NO SECRETS NO LIES (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES Book 3) (5 page)

Chapter 7

     Sharon looked from Amir to Alexis, her
expression screaming out her confusion, but neither of them were paying
attention to her.
     “Amir...? Lex…? You two know each other?” Sharon asked
tentatively. It was obvious something was going on between these two; the
tension was so thick she could saw it in half with a knife. Her eyes flew to
those of her husband's.

     
Do something,
she mouthed.
     Soul cleared his throat. “Uh…Amir. What’s goin’ on,
man?”
     Alexis shook her head as if to rouse herself from a
dream. This couldn’t be happening. “I…I have to go,” she whispered to no one in
particular before turning around and making a mad dash through the crowd to get
to the door.

      Seeing her leaving spurred Amir
into action. He pushed his glass into Soul’s hand and ran after her.
"Alexis wait!"
     Alexis hurried towards her car, pushing the button on
her key to unlock the door.
     “Alexis!”
     She broke out into a half-run half-walk when she heard
Amir's voice behind her.
 Please. Just let me get away from...HIM!
 

     She thankfully reached her car, but as
soon as she opened the door, a hand grabbed her arm. She spun around and jerked
away.
     “Don’t touch me!” she hissed. If she had been a cat,
the fur would've been standing up on her neck.
     Amir took a step back and held up both hands.
“Alright! Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
     “Yes, I heard you, and the fact that I didn’t stop was
a clue that I have no desire to talk to you.”
     Amir raised an eyebrow and a bewildered look settled
on his face. "Alexis, wait. Can you just give me five minutes? How have
you been? What are you doing in Atlanta?”
     Alexis glared at him and rolled her eyes, not
bothering to answer as she got in the car and locked the doors. Putting the car
in drive, she tore away from the curb.

     Amir quickly jumped back. “Hey!!”

     He watched the taillights of her car
speed out of sight. “What the fuck??” he whispered to himself, still looking in
the direction that Alexis’ car had disappeared in. He stood there deep in
thought until Soul walked over beside him.
     “A’ight…you gonna tell me what’s goin’ on? How do you
two know each other?”
     Amir shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, then
closed it again, not even knowing where to start.

     Soul frowned. It wasn’t like Amir to be
at a loss for words - especially over a woman. “Come on. Let’s take a walk.”
     Soul remained silent and just waited as Amir fell into
step with him. After about five minutes, Amir started telling Soul about what
happened ten years ago between him and Alexis. The two men had walked around
the block and were making their way back towards Soul’s house by the time he
finished.
     “So you mean to tell me, when you came out of the
bathroom, she was gone, and you haven’t seen her since?”
     “Yep. I tried to call her cell phone a couple of times
then finally threw on some clothes and went over to her hotel room but no one
was there. I went back to my room to see if she’d come back, but she hadn’t.”

     Soul lifted a brow in astonishment at the
last statement. Amir Montgomery? Running after a woman??

     Amir fell into a brief silence as if
reliving that time. “I tried to tell myself, screw it. Forget about her. I went
down and met up with the fellas, but kept finding myself looking around
everywhere on the off chance that I’d see her but…”
     “So you think she heard you and those knuckleheads
being assholes.”
     Amir shrugged. “She must have. That’s the only thing
that I can think of. We had such a good time with each other. I mean, that
night….damn. I'd never experienced anything like that. I must’ve gone back to
her hotel room about ten times before I caught up with her friends. And then
all they would tell me was that she'd left. They had no idea what happened, but
from their attitude it was clear they thought I was to blame.”
     “Well, you were,” Soul told him bluntly.
     "No shit. You said she and Sharon work together?
How long has she lived here?”
     “About three or four months. Apparently the company
jumped through hoops to woo her into taking the position.”
     Amir's expression grew reflective as they stood in
front of Soul’s house. “She was so damned hostile towards me just now. Yeah, I
know it was fucked up the way things turned out, but that was a decade ago. I
was young and said some things I shouldn’t have. Why would she still be holding
a grudge after all this time?”
     “Who knows? Just try to forget about it, man. We’ll
never understand women. Speaking of which, let’s go back inside before mine
kicks both our asses for duckin' out of her party for so long.”

     By the time Alexis pulled up to her house, she was
still in shock. Turning the ignition off, she leaned her forehead against the
steering wheel. Out of all the people to run into in a city the size of
Atlanta...

     Amir Montgomery was the reason why she'd
hesitated before accepting this job, but eventually the offer had been too good
to pass up. She'd convinced herself that they didn't even run in the same
circles so there was no chance of her bumping into him amongst the vast number
of people who lived here. What were the odds?
     Alexis exhaled and got out of the car, resolving to
put the entire episode out of her mind for now. She let herself in the house
and smiled at the young lady sitting in the living room watching a movie.
     “Hi Stacy. Did you have any problems?”
     “No, Ms. Duval, but I never do.”
     “Good.” Alexis paid her and walked her out, thanking
her once again. After Stacy pulled off, she closed the door and leaned back
against it before pushing away and going upstairs.

