Fourth of July (20 page)

Alexis ripped her thumbnail off with her incisor.
Please don’t let Chris find me.
She brusquely wiped away the tears streaking her face. She was so immature. She should’ve just let him take her home and be done with this. But no, she’d run away like a bratty teenager and now Chris would
know s
omething was wrong.

She looked around the grassy park. The sky was darkening. Maybe the haziness of dusk and the numerous maple and poplar trees would shelter her.

He called her name. Alexis turned her back, unable to face him. His footsteps thudded to a stop next to the bench. He settled next to her. She wanted to run, but when his large hand cradled her fingers and his body overshadowed hers, she couldn’t move. It felt so good to have him touch her.

“What happened back there?” Chris asked.

“Nothing, I’m perfectly fine,” Alexis shot back.

“You are not fine.” He tenderly wiped the proof from her jaw line.

Alexis shivered at his touch, inching away from him on the bench. Dropping his hand from her face, he released her other hand. Darn him, Alexis thought, frustrated at him for being a gentleman when she craved his touch so badly.

“Talk to me,” Chris said.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.”

Alexis finally turned to face him. He searched her eyes, as if asking for permission to continue. She got lost in the warmth of his mahogany eyes and found herself nodding. She’d tell him anything if he’d only keep looking at her that way.

“I’m not sure what you’re thinking. One minute I think you’re interested in me, the next I’m positive you wouldn’t care if I vanished. What happened in there? Why did you suddenly start crying and pull away from me?”

Alexis tossed her head from side to side. She’d tell him anything but the reason she’d been crying or what she felt for him. He probably thought all she did was cry. Lately it felt like it. “I’m sure you noticed I was crying throughout the entire service. You think
you
made me cry?”

His eyes flashed to midnight. His voice raised a notch. “I think you were crying because you saw who called me.”

“You think I would cry because
Danielle
called you?” Alexis asked with as much dignity and indifference as she could muster. “Ha! I couldn’t care less who calls you.”

She was done. Leaping to her feet, she decided she’d find her own way home.

Chris moved quickly. He rose, wrapped both arms around her, and gathered her into his chest like a little child. She stood locked in his arms. She hated how small she was. Anyone could hold her against her will.

Alexis started to tell him to release her, but the words died on her lips. Chris wasn’t just anyone. Her intensity diffused at an alarming rate as Chris enfolded her into the cocoon of his arms. Her heart pounded. She forgot her embarrassment and jealousy as she inhaled his musky cologne and savored the experience of being close to him.

What am I doing?
She tried to pull away from his embrace, but her body rebelled against her mind. Unable to resist, she snuggled into his strong shoulder.

“Oh, Half-pint. You’re jealous.” He sounded as if he’d just won first prize at the ring toss.

“I am not,” she retorted. She should move from his shoulder but a crane couldn’t have pried her away.

“Listen to me, Alexis.” Chris’ low voice rumbled into her ear, husky, uncertain, and wonderful. “I’m not interested in Danielle.”

“What?” Alexis pulled back, immediately regretting the move, but she needed to search his eyes. “I saw you kissing her.”

“You...
what
?” His eyebrows shot up. “When?”

“Monday.”

“Monday?” Confusion wrinkled his brow. “You saw me kiss Danielle on Monday? Where?”

“In your office,” Alexis shot back, thoughts of his warm chest almost, but not completely forgotten as her anger and jealousy overtook her once again.

“In my office?” Chris paused as if searching his memory. A light finally clicked, filling his eyes with understanding. “Oh, I see. You saw Danielle try and kiss me and you thought I kissed her.”

“I know what I saw,” Alexis insisted, but did she really? All she had seen was Danielle’s hair and the top of Chris’s head. It all happened so quickly, was she really certain?

“Alexis, Danielle came to visit me. I didn’t ask her to come. I didn’t want her to come. I stood up to walk her out, and she grabbed me and pulled my head down. I did not kiss her.”

A light breeze sifted through the leaves, pushing Alexis’ hair across her cheek. She shoved it away. “You didn’t kiss Danielle?”

“No. I didn’t kiss her.”

“But, but,” she sputtered, trying to make sense of this terrific, new information she had been handed. “I thought Danielle was your girlfriend.”
Please say it isn’t true.

“Girlfriend?” Chris echoed, his voice filled with disbelief. “We’ve dated but I wouldn’t call her a girlfriend.”

“Why not?” Alexis asked, thrilled with his quick response. If Danielle wasn’t his girlfriend...she liked the possibilities.

“I don’t know. I’ve dated Danielle for a while, but it was never that serious.” He grinned at her. “I wouldn’t have wasted any time with her if I would’ve thought you were interested.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Who says I’m interested?” She placed her fingertips on his shoulders, feeling herself being drawn toward him.

“Just wishful thinking, I guess.” He moved closer to her, his hands wrapped around her waist.

