Just One Touch: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 3) (6 page)

Beth finally joins us,
pulling her cooler behind her by the handle. Ethan helps her load it,
and everyone takes their seats as I untie the boat and pull away.

We spend the morning
cruising around the lake, showing Alex the local beaches.

Once lunch comes
around, we take the boat into the canyon and let it sit idle while we
eat the sandwiches my sister brought.

“So what brings you
to Wind Valley?” my sister asks the moment the engine is off.

“Just something new,”
Alex answers.

“Yeah, this must be
quite the change up. Are you working anywhere?”

“I applied at the
gym, near the east side of town as I heard someone call it.”

“Oh, Conner works out
there,” Ethan says.

“Can you make enough
money working there?” Kelsey shoots off another question, and I
have to grind my teeth together to keep myself from looking like the
rudest guy on earth by snapping at my sister. Mom and Dad never
taught us to be this nosy.

“Okay, that’s
enough of the twenty questions for Alex,” I interrupt, taking a
more mature route and reaching for a can of Pringles, offering them
to Alex. She mouths “thank you” and takes one. I know she wasn’t
thanking me for the chips.

“I’m sorry. I just
wanted to know more about the girl who’s dating my brother, is
all.”

“Oh, we’re not
dating,” Alex replies right away.

The word “yet” is
on the tip of my tongue, and the idea sinks my stomach. I’m
supposed to be trying with Heather, and yet one good interaction with
Alex has my mind in a jam.

“Oh, from what I saw
earlier, I just assumed,” Kelsey adds.

“Why couldn’t Sara
and Logan make it again?” Beth finally speaks up. She’s been
glued to her phone all afternoon. It usually bothers me when people
are more focused on their phone than spending time with their
friends, but right now, I’m thankful she wasn’t paying attention
and successfully changed the subject without it coming off as too
obvious.

“Sara had an
appointment today, and Logan, as usual, went with her.”

“I still can’t
believe both my best friends are having kids. Thank goodness I met
you when I did, Alex.”

Because I haven’t
been able to stop since she admitted why she was acting so
standoffish before today, I smile at Alex. I expect her to be happy
about Beth’s comment. Well, I guess I expected anything other than
watery eyes.

“Are you okay?” I
ask, getting up to kneel in front of her. I grab her hand as she
waves the other in front of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t
know what came over me.” She looks at Beth. “So your friend Sara,
the one you mentioned earlier who owns the bar, she’s having a
baby?”

“Yep.”

“Wow.” Alex sounds
a bit choked up. “That’s awesome.” As if it’s an
afterthought, she congratulates my sister, too. Kelsey thanks her but
is now watching Alex with an odd expression. The same odd one Ethan
had earlier. It’s a mixture of shock and happiness with a little
bit of unease that does nothing but leave me worried that my family
and friends are going to scare away the first girl I feel something
for other than just wanting to get her into bed.

Luckily for me, Alex
doesn’t notice, and we manage to go another hour on the boat
without my sister or Ethan asking her something personal. When she
gets in Beth’s car and they drive away, I feel like I’m in high
school all over again, counting down the hours till our first date.

Alexis

I’m starving, and
since I’ve been keeping busy with making new friends, I still have
no food in my apartment. I know that Conner invited me over for
dinner, but today was mentally exhausting. So much information was
loaded on me that I have to keep repeating it to make sure I have it
all straight. Conner is my neighbor, and somewhere between despising
him for forty-eight hours then spending the day on the water with
him, I’ve already developed a crush on him, despite the fact he
also happens to be best friends with my brother, Logan. Logan and
Sara own the bar that Conner and Beth work at. And I’m going to be
an aunt.

My eyes immediately
tear up. Logan went through all the same things I did and yet, here
he is, creating the family we never had. If he can overcome the way
we were raised, then I can too. I just don’t know how. Logan would
be the perfect person to ask, but now he’s moving on. What will
happen if I just come barging back into his life bringing up the past
that he’s possibly happily forgotten by now?

