“Mr. Nelson,” I reply in kind.
He takes my bag and leads me to where a limo is parked. “Limo,” I say in approval. “Nice.”
We say very little on the trip over. I must be emitting back-off vibes. They’re the only kind Ari ever pays any attention to. And I’m pretty sure that, today, I’ve got them in spades.
By the time we arrive at the store, I’m ready to get this over with and get back home. There’s already a line out the door, so I plaster on a smile and head around the building to the rear entrance.
Inside, the women in line are chatting quietly as the shop owner, Patricia, finishes stacking copies of my books on a table set up at the back of the store near the cash register.
I approach her and she turns toward me, smiling. “I just can’t thank you enough for having your signing here. It means the world to little bookstores like mine.”
The trip starts to feel more worth it as Patricia’s sincerity penetrates the cloud of my despair. My smile comes a little more easily this time. “It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me.”
She leaves to get me a cup of fresh-brewed coffee as I get situated. I sit down behind the table and scan the room. I’m dumbstruck when my eyes collide with intense pale green ones. Then my day takes a turn for the…confusing.
Alec isn’t standing in line. He’s leaning against the wall near the door with his arms crossed over his chest, silently observing me. Surprisingly, I recover quickly, but I’m glad when Patricia returns, providing me with some welcome distraction.
Ari gets the signing started and I do my best to concentrate on my readers rather than the man watching me from across the room. It’s not easy, though, and it makes for the longest two hours of my life.
When I’m signing the last book of the day, my eyes stray to Alec. I’ve glanced surreptitiously at him two dozen times at least and not once have I seen him move, speak, gesture or even flinch like he might be considering approaching me. He’s just watching me, always watching me. Silently. Broodingly.
I’m a bundle of nerves by the time I’ve thanked everyone, said my goodbyes and am letting Ari shuffle me out the door. Without looking back, I hop into the limo. But as I sit inside, waiting on Ari who got caught by a fan, I can’t stop myself from looking back at the store for signs of Alec.
I don’t see him, which further confuses me and stimulates the whirlwind of questions circling my mind.
What could this mean? What does he want? Why didn’t he speak to me? Where did he go? Will I see him again?
As my head spins out of control, the limo door opens. I expect to see Ari duck inside. But I don’t. My heart leaps up into my throat when I see Alec scoot onto the seat across from me instead.
His eyes search mine for a few seconds before he speaks. “I promised I’d help you. And I will. But you have to be honest with me. Can you do that?”
My pulse is fluttering like butterfly wings inside my chest and I feel nearly giddy that he’s here, in my limo, sitting across from me, back in my life. I didn’t realize how much I wanted him here until he was gone.
But there are still things that can’t happen, things I can’t do.
“I can’t—”
“This is about you, Samantha. Not about me. You have nothing to worry about,” he interrupts, putting my mind at ease as if my thoughts are completely transparent to him.
Relief washes through me. Is it possible to have him? My way? To have it all? Like I’ve hoped right from the beginning?
Before I can thoroughly investigate the downside to this—and I’m certain there is one—I find myself agreeing. The lure of Alec, of my real-life Mason, is too strong.
“Okay.”
“Be at my house by midnight.” Alec reaches for the door, but I stop him.
“Midnight?”
He cocks one eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”
“Um, I…is it…No, it’s no problem,” I finally manage.
“I’m gonna show you that you can trust me. I’ll always tell you the truth, even if it hurts.”
My heart sinks a little at that. Although it’s a comforting fact, and I believe him, I’d really prefer he didn’t hurt me at all. It makes me wonder if he foresees that eventuality. Because the logical side of me sees nothing less.
“I know.”
With a nod, he eases fluidly out of the limo. I lean forward to watch him go. I get only a glimpse of him nodding to Ari before he disappears behind my publicist as he climbs into the car with me.
“Do I even want to know what that was all about?”
I worry my lip with my teeth. “I’m not sure I even want to know what that was all about.”
The limo pulls slowly away from the curb and we’re on the road before Ari leans forward. His eyes are concerned, his expression earnest. “Promise me something,” he says.
“How much am I going to hate it?” I tease, figuring he’s got some new project up his sleeve.
“Promise me you’ll be careful with him, Sam. He looks…dangerous. Hot, but very, very dangerous.”
“You think?” I ask, puzzled by what Ari sees that would make him say that. I’ve always seen it, but I think that has more to do with Mason.
Or maybe it doesn’t.
“Oh, I know. It’s not so much him as the way you react to him. I worry about you…”
I smile and lean forward as well, putting my hand on Ari’s knee. “Well don’t. I’m fine. And I will continue to be fine,” I assure him, Laura Drake style.
I forget sometimes that Ari is impervious to my Laura Drake confidence, though. I can tell by the look on his face that he can see right through it, right through to the train wreck I am underneath.
CHAPTER THIRTY - Alec
I haven’t said anything to Samantha since she arrived. When I answered the door, I simply took her bag and purse, set them in the foyer and then took her hand and led her around the house to the walkway that leads to the beach. I figure she’ll say something soon. I don’t think she’s all that comfortable with silence. And that’s what I’m waiting for. I want to see where she starts. I’ll take it from there.
“Why, Alec?” she finally asks after our feet have hit the sand.
I rest my hands loosely in my pockets and set a slow pace for our walk in the moonlight. “I promised I’d help you.”