Not Just Friends (Brookfield) (9 page)

Alyssa
reached up and yanked him by the shirt until he fell on top of her.

He
laughed. “We have all night.”

“Good,
that means we can do this several times. But at this moment, I need it
now.
”

“I
like this side of you.”

“Kiss
me and stop talking.”

Connor
obliged and Alyssa lost all thoughts. Within a matter of minutes, they both had
their clothes off, the sheets pulled back, and protection in hand. As Connor
nudged her legs open and prepared to enter Alyssa, he asked, “Are you sure?”

“Oh
yes. You have no idea how many times I’ve fantasized about this.”

Leaning
forward, Connor claimed her lips and thrust in.

* * * *

Alyssa
heard someone cough and the sound of a zipper. She rubbed her eyes before
opening them, only to see it was still dark. Rolling over, she felt the other
side of the bed, but no one was there.

“Connor,”
she called.

“I’m
here,” he said from across the room.

“What
are you doing?”

“I’ve
got to leave. I need to get home and shower before I go into the office.”

“Oh.”

Connor
came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “I tried not to wake you. I planned
on leaving you a note.”

“That’s
probably good. I might have thought the worst.”

He
laughed slightly. “Don’t think that way.”

She
would try not to. It was easy to think someone as attractive as Connor would
only use her for one night. After all, he’d never been a relationship type of
guy. Her gut flopped when that thought hit her. Sure, Connor claimed he really
liked her, but how did she know he didn’t do this with all women? She couldn’t
let herself get caught up in this. Otherwise she was going to end up with a
badly broken heart. She’d already experienced that once. She wasn’t looking to
do it again.

“I
hope you have a good day at work,” she said softly.

“I’d
much rather take the day off with you, but I have a few meetings today.”

“I
don’t want to hold you up.”

Connor
leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Can I call you today?”

“Uh,
yeah.”

“I’ll
talk to you soon.”

The
weight of his body leaving the bed caused a sadness to hit her. She’d had an incredible
evening with him. And now it had come to an end. Pulling the covers up above
her head, she rolled back over and nuzzled her face into the pillow he’d used.
The familiar scent of him met her senses and she fell asleep with a smile on
her face.

Chapter Eleven

Setting
the coffee down on Cody’s desk, Alyssa gazed at her brother. “You don’t think
we need to do anything?”

“Diane
created this problem and she can fix it.”

“Family
just doesn’t abandon one another,” she argued.

“I
don’t understand, Alyssa. Everything you two have been through and you want to
swoop in and help her? You two got in a stupid fight and she stole your
boyfriend.”

“But
there is an innocent baby involved.”

Cody
grunted. “We’ll do what we can, okay? But I’m not going out of my way for her.
Obviously, she chased him off, or he wouldn’t be here.”

Alyssa
nodded. Cody had a point. “Let’s just find Matt and see if we can get him to go
back.”

“You
know men don’t like people interfering in their relationships. Besides, you’re
the only one who’s seen him. We’ve been keeping an eye out for him.”

“Connor
saw him.”

Cody
shook his head. “That still going well?”

Alyssa
thought back to the night before when they’d been between her sheets exploring
one another. “Yup, for now.”

“I
don’t want any details.”

Alyssa
stood and grabbed her own coffee. “I’m not giving any. Anyway, perhaps we can
find Matt together and you and I can sit down and talk with him. In the
meantime, why don’t you call Diane?”

“I
feel like staying out of this drama.”

“Too
late. You were blessed with two sisters.”

“Blessed?”

Alyssa
laughed. “You bet. See ya, Cody. I’m heading to the grocery store. I’m out of
microwavable meals.”

A
few hours later, Alyssa finally pulled around the back of The Reading Corner.
She had decided to stop by the hair salon and add a little style to her hair.
She then got a manicure and finally found her way to the local grocery store.
Once she got her groceries put away, she would go down to the shop to work on
the truck order as well as start putting up the advertisements for the author
visit this coming weekend.

From
the backseat, she removed the two bags she had and then started her path toward
the stairs. As she climbed them, a feeling washed over her. She couldn’t
pinpoint what it was, but something was off.

She
glanced around before putting her key in the lock. Nothing appeared to be off.
She shrugged and went inside her apartment. As a precaution, she locked the
door. Setting the bags down on the counter, Alyssa walked around her apartment,
looking for anything that might explain the bad feeling she was having.
Nothing.

She
was being silly. That’s all there was to it. Alyssa began putting the food away
but couldn’t shake that something wasn’t right. If it wasn’t here at her home,
perhaps it was the bookstore.

Alyssa
unlocked the door that led to The Reading Corner and went down the steps to the
store. She entered the darkened shop and her gut feeling went on high alert.
She checked the front to see if she’d been robbed, but everything looked fine.

The
aisles were clear, but then she noticed it. In the back corner…the kid corner
where bean bags and comfy chairs were located, she saw a man. He was lying down
and she swore he was snoring. She didn’t want to get close enough to see who it
was. So instead, she tiptoed back up to her apartment and called Cody.

Ten
minutes later several cop cars arrived. She went down the steps of the fire
escape and met her brother outside.

“Is
the man still in there?” Cody asked.

“I
think so. I stayed in my apartment and kept the door dead bolted.”

“Smart.”
He looked back at another officer and then asked Alyssa, “Got the key?”

