Exposing Alix (36 page)

“I have no idea why you’re so determined to sign that
contract, but I have a feeling I shouldn’t let you.”

“Look, I needed a dose of reality, and you gave it to me.
Now I’m free to go out and screw anyone I want, and I’ll know better than to
think there’s anything more to it. Does that make you happy?”

“No!” He hauled her against him. “You’ll touch another man
over my dead body.”

She froze, the first tiny fingers of hope shooting through
her. Her breasts flattened against his chest, nipples instantly tingling at the
feeling of his body next to hers, the cold metal of his belt buckle pressing
into her stomach. “That’s hardly fair. How am I going to satisfy my urges? I’m
just an animal, right?”

He lowered his head, staring into her eyes as he did.
“That was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever said. And you aren’t having sex
again with anyone but me.”

She closed her eyes. Her knees trembled. “You’re a cruel
man,” she whispered. “I was moving on. Getting my life back on track. Why did
you have to come?”

He tipped up her chin. “Alix, you said something special
happened that night. You said you fell in love with me, and we were joined
together. You said we were one. Do you still believe that?”

She shook her head. “That was nonsense. I didn’t know what
I was saying.”

He smiled and ran his thumb over her lips. “If I believed
that, I would have to give up my life right now. Because you were right. We
were one. It was magical. I’ve never felt that way before. About anyone.”

Her heart began to pound in earnest, the thumping so loud
she could barely hear or think. “But you said…you don’t really…”

He kissed her gently. “I love you, Daisy Zahn, and I love
you, Alix Z. I love all the people you are and everything you believe in. I
love that you came out of darkness and always believed in light. I love that
you refuse to give in to cynicism. I love your passion and your innocence.
Please tell me I didn’t crush your love that day. Please.”

Hardly daring to speak, she threw her arms around his neck
and buried her face in his chest. “Don’t lie to me,” she said, her voice lost
in the folds of his coat. “I can’t take any more lies.”

“Look at me, Alix.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest.

She swallowed hard. “I don’t think I can.”

He rested his cheek against the top of her head for a
moment, then backed away. Solemnly, he slid his arm under her knees and picked her
up.

“This is much easier in the movies,” he said. “Quick,
where’s the bedroom?”

She tucked her head into his chest and pointed behind him.

He spun around and found her bed, covers tangled at the
base. He set her down gently and began to remove her shoes.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“It worked for Jake,” he said. “Maybe it will work for
me.”

She watched him slide her shoes and socks from her feet.
She couldn’t think about what was happening. His words tangled in her mind even
as his fingers sent her pulse racing. He rubbed the arch of her foot and
caressed the delicate skin of her ankle before moving higher, to the waistband
of her pants.

“These jeans,” he said solemnly as he unzipped and eased
them down her legs, “are the ugliest things I have ever seen.”

Alix shivered as he kissed the back of her knee. “Isn’t
the woman supposed to be the one giving fashion lessons?”

“Not when the woman puts together outfits like this.”

She sighed happily and relaxed under his ministrations.
“You are a bit of a fashion plate, you know.”

He threw her pants down on the floor and nibbled on the
soft skin of her stomach. “I am an artist,” he proclaimed.

She laughed, the sound catching in her throat when he
looped his fingers under the edge of her panties and swept them to the ground.
“In more ways than one.”

He pulled her T-shirt over her head, trailing a long line
of kisses down her throat as he did. The thin cotton garment sailed across the
room. As usual when she was at the beach, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her
breasts spilled forward to be cupped in his palms. Her nipples ached for his
touch, and when he released her to lean back and remove his own clothes, she
moaned and arched toward him with need.

“So impatient,” he murmured, tracing the edge of her
areola with one finger. “I still can’t believe you did without for so long.”

“I was waiting for you,” she said.

A soft ocean breeze swirled around the room through an
open window, and the smell of salt and warm sand surrounded them. When his body
was exposed to her, she sat up and ran her fingers down his abdomen, following
with her mouth along the hard ridges of his muscles. His penis jutted toward
her, and she lowered her mouth to it, gently kissing the tip and licking the
bead of moisture that formed there.

