By My Side, page 13
“You don’t have to explain to me.”
“Yes, I do. Trey’s always there for others, but he doesn’t let people be there for him. The fact that you’re here means you’re special.”
Alicia smiled and accepted the nervous bride’s delusions. Special? Her? To Trey of all people? She would laugh if Lavinia didn’t look so earnest. “We’d better get back or people will really start worrying.”
Fear entered Lavinia’s gaze. “Do you think he’s still out there?”
Alicia didn’t misunderstand her, as powerful as her speech had been, Lavinia’s father still had a hold over her. “Yes. But the moment you return to the table you will have won. Don’t let him bully you anymore or be ashamed. Your words mattered. He’ll expect me to return to the table and tell everyone that you went back to your room to rest. But instead you’ll face him. You don’t even have to say a word.”
Lavinia took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“I’m right behind you.”
But when they returned to the table Lavinia’s father was gone. Lavinia looked relieved as did everyone around her.
Alicia took a seat beside Trey and whispered, “What happened?”
He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “Thanks.”
The touch of his lips made her skin tingle and for a moment she forgot she’d been in a stinky restroom with a sniffling stranger. She thought of Lavinia’s words and gratitude. “Why did you lie about me? I didn’t convince you of anything.”
“Yes, you did.”
“How?”
Trey shrugged then stood. “We should go.”
“You just like avoiding my questions.”
“No, I really need to sleep if I’m going to be there for Lavinia on her big day.”
“You didn’t need to bring me here,” Alicia said as she and Trey rode up the elevator. “You could have done the hero act on your own.”
“I’m no hero.”
“Giving her the courage to stand up to her father is pretty heroic to me, but you’re missing my point. You didn’t need a date. You could have come alone.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Oh, because you didn’t have Jacob you needed a new trusty sidekick?”
Trey fell silent and she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing again. Perhaps she shouldn’t have mentioned Jacob.
“No,” Trey said after a long pause. “I wanted a pretty woman by my side.”
“What?”
“Nobody expects me to come with a date. Especially not someone like you. I wanted to surprise them. I may be loyal and dependable but I’m more than people think.”
Alicia sniffed. “I think that’s pretty clear.”
Trey shook his head. “No, it’s not.”
“Um…after five minutes with you it’s easy to see that you might act like a robot but you aren’t one.” She smiled up at him. “The part about the robot is a joke, you’re supposed to laugh.”
The elevator doors opened and he stepped out, his jaw twitched. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”
Alicia hurried after him wondering why he’d started walking so fast. “Why not?”
He stopped at their suite door and unlocked it. “Just because,” he said, stepping inside. He turned on the lights. But while it illuminated the suite Alicia still felt hopelessly in the dark about him.
Alicia closed the door behind her and threw up her hands. “What have I done wrong now? I always seem to say the wrong thing to you.”
Trey walked over to the balcony window, becoming a shadow that seemed to blend in with the ink black sky beyond, and said in a quiet voice, “That’s not true.”
Alicia took a cautious step forward. “Then why are you angry at me?”
His voice remained soft. “I’m not angry.”
She licked her lip, hesitant. “Why shouldn’t I have said what I did?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Because you really make me want to do something I shouldn’t.”
“Like what?”
He turned to her, his gaze heated. “Kiss you.”
Chapter Thirty
Alicia would never remember who moved first—whether Trey closed the distance and pulled her into his arms, or whether she’d run towards him and cupped his face in her hands.
But what she would never forget was the sweet taste of his mouth, the feel of his lips on hers. That intoxicating scent of his encompassing her as his solid arms drew her body closer.
He kissed like a predator—there was an almost savage mastery to him. She felt the same sensation of drowning, of being pulled under to a realm he controlled and dominated.
She surrendered. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart raced. It was too much. It was just enough. It was everything she’d ever feared. It was everything she’d ever wanted: A sanctuary and retreat and also—he pulled out something within her. Something dormant and wild. Something dangerous.
She pushed him away.
Trey swallowed hard, stared at her. Only the sound of their breathing filled the room, and the distant laughter of people passing in the hallway. He didn’t move. She saw caution in his gaze.
“Tell me one thing,” he said. In the quiet of the room his voice sounded deeper.
“What?”
“Are you scared of me now?”
Alicia gripped her hands. She could lie and tell him yes. She could lock herself away in her room and wait until tomorrow. Wait until she could get better control of herself.
He lowered his gaze, taking her silence as concession. “I can get another room,” he said in a mild tone as if taking extra care not to frighten her further. “If you want to take an early flight back—”
She gasped in dismay but no words came out.
He lifted his gaze, his eyes searching her face. “You don’t want me to go?”
She shook her head.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Then please don’t look at me like that.”
The note of pain in his plea unlocked her voice. “I’m not afraid of you, I’m afraid of me.”
