Freefall to Desire (9 page)

“Do you have a gym in this house, too?” Brianne asked. Turning back to him, she said, “Not that you need to. You’ve got the pool. The beach.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a gym. Downstairs.”

“Great. I’ll make sure to use it—if you don’t mind. I don’t want to stop my workout routine while I’m away. Can’t risk putting on any weight.”

“Of course I don’t mind. But for what it’s worth, you could certainly put on a few pounds and it wouldn’t be a big deal.” Alex stepped toward her, his gaze traveling over her from head to toe. “You look…amazing.”

A definite frisson of heat passed through Brianne’s body. The compliment had been genuine and heartfelt—and made her feel sexier than she ever had before.

Alex raised his eyes, meeting her gaze. And though Brianne felt the urge to look away, she didn’t. She held his gaze, an odd warmth spreading through her.

“But then,” he went on, “you always carried your curves well.”

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Alex said. “You’ve always been beautiful.”

Brianne wanted to pinch herself. Alex was telling her that she was beautiful? Hearing it from Alex meant the world, because he was the kind of man women tripped over themselves to get to. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“You looked stunned,” Alex said. “Why?”

“Because…because I’ve never thought I was beautiful,” she admitted, not sure why she was sharing the deeply personal thought. “Don’t get me wrong. I know I’m cute. Especially now that I’ve lost weight.”

“You’ve always been beautiful,” Alex said, his gaze steady on hers. “Not just now that you’re thinner.”

Brianne’s lips parted. She couldn’t believe her ears.

“I always thought you were beautiful the way you were,” Alex went on. “You look great now, sure, but I kind of miss those rocking curves.”

Brianne couldn’t help it—she blushed. She never would have guessed that Alex had liked anything about her. During the time she’d dated Carter, he had always been polite, but he was never warm toward her.

“Great, I’ve offended you,” Alex said. “You know what, forget everything I said other than the ‘beautiful’ part. I keep forgetting the rule that a man should never comment on a woman’s weight.”

“Are you kidding? You didn’t offend me. You just told me that I’m beautiful at any size. Trust me, those are words a woman loves to hear.”

Carter had always been on her to lose about fifteen pounds, at a time when she’d actually been happy with her weight. She wasn’t one of those people who wanted to be as thin as a rail. Then Carter had disappeared—and she had
drowned her sorrows in food. It was only in preparation for her sister’s wedding that she’d started a strict diet and workout regimen again. She had been pleased with the result, but she did miss the sexy curves she used to have. To hear Alex say what he did meant a lot to her.

“Why aren’t you married?” she suddenly asked.

“Me?” Alex said, as though she couldn’t possibly be talking to him.

Brianne looked around the vast bedroom, then back at him to emphasize her point. “Who else would I be talking to here? Of course I’m referring to you.”

Alex shrugged. “Never met the right girl, I guess.”

“Or is no one good enough for you?” Brianne suggested.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because even when I was dating Carter, you hardly dated anyone. Correction. You used to
date
a lot, but I don’t remember you having one serious girlfriend.”

“Because I was breaking every model’s heart,” Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Isn’t that what Carter told you?”

“So you admit it?”

Clearly, Brianne had missed his sardonic tone. “No, Brianne. I don’t admit that.”

“Then why are you single? A gorgeous guy like you, settled in your career. A great catch for any woman.”

Alex stepped onto the balcony. He walked to the railing and wrapped his fingers around it as his eyes took in the view of the ocean.

He didn’t want to answer this question. Because the answer was one he didn’t understand himself. And he certainly couldn’t tell Brianne the truth.

And the truth was both complicated and simple. When Alex had met Brianne, he had fallen for her instantly. He
didn’t know why. It was one of those connections he didn’t understand. He’d been drawn to her, then hurt that Carter had made a play for her. That should have been it, but every time he saw her, he felt that undeniable pull of attraction toward her, stronger than anything he had ever known.

Sure, he had dated other women. But he had never again felt that inexplicable pull of attraction for any of those women that he’d felt for Brianne.