I slide on a pair of
slippers as I pass the last two boxes that I should be unpacking
instead of reading another book. I open the fridge and stare. How, of
all things, have I not made time to go to the store? As much as I’m
thrilled over the dinner invitation, especially knowing I’m not
coming between anyone, I’m almost too worn from the day to be good
company. I should tell him I can’t make it and go pick something up
from the store, but that smell of garlic bread starting to waft
across the hall has me craving spaghetti.

Conner’s door is
ajar. I hesitantly take a step toward it, rethinking skipping out on
dinner since he clearly cooked, when the very guy himself comes
through the building’s front door instead of his own. He’s caught
off guard to find me standing in my doorway.

“Hey,” he says with
such a lazy grin that I find myself smiling back too. “Were you
looking for me?” He’s wearing a simple gray pair of sweats and a
plain t-shirt. Sans shoes.

“Yes, I was actually
just going to step out for some groceries when it occurred to me that
I don’t know where the closest store is.”

His chuckle is deep as
he closes the door behind him. “Well, there is actually a place
within walking distance, but it’s getting late and they don’t
stay open past 10. If you leave now you’ll probably make it just
fine, but you’d miss the awesome dinner I made.”

“Oh.”

I feel his hot gaze
wash over me as he steps around me. “I made pasta. How about we eat
dinner tonight and then tomorrow we can go to the store?”

“We?”

“Yeah,” he answers,
walking into his apartment. He starts talking again, which means I
have to follow him inside. “I need to go to the store too. So if I
need to go and you need to go, we could go at the same time.” He
pauses to look over his shoulder as he pulls garlic bread out of the
oven. “Unless, of course, you don’t like to grocery shop with
other people.”

“I guess there’s
nothing wrong with that, but what makes you so sure you’ll want to
hang out with me again after tonight? I mean, I could be crazy and
you’re only minutes away from finding that out.”

Pulling two plates from
his cupboard, he flashes me a grin that warms my cheeks instantly.
“What type of crazy are you talking about?”

Although he makes me
nervous, it’s as though my mind and lips have their own plan.

“What kind of crazy
can you handle?”

Plate midair, he
freezes and stares at me. My body is drawn to him. I take a step and
so does he. Then my phone rings.

Brought out of my daze,
I pull my phone out of my pocket. It’s an unknown number. Normally
I wouldn’t answer it, but it could be the gym.

“Hello.” I step
into the hall as I see Conner dishing out our plates.

“Hi, is this Alexis?”

“This is,” I
answer, a little thrown because no one has called me by my full name
in more than two years.

“This is Maggie from
the gym. We would like to offer you the position, if you’re still
interested.”

“I am, yes. That
would fantastic.”

“Great, can you start
on Thursday? That’s two days from now.”

“Yes, I can.”

“We’ll see you at
three in the afternoon.”

“Perfect, thank you.”

I hang up and feel a
huge weight lift off my shoulders. I step back into Conner’s
apartment to find him sitting on the couch, both plates ready to go
with a glass of milk on the coffee table in front of his plate and
mine.

“My place is kind of
a mess. I hope this is okay.”

“It’s great.” I
say, taking the seat next to him.

We eat in silence,
probably because I am famished and because it is some damn good
pasta. Before I know it, I’m leaning back against his couch,
watching
The Hangover
on his television as though it were something I did each day. Conner
stands, reaching for my plate.

“Oh, I can get
these.” I push off the couch and try to take his plate. He objects
and grabs mine out of my hand.

“I don’t invite
beautiful women over just to watch them do the dishes. No way. If you
want to clean up, next time dinner is at your place.”

I think he just asked
me out again.

“Okay. I should get
going anyway.” I don’t want to intrude for too long.

“At least stay until
the movie is over.”

Again, I lean back and
nod.
Sure, why not?

“So I know my sister
asked you this, but what made you pick Wind Valley to move to?”

This is a question I
have a rehearsed answer for.

“I opened up a map,
picked a state then a town at random and here I am. I just wanted
something different.”

“I don’t think I
could ever do that. Not even before Jake. I’ve always liked knowing
where I’m going and why.”