She took a tentative step towards him, anxiety knotting her stomach. “I have failed at everything. Every business I’ve tried, every relationship and I don’t want…” She took a deep breath. “You’re a strange man but I don’t care. Does that make any sense? You ruined your best friend’s wedding, shouldn’t that mean something to me? But it doesn’t. You’re successful and good looking and don’t even realize how appealing you are. You confuse me and—and I like it. I like how you challenge me. I like how you never make me feel dumb.
“I promised myself I would change. I’m supposed to be different now. More responsible. A better person—”
“I think you’re great just the way you are.”
“You would say that.” Alicia rested her hand on his chest, feeling the heat of his body underneath his shirt. “But I have to change.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I want to,” she said, gripping the front of his shirt in her fist, a fissure of desperation coursing through her. She glanced towards the window—the darkness peered back at her. If they turned off the lights they could probably see the stars, spot the moonlight on the still waters of the pool and, farther, see the glimmer of the ocean. She loosened her grip on his shirt, feeling a sense of calm and rested her head against his shoulder. “This is just a dream. It won’t last.”
Trey drew back and lifted her chin, forcing her to face him. “Then let’s share this dream together.” He kissed her once more slowly, seductively.
“I don’t want to ruin this,” she breathed against his lips, no longer feeling desperate or calm, only the insistent hunger of desire.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“If anything goes wrong, it’ll be me.” When she stared at him surprised Trey grinned. “You think you’re the only one with failed relationships in that past?”
She lifted an eyebrow in challenge. “Give me one of your worst.”
“Dumped by Post-It note.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Your ex-girlfriend wrote ‘Let’s break up?’ on a Post-It?”
Trey shook his head. “No, she wrote two letters.”
Alicia thought for a moment about the two letters someone could use then gasped. “Noooo.”
“Yes. FU. She left it on my fridge and on my computer.”
“You were dumped by two Post-Its?”
He nodded. “One was written in black. The other in red.”
“Why? Why would she do that?”
He bit his lip, looked embarrassed. “I still don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I came up with about fifteen different reasons, but could never narrow it down to one.” He sighed. “I even asked her and she told me that I should know and that’s why she never wanted to see me again. That was years ago and I never figured it out. I guess that makes me a pretty bad boyfriend.”
Alicia folded her arms. “How about this as a counter story? I fell for a guy who held a surprise party for me and when the cake arrived…” She let her words trail off so he could fill in the blank.
“It was a pie.”
“No.”
“There was no cake inside.”
“No.”
“It was a cake for a christening.”
Her hands fell to her hips. “No! You really are bad at guessing. The cake had another woman’s name on it.”
Trey looked at her then threw his head back and laughed.
“I was devastated.”
“What did you do?”
“Pretended it was my middle name.”
“And then you broke up with him.”
Alicia hesitated. “I should have, but then he told me he’d been distracted because he was worried about his sick grandmother—”
Trey laughed again this time slapping his thigh.
“And I later learned that his grandmother was never sick…it’s not that funny.”
Trey waved at her, trying to control his laughter. “No, it’s not you. I think I finally figured it out. The Post-It notes.”
“What was it?”
“I missed her recital because my grandmother was sick. She really was sick, I wasn’t lying. I knew the recital was important to her so I sent Jacob there instead.” He rubbed his chin, pensive. “I never thought that might have been a reason.”
“You trusted Jacob with your girlfriend?”
“I’d trust Jacob with my life.”
“And yet you betrayed him.”
Trey blinked, all amusement gone from his eyes. “I’ll make no apologies for what I’ve done or who I am. I did what I needed to do for a friend and that’s the end of it. Can you accept that?”
Alicia chewed her lip, trying to see Trey as he was. He wasn’t bathed under a kaleidoscope of colors or touched by the sun this time, or cloaked in shadow, he stood in front of her cast in the soft lamplight of the room, illuminating the temptation he was—the temptation he had always been—to her.
She now knew what he tasted like, felt like and she wanted more. She wanted more of his laughter, more of his smiles, more of him.
She could manage both worlds. Succumbing to this desire didn’t mean she had to give up the life she’d struggled to build over these past several months. Was it wrong to have a little pleasure when her days were set and monitored? Was it wrong to dance with the side of herself that liked a little chaos, a little reckless fun?
Trey took a step back. “We don’t have to go any further than this.”
“I know.” She took a step towards him. “I’m going to grab you now,” she said then did, surprising them both with the fierceness of her kiss.
Chapter Thirty-One
Trey groaned low in his throat and that emboldened her more. Potent pleasure followed as Alicia deepened their kiss. Swimming with a shark would be fun. She had no trouble accepting him, what mattered was would he accept her?
