Always Been Mine (18 page)

Valerie shook her head. She watched as they trotted off then turned her direction back to the fire. Romero took a seat on the ice chest next to Isabel.

The sun had gone down about twenty minutes earlier. He leaned over and kissed Isabel again, this time longer and deeper than the first time.

“I missed you last night.” He whispered staring deep into her eyes.

Valerie smiled almost jealous. She missed being kissed that way and actually enjoying it like Isabel seemed to be. Not like when Luke kissed her.

“Hey.” A hand on Valerie’s shoulder made her jump.

“I’m sorry, babe… I mean Val. I keep doing that to you.” Alex sat down next to her holding a bottle of water in his hand. “How long you been here?”

“Not long, half hour maybe.” She decided not to give into her insecurities and ruin the night. So, she smiled, forgetting about the girl with the big smile for the moment.

Alex looked up at the sky. “Beautiful night.”

“Yeah, it is.”

She gazed at the enormous fluorescent moon, against a nearly black sky. It was almost full. It brought back memories of lying on the beach with him holding her. When they used to just look out into the endless sky and talk freely about everything and anything. She loved their talks. The good times with him were always so wonderful. Too bad they never seemed to last very long.

Loud music and more voices and laughter brought her attention back to the bonfire. Sofia and Sarah were back. Sarah was snuggled next to Angel on the sand and Sofia stood near the fire. Eric was next to her holding her hand and sneaking a few kisses. Alex straightened out in his chair and frowned. It surprised her that even after all this time, Alex could still get uptight when he saw them getting too friendly.

Sal walked over to say hello to Valerie and hugged her a little tighter than usual. For some reason, Sal still made Valerie nervous. Maybe it was because he was hardly around and so much more serious than his younger brothers.

He was always incredibly nice to her. She just thought of him as so much older even though he was only two years her senior. Alex had always told her how smart Sal was. She was always afraid she would say something stupid and embarrass herself.

Isabel leaned over and asked if she was ready to make a run to the ladies room. She was. After checking with Sarah to see if she needed to go, Isabel and Valerie excused themselves.

Isabel frowned. “Not really, but obviously I’m not interested. When he asked for my number, I felt bad. I gave him the landline number, just so I wouldn’t have to totally reject him.”

Valerie tsked disapprovingly. “Isabel, you should’ve just told him the truth.”

“I know, I know, but I figured he’s going back to Germany tomorrow and won’t be back for months, so what did it matter? I didn’t want to chance him telling my brother-in-law and then having to explain to Pat.”

They reached the restrooms they waited in line. Isabel gave Valerie a look
.
“So, you telling him you’re done with Luke or not?”

Valerie bit the corner of her lip. “I don’t know… if it comes up maybe.”

She still wasn’t entirely sure, but after talking to her dad today she was leaning towards being honest. There was a time when she was younger that she engaged in head games like nobody’s business. Especially when Alex made her so confused. She wanted to confuse him right back. It was childish and sent mixed messages.

No more head games, she finally decided. If it came up, she’d just tell him the truth. On their way back, Valerie saw Alex eyeing them. When she reached her seat, he approached her. “They’re gonna start passing the bottle of the tequila around. I’m not really in a drinking mood tonight. You wanna go for a walk?”

Isabel sat down, and Romero was quick to sit down next to her. He was really throwing a wrench into the plans she made for all these events. She couldn’t use the, ‘I don’t want to leave Isabel alone,’ excuse she’d rehearsed so much. So, she nodded at Alex and grabbed her sweatshirt.

They walked toward the water, and Valerie’s heart sped up with every step. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and she pulled it out to check it. She had a weird text. The kind that was sent from a computer and you can’t tell who it’s from.

It’s just a matter of time, Darling
.

Valerie was surprised he could tell. It was dark already, but the moon was pretty bright. She tried to compose herself. This was really freaking her out now. Still she shook her head. “Nothing.”

Alex stood in front of her. “No, Val. It is something.” He looked down at her phone. “You’re trembling.” It was more of an accusation than a statement.

There was no hiding the concern in his eyes. “Last night you were almost in tears when I startled you. Is that guy still bothering you?”

She shrugged in an attempt to play it down. “It’s just a text.”

With a razor sharp stare he asked, “A text that drained the blood from your face and has you shaking?”

Alex wasn’t going to drop this. She’d have to get creative without lying. But he didn’t need to know
everything
. She hated getting tangled in lies. She’d never been good at it. Alex was still searching her eyes for answers.

“Yeah, well, it’s the first I’ve got on my phone, so it freaked me out a little.”

Alex’s stare seemed unyielding for a moment, and then he glanced back down at her phone. “What did it say?”

Even with all the fear and apprehension she felt about sharing this with Alex, she couldn’t help be distracted by his incredible arms and shoulders. Instead of telling him, she showed him the text.

*

Every muscle in Alex’s body tensed as he read the text in Valerie’s small trembling hand. “Is this the same guy from the club?”

