Connections (6 page)

He sounded so sincere that she chose to trust him.
 
She bunched her dress around her knees so that she wouldn’t unnecessarily flash Alex, although a part of her knew he’d enjoy it.
 
He’d probably even encourage it.

He seemed to read her thoughts because his eyes twinkled devilishly and his lips quirked up.
 
She gave him a knowing look and she swung her legs over the ledge once she’d scooted onto the window sill.
 
His hands reached out to grasp her calves and Olivia raised a brow.

“I’m just making sure you don’t fall,” he assured her innocently.
 
Well, as innocent as a man like Alex Matlock could be.

She gave him an exasperated look that made him back off and with a deep breath, she gently pushed off the ledge and landed a couple feet down on the balcony.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Alex asked, reaching out to brush a loose hair from her face.

“Oh, be quiet,” Olivia said, swatting his arm playfully.
 
She redirected her attention to the view in front of her and she took a few hesitant steps to the balcony railing.
 
They were higher up than she imagined, but then she recalled the height of the first floor ceilings of this gigantic house.
 
Luckily, she wasn’t afraid of heights, so she was free to enjoy the sweeping view of Napa Valley in front of her without fear.

“Did you come out here a lot when you were growing up?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Alex.
 
His hazel eyes were soft as he looked at her and he seemed more calm than he’d been all evening.

He nodded, “I came out here almost every night.
 
Even when it was raining.”

Her eyes swept the small space, figuring he must’ve been pretty cramped here.
 
Something white caught her eye.
 
She spotted something wedged between where the concrete and the railing met.
 
Peering at it closer, she realized what it was, even though it had clearly been there for quite some time.
 
“You used to smoke?”

He frowned at the old, smashed cigarette butt and he shifted on his feet.
 
“No, not really.”

“‘
No, not really
,’” she repeated incredulously.
 
Then she laughed when he seemed uncomfortable.
 
“I’m not going to tell on you, Alex,” she said, smiling.

“Luke used to.
 
In high school and a little throughout college.
 
He came up here sometimes because it was the only place in the house my mother wouldn’t catch him,” he explained.
 
Then he grinned mischievously, “I might have bummed one off him every now and again, but I never really cared for smoking.
 
Pot, on the other hand…” he trailed off, shaking his head.
 
“I wasn’t the best kid.”

Olivia smiled, leaning back gently against the railing.
 
“I guess that makes
me
the best kid, because I never tried either.”

Alex stepped closer to her, not that he needed to.
 
The space was already small, but he somehow made it feel even smaller.
 
“Really?” he asked, raising a brow.
 
“Well, I’ll be damned.
 
I’m dating ‘the good girl.’”

“I wasn’t always good,” she protested immediately, flustered by his closeness.
 
No matter how much time she spent with him, she always felt like it was their first time together.
 
He still gave her butterflies.

“Prove it then,” he said, his voice lowering, his eyes darkening.
 
Oh boy
.
 
Her body responded to that sexy tone of his like it was trained.
 
“Tell me the baddest thing you ever did.”

Her brain was doing that short-circuiting thing again.
 
She was all too aware that it had been a little while since they’d last had sex and she’d denied them this past week.

But this reminded her why she’d done it in the first place.
 
She couldn’t think properly around him.

“I, um, well…” she struggled, watching as Alex’s predatory smile grew even wider.
 
She went for a joke, figuring it would lighten the mood.
 
“Well, sometimes, I watched TV
before
I finished my homework.”

It didn’t work.

He came closer until she could feel his body heat.
 
“Damn, you’re sexy, Liv, ” he growled lowly.

And just as he was about to lower his head to capture her lips, she burst out with, “CDs!”

“What?” he asked frowning, pulling away like she’d burned him, bewildered.

“I’d like to see your CDs,” she whispered.
 
“I saw some in your room.”

He blinked at her, completely taken back by the shift in mood.
 
But he gave her a look that made her think he knew exactly what she was trying to do.
 
“Is kissing off limits too?” he asked, the corners of his mouth lifting.

“No, I just—,” he cut her off.

“Then kiss me, Liv,” he ordered, not budging an inch.
 
“Now.”

“I just…I mean, when have we ever just kissed?” she asked, afraid that if she kissed him she’d never want to stop.

“Lots of times,” he argued.

“I just feel out of control with you sometimes,” she tried to explain.

“It’s supposed to be that way,” he said, his frustration clear.
 
Running a hand through his hair, he softened his voice.
 
“This is ridiculous, Liv.
 
I agreed to your condition about sex, but this is a hard limit for me.
 
A very hard limit.
 
So just put me out of my misery and fucking kiss me already.”

Softening at his words, she shifted onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck.
 
Her lips met his and he groaned almost immediately.
 
Olivia’s head swam at his closeness and the soft feel of his lips and the way he tasted.
 
His tongue ran along the inside of her lips and she gasped, denying him nothing.

A minute later, they broke away from each other.
 
Alex pressed a few soft kisses to her mouth and nose before he simply held her close.
 
“See?
 
That wasn’t so bad,” he teased into her ear.

She shivered against him and then realized he was much more excited than he let on.
 
“But you’re…” she bit her lip, flushing.

“Hard?” he breathed in her ear.
 
Tingles raced down her body pleasurably.
 
He laughed and pulled away from her.
 
Olivia was right.
 
He had a very noticeable bulge in his slacks.
 
“I’m positive I’ve been this way since I first met you, so no harm there.”
 
