Love Takes Time (17 page)

Sterling folded the letter and then slumped his head into his hands. “What have I done?”

W
hen Alyssa returned to her Malibu home, she felt as if she'd been gone for ages. Tangie started talking her ears off the moment she picked her up from the airport. She wanted to know every detail about this new romance between her and Sterling, and she was none too pleased when Alyssa tried to keep a lot of the growing love story to herself. She wasn't trying to be coy or secretive. She just didn't want to jinx it.

The relationship was already going be difficult. Long-distance love affairs fail for a reason. Add to it the taboo of the age difference, her childhood fantasy for Sterling's brother and Sterling's annoying but constant need to always do the right thing, and suddenly this
new romance
was on thin ice.

“Fine. Then don't tell me.” Tangie huffed.

“Forget that I'm your best friend and that we've always shared
everything.
What does a lifelong friendship have to do with anything nowadays?”

Alyssa rolled her eyes as she marched into her kitchen and popped open the refrigerator. She frowned at her bare shelves.

“I had the maid clean it out,” Tangie said. “All that vegetable stuff doesn't have a long shelf life.”

“I'll just order a pizza,” Alyssa said, picking up the cordless.

“Pizza?” Tangie blinked and then stared her down. “Okay. That does it.” She snatched the phone from Alyssa's hand. “Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?”

Alyssa laughed. “Nothing. I'm just a woman who loves carbs now.” She grabbed the phone back. “I must have gained ten pounds since I've been gone,” she confessed. “And I love every one of them.”

Tangie just continued to stare. “You still haven't convinced me that you're not an impostor.”

Alyssa sighed with a smile. “Not only have I had the best sex of my life with Sterling but I ate…and ate…and ate. We made huge breakfasts and ordered three-course meals from the best restaurants every night. I'm talking about pasta, creamy sauces and
meat.
Steak. Chicken. Sometimes even fried.” Alyssa rolled her eyes. “I haven't eaten like that since I was a kid, trying out all Dad's recipes.” A smile hooked
her lips. “Maybe I should start cooking. Keep my father's legacy alive.”

Tangie frowned. “Can you even cook?”

“I can do pancakes,” she boasted. “Sterling taught me.”

“I see.” Tangie crossed her arms. “Let's go back to that part when you said you had the best sex of your life.”

Alyssa's face became flushed with embarrassment. “You caught that, did you?”

“It's hard to get something like that by me.”

Alyssa drew in a deep breath while her smile stretched from ear to ear, but in the end she couldn't hold back. “It was incredible,” she confessed. “Never in my life has a man just turned me out like that. It was incredible. It was fantastic. It was…beautiful.” She set the phone down and grabbed Tangie's hands. “I love him, Tangie. I've been playing every memory I have and I don't know why I didn't see it before. He has always been protective, kind and patient with me.”

“And Quentin?”

Alyssa waved off the question. “I haven't thought about Quentin in years. He was just a childhood crush. Puppy love.”

“And Sterling is the real thing?” Tangie asked dubiously.

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “He's my heart. I really want this to work.”

To her surprise, her words failed to erase the doubt from her friend's face.

“What?”

Tangie shrugged. “Nothing.”

“You're a lousy liar.” Alyssa crossed her arms and prepared for the worst. “Out with it.”

“Well…it all just seems soooo…convenient.”

Alyssa's defenses flared. “What do you mean?”

“Look. It's cool if you're just trying to get your groove back. I'm with you on that. But…true love?” Tangie gave her a halfhearted shrug. “I don't know.”

“See. I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

“C'mon, Ally.” Tangie cocked her head. “You raced home because of a family tragedy and you wind up in the arms of a handsome…father figure.”

Alyssa went still.

Tangie continued gently. “I mean. You were in a vulnerable state, right?”

“Vulnerable?”

“Yeah…and Sterling was a good friend of your father's. He was able to share and commiserate. He offered comfort.”

“So fucking him was my way of saying what—thank you? Is that it?” Alyssa snapped.

Now Tangie became defensive. “I didn't say that.”

“You might as well have,” she said angrily. “I'm telling you it wasn't like that. Sterling and I connected. It wasn't pity sex.”

“Okay. Okay. I take it back.” Tangie tossed up her hands. “I didn't mean any harm.”

But the harm had been done all the same. Mainly because Tangie's words sounded so much like Ster
ling's. Why was everyone determined to tell her how she felt? She shook her head and tried to erase the troubling thoughts.

But they were there to stay.

“C'mon. Let's go ahead and order that pizza,” Tangie said. Clearly, she was trying to make up for bursting Alyssa's bubble.

Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut?
“You go ahead and order, I'm going to go upstairs and change out of these clothes,” Alyssa said, inching out of the kitchen. She needed some space and distance from her best friend right now.

“Ally, I didn't mean—”

“It's all right. I'll be back in a minute.” She left her friend standing in the kitchen while mentally cursing her out. By the time she reached her room, her tears had blurred her vision. Needing to calm down, she whipped out her cell phone and dialed Sterling's office. Maybe hearing his voice was all she needed.

Unfortunately, she reached his robotic voice mail instead.

“Hey, Sterling. It's Alyssa. I just wanted to let you know I made it back home okay. I miss you already. I wanted to hear your voice. Give me a call when you receive this message. Love you. Bye.” She hung up. Everything was going to be all right. She didn't have to prove anything to Tangie. What she felt was real. All she needed was to hear from Sterling.

But two days later, he still hadn't called back.

Alyssa called every number she had and left
multiple messages. She even went through the stage where she feared that he'd been in a bad accident or something. She called hospitals and clinics. She even called his parents' estate. Beatrice had heard nothing about any family accident or death. She thought about returning Quentin's call but couldn't shake the feeling that it would be the wrong thing to do.

Finally the truth was staring her in the face. Sterling was fine. He just wasn't returning her calls.

Still, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

On the seventh day, she left a final message on his home answer machine:

“Sterling, this is Alyssa. By now I'm sure that you've received all of my messages.”
She drew a deep breath.
“You know you could have just told me to fuck off. I expected you to be more mature than this. Don't worry. I get it. You don't have to worry about me bothering you anymore. So have a nice life, asshole.”

Alyssa slammed the phone down and willed herself not to cry. Screw him. She hoped he rotted in hell.

 

Sterling replayed Alyssa's message and poured himself a drink. As he listened to the anger and bitterness in her voice, he tried to convince himself for the millionth time that he was doing the right thing.

No matter how much it hurt.

Why settle for one Hinton
when you can have two?

X
avier frowned as he stroked his chin and tried to keep up. “So if Sterling and Alyssa broke things off, what's the problem? She was a free woman.”

Quentin chuckled. “You obviously don't know women very well.”

Xavier's gaze narrowed. “I wouldn't go that far. I've been in a relationship a time or two. Can't say that the serious stuff is my cup of tea, though.”

“Take my advice and keep it that way.”

They shared a brief laugh.

“Seriously, though,” Xavier said. “If she and your brother broke up…?”

“Have you ever known a woman to say what she means and mean what she says?”

Xavier thought it over. “Can't say that I have.”

“There you go.”

“Sooo…Alyssa and Sterling broke up, but she didn't stop having feelings for him.”

Quentin smiled and cocked an imaginary gun at him. “Bull's-eye. Now you're catching on. Only thing is, I entered the picture and didn't know the rules had changed…or that there were more than two players.”

“I hate when that happens,” Xavier commiserated.

“That makes two of us. I thought I was capitalizing on a childhood crush. I didn't know I was dealing with a woman still in love….”

T
he launch of Jansen Inc. became one of the most hectic times in Alyssa's life. Officially a retired supermodel, she still had one of the top-selling fragrances in the U.S. and in England. Now she could officially add fashion designer to her résumé. Her first fall line was picked up by major department stores.

To celebrate, Tangie had planned a fabulous party in Manhattan. It was complete with red carpet and paparazzi. Tangie and her publicist kept calling it the hottest event of the year. Alyssa just called it more work—which it was.

Smiling, shaking hands and air-kissing while navi
gating through the fashion industry haters was a fulltime job. At least it was shaping up to be quite a success. Everyone who was anyone showed up. The music was pumping, everyone was laughing and having a good time—everyone except the star of the party.

“Will you relax and loosen up?” Tangie shouted above the music. “You're supposed to be having a good time.”

“I didn't get that memo,” Alyssa said, reaching the bartender and thanking him for her third cocktail. “I think I would have been more productive if I'd stayed home and gone over Margie's sketches.”

“Work, work, work. I swear that's all you do nowadays.”

“It's the only thing that keeps me sane,” she admitted.

“All work and no play make Alyssa a very dull woman.” Tangie shook her hips. “Loosen up. You used to know how to do that.”

I used to know how to do a lot of things, Alyssa thought, but it all seems so long ago.

“C'mon. There're a lot of single men in here tonight.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Well keep them away from me. The last thing I need in my life right now is a man.”

“Ally,” Tangie whined. “It's time that you jumped back into the dating pool. That whole Sterling fiasco was almost two years ago. Surely it's time.”

“What makes you think that I haven't?”

