things easier for her.”

“That’s
nice.”

“I
don’t do it for everyone.” He locked his gaze on hers and watched as her cheeks
turned a light shade of red. He wanted her to have no doubt that this was a
real date. “I have to ask, who was the guy from earlier?”

“An
ex,” she answered in a quiet tone.

Connor
reached out and gripped her hand, giving it a slight squeeze. “It’s nothing to
be embarrassed about. We all have exes.” He released her hand and took a bite
of bread. “What went wrong?”

“You
really want to know?”

“I
wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” He needed to know how much competition this
man might be.

“Things
were serious between us at one time. I actually thought we might get married.
But one evening I came by his place unexpectedly and on his front porch, found
him kissing someone else.”

He’d
cheated on her? “I’m so sorry. What a dirtbag.”

Alyssa
giggled. “It gets worse. If you remember me telling you about my sister who
doesn’t live in town. It was her.”

“What?
Your sister?”

“Yes,
Diane didn’t do it because she wanted him. She and I had a fight and she did it
to hurt me.”

He
couldn’t believe his ears. How could someone’s own family member do that? “Why
did he kiss her? He was with you.”

“At
first I wasn’t mad, just hurt. I knew she had set out to do it and he was her
victim. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized if it hadn’t been
her, it could’ve been someone else.” She paused to take a sip of her drink. “Believe
me, I know temptation happens. And sometimes you make a mistake. But the body
language between them was what I couldn’t get over. If you know you shouldn’t
be kissing someone, there is no reason to have them pressed against your front
door, hands all over them. I couldn’t move past that, so things ended.”

“The
nerve of him showing back up.” Connor shook his head.

“It
was shocking, I must admit.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Thanks for
acting like we were an item.”

Acting?
The word stung. He had to clear this up.

“Though,
he’s probably scratching his head, wondering how in the world I attracted
someone like you.” She laughed.

“What
do you mean?”

“We’re
nothing alike. I’m plain and you’re, well, you’re gorgeous.”

“You’re
beautiful, Alyssa.” In fact, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her
beauty wasn’t on the outside, but the inside as well.

 Her
cheeks turned red again. He hoped maybe he’d made a breakthrough with her as
she stared back at him. But they were interrupted by the waitress as she
brought them their meals.
Perfect timing
.

* * * *

Alyssa’s
heart raced. Dinner was almost over and she was doing her best to not jump out
of her seat with excitement. He kept touching her, smiling, complimenting. It
was so hard
not
to think he wasn’t interested in her.

Setting
her fork down, she decided she was stuffed. She’d overeaten even as she tried
to contain herself.

“That
was good,” she said.

“Very
much.”

The
waitress took their plates and set a black leather folder containing the bill
on the table. Alyssa reached out to take it, but Connor beat her to it.

“What
are you doing?” she protested.

“Getting
our dinner.” He winked.

“No,
no, no. I’m pretty sure this week is on me.”

He
leaned across the table and said in a low and sexy tone, “Call me
old-fashioned, but I believe a man should always pay for dinner.”

“Yes,
if it’s a date.”

“It
is.”

Alyssa
chewed on her bottom lip, not sure what to say. She watched as he placed his
credit card in the holder. The waitress was back shortly to whisk it away. They
didn’t speak during that time and she was glad. She wasn’t sure she could form
any words.

After
he signed the receipt, he stood and held his hand out to her. She took it and
he pulled her up. He didn’t release her, but instead, walked in front of her,
gently pulling her along with him. Outside, he led her to his car. She expected
him to open the door and looked forward to the few seconds alone, but instead,
he spun around, wrapped a hand around her waist, and captured her lips with
his.

It
started soft and sensual. Which was good. Alyssa wasn’t sure she was breathing
because she could not believe she was standing in a parking lot kissing Connor.
But then, his tongue slipped into her mouth and every coherent thought left her.
All she could do was enjoy. He was a pro at kissing. And she wished like hell
they could explore this a little further, but going to jail for indecent
exposure probably wasn’t the best way to end a date.

Date
.
This was a real date!

Connor
pulled away much too quickly, but held her close, his gaze locked on hers. “You
have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Alyssa
nodded.

Connor
grinned. “You really stroke my ego. You make me feel like I kissed you
speechless.”

You
have
.

He
unlocked her door and opened it. Now she had to get her legs to work. After she
was finally tucked away in his car, she let out a loud sigh and a slight giggle
before he joined her. He didn’t say anything, just pulled his car out of the
parking spot and headed back toward her place, which wasn’t far. But in the
time they drove, Alyssa was positive when they got reached her apartment, she
was inviting him in and do her best to seduce him. After all, she was wearing
very sexy panties underneath. Why not let him see them as well?

When
he parked, she was relieved to see Matt was gone. It would have been awkward if
he wasn’t.

“Do
you want to come up?” she asked.

Connor
smiled. “I’ll walk you up.”

He
climbed out and came around to help her out of the car. Her heart raced with
anticipation. As they climbed the stairs, she pulled her keys from her purse.
She started to unlock the door. She pushed the door open and turned toward him,
ready to pounce.

“I
had a nice time,” he said.

“Me
too. But it’s not over yet.” She winked at him.

Connor
leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. She noticed then he’d put some
distance between them. “I don’t want to rush things. I think it’s best if I
don’t come inside.”

She
wasn’t going to cry. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Okay.” She glanced
down at her feet then back up at him. “You sure?”

“No.”
He chuckled. “But I’m going to go anyway. Goodnight, Alyssa.”

She
nodded, not saying anything, and let her gaze follow him as he descended the
stairs. She sighed and went inside. Zoe greeted her as usual. She picked the
cat up, turned on a light, and plopped down on the couch. What had just
happened? Did he not mean to kiss her and lead her on? She wasn’t sure what to
think. Part of her wanted to cry, but the other half was giddy that she’d
kissed him.

At
this point, she knew they couldn’t go back to being friends. Friends didn’t
kiss the way she and Connor had.

Chapter Seven

“Dude,
what do you mean you don’t want to go out? We can’t go without you. We’re a
team,” Jay complained when Connor told him he wasn’t going out with the guys that
night.

“I’ve
got work and things to do.”

“Whatever.
Your loss then.” Stan leaned against the wall. “It’s been a hell of a week. I
can’t wait to pound out my frustration.”

Jay
laughed. “Same here. Maybe a redhead tonight.”

Connor
rolled his eyes, realizing he usually sounded the same way. “I don’t want to
hold you guys up.”

“I
still can’t believe you’re not coming. You didn’t come out with us last weekend
either. You had some lame excuse then as well.” Jay walked toward Connor’s
door. “You’re not seeing someone, are you?”