Falling for Alexander (Corkscrew Bay #2) (8 page)

Chapter Nine

Five hours later, Kate trudged up to the glass and timber structure that housed the reception lodge of Finn’s Aquatic Spa on the outskirts of Corkscrew Bay. Her clothes were crumpled, the inside seam of her jeans scratched her thighs and her sweat-dampened hair stuck to her neck. And her mood wasn’t faring any better than the rest of her.

A fresh-faced couple milling about in the at
rium reception looked her up and down as she entered. Reminding herself this was Finn’s place of business, that they’d probably just paid him a hefty price for those health-steamed pores, Kate smiled sweetly and moved on. The fading light of early evening flooded the oak slatted floor from angled glass panes above and all around. The design and use of natural materials was supposed to be a balm for the most stressed nerves, but clearly she was beyond help today.

Expecting to find Finn in his offices at the
back, Kate marched in that direction without paying much attention to the people clustered at the enquiry desk or packed along the health bar at the far end of the room. Wasn’t paying much attention, period, which was how she almost walked straight over Isobel, who was hunched down in the short tunnel that lead from the reception to the adjoining spa centre.

“
Watch out!” Isobel yelped, springing up.

Kate froze, followed Isobel
’s horrified stare and saw her one foot had landed on a palette of messy paints.

Isobel gave her a grimacing smile. “
Sorry.”

“
This day is out to get me.” Kate blew out a haggard sigh. She lifted her foot and rubbed the bottom of her sandal on the industrial plastic spread over the floor. “What are you doing?”

“
Finn commissioned me to mural the tunnel.” Isobel stepped back and threw her arms out wide. “What do you think?”

Kate was baffled enough to momentarily forget her woes. Not at the breathtaking swell of the half-painted white-crested wave that seemed to rush up at her inside the tu
nnel; Isobel had always been ridiculously talented, one of those gift-born artists that could magically create a Picasso with a few sporadic flicks of the brush. But she was also the granddaughter of a genuine duchess and had an eye-popping trust fund to go with all that blue blood flowing in her veins. To Kate’s knowledge, she’d never done a day’s work in her life.

“
It’s stunning,” Kate said, eyeing her friend curiously. What was different? Besides the smudge of blue paint at her temple and the comic overalls rolled down around her waist. She seemed agitated…or maybe animated better described the glow in her usually sedate green eyes. “Everything okay?”

“
I never imagined this would feel so amazing.” Isobel turned around in place with a beaming smile. “To have my art out here for people to see.” She looked back at Kate. “To have someone actually pay—pay
me
!—to display it. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“
To get paid to work?” Kate muttered. “Now there’s a crazy concept.”

The glow dimmed in her eyes. “
Kate, I didn’t mean—”

“
No, I didn’t mean for that to come out so harsh,” Kate cut in quickly. “I was only teasing, Izzy, honest. It’s been one of those days, you know?” She sighed, bending down to remove her sandals so she didn’t ruin the oak floorboards. “Is Finn around?”

“
He came in from the surf a short while ago,” Isobel said. “He’s probably taking a shower.”

“
Exactly where I want him.” Sandals in hand, Kate padded through the swinging doors and into the first office on the left.

No evidence of a shower running from the adj
oining bathroom, but the bad whistling told her Finn was inside.

She tossed her backpack and sandals on the floor, was scavenging in the drinks cabinet behind the desk when Finn emerged, buttoning up a navy shirt that hung loose over faded denims.

He took one look at the single glass and bottle of twenty-year-old scotch in her hands and grinned. “Make that two.”

“
Are you done for the day?” she asked, dipping down again.

“
Just getting started.”

She came up with a second glass. “
Big date night?”

“
Every night’s date night,” he said with that cheeky Irish inflection. “This one’s no bigger than usual.”

Rolling her eyes, she poured them each a measure of scotch and slid one glass across the desk for him. She sank into his leather swivel chair, relegating him to th
e visitor’s chair on the other side. “I see you’ve put Izzy to work.”

“
She wasn’t too keen at first,” Finn said. “But after what you and Lucy said at the wedding, I thought…” He shrugged. “Anyway, I guess I wanted to give her something to keep her busy, just in case.”

“
You are such a teddy bear,” Kate said in a mock simpering voice, then turned serious. “I think it’s marvellous! Precisely what she needed, and not just to get over her ex fiancé, either.”