“Jake is very sweet
and polite. From my brief meeting with him, I can see you’ve done a
great a job raising him.” I switch the subject like I always do
when the questions are about me.

Conner comes back to
the living room, a sad smile on his face.

“Thanks, that’s
really nice to hear. We had a bit of a rough start, but things are
going well now.”

Somewhere in that
sentence I pick up that there is bigger story than what he letting
on. I know exactly how he feels, and because I wouldn’t want him to
do it to me, I don’t pry.

“You should be proud”
is what I say instead.

“He’ll actually be
back next weekend, and a friend of mine is having a barbeque at his
new house. He isn’t moved in yet. I think that’s what the
barbeque is for, kind of have people over and stuff before everything
is moved in or maybe he’s luring us over there to help him move. My
sister and Beth will be there—you should come.”

“Oh, I’m not sure.”

“Come on, Logan and
Sara won’t mind.”

That settles it. I’m
definitely not going.

“I, uh, could be
working.”
Oh that’s good,
and could possibly be true.

“You got the job?”
Conner is clearly excited for me.

“Yeah, that was the
phone call I got earlier.”

“Well, congrats. We
should celebrate. I have some wine or beer in here somewhere.” He
stands and begins to search the fridge. “I keep everything for the
adults in back where Jake can’t reach it.”

He pokes his head
around the fridge and smiles. “So, what’ll it be, wine or beer?”

“Wine,” I answer,
knowing a drink isn’t the smartest idea right now, not when I’m
around Conner, but a glass of wine also sounds delicious. He ducks
his head again and I hear cupboards open and close as he pours me a
glass.

One glass of wine,
that’s it. No more. More than that and I’ll start talking, and I
can’t have that happen.

Conner

My hand shakes as I
pour her a glass of white wine. I’ve spent more time with her
today, and it’s been better than the last two days, so I should
feel more comfortable around her and I do, yet my nerves are all over
the place.

I let out a deep breath
before I step into the living room. One of Jake’s stuffed Ninja
Turtles is lying in the corner, and I laugh inside. Of everything I
did today, picking up my apartment should have been on the list.

“I see you like to
take pictures of Jake.” Alex points to a photo of us on the swing
set in the park across the street.

“Have to keep track
of the memories in more than just your head, you know. A picture can
spark a dozen emotions, and, well … my kid has the cutest smile.”

Alex laughs.

“He looks just like
you, you know.”

“I do.”

“Could you tell even
when he was a baby?”

I keep smiling, but
it’s hard to hold it strong. She’s going to find out eventually;
I may as well tell her now. It’s not like it’s some sort of
secret.

“Actually, I didn’t
know I had a son until Jake was two years old.”

Her lips part in shock
and her hand lifts to rest over her chest. Her eyes flash around the
room as if she’s looking for her words. Logan does this, too; it
must be more common than I thought.

“How?”

“His mother didn’t
tell me. We were a drunken one-night stand. My behavior from our
night together turned her away from contacting me.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, it was hard at
first, but we have a pretty stable relationship now, and I’d never
trade him for a thing. I just wish I could go back and get those
first two years back.”

“You would have kept
him?” Her voice isn’t asking in a way that she doubts me, but in
a way that she looks up to me. It hits somewhere inside my chest and
I find myself quickly taking a pull from my beer.

“I wouldn’t have
thought twice about it. I mean, he’s a baby, a kid, and he should
have had a father.”

Her eyes tear up then
she gulps down her entire glass.

“I guess you were
right,” she says once she’s finished.

“Right about what?”
I ask.

“Earlier you said
you’re not the type of guy I assumed you to be.”

“What kind of guy was
that again?”

“I feel horrible that
I thought you were trying to cheat on Jake’s mom with me. I
actually thought you were the kind of guy who would pick a random
chick over family.”

“As long as you don’t
keep secrets from me, I’m the nicest guy ever.” I chuckle,
because, come on, nothing could be worse than keeping the fact
someone fathered a child from someone. And also because right now it
does look like I’m picking Alex over Heather, but not for the
reason she thinks. Alex, however, doesn’t find my statement funny.