Even before he learned the truth about Carter—that his behavior was ultimately going to crush Brianne—he had hoped she would come to her senses and realize that Carter wasn’t right for her. And that
he
was.

Which had been a fantasy at best. Carter had been his best friend, and he never would have dated Brianne if the time ever came that they broke up.

At least not then.

Now was an entirely different matter.

“Did someone break your heart?” Brianne asked. Alex looked to his right and saw her standing there, a vision of loveliness if he’d ever seen one. “Is that why you don’t date seriously?”

“I’m not sure why Carter tried to paint me as some major player, but that’s not true.”

“So you’ve had some serious girlfriends,” Brianne said, her eyes widening slightly. Alex couldn’t quite read the emotion in their depths.

“There’ve been a couple of women I’ve dated seriously. But why the interest in my love life?”

“How long is serious?” Brianne went on, ignoring the question he’d asked her.

Alex gazed into the distance for a long moment before speaking. “The first one I dated for about five months. That last one…off and on for about a year.”

“A year. That’s a long time.”

“I know. Doesn’t bode well for my player status. Speaking of which, I don’t understand why you and Carter ever spent any time talking about my love life.”

Brianne shrugged. “He was worried about you, I guess. He wanted you to find the kind of love he’d found with me.”

Alex’s fingers tightened on the railing.
More like he wanted to keep you under his clutches.
He couldn’t help wondering if Carter had sensed Alex’s attraction to Brianne and had taken steps to make sure that she would never be tempted to go for him.

“Who was she?”

Given that he’d been lost in his own thoughts, Alex was temporarily confused by Brianne’s question. But catching on, he said, “No one.”

“No one?” Brianne eyed him skeptically. “You dated someone named No One for a year?”

“Brianne, what’s with all the questions?”

“I’m just curious.”

“Her name is Catarina,” Alex answered after a moment.

“Catarina.” Brianne rolled the woman’s name around on her tongue. “I bet she’s beautiful.”

Alex shrugged. “Yeah. Sure.”

“You really don’t like talking about your private life,” Brianne said. “Either that or the relationship ended fairly recently…”

Or maybe I don’t want to talk about my relationship with her when I still haven’t been able to quell my attraction for you.

“I’m sorry I’m prying,” Brianne said. “I’m just…making conversation.”

Or was she curious? “Catarina and I were never meant
to be. The relationship was nice, but I knew it would run its course.”

“Not perfect enough for Mr. Perfect?”

She was smiling at him, and Alex didn’t think the comment was serious. Still he said, “I’m not perfect. Hardly. I don’t know. Maybe it could have worked, but she lives in Italy.”

“Italy!”

“Yeah.”

“You met her there?”

“Mmm hmm. After Carter…after he disappeared, I had to get away. I went to ski in Milan, and that’s where I met her. She was a model.”

“Ha! A model. So Carter was telling the truth.” Brianne tried to keep her voice light, but Alex’s revelation stung. She wasn’t sure why.

“You travel a lot, stay at a lot of hotels, and you meet other people who travel a lot.” Alex shrugged. “I’ve met a few models.”

“I’m sure you were smitten with her,” Brianne said. She forced a smile.

“We met on the slopes,” Alex said. “She had just retired from modeling and decided to settle in Italy, so she could spend some time with her father’s side of the family. She’s biracial—part Italian, part Kenyan.”

Brianne suddenly wanted Alex to stop talking. She didn’t want to hear about his perfect relationship with this perfectly stunning woman.

“She sounds like the kind of woman men would go crazy for. Why didn’t it work out? Only distance issues?”

“Among other things.”

Brianne forced a laugh, though inside she felt anything but cheerful. She stared off at a pleasure boat in the dis
tance. “Well, if a gorgeous model can’t satisfy you, I’m not sure any woman can.”

“What about you?” Alex asked.

Brianne’s heart slammed against her chest. She didn’t dare look at Alex. “Pardon me?”

“You haven’t dated since Carter disappeared?”

Oh.
That’s what he meant. “No,” she said, surprised to find that her voice came out as a croak. Her eyes followed the movements of the boat sailing in the Atlantic. “You know I haven’t.”