     Entering the first room to the left,
Alexis went over to the bed and carefully kneeled down beside it. After spring
break that day ten years ago, she went on to graduate from college six weeks
later. However, when Alexis walked across the stage to get her diploma, her
tears were not just for her accomplishments. Amir Montgomery should've been no
more than a blip on her life's screen, one of those 'aha' moments where she
chalked it up to a lesson learned. Instead, she’d left Atlanta with hurt
feelings; she’d also left with Amir’s child growing in her
stomach.    

    Alexis stared down at the little boy asleep in
the bed. She may have tried to forget Amir over the years, but how could she
ever really do that? Every time she looked at her son, she saw his father
staring back at her. She leaned over to kiss his soft cheek before pulling the
cover securely under his neck. Alexis was determined to continue living her
life the way she always had. She had done this on her own for over nine years -
she had no intention of changing things now.

     A week after Amir ran into Alexis at the party, he sat
in his office staring blindly out of the window. He hadn't been able to get her
out of his mind. Everywhere he looked, he saw her face.
     Sharon was no help. He couldn’t get a thing out of
her. Any other time, she would be ready to spoon feed the woman down his
throat. He’d tried to explain his side to her, tried excuse his actions as
being young and stupid, but she’d casually reminded him that he hadn’t changed
all that much when it came to his perception of women. Amir had opened his
mouth to deny the accusation, but he couldn’t. She was right. As much as he
hated to admit it, his life had turned into an older version of his college
days when it came to partying and women. Even when he was engaged to Aleesha,
he still did his thing on the side.
     Amir's mind went back to Alexis. He couldn't believe
he hadn't recognized her at first. She was even more beautiful now than she'd
been ten years ago...he wondered if she still tasted as sweet.

     He was submerged deep in his thoughts
when the intercom buzzed. Frowning, Amir almost pounded the button down. He had
asked his secretary not to disturb him.
     “Yes…” His voice was terse and borderline rude.
     “I’m sorry, Mr. Montgomery, but Ms. Rivers is here to
see you.”
     Amir cursed in irritation. What in the fuck was
Vanessa doing here?? “Nancy, can you tell her I’m late for a meeting. I don’t
have time to see her right now.”
     Nancy’s voice lowered. “Amir, I tried. She won't take
no for an answer. I know she just purchased a very expensive piece of property
from us and...well...I wasn’t sure how insistent you wanted me to be.”
     “Never mind, Nancy. I'll handle it.”
     Moments later, Vanessa floated in on sky high heels
looking as confident and self-assured as ever. When she saw Amir, a sexy smile
lit up her face. “Hi baby,” she purred. “That mean old secretary didn’t want to
let me in to see you. Apparently, she doesn’t know who I am.” She threw her
purse on top of Amir’s desk then came around and sat on his lap.

     Amir kept his arms to his side. “Vanessa,
she was following my instructions. I don’t have time for this today.”
     “Well, honey, I know you’re busy, but that doesn’t
mean you don’t have time for me, does it?”

     Before he could answer, Vanessa lowered
her mouth to his. Amir waited for the shock of excitement he usually felt right
about now, even prayed for it. But…nothing. Instead, Alexis’ face flashed
behind his closed lids. When Vanessa moaned, Amir suddenly remembered the soft
mewling of Alexis’s voice when he brought her to an orgasm.
     He pulled his mouth away from Vanessa’s and shook his
head like a wet dog trying to get dry.
Where
in the hell did that memory come from??
He hadn’t thought about her in a
fucking decade but after seeing her for a few minutes, he remembered little detail
of one night with her?
     Vanessa’s lips nibbled at his neck, while her hands
went to his belt. Amir knew what was coming next, and her lips were not the
ones he wanted to feel on him. Again, he pictured Alexis, soft, sweet, and
eager to please. He abruptly stood up and almost dumped Vanessa on the floor.
     “Amir!” She grabbed the edge of the desk just in time
to break her fall.
     “I’m sorry. But you gotta go.” When she just stood
there with her mouth hanging open and an expression of utter confusion on her
face, his voice deepened. “Now.”
     “Wha…? But..." Vanessa sputtered as her eyes
darted around the room as if something there would hip her to what was going
on. "I…I thought...”
     “Vanessa, I know what you thought, but we’ve come to
the end of our…relationship. I think it best we don’t see each other anymore.
I'm running late for a meeting so if you don't mind...”
     “I don’t understand,” Vanessa whined. Men didn’t dump
her. She dumped them. “Did I do something wrong?”
     Amir frowned. This is the part he hated. As with all
the other women, he’d been totally open with Vanessa from the beginning and
told her this was only a sexual thing. She was the one who tried to change the
rules by dropping by unexpectedly, trying to make dates like they were a
couple, becoming increasingly possessive...

     Amir shook his head. Nah. She had to go.
     When tears sprang to her eyes, Amir reached for her
purse and placed it in her hand while grasping her arm lightly and leading her
to the door. After giving her a peck on the cheek, he opened the door and
gently nudged her out. “Take care of yourself.”
     By the time he turned around and walked back to the
window to look outside, Vanessa was already forgotten. His thoughts were once
again consumed with Alexis. He wanted her. It wasn’t a question of whether or
not he'd have her again. It was a question of when.