He pushed her back against the pillows, taking her nipple
in his mouth and teasing it until her head thrashed from side to side.

A tiny frisson of nervousness tickled the edges of her
consciousness when he covered her with his body, the hard length of him
pressing at the juncture of her thighs. He seemed to know the moment she
tensed, and he stopped, his body hovering over hers.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded and opened her body to him. Eyes fixed on hers,
he entered, slowly filling her, leaving no room for doubt or question. When
they were fully joined, bodies so intimately meshed she didn’t know where he
stopped and she began, he took her face between his hands.

“Can you feel how much I love you?” he asked, his dark
brown gaze searching, demanding.

“I can,” she whispered, tears forming in the back of her
throat.

“And is it possible you love me too? After all I’ve put
you through?”

She nodded, choked with emotion, unable to speak the
words.

“Tell me, sweetheart,” he said, beginning to move inside
her.

She relaxed into him, meeting his thrusts with her hips in
a lazy rhythm. “Yes,” she breathed. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I love you!”

He smiled with satisfaction. “Will you marry me?”

A wave of joy caught the breath in her throat. She was
spiraling toward her peak, and he moved expertly over her, grinding their
bodies together until she shuddered with pleasure. “I will,” she whispered.

He moved faster, thrust deeper, and she urged him on with
her body and her hands, pressing against his buttocks as if she could bring him
closer to her core. Then she felt his shoulders tense under her fingers, and he
locked his arms around her.

“Come with me, darling,” he said, eyes boring into hers,
body moving ever faster.

“Yes!” she cried as he brought her to the edge of her peak
and then beyond. She gave him everything in that moment—her heart, her
life, her very soul. And when she looked into his eyes, she knew he had done
the same, and somewhere a camera snapped, and the picture was sealed forever in
her heart.

It was love, and it was beautiful.

The tiny Florence, Oregon
bookstore overflowed with people. The doors had been propped open to allow the
crowds to form on the sidewalk outside. A microphone had been set up in the
small café at the back of the store. A group of women sat in a semicircle
around it, many with pads and pens, ready to take notes.

Alix took her place at the front and cleared her throat.
It was hard to believe, after all this time, that the day had finally come.
“Thanks so much, everyone, for coming to celebrate the release of
The Look
of Love
. As many of you know, I used to live in Desmond, and I still spend
as much time as I can there when I’m not working in Los Angeles. I’ve lived a
lot of places, but Oregon will always be my home, and there was nowhere else I
could imagine celebrating this launch.”

The audience applauded, and a smile broke across Alix’s
face. She hadn’t expected how
fun
this would be.

“I’m really proud of
The Look of Love
,” she
continued, “and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Now, I’m happy to answer any questions you have, and then I’ll be signing
copies for purchase.”

“Let’s see it,” someone called from the back of the store.

There was another round of enthusiastic clapping. Alix
held up the enormous book. It was so heavy she could hold it over her head for only
a minute before setting it back down on the podium in front of her. Her name—Daisy
Alexandra Zahn—sprawled in large letters across the front.

“Is that you and Ryker on the cover?” a woman asked.

Alix grimaced. “Yes. But that wasn’t my idea, I promise.
Ryker insisted. I’m still a bit camera shy, but he loved the idea of having us
in the book. I used our photo shoot for the final chapter. Our pictures are a
bit more…er…discreet than some of the other chapters, but I was really pleased
with the way they turned out.”

A heavyset woman in the second row raised her hand. “How
did you get the idea for the book?”

“Now that’s an easy one. I always believed in true love,
and I wanted to find a way to show people—especially all those skeptics
out there—just how real it is. I must admit, I had some trouble finishing
the book, but once I knew who would be in the final chapter, things sort of
fell into place.” There were a few whistles and appreciative laughter. Alix
grinned.

“What are you working on now?”

