Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) (21 page)

“He’s British,” Graham grumbled.

Sierra made a face. “Bad teeth and no fun.”

“His teeth are fine. I’ve met him.”

“So what? You have to at least try.”

“I guess. You’re probably right. I can talk to her when she gets back in town.”

Graham tried to rally the confidence that usually came so easy for him.

“Do it.” Sierra flung across the table and smacked Graham’s hand. “Promise.”

“Okay. Okay. When I thought about how this evening was going to end, I didn’t think it would be with you giving me a pep talk to go chase another woman. Now, bringing another woman to the party? Maybe.”

“Lothario. We’re not doing that anymore. Remember?” Sierra shook her finger in his face. “You’re going to have to get your mind right if you’re going to convince this woman that you’re serious. What’s her name?”

“Alexa.”

“Ooh. Sexy.”

“Yes. She is.”

Sierra clapped her hands together. “I love it. We’re going to get you into a relationship. An actual relationship.”

“We’ll see.”

M
uch to his delight
, they moved Alexa’s father home on Tuesday morning. He settled in on the couch, and at noon, he put in his request for a hearty barbecue lunch.

Alexa wondered aloud whether that was the most healing food and was quickly shouted down.

“If your daddy wants barbecue, then I’m getting him barbecue. A man should have what he wants in his own house.”

Carlisle’s smug smile told Alexa not to argue.

After lunch, Alexa helped her father to bed for a nap and returned to the center of the house: the kitchen table.

Alexa’s phone clattered on the table again. “People are calling and calling.”

“Go ahead and take it. Maybe it’s your Adam.”

“He’s not mine, Mom.”

“Well, why not? If you like him.” Her mother flicked her hand at her. “I don’t understand you girls these days.”

“Mom, there’s nothing to understand…I…I’m going to take this upstairs.” She excused herself and climbed the stairs to her old room.

“You sound quite tired,” Adam remarked after their greetings.

“I am. It hit me all of a sudden.”

“I’m flying back tomorrow morning, scheduled to change planes in Dallas, and I thought I might fly up to Oklahoma instead of back to Austin.”

Alexa’s temples squeezed in pain. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t, but I thought I could help out, and I’d love to meet your parents.”

Stress. That’s what Adam’s suggestion sounded like. She couldn’t deal with introducing him to her parents right now, and she felt sick having to tell him no.

“Now isn’t a good time.”

“I’d like to help.”

“I know, but we’re still getting my dad settled and back into a routine. It’s not the best time for me to introduce you. He’s not at his best.”

“I imagine not. I understand that. I don’t have any expectations. I want to be there for you and your family.”

“You don’t know how my mother is. If she has guests, she’ll feel the need to be running around and making you comfortable—cooking and entertaining. She won’t be able to help herself. My dad’s the same way. It’s too much right now. In a few weeks, we can come back up.”

“I’m sorry if I’m pushing. I’m still upset that I wasn’t there when you got the news. I hate that you had to deal with it by yourself.”

“I dealt with it. And,” Alexa heaved a sigh and continued, “I wasn’t totally by myself. Right after I talked to my mother, Graham called about the benefit, and we talked. The next day, I got to Dallas, and Taryn was with me.”

“Graham?”

“I couldn’t get ahold of anyone else then, and he helped me out.”

“How’s that?”

“He came over and kept me company while I packed.”

“And you’re just now mentioning this.”

Alexa could hear Adam’s snarl.

“I didn’t think to mention it before, but you said that I was alone. I wanted to be honest.”

“Unbelievable.”

“I didn’t ask him to come over. He heard how upset I was. I could barely speak, so he just came over. He was being a good guy.”

“He is
not
a good guy. He runs through women like a pint through a drunk.” Adam’s furious huffing kept the line from going silent. “Why would you encourage him when you know how he feels about you?”

“Graham has a thousand girlfriends and isn’t sitting around moaning over me.”

“I don’t want you seeing him anymore.”

“Impossible. We’re doing this event for Poppy. Period.” His imperious demand sparked Alexa’s stubbornness.

“Working on a charity event doesn’t need to involve seeing him socially or having him at your house.”

“You’re overreacting.”

“Am I? You’re my girlfriend, and you continue having a regular relationship with your ex-boyfriend—”

“We went out, but Graham was never my boyfriend.”

“You forget that I saw you together. The two of you were more than casually dating. And now, I hear that while I’m out of town, he’s at your house consoling you.”