“
She’s pretty talented, huh?”

“
And then some,” Kate agreed.

Finn tipped his glass to his lips, those blue eyes looking straight through her. After a stretch of silence, he said, “
You look…”

“
Frazzled?” The fancy chair gave way with her as Kate leant back. She held his gaze a long moment, drawing on the familiar comfort. “Tell me I’m wonderful.”

“
You’re wonderful,” he drawled.

“
I’ve spent the last five hours on two busses, one train with faulty air-conditioning and a private taxi that cost half a month’s rent.” None of which had anything to do with her washed out spirit. Today, she’d pushed too hard, gone too far. Was this really what she’d become? Tears stung at the back of her eyes. She probably didn’t deserve to feel better, didn’t deserve Finn. But she wasn’t the type of person to just lie down and cry the rest of the weekend away. “You’ll have to do better.”

“
Hmm…” His fingers linked around the crystal-cut glass as he considered the dilemma.

Kate sucked half her glass dry. The burn hit a sweet spot halfway down her throat, warming the ice that had been gnawi
ng holes inside her even while she sweated on the outside.

“
Second grade,” Finn said. “Thomas Barrit.”

“
Tommy?” Her face crumpled in confusion.

“
The day after our class was sent home for lice infestation,” Finn went on. “I don’t know how he picked up all the blame, but no one would go near Thomas. Except a little girl with bright blue eyes and golden pigtails.” His grin warmed the spots of black ice inside her that the scotch had missed. “You marched up to his table with your lunch tray and sat down right beside him. Then you bounced your chair as close to his as it would go and started eating, as if nothing was wrong.”

“
God,” Kate breathed out as that day vaguely filtered back to her. “You remember all that?”

Finn chuckled. “
That was the day I decided you were going to be my best friend.”

“
You
decided?” she scoffed. “Like I had no say in the matter whatsoever.”

His chuckle deepened, feeding into his eyes. “
Even at that age, I was irresistible once I put my mind to it.”

“
You’re incorrigible, that’s what you are.” She sipped on her drink, relaxing beneath Finn’s ministrations. He was the best big brother a girl never had.

“
Do you need more?” he asked.

She shook her head. “
That should do, thanks.”

He leaned forward, elbows squared on his knees, looking up into h
er eyes. “Want to tell me what happened?”

“
Alexander Gerardo.” Her heart clenched as she said his name. She’d pushed him from her mind hours ago, but he was still everywhere else. An ache in her belly, a tingle across her skin, the warmth of that kiss lingering like a bone-deep caress.

It took some seconds for the name to impact Finn. “
As in, Alexander Gerardo from the castle?”

Kate nodded. “
I was with him for most of the day.”

“
Was he still breathing when you left?”

“
You really shouldn’t get your jokes from Harry,” she said drolly.

“
Don’t tell me you two kissed and made up.” Finn sat back, grinning.

Her voice went soft with the memory. “
We kissed.”

He lost the grin. “
O…kay, I think we’ve just moved beyond my territory.”

“
You’re all I have until Megan returns.”

“
Call her.”

“
She’s on her honeymoon, you idiot.” Kate pinned him with her sternest look. “You’re it.”

“
I don’t do girl talk.”

“
You don’t have to talk, just listen.”

He stared at her.

She stared at him.

He grimaced, groaning like a man in pain.

She raised a brow and stared harder.

“
This isn’t right.” He slugged down the rest of his drink in one gulp and slammed his glass on the desk. “Okay, hit me.”

“
We kissed,” she repeated on a sigh. Pressed to Alexander’s body, his lips moving over hers, that plunging kiss. She couldn’t even begin to describe her sensual meltdown in his arms. No other kiss, no other man, had ever come even close.

This was the point where Megan would step in.
And… What was it like? What did you do then?

She gave Finn a couple of second
s, but nothing. He just looked at her, frowning in concentration.

Leaving her to pick it up all on her own. “
Then I said something like, ‘Nice meeting you and hopped on a bus.”

“
The kiss was that bad, huh?”

“
The kiss was that good,” she muttered.

He threw
his hands up. “Then why didn’t you stay?”

“
Because…” Because, she’d shattered into delicious pieces in Alexander’s arms. And when he’d released her, the tempest darkening the grey in his eyes, the arousal still evident in his body, had put her back together. Without that, without Alexander warm and strong and so, so hungry for her, the pieces of her would scatter. “Because it was too much.”