She shrugged. “It’s not his number, but I’m sure it’s him.”

“A matter of time for what?” Alex remembered how adamant that guy had been about taking Valerie outside that night. What could he tell her outside that he couldn’t in the club? Or worse, what was he planning on doing to her?

He could tell Valerie was contemplating whether she was going to tell him or not, but he sure as shit wasn’t dropping this. This guy was threatening
Valerie
. He wanted to know everything.

“C’mere, sit down.” They sat on the sand. Her dainty leg brushed against him alerting all his senses. “Tell me, Val. What’s going on?”

She stared straight ahead into the ocean and took a deep breath. “It’s just like I told you. I got involved with this guy a while back, and he’s still not over it.”

Valerie wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all Alex. There was more to this. “What about the matter of time part? What’s that about?”

“A matter of time before he gets what he wants.”

“And that would be?”

Valerie put her hand on his leg, “Can we not talk about this now? It’s such a beautiful night. I don’t want to ruin it because of this jerk.”

Alex exhaled sharply. He held back all the questions he still had. But he didn’t hold back the urge to put his fingers through hers. He held her hand tight and she let him. His half-baked bonfire idea was turning out okay after all. He did have other things he wanted to talk to her about, but he would definitely get back to this later.

Alex let that simmer for a moment. There was a hint of apprehension in her eyes, like there was more. She turned away again. “I didn’t even start dating him until after the shower. I lied about seeing someone that day.”

He waited until her cautious eyes were on his again. “Why?”

“Because I was afraid of getting sucked back in, Alex. The pain of walking in on you and your tutor was still so raw. I didn’t even realize it until I saw you at the shower. It was safer to just lie and keep you away. I never want to feel that kind of pain again.”

“You won’t. I promise.” Alex could feel his heart speeding up. If he patched things up with her now, he’d make sure he never screwed up again. He was never going to be away from her now. Ever. “When did you break up with him?”

“It’s been almost two weeks. We tried to keep it discreet, and as far as I know, nobody in the office knew. That is until Bruce, the jerk from the club, started calling the office and telling anyone that answered.”

“That’s why you stopped seeing Luke?” This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Did she still have feelings for the Luke?

Valerie shook her head and put her hand on his thigh. “No, I was going to break it off anyway. It was going nowhere. I felt nothing for him. Only reason I even went out with him was… to try to get over you.”

Despite the elation he felt, he needed to ask something that might kill the evening. Something that had burned in him ever since Angel mentioned the lingerie conversation with Sarah. He
had
to know. “Did you two ever…?”

Her eyes searched his and then they opened wide. She immediately shook her head.

“No,” She said softly. “Never.”

The relief was immeasurable. He’d been tossing and turning for weeks about it. She was his and the thought of any other man with her, especially one she saw on a daily basis still, absolutely
killed
him.

He stared into her big eyes and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He leaned over and kissed her gently, and she let him, even parted her lips inviting his tongue in. He pushed her back softly until they were both lying down. It had been so long since she’d been underneath him. “Valerie,” he whispered in between kisses.

Anger and shame crept up Alex’s spine. She was close to tears because of him. He couldn’t even bear to think of how much he’d made her cry in the past. “Baby, you got it. I was going to wait until later, but I’ll put it out there now. I want you to move in with me.” Then he stunned himself by adding. “I love you, Val. Always have.”

Valerie stared at him her lips slightly parted but said nothing. Alex wasn’t done he was going for it all. With a sudden urge to make up for all the hurt he’d caused her or die trying, he declared, “Or marry me. Either way, I don’t want to be apart from you ever again.”

She finally blinked, but her stunned expression didn’t waiver. “Alex, you can’t be serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” He could hardly believe he’d just asked her to marry him, but he meant it. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his life forever so why not? “What do you say?”

Valerie seemed thrown. “Alex, you’re all I’ve thought about since the shower. I’ve dreamt of nothing more than being back with you. But moving in? Marriage? That’s a big leap. We’ve never even been able to work out a steady relationship. How do we know—”

“Trust me, sweetheart. I know.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I don’t want to go another day without you. I can’t, Val.”

Up until the moment the words had flown out of his mouth, Alex hadn’t even given marriage a thought. But he’d never been surer of anything in his life. He wanted Valerie to be his in every way. He understood now why Angel had been so anxious to make Sarah his wife. If that’s what made him feel whole, made him the happiest man alive, why not make it official?

Valerie stared at him and then down at her small hand that Alex still held firmly. She bit her lip. “Alex, can’t we just start off slow?” She paused when Alex pressed his lips together. “You have to understand. Just allowing myself to open up my heart to you again is terrifying enough.”

Alex hid the incredible disappointment. But he had to admit she had a point. He’d have to prove himself first, and he would to do whatever it took. At least she was willing to give him a chance. That was far more than he expected coming here tonight.