“You mean other than the fact that you don't date
and you stay home most weekends, curling up with that damn dog.”

“Hey, me and Doggie are just fine.”

“I still can't believe that you named a dog Doggie.”

“It suits him.”

“Ms. Jansen!”

The women turned and were immediately drawn into a business conversation with a French buyer. Then Alyssa was congratulated by another string of models, actors and actresses.

More work.

“Everything's looking good,” Tangie bubbled. “C'mon, be happy.”

“I
am
happy.” Just then Lil Jon's latest hit blasted through the club's speakers and Alyssa threw her hands up and started swinging her hips. And to shut Tangie up for good, Alyssa climbed up onto the bar and really got her groove on. Everyone went wild and cheered her on.

It felt pretty good.

A few more partygoers climbed onto the bar with her, others jumped on top of tables. After a few songs, Alyssa finally descended, still getting into the party mood.

“My, my, my. If I hadn't seen it with my eyes I don't think I would have ever believed it.”

The familiar voice stopped her cold. When she turned around, her spirits dipped in disappointment. “Oh…Quentin.”

“Hello, Alice.” He strolled up. His bold gaze
roamed over her. “You're looking beautiful as ever. It's no wonder why half the women here are jealous.”

Her lips curled. “I see that you're still quite the charmer.”

“Guilty, but please don't hold it against me.”

“Now why would I do that?”

Quentin shrugged one shoulder. “Oh, I don't know. You may be holding past grievances. It's the only reason I can think of why you never returned my calls.”

“Sorry about that,” she said. “I guess I've been a little busy.”

Q nodded and glanced around the place. “I'd say that's an understatement. Congratulations. Looks like you're well on your way to moguldom.”

“And you?” she countered. “Are you still searching for your calling?”

Quentin grinned.

“Or are you still marrying for mergers?”

Quentin cocked his brow. “Ahh. So you are still sore at me? I knew it.”

“Hardly.” She lifted her chin. “I've just moved on, that's all.” She made sure that she kept her eyes leveled so that he caught her meaning. But judging by the twinkle in his eyes, she knew he just saw it as a challenge.

“How about we grab a booth and play catch-up for a while?”

“I don't know.” She hesitated. “I'm sort of the woman of the hour.”

“Then how about we get together for drinks tomorrow?”

Again, she hesitated.

Quentin cocked his head and gave his best puppy dog expression. “For old times' sake?”

She wavered and then, like most women, gave in to Quentin's charm. “You have yourself a deal.”

 

Quentin couldn't believe his luck. After years of praying for a second chance with Alice, the opportunity had at long last presented itself at a party he almost didn't attend. He didn't know how it was possible, but she was even more beautiful than he remembered. After she left him in the center of the club to go network and dance around with her friends, Q's gaze followed her every move.

Don't screw this up.

The thought only added more pressure. When had he not screwed up? Screwing up was his specialty.

“There you are.” Xavier pushed his way through the dancing crowd. “Man, you gotta try this drink.” His cousin handed over a bubbling concoction that looked straight out of Dr. Jekyll's lab.

Quentin frowned. “I think I'll pass.”

“Girls,” Xavier said, glancing over his shoulder. “He says that he's not interested.”

Out of nowhere, a sexy set of identical twins appeared at Xavier's side. The women wore dresses that left very little to the imagination and could easily
earn them a ticket for indecent exposure if they stepped outside of the club.

“I take it that you see something you like,” Xavier said with a wolfish grin.

Quentin took the drink.

“Your cousin's cute,” the arm candy on Xavier's right side announced specifically for Quentin's benefit.

“Yeah. I say we ask him to join us for our own party,” the left arm candy said.

Xavier's eyebrows stretched high in question above his Gucci shades.

Q caught sight of Alyssa from the corners of his eyes. His chest tightened whenever she smiled.

Xavier cleared his throat.

Quentin's attention jumped back to his cousin and then swung between The Hard-on Twins. “Sorry, man. I'm going to have to sit this one out.”

The women pouted, poking out their bottom lips.

“Are you all right, cuz?” Xavier asked. His expression collapsed in confusion.

“Yeah. Yeah. I'm cool.” He started to inch away from temptation. He didn't want the twin's gravity-defying tits to start clouding his judgment—which wasn't a hard thing to do. “I'm just going to hook up with you later,” he shouted.

“All right,” Xavier said. He shrugged as his grin spread wider. “It just means more for me.”

Q gave him the thumbs-up. “Don't hurt yourself.” He turned and made his way across the club. He even managed to find a free table where he sat down and
continued to watch his Alice flitter about the room. He really had been a fool to let her get away.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, he vowed.

What he needed now…was a plan.