Hearing the facts laid out from Adam’s point of view softened her resistance. She got jealous over Trista, and she and Graham weren’t in an exclusive relationship.

Why was she clinging to her “friendship” with Graham? The truth—and her own hypocrisy—sank in.

“I get it. I should think about how it looks to have him at my house. I wasn’t considering your feelings.”

“Thank you. And the benefit planning? I don’t like the time you spend alone with him. It’s not appropriate.”

“I made a commitment to my friends, and I won’t back out. You’ll just have to trust that I’ll keep my contact with Graham…on topic. Okay? Let’s change the subject.”

“Gladly. How is your father?”

“Better. Tired. He’s glad to be home. It’ll do him good.”

“How much longer are you going to be up there?”

“Probably through the weekend, and then it depends on my mom. She says she has everything handled, but I don’t want her to get overwhelmed. She’s not as young as she used to be.”

“Then, we’ll head back up in a few weeks.”

Alexa scratched her cheek. Her father’s opinions could be brutal, and she still felt too unsure of her own feelings to invite his unflinching scrutiny of her relationship with Adam.

She never wanted to introduce guys to her father. Meeting the parents was so…serious. Of course, that’s exactly why Adam wanted to meet them. He wanted to know that she meant it when she said she was giving them a chance. She wanted to leave behind the comfort of keeping a man at arm’s length.

“That sounds like a plan.”

“Perfect.” Adam’s pleasant charm returned. “I need to ring off. Get some rest.”

“I will.”

“Goodbye, sweetheart.”

Alexa found her smile. “Bye, Adam.”

A
fter a few more days in
Oklahoma, Brenda began to manage more around Alexa’s help than with it. Alexa headed back to Austin relieved to be extraneous.

She made herself useful back home by agreeing to keep Poppy for a night so Toby and Sarah could celebrate their anniversary with a romantic dinner.

At six thirty, she closed up her business office and walked next door to the sandwich shop. Bells on the door jangled as she swung the door open. Toby appeared from the back, trailed by the man she’d been ducking since her phone conversation with Adam.

In the last day, they had yet another contentious conversation over Adam’s joining her while she babysat. She mentioned that Adam might come over, and Sarah had asked that he not be there.

“It’s nothing personal, but we don’t know him. I’m sure he’s fine, but we don’t allow Poppy to spend the night with people we don’t know.”

Alexa understood, and she told Adam that he couldn’t come over. The pout on his face somehow made its way through the phone line. “I wish you could include me more in your circle of friends, then maybe Sarah wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I hate that.”

“We’ll see them at the benefit. And maybe I’ll invite everyone over for dinner—Toby and Sarah and Melissa and Kyle.”

“I’d love that. A couples’ dinner.” Adam’s voice lifted.

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and you and I can have dinner.”

“Sounds good.”

Alexa exited the call with Adam’s mood high before she could say anything to sour it.

“Alexa, hi!” Toby bounded over and gave her a warm hug. “How’s your dad?”

She slapped Toby on the arm as he released her. “Better. Recovering. Getting back to the usual, which is being coddled by my mom.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” The chipper rumble of Graham’s voice whipped Alexa’s head around.

He was dressed in his usual sharp, pressed pants and starched shirt, but managed to look warm and casual. The look in his eyes put a flutter in her throat.

“Thanks.”

The patter of feet from the behind the counter gave Alexa a welcome distraction from Graham’s burnishing gaze. Sarah followed.

“Hi, Miss Alexa.”

“Hi, Poppy. You ready to spend the night?”

“Yes. I brought my own pillow.” She held up the flattened, hot pink rectangle, then hugged it back to her chest.

Toby picked at the corner of Poppy’s treasure. “She loves that old pillow. I have to block out thinking about what’s living in it after all these years.”

“It’s my favorite.” Poppy flashed a gapped smile and closed her eyes as Alexa tousled her hair.

“You lost another tooth. Was the Tooth Fairy good to you?”

She played along with a grin. “Five dollars again. My friend Riley gets ten. Dad said that’s because her parents are divorced, and her dad feels guilty.”

Poppy giggled as Toby turned crimson. “I didn’t know you heard that.”

“Ahh, the bribery of the weekend parent. I missed out on that as kid,” Graham lamented.

“I think it’s worth it to have parents that stay together.” Sarah grinned at Toby, who nodded and picked up Poppy’s overnight bag.