Her dress fell away, along with his shirt. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight,” she whispered before she took his hand and led him to the main bedroom and turned on the light.
She turned to him when she felt him shudder. “What’s wrong?”
His gaze swept over the room in horror. “Nothing.”
She looked at the clothes scattered on the bed. “Oh, I can clean it up.” She used her foot and lifted her suitcase lid then bent to scoop up the clothes.
“Wait.”
She turned to him in question.
“You’re not going to just dump them are you?”
“They’re in the way.” She winked at him. “Unless doing it on a pile of clothes is your thing.”
Trey quickly gathered the clothes. “Just give me a minute.”
Alicia watched in shock as he began to fold them. “You can’t be serious.”
“This won’t take long.”
“Wait…Did you feel that breeze? That was a perfect moment passing us by.”
“No it didn’t.”
Alicia raised her hand then slowly lowered it. “The feeling is falling away. Soon it will disappear.”
Trey laid a folded T-shirt on top of a skirt. “Not for me. I’m a patient man.”
Alicia sighed, rolled her eyes and mumbled, “But I’m not a patient woman.”
“Tonight you will be.” Trey placed the folded clothes in the suitcase, paired two wayward socks then held out his arms. “I’m all yours.”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
He pulled her down onto the bed. “And I can’t change it back?”
She made a face and shook her head. “The mood has passed.”
His lips trailed a slow, sensuous path down her neck. “That’s too bad,” he whispered his breath warm against her skin. He unhooked her bra. “I was looking forward to this.”
“You’ll have to wait for another time.”
His mouth covered one nipple, she felt the warm tip of his tongue. “How long will I have to wait?”
“A long time,” she sighed, sinking slowly into the gentle waves of pleasure as his tongue slid a wet, warm path down her stomach.
“Tomorrow maybe?”
She felt the rough texture of his cheek as he placed a kiss inside her thigh.
She closed her eyes. “Perhaps.”
He rolled down her panties. “Before or after the wedding?”
“After.”
Trey slid his fingers inside her then moved them with masterful ease. “You’ll make me wait all day?”
Her body arched, she bit back a moan, she swallowed, feeling her body ready to come. “I thought you were a patient man.”
“I am,” he said and she heard the satisfaction in his voice and opened her eyes. She faced the flashing grin of a shark and wasn’t afraid. Her body didn’t fear him and neither did her heart.
“Are you using your fingers because you forgot protection?”
He laughed. “No.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“I’m waiting for you to come.”
“I’m almost there, I’d like you to be there with me.”
Trey jumped out of the bed. “I won’t be a minute.”
Alicia slid under the covers. “The clock starts now.”
He managed to be back in seconds, his dark brown eyes heated with passion. He climbed into the bed then shuddered in disgust before he fell on his back. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as if in pain.
Alicia looked at him alarmed. “What’s the matter?”
“You eat in bed, don’t you?”
“Yeah, why?”
His arm fell to the bed, his eyes remained closed. “Because I feel cookie crumbs.”
“Oh, let me see,” Alicia said and he let her roll him onto his side. She licked a crumb off his back. “Um…Yes. I knew you’d be delicious but this is even better.” She licked another crumb.
“You’re planning to eat off me?” Trey said in disbelief.
“I’d hate to see good food go to waste.”
He groaned. “My woman, the Hoover vacuum.”
She pushed him onto his stomach and sucked up another crumb. “Don’t you like this?”
“No.”
Her tongue trailed a slow path down his spine. “Not even this?”
“No.”
“Really? Not even a little?”
“Not even infinitesimal.”
“You’re right. It’d be better with some whipped cream.” He sent her a look. “I’m only half joking.”
“Can I get up now?”
“This isn’t fun for you at all?”
He took a deep breath. “This is torture. Please, can I get up now?”
“Yes.” She sat up when he began to walk away. “Where are you going?”
“To take a quick shower—”
“Why would you need to take a shower?”
He glared at her, annoyance etched on his face. “Because I’m covered in cookie crumbs.”
“That’s an exaggeration.”
“I have cookie crumbs not only all over my back but on my chest too. They feel like sticky, needles and—” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. “And if you suggest licking me clean—”
“Actually, I wasn’t going to suggest that,” she said, brushing the remainder of the crumbs off the bed. “I was wondering if you wanted me to join you.”
Trey held his breath. “In the shower?”
Alicia shook the sheet. “Where else?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Promise to be thorough?”
She met his wary gaze and grinned. “When I’m done with you, you’ll shine.”
Bathing him wasn’t as much fun as eating off him, although the view was nice. She liked the shape of his thighs and bottom, the corded muscles in his back, but she didn’t get a chance to enjoy the sight in the steam filled room because Trey instructed her every movement. “And don’t forget my shoulders.”
“I’ve already done your shoulders twice.”