“Because you were still in love with him?”

Now that she was the one in the hot seat, she felt the way Alex apparently had—hesitant to talk.

“Are you?” Alex asked, his voice suddenly lower. “Are you still in love with Carter?”

Feeling the heat of his probing gaze, she turned, met his curious eyes. All she had to do was say yes. It would be so easy. And yet, that wouldn’t quite be the truth.

The realization shocked her.

“It was hard, Alex,” she said after several seconds. “Excruciatingly hard. I’d had so many hopes and dreams. How could I let it all go and think of dating? I wasn’t like you. I didn’t believe Carter was dead. Everyone may have said so, but in my heart, I never believed it.”

“So you never stopped loving him.” Alex was the one to look away now.

Brianne had the odd feeling that they were talking about something else. That they were saying one thing but meaning another.

“It was more like I didn’t want to be hurt again. But yes, my heart was still his.”

Abruptly, Alex turned from the railing and walked back into the bedroom. Brianne followed him, feeling as though she’d just said something wrong.

“Alex—”

“We should unpack,” he said, not facing her as he continued to walk to the door. “Then, if you want, we can go out and get something to eat.”

“Sure,” Brianne said.

“It’s too late to start our investigation tonight,” Alex went on, “but tomorrow morning, bright and early, we can hit the ground running.”

“Sounds good,” Brianne said. But she was wondering why Alex didn’t want to look at her.

Finally he did, holding her gaze for a long moment.

And then he walked out the door, leaving Brianne feeling out of sorts and wondering why.

Chapter 8

B
rianne and Alex ended up heading out for dinner at a lively restaurant that had loud music and tasty food. It was the kind of place that didn’t allow for intimate conversation.

Which was good. Because things had been weird once Alex had left Brianne in the bedroom.

She’d had the feeling he was upset at her for some reason, and continued to think so during dinner when they kept the conversation topics totally neutral. But as she’d lain awake in the large bed later that night, she began to see things differently.

Yes, Alex had cooled off. But it was the situation. The frustrating conundrum of finding a man they both loved and not knowing if it would happen.

Hadn’t she herself experienced a roller coaster of emotions? One minute up, the next one down?

That’s what she’d told herself all night long, but something about the inner dialogue didn’t quite ring true.

And yet, what else could it be?

Around seven, Brianne woke up. She lay still in the bed, listening for any sounds that would tell her Alex was awake. After about five minutes of not a peep other than the cry of seagulls outside, she figured Alex was still asleep.

She got out of bed, stretched and walked to the terrace doors. As she swung them open to embrace the gorgeous view, she couldn’t help thinking that she could seriously get used to waking up to this kind of view every day.

Stepping onto the terrace, she surveyed the vast ocean before her. That’s when she noticed the person in the distance, jogging.

The person got closer, and Brianne felt a zap of awareness. Was that…?

It was. She’d thought Alex was sleeping, but he was already up and getting in an early morning workout.

In shorts and sneakers.

He was naked from the waist up, his magnificent form gleaming with sweat.

As he got closer, he looked up as though he sensed her. Seeing her on the balcony, he waved. Brianne waved back, then she quickly retreated. She was only wearing a large T-shirt.

And Alex wasn’t wearing one at all.

Lord have mercy.

Brianne continued to watch him through the window, feeling a little like a voyeur. But hey, he was the one out there with his shirt off.

And since when was it illegal to look at a gorgeous man?

When he neared his property, Brianne thought he would turn and head toward the house, but instead he kept jogging. She watched his back until he again became a dot in the distance.

Stepping away from the window, she contemplated a run on the beach herself. But what she really wanted to do right now was something to show her appreciation for Alex having brought her here. For his taking the initiative to find Carter.

So she went downstairs to the kitchen to see if there was anything in the fridge.

Honestly, she doubted she would find anything since they’d just arrived. Perhaps some hash browns in the freezer, and if she was lucky some eggs. But when she opened the large stainless steel fridge—complete with a flat-screen television built in the door—she saw that it was fully stocked with fresh produce and juice.