Taking Chances (21 page)

He opened his eyes again, looking at her with love and adoration. “Clair, I—” he panted, “I love…”

But she didn’t let him finish. She met his words with a kiss, devouring his unspoken love. He loved her; she could feel it with every shudder of his body as he found his release.

Alex relaxed his body against her, succumbing to the seduction of their kiss.  Pulling back slightly, he brushed away the stray strands of hair stuck to her forehead and the side of her face. Clair opened her eyes to his touch and he caressed her cheek with his thumb. His face was full of love, and this time she felt like she had to say it.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I know,” he replied, confident in her statement. His fingers brushed over her mouth, pulling her lips apart before he leaned in and kissed her softly.  His touch was tender but held the promise of more to come. She slid her hand up his neck and cupped the back of his head. Weaving her fingers through his damp hair, she teased his lips with her tongue, wanting to taste him again. Alex let his fingers glide down her neck, his palms finding her breast. His thumb stroked her nipple, re-igniting the fire. What Alex was able to do to her, the way he made her feel,
was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before and she knew she’d never be able to get enough of him. He was her drug, her high, and she was addicted without any desire to find a cure. Clair knew if they did nothing more than stay in his bed for the little time he was here, she’d be the happiest girl in the world.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Alex

Alex sat at a small square table alone at the River
’s Edge café as he waited for Stu, who was already fifteen minutes late for dinner. Stu would blame his tardiness on meetings, but Alex had a feeling something was bothering him. Maybe it was Roz. Unlike Alex, who was able to spend time with Clair the previous weekend, Stu stayed in Pittsburgh. He’d gone almost two weeks without seeing Roz and Alex didn’t know how he could take it. He knew he’d never be able to be away from Clair that long. Maybe the loneliness was kicking in and Stu just couldn’t handle being without Roz any longer. That, or he was getting worked up about proposing to Roz in two days. Alex could only guess how stressful proposing marriage could be.

“Welcome to River’s Edge, what can I get you tonight?”

He looked up at the boy behind the high-pitched voice to see him flash a silver smile, his teeth covered with braces. Poor kid, Alex thought as he smiled back. “I’m actually expecting someone. Can you just bring me water for now?”

“No problem,” the kid said before walking away.

Alex looked at his watch. Shit; Stu was twenty minutes late now. He sent him a text message to see what was taking so long. While he waited, he thought about the week. Surprisingly, it had passed quickly for him. The days he spent observing each of the five worksites with Tom as well as the nights spent with Stu, going over current and future contracts probably helped. He’d spent his late nights talking to Clair. She always sounded happy but he could hear the exhaustion in her voice. He knew Roz wasn’t over-working her, but rather Clair volunteering to work more hours in order to keep herself busy and make the week go by faster. He couldn’t fault her for it because he was basically doing the same thing. It worked too, because the week flew by and tomorrow they would be going home.

After his weekend with Clair, Alex couldn’t wait to hold her again. He would have never thought they would have spent all their time curled up in each other’s arms. When they weren’t talking about everything, they were making love, only sleeping when the exhaustion took over. It was perfect.

When the geeky kid came back, Alex’s cell phone vibrated across the table.

“Sir, would you like to go ahead and order something?”

“One second,” Alex said as he flipped open his phone and read Stu’s message to himself. Damn it. Apparently Stu didn’t feel like coming out for dinner and just wanted a shower. Well, whatever, he needed to eat anyway and since he was already here, he might as well. Alex closed his phone and glanced at the menu. “Let me just get tonight’s special and a Coors.”

“You got it. I’ll have it out in a few.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. He looked back down at his phone and shook his head. What was his deal? He wanted to call Clair, but knew she was working and wouldn’t get off for another hour. They’d talked every night since he left. But he hated that it was always so late. Both of them had a hard time staying awake and Clair would sometimes end up falling asleep while talking. He had been thinking about asking her to move in with him. But now after this week’s latest development in Pittsburgh, he didn’t know what he was going to do. When he came back from seeing Clair, Stu told him he’d made Mr. Jacobson an offer on the business. He said he was going to need someone to run operations in Pittsburgh and he wanted Alex to do it.

Alex was surprised at the opportunity Stu was giving him but couldn’t help thinking what that would mean for Clair and him. Being six hours away would be tough for a long distance relationship. Even though he knew she was in love with him, would she pick up everything and come with him? After all the moving around she had done in her past, was it even fair to ask her?
Especially when she was trying to rebuild her life. He wanted her with him but didn’t know if it was too soon to ask her to make that kind of commitment. It would have to be something they talked about and if she didn’t want to make the move, Alex would have to see if Stu would let someone else take over in Pittsburgh. He needed to talk to Stu and see what his options were before he worried Clair about it.

The vibration of his phone brought him out of his thoughts and he opened it to see a text from Clair.

Working till about 9, call me later? I can’t wait for you to come home tomorrow. Don’t you think you’ll need a nice long shower after your long drive? Yes, I think you do.

Alex’s smile widened when he read her message and he knew exactly what she was referring to. On the day he had to go back to Pittsburgh, he woke up to the smell of coffee in the air and the bed empty beside him. The sun had yet to rise and the room was still when he walked down the hall. He could see the light that spread across the floor from the cracked bathroom door and walked toward it. When he peeped in, he heard Clair
humming in the shower. A grin spread over his face and he leaned against the doorframe, watching her silhouette through the cloudy white shower curtain. Only the outline of her body was visible but he could remember perfectly how her curves felt under his palms from the night before. He didn’t need coffee to shock his body awake. Watching her had the same effect.

“You didn’t tell me you sang,” he said. She stopped humming and pulled the curtain open far enough that Alex could just see the top of her breast.