Too much, too soon, too intense for a man who
’d played her the entire day.

Finn said nothing.

She stood, suddenly both exhausted and restless. “You have a date to get to.”

“
Kate, I can cancel.”

“
I have my own date with a steaming bubble bath, soft music and a glass of wine,” she assured him, moving around the desk to collect her backpack and sandals. “You make a great girl friend, Finn,” she added playfully on her way to the door, “but that might be taking it too far.”

“
Aah,” he grumbled over a chuckle that followed her out, “just when this girl talk was getting interesting.”

Chapter Ten

Sunday morning, Kate
’s doorbell chimed at freaking dawn-o-clock. She unglued one eye to squint at her wristwatch. Okay, make that nine-thirty. Not much better.

She pulled her phone off the bedside table to check for missed calls. Her mother usually phoned before popping in. No calls
or messages. Finn, checking up on her after she’d unloaded on him yesterday?

She stumbled out of bed, dragging herself to the window to peer out. Shock jolted her wide-awake. She couldn
’t see who stood beneath the awning over her front door, but the Aston Martin parked in the street meant Alexander.

What?
She’d slumped into bed last night, convinced she’d never set eyes on the man again. Determined to be happy about it. Relieved.

Now it was happening all over again. Her pulse racing with anticipation while
her heart hiccupped with trepidation.

She knew, with every cell in her body, that he would consume her.

If she let him.

When she
’d told Finn it was
too much
, what she’d really meant was that it was too much for her, and too little for Alexander. He knocked her powerless without losing any measure of control himself.

The imbalance scared her witless.

The chimes went off again, rousing her into action. Her threadbare pyjama bottoms and cotton camisole landed on the bed. She was slipping a sundress over her head on the way to the bathroom when she stopped in her tracks.

She wanted him to give up and leave almost as badly as she wanted him to wait.

The frantic rush slowed to a crawl as she washed and brushed, then gargled with mouthwash. She took her time pulling a brush through the tangles in her hair, playing a game of dare between the devil and her fate.

At least ten minutes had passed before she made her way downstairs.

The chimes hadn’t gone off again and she hadn’t checked out the window either. Had she missed the deep-throated purr of his car while her face had been under the water?

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she reached for the doorknob. Did she want him to be there or not? She had absolutely no idea.

She yanked the door open and her breath caught on parted lips. There were no sunglasses today. She had uninterrupted access to those gorgeous eyes.

Her stomach tumbled.

“Morning, Kate.” A smile kicked up one side of his mouth. “May I?”

She backed up against the wall. It wasn
’t an invitation; merely a retreat as he pushed forward.

Alexander closed the door behind him, filling her entrance hall with his presence and the heightened awareness that vibrated the air between them. “
You look beautiful.”

So did he.

Darkly, dangerously beautiful.

Worn denim
fit comfortably around the lean muscle of his thighs. A plain white T-shirt stretched over his broad chest and wide shoulders. He had the kind of body Venus might have conjured up for an erotic fantasy. He was more than handsome, more than physical perfection.

He was an illicit enticement, a drug to her sensuality.

Her gaze settled on his sculptured mouth and everything inside her went soft, including her brain.

“
Do you always kiss and run?” he murmured, moving closer.

“
I…” She swallowed hard, forcing herself to concentrate on something other than that mouth. “I couldn’t miss my bus.”

“
Is that what you tell yourself?” His tone wasn’t harsh; a gentle rebuke that stroked her spine. “That kiss was a beginning,
cara
, not an ending. The feel of you in my arms kept me awake most of the night. When I breathe, I smell your skin on mine. If you wanted to be rid of me, you shouldn’t have left your taste, scent and touch to haunt me. That,” he said hoarsely, his next step bringing him close enough to press one hand to the wall above her, covering her with an unavoidable wave of desire, “is what I tell myself.”

Kate
’s mouth went dry with longing. Her heart seemed to fold in half, wrapping around his words, the promise that he was in just as deep as she was.

This, right he
re, was exactly why she’d run.

She couldn
’t trust herself.

She listened to his sexy voice and believed he didn
’t care about the lie that had brought them together.

She looked into his soulful eyes and saw raw desire that clouded sense instead of the unaff
ected control he’d so easily commanded yesterday to push her buttons.