“Ryker and I are busy with our next film. I can’t tell you
much about it yet, but you can expect plenty of action and plenty of passion.”

“Will there be a
Look of Love II
?”

“Not exactly that, but I’m already starting to take
pictures for my next collection of photos. I think this one will be about
family.”

She answered questions for half an hour and then signed
books until they sold out a short time later. Though small talk and socializing
didn’t come easy for Alix, being in a crowded room full of people who loved her
work was surprisingly exhilarating—and humbling. After the crowd filtered
out, Alix thanked the bookstore owner and drove back to her cottage on the
beach.

Rex greeted the car as she turned down the long driveway,
barking and jumping at her like a puppy. Then he bounded away to stand beside
the tall, lean figure sitting on the sagging front porch. Rex’s stub of a tail
knocked against the aging wood as he craned his head around for petting.

Alix slammed the door of her old pickup and pushed her
sunglasses up. She threw herself into the waiting arms of her husband, exulting
in the familiar thrill she still felt every time he caught her in a tight
embrace.

“How did it go?” he asked, pulling back just far enough to
study her face.

“Great,” she beamed. “We sold out. I guess we’ll have to
get more books next time.”

“I told you so.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Did they
ask any tough questions?”

“Nope. I mean, other than, ‘Why isn’t your husband here?’
I didn’t have a good answer for that one,” she said pertly.

He sobered. “I’m sorry. I just thought it was your day in
the sun. I didn’t want to muck it up by bringing out a bunch of Hollywood
types.”

Alix smiled and then wiggled out of his embrace. “I know.
I’m kidding. I appreciate the sentiment, but next time, you’re coming with me.
After all, you dragged me on stage when you won the Oscar. In that dress,
nonetheless.”

“That was different. You earned that. And you looked hot
in that dress.”

She snorted. “Let’s go for a walk.” She grabbed a tennis
ball from a stack by the porch and clapped her hands for Rex. He bounded to her
side and then looked back at Ryker, cocking his head as if to say,
well, are
you ready yet?

They started down the dune toward the hard-packed sand at
the water’s edge. Alix threw the ball, and Rex raced after it, then almost
immediately lost interest and bounded back toward them.

Ryker shook his head. “That dog is a lousy retriever. I
don’t know why you bother.”

“He enjoys chasing it.” Alix ran to get the ball and then
returned to Ryker’s side before throwing it back toward the dunes. Rex ran
after it for a few yards.

“We’ll pick it up on the way back,” Alix said.

They walked in comfortable silence. Ryker’s hand was warm
and strong around hers.

“I’m proud of you,” Ryker said unexpectedly.

“Proud of me? For what?”

“For getting out there. For talking about your book.”

She didn’t respond but squeezed his hand in thanks. “Did
Rosa call? She should have gotten her copy by now.”

Ryker chuckled. “I could hear her blush over the phone.
But she said it was beautiful—and I think she really meant it. Now we
just have to keep Hector and Eduardo from getting their hands on it.”

“Maybe it will be good for them. A look at true love never
hurt anyone.”

The sky at the edge of the horizon sparkled with the
slanted rays of early evening. Alix slid her sunglasses over her eyes.

“I’m never going to get you to throw those things away, am
I?” Ryker asked.

“Nope. Love me, love my glasses.”

He stopped and dragged her into his arms. “First the dog,
and now the glasses?”

“Yep.”

He sighed, eyes twinkling. “I suppose you’re worth it.”

“Suppose?” She frowned and stamped her foot on the sand.

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure?” she squealed.

“They are truly atrocious glasses,” he said thoughtfully.

“Hmph.” She stuck out her tongue at him.

Ryker laughed. “Daisy Alexandra Zahn, my wife, my heart,
my love, I adore you and everything about you. I love your dog, I love your
jeans, and yes, I even love your horrible sunglasses.”

Alix leaned forward and kissed him lightly, feeling safe,
secure, and utterly content in his arms. “You’re a good man, Ryker Valentine.”