And before she had time to answer, he held out his hand.
 
“Come on, I’ll help you back up.
 
I think you mentioned something about CDs,” he joked.

“Movie scores?” Olivia asked, confused, as she ran her fingers down the spines of the plastic cases.

Alex bit back a smile and leaned back on his heels, quietly observing Olivia.
 
She was currently crouched down in front of his bookshelf, scanning the contents curiously.
 
He assumed that what she found surprised her because she seemed to look at every title on the CD cases before she came to her conclusion.

“You like movie scores?” she asked slowly, her blue eyes flashing up to his.

“Yeah,” he replied with amusement.
 
“Is that a deal breaker for you?”

“No, not at all,” she said, gracefully rising to her feet.
 
“It’s just unexpected.
 
Why did you leave them all here?”

He shrugged.
 
“I have MP3 copies.
 
No reason to haul them around.”

“Yes, I expect your house has no room for clutter,” she teased.
 
“So, which is your favorite?” she asked, gesturing to the stacks behind her.

He pondered her question and finally reached to pluck out a case.
 
Handing it to her, he said, “Braveheart.
 
James Horner’s best.”

She glanced down at the case, a slight smile touching her lips.
 
“Well, in that case, can I steal it?”

“What are you going to give me in return?” he asked innocently.

She cocked her head to the side, pretending to think it over.
 
“Well, I
already
gave you a kiss.
 
And I suspect you wouldn’t want another one of those.”

“A full body massage might tempt me,” Alex suggested, his voice lowering.

Olivia held out her hand and placed it on his chest when he attempted to step closer.
 
“I don’t think so, buddy.
 
I seem to recall that you still owe
me
a massage.
 
It was, after all, how you lured me out to dinner on our first date.”
 
Then, Olivia dropped the CD into her small handbag and gave him a ‘what are you going to do about it’ look.
 
The little minx.
 
She was practically asking for it.

Before he could punish her, his cell phone rang.
 
Damn
.
 
He dug in the front pocket of his slacks and fished it out.
 
Derrick.
 
“What’s up?” he asked, when he accepted the call.

“Food just arrived, man.
 
We’ll save you two a spot.”

“Thanks,” Alex replied before he hung up.
 
Looking at Olivia, he sighed.
 
“Looks like we have to go back to the party.
 
The food just came.”
 
She smiled comfortingly, but Alex could still feel the way the tension seeped back into the both of them.
 
The light-hearted and playful mood vanished when Alex pictured confronting his father again.
 
And Julia.
 
“I don’t want to go back,” he confessed softly, running a hand down the side of Olivia’s face, feeling her softness and warmth.
 
“I wish I could stay here with you all night.”

She bit her lip, gazing up at him with determination.
 
“Families are meant to drive us crazy, Alex.
 
But just remember that it’s only for tonight.
 
In a few hours, we’ll be gone.”

He shook his head.
 
“It’s what comes after that I’m afraid of.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in months.
 
And I still remember what he said to me the last time,” he explained, running a hand through his hair.
 
“They build up over time.
 
The little insults and digs.
 
Every time I see him, I just replay all these memories of him from when I was a child and a teenager.
 
Most of them are bad memories, but I keep going through them over and over in my mind.”

“And the good memories?” Olivia probed.

Shaking his head, Alex replied, “There aren’t enough to even begin to overshadow the bad.”
 
Sighing, he took her hand once again.
 
“Come on, darling.
 
Time to go back.”

* * * * *

An hour later, Olivia was officially overwhelmed.

After she and Alex emerged from the house, she’d been immediately stuffed with rich food she couldn’t even pronounce, dragged into conversations with people whose names she’d never remember, and to top it off, she was currently sitting with Alex’s grandmother because he’d gotten pulled into conversation by Luke.

In the ten minutes that she’d been chatting with ‘Grandmother Margaret,’ who Alex affectionately referred to as the ‘old witch,’ she’d been both complimented on the deliciousness of her cupcakes and told off about serving sugar and calorie laden cakes to the public.

“Sugar kills people you know,” Grandmother Margaret scolded in her very displeased tone that Olivia was beginning to recognize as normal.
 
Olivia wisely held her tongue.
 
She was tempted to say that
she
seemed to have no problem eating a half dozen of chocolate cupcakes.

Olivia sent a mental plea to Alex…to anyone really.
 
But even Beth seemed to shy away from her grandmother.
 
The black-haired beauty happily waved at her from across the lawn.

She spotted Alex near the white canopy, his head bent in conversation with Luke.
 
She realized with rising dismay that she’d probably get no help from him either.

“And this whole engagement party.
 
A bit over the top, wouldn’t you agree?
 
But that’s my daughter for you.
 
Perfectionist to her very core.
 
Her father was like that before he died, God rest his soul.
 
He actually used to measure the knives and forks from the plate and—,” Olivia cut her off, hoping it didn’t come across as rude.
 
But she honestly needed a little breathing room away from everyone.

“You’ll have to excuse me, Margaret,” she said, placing a hand over her stomach in such a way that she hoped was convincing.
 
“But I don’t feel very well all of a sudden.
 
Is there a bathroom I could use?”

“Oh, of course, dear.
 
Run inside, take a left at the dining room and go down the long hall.
 
The bathroom is three doors down on the right.”

“Thank you,” Olivia said politely, smiling genuinely.
 
Grandmother Margaret was a nice old lady, but one who could only be handled in small doses.