She
unlocked the door. The officers, guns in hand, entered her store. She stayed
outside and watched as they surrounded whoever the man was. Cody was the first
to put his gun in his holster and gestured at the other men to do the same.

Alyssa
stepped through the door to get a good look as Cody helped the man up.

Matt?

What
in the world was Matt doing sleeping in her store? Alyssa approached the officers.

“What’s
going on?” she demanded.

“Alyssa,
you need to step back. You’re interfering,” Cody warned.

“Interfering?
This is my store!”

“Please.”

Alyssa
crossed her arms and stepped back.

Cody
returned to questioning Matt. “You are aware this is breaking and entering,
correct?”

“I
didn’t think Alyssa would mind. I didn’t mean to scare her.” Matt looked at her
with a pleading expression.

“She
didn’t know you were here. Did you not think to tell her?”

“If
I asked, she would’ve said no. So I kinda went around that step.”

Alyssa
rolled her eyes.

Cody
stepped back and told one of the other officers to continue the questioning. He
came over to Alyssa. “Do you want to press charges?”

She
shrugged.

“It’s
up to you ultimately. He did break into your store. However, he didn’t steal
anything. I don’t think he had anywhere to stay. This is a family matter,
really.”

“Then
call Diane and tell her to come down here and bail him out of jail.”

Cody
groaned. “Do you really want to get him arrested? Just this morning you wanted
to help Diane. How is this going to do that?”

“I
don’t know.” Her arms fell to her sides. “Just get him out of here. No
charges.”

Cody
nodded and went back to Matt. Alyssa rubbed her arms and walked out front. She
needed some air. This whole situation was just weird. She didn’t quite
understand what was going on. Someone wasn’t telling the truth somewhere. All
she knew was that she needed answers in order to get back to her life.

Her
cell phone vibrated in her back pocket. She removed it and saw it was Connor.
“Hey.”

“How
is your day going?” he asked in a cheerful tone.

“Horrible.”

“Why?”

“You
really want to know?” Heck she didn’t want to know.

“Of
course.”

“I
was having a normal day, errands and such. But when I got home, something felt
off. I can’t explain it. After searching my apartment, I didn’t find anything.
So I decided to come down to the shop. I found a man sleeping in here. I called
the cops and it turns out it was Matt.”

“What?
How did he get in and why?”

“I
still don’t know this. Cody and I are going to sit down with him and see what’s
going on.”

“Need
me to come down there?”

She
grinned. “That’s very sweet of you, but I think we’ve got it under control.”

“I’m
glad to hear that you’re okay. It could’ve been much worse.”

“Let’s
not think about that.”

Cody
motioned her from the door.

“Cody
needs me. I’ve got to go.”

“I’ll
call you later.”

Alyssa
pressed the
end
button and joined her brother.

“I’m
taking Matt back to my place,” Cody told her.

“Can
you do that?”

“I
talked to the sheriff, Seth, and he’s fine with it. Less paperwork this way. Come
on by when you’re ready and we’ll get to the bottom of all of this.”

“I
might as well follow you.”

Cody
shook his head. “I want some time alone with him.”

Alyssa
nodded and understood. Cody was not only wanting to get to the bottom of it,
but he was the brother of the two women this man was messing with. Good luck to
Matt by the time Cody got done with him.

* * * *

Connor
sat at his desk doodling on a sheet of paper. He was doing his best to listen
to the client on the other end go on and on about his worries with the stock
market. Connor needed to reassure his client that things were fine on Wall Street
and not to move stock, but all he could think about was Alyssa and how she must
have felt when she found someone sleeping in The Reading Corner.

He
supposed he should be relieved it was only her ex, but that seemed to bother
him much more than if it was some bum. He was falling hard for Alyssa, and
fast. Sure, they’d been friends for a few years, so it wasn’t like they didn’t
know one another. Alyssa knew more about him than most of his guy friends. But
that didn’t put him at ease about the way he longed for her. To touch her.
Smell her. Taste her.

Connor
caught himself from groaning. He was positive his client wouldn’t appreciate
it.

“Listen,
your stocks are fine. I understand your concern and I suppose the president’s
speech didn’t help, but from what I can see, things are fine. Your stocks are
growing. You’re not losing.” Connor dropped the pencil.

“I
want to believe you,” his client said.

“Then
do it. Isn’t that what you pay me for? If you’re not making money, I’m not
either.”

“You’ve
got a point. Okay, okay, I’ll stop complaining.”

Finally.
But it had been one of those days. It seemed like whenever the president
addressed the country, people went frantic. You would think they’d feel
reassured. “If anything changes, I’ll call you immediately.”

“I
know you will, Mr. Phillips. Have a good day.”

Connor
put the phone back on the hook and leaned back in his chair, placing his hands
behind his head. He had one more meeting and then he could leave. Could he get
out of it? Doubtful. But he was sure Alyssa was fine. Her brother had been
there and he would keep her safe.

One
thing Connor did know was he hated the idea of Alyssa’s ex being back in town.
Even though he was sure Alyssa didn’t want Matt, jealousy still filled his
veins knowing that she had once been involved with him.

* * * *

Alyssa
pulled up to Cody’s house. Sitting in her car for a few minutes, she took long
breaths to compose herself. It had taken a bit longer than she expected for
Cody to contact her, but as soon as he did, she was out the door and headed to
his place. Hopefully they’d have their answers and could send Matt’s sorry butt
back to Diane, and they could live happily ever after or whatever.