She shouldn
’t trust his motives, shouldn’t believe he was as helplessly overcome as she was. That nothing mattered more than exploring this attraction further, not the charade she’d played, nor the irreconcilable differences that had turned them against each other before they’d even met.

Shifting out of his space, she lowered her gaze to stare rigidly at the floor. There
’d be no dampening the yearning in her voice while she looked into those eyes. “We’re in no position to be making any beginnings.”

“
Precisely why I’ve reconsidered my mind.” Black designer trainers moved into her line of view. “I want you in my bed, Kate.”

The way he said that, his voice rough with grit and gravel, buckled
her knees. Desire arrowed into the pit of her belly with a hot ache.

Slowly, her gaze lifted up the length of his body, savouring every inch. She couldn
’t help the intense yearning. The effect of Alexander was beyond her. That didn’t mean she’d give in to it.

She fisted her hands at her sides, nails digging into fleshy palm to keep it real.

Does he really want you in his bed, with the same fever consuming you? Or did that kiss simply peak his interest and now he’s decided you’ve not yet paid your dues in full.

“
That’s not going to happen unless I give you something first,” he continued when her eyes finally met his. “You’re getting your Easter egg hunt.”

“
You’re opening Darrock grounds to the town for Easter?” she murmured in confusion and disbelief. A moment later, understanding creased her brow. “You’re bribing me to sleep with you?”

The outrage that should have flared inside her, however, was noticeably absent. She
’d do anything for the town…almost anything. She wouldn’t do this. But—and she was trying so desperately not to think this, pushed it down, again and again—why not do this for herself?

She groaned. Probably aloud. She was losing it completely.

“You’ll get your Easter egg hunt regardless.” A grin reshaped Alexander’s mouth. “I’m opening a door,
cara,
but I’m not dragging you through.”

His hand came to her chin, his thumb stroking her lower lip, strumming the longing and want and urges threatening to succumb. “
You’ll have to step across this threshold on your own.”

How did he…
?

The outrage finally s
urfaced, stiffening her spine.

She jerked her chin out of his grasp and she was learning. Her pulse still raced, she still tingled from head to toe, but she met the steamed grey passion in his eyes with a hardened look.

“Let me get this straight,” she said in a surprisingly level voice. “The one is not dependant on the other? You’re committing Darrock Castle for this weekend?”

“
On the condition that you coordinate the event,” he said.

“
I’m not on the town committee,” she protested.

He went on as if she hadn
’t spoken. “Come over this afternoon and we’ll finalise the details.”

They both knew the invitation was more complex than that.

I want you in my bed.

I
’m opening a door.

Now it was up to her. Did she step over the threshold or not? She needed time to think
. “I’m busy this afternoon. How about tomorrow?”

“
I leave for the States in the morning,” he said firmly, as if he could take or leave her decision, as if everything had to be on his terms or not at all, “and I won’t be back until next week.”

His gaze pinn
ed her, toasting her from the inside out.

All the reasons she needed to have her mind made up before she spent an entire afternoon alone with this man, otherwise she had no doubt he
’d make it up for her.

“
Should I expect you at noon?” He arched a brow at her. “We’ll discuss the arrangements over lunch.”

She was not a doormat. “
Marge and Mrs. Carrey will be with me.”

“
No, they won’t.”

“
They’re on the planning committee,” she said sweetly. “We can hardly finalise anything without them and I’m sure you want everything to run as smoothly as possible.”

“
You misunderstand, Kate.” He leaned in, his jaw brushing her cheek, sending warm shivers cascading over her skin. “I don’t give a damn about the Easter egg hunt. You are all I care about.
You
are the only reason I’m temporarily giving up my home.”

He took a step back, and then another, reaching behind for the doorknob. The intensity with which he studied her through those heavy-lidded, sleepy eyes branded her with his intent even before he spoke again.

“I want you,” he drawled, his voice so thick, the hunger bared, “and I want you alone.”

Kate stood there long after he
’d left, the wall supporting her hollow legs, her mind blown by the slow realisation that Alexander had been falling with her all along. Helplessly drawn, reason shattered around the impossibility of
them
, hopelessly falling without the ability to caution where or how hard they might land.

She didn
’t have to trust his words, or what she saw in his eyes, or the way her body responded to his touch.

With o
ne single action, he’d given her everything she needed for now.

He
’d given up his preciously guarded privacy. Even if only for a day.

He
’d yielded where it hurt him most, affected him the deepest, to his very core.

For her.