“Speaking of parents staying together, we better get going. Your mother and I need to close up here and get home to change for our date.”

Alexa pointed her key fob through the storefront window to pop her trunk for Toby, who took Poppy’s deflated pillow with him as well.

Sarah checked the register. “What do you have planned for tonight?”

“I thought we’d grab dinner. You pick, Poppy. Burgers, pizza, whatever you want. Then, I have some movies back at the house and a brand new deck of Uno cards.”

“Pizza! Fanelli’s!” the little girl declared.

Graham lifted his hand to high five her. “Fanelli’s is an excellent choice. They have the best pizza.”

“You should come, too, Mister Graham.”

Graham gave Alexa the side eye and didn’t answer. Not sure what to say, Alexa froze.

“He may have plans, Poppy,” Sarah interjected.

“Actually, I don’t.”

He turned full face toward Alexa with a lopsided grin and roguish spark in his eye.

“I was hoping for a girl’s night.” Alexa pretended to pout, hoping it would get her out of her dilemma. Toby came back in, and after surveying the scene, fled to his office to finish up “paperwork.”

Poppy pressed her case. “But he doesn’t have anything to do. It’ll be fun.”

Alexa sent Graham her most pathetic pleading look, and he ignored her. “It will be. Are we leaving straight from here?”

“That was the plan.”

“Why don’t we go to the bathroom one more time before you go, Poppy?” Sarah beckoned her daughter.

“But I don’t have to go.”

“Better be sure. Come on.” Sarah eyed Alexa as she led her daughter to the bathroom.

“Hey, Graham—”

“You don’t want me at dinner? I thought we could talk—about your dad, how things are going...”

Alexa shifted her weight from side to side, gripping her handbag. The ingratitude of tossing his support out the window shamed her, but so did the underhandedness of having dinner with him after the promises she made Adam. The latter forced her hand.

“I can’t have dinner with you.”

“Why not?”

She sucked in a spine-steeling gulp of air. “I’m not comfortable with how…we…with our socializing like we have. With Adam, I just…it doesn’t feel right.”

“You and I are friends. That’s it. I thought that’s all this was.”

“It is,” Alexa replied, brightly.

“What’s the problem?”

Alexa pressed her lips together, slowly exhaling. She didn’t get a chance to respond to his question. Graham tipped his head to the side, eyes wide. “If your boyfriend doesn’t trust you, I’m not the problem.”

“It’s not a matter of trust. Would you be happy if you were dating a woman and she kept having dinner with an ex-boyfriend?”

“I was never your boyfriend. You’ve reminded me of that repeatedly.”

Alexa jerked her head back in alarm. “I think the agreement that we weren’t serious was pretty mutual.”

“Yes. It was. So, what’s the problem now? You’ve gone through a serious situation with your parents, and I want to see how you’re doing. What’s the big deal unless you think there’s something between us that there shouldn’t be?”

“No. No. I just—Adam is sensitive about it. He wanted to hang out tonight, and I already told him no because I’m babysitting. To then spend the evening at dinner with you wouldn’t be right. I’m sorry. Can’t you tell Poppy that something came up?”

Graham’s jaw flexed. “Okay.”

They stared in heavy silence, waiting for Poppy and Sarah to come back. After a minute, Alexa called out. “Are you done, Poppy?”

Sarah came through the double doors with a befuddled and perturbed Poppy in tow. “I didn’t have to go.”

“That’s okay. We should get going.”

“You’re coming with us, Graham?”

“I’m sorry, Poppy. I remembered something that I need to do. I can’t make it, but some other time. I promise.” He held up two fingers in a Boy Scout promise. “I’ll see you all later. Or most of you.”

The look he threw Alexa had the odd impact of raising the hair on her arms while heating her from head to toe. Sarah switched her eyes back and forth between them.

“See you around, Graham.” She turned her attention to her daughter as he stormed out. “And I’ll see you in morning.”

Alexa lead Poppy toward the door. “I’ll bring her by the house around nine.”

“Perfect.”

After loading Poppy into the back seat of the car, Alexa slid behind the wheel. Graham sat in the car next to them on his phone with someone—maybe calling one of his many side pieces.

For once, Alexa hoped that’s what he was up to. Otherwise, the guilt of excising him from her life after the concern he’d shown for her carved a hole in her heart.