Clair smiled, “I don’t sing, and besides, shower singing is meant only for the person taking the shower.”

Alex walked into the bathroom and stood beside the tub. “So does that mean if I were to join you, you’d sing to me?”

“Maybe,” she grinned. Leaning toward him, she gripped his shoulder, pulling him closer. Water dripped down her arm onto his bare chest and she kissed him lightly. She stepped back, pulling the curtain to the side and arched her eyebrows.

Droplets dripped from the strands of her hair, falling on
her skin. The water covered her skin in a glistening blanket. She was breathtaking and he wondered how he’d gotten so lucky to have her in his life. Clair turned her back to him, the water spraying her and he stepped into the tub behind her. She ran her hands over her face, pushing her hair back. Alex moved her hair to the side and sucked the droplets of water from her earlobe before kissing her neck. His hands slid down the length of her arms, his hands gripping her waist.  Goose bumps spread along her skin when he slid his fingers up her stomach, cupping her breasts in each hand. Clair leaned back into him, angling her face toward his to meet his mouth. Touching her naked, wet skin was a whole new sensation and the water turned cold before he finished what she started.

“Sir?
Excuse me? Sir? Is everything okay? Did you need anything else?”

Alex looked up at the waiter, staring at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Oh sorry. What were you asking?”

The boy looked at the table in front of Alex and said,
“Your food, does everything look okay? Can I get you anything else?”

His food was laid out before him and Alex never saw or heard him place it there. “Oh—yeah, looks great. Can you can bring me another one of these?” he said, lifting up his empty glass. That would be his second beer and considering he rarely drank, it would have to be his last. But he needed something stronger than a Coke. After thinking about Clair, her slick body against him, and everything they did that morning, he had less room in his pants. He was going to have to put those thoughts out of his head for now. There was no use torturing
himself when she was over six hours away. Remembering he had to text her back, he picked up his phone and sent her a message that he would call her around ten to give her time to get home and settled. In less than twenty-four hours he’d be home.

When Alex arrived at the condo, it was quiet. He walked over and dropped his keys down on the kitchen table. His eyes caught the movement of the curtain in the living room before he felt the warm breeze that blew from the opened sliding glass
door. As he looked out onto the patio, he could see Stu sitting in the corner with his feet propped up on the balcony rail. He was holding a piece of paper to his mouth, running the edge of the page back and forth over his lip as he stared out at the setting sun. Alex walked up to the door and poked his head out, but Stu paid him no attention. He thought about joining him but walked away. Something told him he was having a private moment and he didn’t want to intrude.

“Hey Alex, what’s up? How was dinner?”

Alex turned and walked out onto the balcony and sat in the empty chair beside him. “Oh you know, there’s nothing like eating alone,” he said sarcastically.

“Yeah, sorry about that, I didn’t feel like eating once I got finished with my meeting today. I just couldn’t get motivated.” Stu looked at the paper he was holding before he flipped it over on his lap, concealing the front of it.

“What’s up with you this week? I know buying a business can be stressful, but that’s not it. I know you too well. You handle business like a pro, it’s something else.” Alex paused, waiting for him to confess what had him unnerved all week “Is it Roz? Are you getting cold feet about proposing on Saturday?”

Stu sat up, pulling his feet down from the railing. “What? No. Are you crazy? Meeting her changed my life and I’m not letting her get away from me. I love her too damn much to let that happen.”

Alex waved his hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. Chill out. Just asking. People get cold feet all the time. You never know.”

“Not me, this time it’s for good. I’ve been married and divorced before. This time, I know its right. I got lucky when I walked into that diner and met Roz.” Stu chuckled, “Whoever says persistence doesn’t pay off, hasn’t heard how much I bugged the crap out of her for a date. Look at us now.” He turned and gave Alex a cheery smile.

“Yeah, I remember her complaining about you,” he laughed, “But hey, you did something right. You two are perfect for each other and she’s going to be ecstatic when you propose. Just think of all the wedding plans you two get to make. Won’t it be fun picking out your china pattern?” He teased, trying to lift his spirits. Alex couldn’t imagine why anyone needed to buy china in the first place.

“Hey I have nothing against helping plan the wedding and thankfully, Roz doesn’t do china, so we’re good there.” Stu flipped over the paper in his lap and sighed. “I only wish I knew where my daughter was. Maybe I could get her to come to the wedding. I think she would really like Roz if she got to know her. But then again, she hates me, so I doubt I could convince her to come anyway.”

A daughter? Alex stared at him, shocked. It was the first he’d heard him speak of having any other family. He wanted to know more, but was afraid to pry, not sure how much Stu would divulge. He led a private life and rarely dished out dirt on his past; so if Stu was going to pour his heart out, Alex was going to listen.

“You have a daughter? I never knew that. What’s her name?” Alex asked.

“Marie. Today’s her birthday. I haven’t seen her since she was thirteen, the day I walked out on her and her mother, Michelle. It was my fault; I was young and stupid and tired of acting like an adult when I never got the chance to play the party scene. Instead of taking care of my family, I cheated on my wife.” Stu sighed and propped his feet back up on the railing.

Alex didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t believe Stu was telling him this about his life. “No one’s perfect. We all make mistakes, right? Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Stu looked over at him before he picked his glass up and took a gulp from it. Something told Alex it wasn’t just soda he was drinking.

“You’re right, nobody’s perfect and I’ve been paying for my mistake for the last nine years.” He laughed to himself, “Hell, it didn’t take but a couple months for me to realize what I had given up. When I tried to make amends and go back, they wouldn’t have me. Michelle told me: you made your choice now live with it, and I have, every day.”