“I
might
be interested.” Alexis couldn’t keep her eyes off his lips. Her pulse quickened; her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She felt an intense ache welling inside that could only be satisfied by kissing Chris.

“You might?” Chris’ eyelids lowered.

“Yes, on one condition.” Alexis had a hard time focusing on what she was saying. His strong hands pressed her closer.
Stop yapping and kiss the man.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Alexis was distracted by how dangerously close his face was to hers. She could smell his cinnamon-flavored breath, feel his warm exhalation on her lips, his rapid heartbeat matching hers beat for beat.

“You call Danielle and tell her you’ve had your last date.”

“Condition granted.” Chris seized her mouth with his own.

Alexis responded wholeheartedly to the pressure of Chris’ lips on hers. His kiss was soft, yet demanding every part of her to respond. She reached around his upper back, striving to pull him closer if that were physically possible. Kissing Chris was more wonderful than she could have imagined. Where had he been all her life? She could have kissed him all night, but she forced herself to pull away.

She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“Thank you?” He elevated one eyebrow. “I should be thanking you for that kiss.”

Alexis laughed. “Not for the kiss. Thank you for meeting my condition.”

“Do you have any more conditions I can pledge to for another kiss?” Chris grinned like a little boy.

You can embrace my religion.
No. It was too soon to breach their religious gap. “Hmm, let me think. I wish you would take me to dinner tomorrow night.”

“Wish granted.” Chris gently tipped her chin up with the palm of his hand.

Chris sighed with happiness as he undid his tie, tossing it somewhere in the direction of his closet. It landed a few feet short of its intended target on a pile of dirty laundry.

Thinking back over the night, he wanted to jump and click his heels together. He couldn’t imagine anything more incredible than what he had just experienced with Alexis.

“She wants to date me,” he shouted his good news to the walls. He felt his cell phone buzz and swiped the screen without checking the caller I.D.

“Chris, it’s me. I’m so glad I finally caught you.” A syrupy voice carved through his lighthearted reverie.

“Danielle.” He remembered his pledge to Alexis. The thought made him smile. No time like the present.

Danielle’s voice dropped to a husky alto. “How about dinner at my place tomorrow night?”

Chris cringed at the thought. “Danielle—”

“Don’t you dare say no,” she interrupted him, “I know you’re busy, but you have to eat.”

“I’m not interested in seeing you anymore.”

Her quick intake of breath was audible.

Chris ignored it. “I’m dating someone else.”

That was easy. He should have formed those words weeks ago.

“You, you,” she sputtered, “jerk! You can’t tell me you aren’t interested. I’m the one who decides. I’ll inform you when I’m through with you.”

“Sorry, Danielle. I don’t want to hurt you but we’re through dating.”

“Hurt me? Hurt me!” Danielle’s voice was escalating in large increments per millisecond. “No one ever hurts Danielle D’Artagnan.”

Who? Her last name was Jefferson.

“You will live to regret this day,” she screeched. “You and that little slut you’re dating. It’s the redhead from the party, isn’t it?” She didn’t give him the chance to answer. “You will regret that you ever met me.”

Chris heard a loud bang as if the phone hit something, then silence. He solemnly closed his phone.

“I already do.”

He settled onto the bed and grabbed his computer. Booting his laptop, he commenced a search for Mediterranean cruises.

His thoughts turned to Alexis. He’d have to tell her she gave her kiss away too easily. He would willingly experience a million awful confrontations with Danielle for even the briefest of kisses from Alexis.

He grinned, hoping Alexis would be willing to award him with a few more kisses tomorrow. After all, he’d kept his end of the bargain.

CHRIS AND DYLAN WOULD BE working all weekend, but tonight Chris had insisted Dylan’s kids could use some quality time with their father. Dylan was taking his family swimming at an aquatic center near their home in Arlinton. The truth was, Chris needed more time with Alexis and nothing short of another national emergency could have kept him away. He rapped softly on her door.

“Come in,” she called out.

Come in? Did she leave her apartment door unlocked?
He tried the handle.
No way. Was she really that innocent?

Chris entered her tidy apartment. Beige micro-suede furniture was complimented by wood and red accents. The room was warm and comfortable. Chris could smell a hint of her tantalizing perfume. Vanilla must be a key ingredient in whatever brand she wore. Alexis breezed into the room dressed in a white sundress and he forgot to scold her for leaving her door unlocked.

“Alexis,” he breathed, feeling his pulse quicken, “you–you look amazing.”

She tucked a curl behind her ear. “Thanks.”

Chris opened his arms to her. His heart skipped a beat as she walked into his embrace. He enfolded her completely into his powerful arms, surprised again by how tiny she was. Chris was certain they had invented the perfect pastime as he hungrily captured her mouth with his own. He finally broke the contact.

“So, are you ready?”

“Ready?” Alexis asked breathlessly.

“To go out.” he grinned. “We had a dinner date. Remember?”

“Oh,” Alexis blushed. “You made me forget about dinner.”