* * *

D
espite Graham’s snide remark
, Alexa did see him—just two days later. They met with a donor to nail down a sponsorship for the silent charity auction and a few items for bid.

“An evening cruise on Lake Travis and two golf packages at the resort. Those should fetch good money.” Alexa beamed as they walked out of the man’s office building. “Thanks for coming with me. It helps to tag team these things.”

“Not a problem.”

Alexa pretended not to hear the bite in his words. While he’d been nothing but cordial and even congenial during their meeting, up to the last minute before and, now, immediately after, Graham remained taciturn.

“We need this push before Saturday. I can’t believe we only have a few days left. I haven’t thanked you for taking care of all the details while I’ve been out of town.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I feel like I do.”

“You’re welcome,” he growled.

Alexa’s stopped him with a hand on his elbow. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings the other day. With Poppy and dinner.”

“So, you admit that I have feelings? That’s progress.”

“Of course, I do. You do.” She touched his arm again, and he yanked it away and stepped in front of her.

Fury emanated from him in waves. “We never actually have
the
conversation. Do we?”

“What?”

“You and I are not just friends. We have never been just friends. I don’t know what we were or are, but it’s always been more than that. We pretended like that wasn’t the case because we’re both cowards. Now, we’re pretending that’s not the case because you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing with that British fuck. All the while, I can’t shake the feeling like that’s all a mistake.”

A tsunami of emotion poured over her. His. Hers. It crashed into her and threatened to pull her under.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Nothing.”

He took her cheeks in his hands and lifted her chin with his thumbs. His kiss came at her so quickly, she didn’t have time to protest—even if she would have. In her most honest moments alone, she’d never admit that she wouldn’t have.

The shock of his lips on hers was in the tenderness. The urgent softness of his tongue playing with hers slowly unwound her resolve. Why? Why fight this? His hands held her at the most receptive angle for his attentions.

Her arms slackened at her side, sending her purse to the sidewalk with a thud. His mouth roamed, slowly, deliberately hunting her down until she was cornered by the undeniable fact that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

She shouldn’t. Right? He did this to all of his women. All the women. Their faces hovered in the margins of her psyche. Did they all feel like this when he kissed them?

Impossible.

He kissed her like there was no other woman in the world. No other people. If they were the last people on Earth, their kiss couldn’t have been more intimate.

His hold on her jawline fell away and only their lips touched. He suckled her bottom lip once, then twice. Then, nothing. A slight breeze lifted the blanket of warm evening air. The skin abandoned by his hands and mouth chilled faster with the loss of contact.

“Open your eyes.”

She hadn’t realized they weren’t open, and opening them didn’t chase the blindness of desire. Maybe it was the mixed-up light of twilight, but she still couldn’t see. Alexa blinked, and Graham spoke.

“Tell me you don’t know that you and I have something you couldn’t possibly have with the Englishman.”

“Or that you don’t have with anyone in your stable of women?”

“I don’t have a stable of women. I dated. Sure. Maybe I dated a lot, but when I was with you, I was with you. The thing with Trista was a moment. A dumb moment that I would have forgotten immediately if it hadn’t lost me you. Adam can’t give you what I can.”

“What are you offering me?”

“The chance at something spectacular.”

“With you?”

“Why not with me?”

“I don’t know anymore.”

Graham claimed her mouth once more.

Her body clenched as desire coiled in her belly, and he knew.

“Exactly.”

Alexa blinked again and looked around her. The plain of the cement parking lot with its herds of cars came into focus.

“I can’t keep doing this, though, Graham.”

“Doing what?”

“Jumping out of a relationship every time it starts to get serious. I never give anything a full chance. It starts to get real, and I bail.”

“That’s what you did with us. Now, you can fix it. Come back to me.”

“Is it? Or is that what I’m doing now? A few kisses, and I’m going to toss over a guy who genuinely cares about me? He’s never shown anything but total commitment to me. It’s not like I don’t have feelings for him. I do.”

Graham’s eyes chilled to hardened amber. “Feelings like you do for me.”

She couldn’t answer that while she could still taste him. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “I have to go.”

“Stay.” He took her by the wrist, forcing her to raise her head. “Let’s go somewhere and talk.”

She pulled away, breathless. “I don’t know if I’m stepping off a ledge and flying or falling.” Alexa pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, then dropped her hands to her side. “I need space to think. I can’t do that with you looking at me like you want to swallow me whole. It’s too much.”