Just One Touch: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 3) (14 page)

“It just is. It’s
like first come, first served. She was here first, so the right thing
would be for me to back away if the occasion presented itself.”

“I don’t agree with
you.”

“You don’t have to.
That’s just how I feel.”

“For this particular
circumstance, I do think we should agree,” I say. If I can’t get
her to see why her logic makes no sense, I won’t be sharing
anything with her today.

“What if I never came
along? How do you know that you and Heather would never get
together?”

“Because I don’t
have feelings for her. That’s how I know. She’s Jake’s mom,
that’s all.”

I slide against the
counter, pausing in front of where she’s leaning, and rest my hands
on her hips.

“You, however, I like
very much.”

“You’re just saying
that to change the subject.” She pecks a kiss against my lips. “But
you’re right, what I’m saying doesn’t even make sense. I’m
just worked up is all, and my mind is all over the place. The last
thing I want to think about is you and Jake’s mom.”

That settles it.

“That, I do agree
with. Right now, I’d rather do what I spent most of my day thinking
about.” Holding onto her hips, I lift her onto the counter,
separating her legs to rest myself between them as I kiss her, hard.

I’ll make sure we
come back to this conversation at a later date.

Alexis

Conner’s hands run up
the tops of my thighs, pushing the fabric of my dress back. When they
reach my backside he grips my butt, pulling me forward, and crashes
my center against his.

“I’ve been thinking
about this all damn day,” he groans into my ear.

“I almost showed up
on your lunch hour. I’ve been thinking about this moment since I
woke up,” I confess. My words send him into overdrive as his hands
make quick work with his zipper.

My hands tug at his
hair as my tongue slides into his mouth, meeting his own with each
kiss. Our lips move as though not kissing would rip us up. As if
pulling away would ruin us for the rest of our lives.

I gasp loudly as a
finger slides between my legs. The motion spreads my legs even
farther. His lips feather kisses along my neck, jawline, and against
my ear. Another moan escapes my lips.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I
wanted to drag this out, but I don’t think I can.”

My ass lifts and my
panties are swooped down and off my legs before he’s even finished
his sentence. He picks me up, walking us to the sofa, where he sits
with me straddling on top of him. As he slowly rests back against the
couch, I lower myself on to him.

A hiss comes from deep
in his throat once I’m as far as I can go.

“I’ll never get
used to that,” he whispers into my ear.

I start to rock myself
against him. His hands are at my hips, helping to control the
movement. Each time I start to go fast, he slows me down by gripping
my body and groaning as his head leans back.

He stops me, completely
lifting me off him and turning me to place my hands on the back of
the couch as he stands behind me.

He thrusts hard and I
cry out, enjoying every pleasurable moment he gives me. His hands
sneak around to cup my breasts as he kisses my neck. His hips move
faster and harder as his body crashes against mine from behind. My
entire body shudders, and I feel as though I’m going to black out
the moment my orgasm hits me. His quickened pace and groan before he
slows lets me know he felt it, too.

“What are you doing
to me?” He laughs, pulling up his jeans and pulling down my dress
before he heads for the bathroom. He comes out and laces our fingers
as he sits next to me. “I’ve never felt so out of control the way
I feel when I’m with you,” he says.

“As lame as this
sounds, I think it’s us more than it is one person.”

A deep chuckle comes
from his throat. He turns to look at me, but his eyes catch sight of
something else. The moment I see him reach for my mail on the table I
straddle his lap.

“I’m not sure we’re
finished,” I say, distracting him and shaming myself for leaving
something so stupid out in the open.

When he looks me in the
eye, I see the question there. The one asking me what I’m hiding,
but I can’t answer him. Instead, I kiss him and I don’t stop
kissing him until his sister calls to tell him she’s here with
Jake.

When he leaves I can
think only one thing: every day that I don’t tell him, I’m making
things worse, and there is good chance this won’t end well.

Alexis

From the moment Conner
reminded me about this get together at his friend’s house, I’ve
felt this weird vibe. Like he was nervous I was going to say no. His
hands have been twisting around the steering wheel for the entire
drive, and he hasn’t spoken but a few words here and there.
Normally I’d let his odd actions pass and not think another thing
of it, but his nervousness is making me worry. There’s only one way
to address this: ask him the obvious question and hope that his
answer isn’t the one I believe it is. I never asked him whose house
we were going to—because who has a barbeque twice a month?—but
right now, I wish I would have done that before we got in the truck.

“Conner, is
everything okay?” Although this isn’t my question, easing into
the one I want to ask is probably the best idea.

“Yeah,” he answers
quickly, not pulling his eyes away from the road to look at me.
Safety is good, but he’s always been the kind of person to make eye
contact when he talks. Avoiding it isn’t a good sign. When he
doesn’t add to his answer, I get the feeling he knows, and I get
right to the point.

“Whose house are we
going to?”

“A friend’s.”

“What kind of
friend?”

“It’s Logan’s
house,” he blurts out.

Crap.
I knew it. I can’t meet him now. I’m not ready to do this. What
is Conner thinking, bringing me here? Oh that’s right, he has no
idea because I’ve kept it a secret. Unless he does know, and then
this is awful.

“Like, the same
couple who own the bar you work at?” It’s a stupid question, I
know, but I’m secretly hoping he knows another Logan.

“Yes, and I know how
you feel about the whole thing, but Logan is my best friend and I
really want you two to meet.”

“I’m not feeling
well. I think you should take me home.”

“What?” At the same
moment he pulls his truck into the driveway of a medium-sized dark
blue house with brown trim. From the outside it looks as though it
might be a bi-level. I can tell it definitely has an upstairs from
the giant window in the arc.

There are a group of
people huddled around the middle of three garage doors and a group of
women near the front door. I immediately recognize Beth and Kelsey,
but the other woman, the one with blonde hair curled and flowing like
waterfall to the middle of her back, I don’t know her. But I have a
pretty good idea who she is. She’s another person I’m not ready
to meet.

“We have to leave,”
I say, quickly. My body temperature rises and I feel the lunch I had
earlier fighting its way to come up. “Now, please. Get me out of
here now!”

Somewhere in the three
sentences I’ve managed to say since we arrived, I’ve started to
cry and Beth has noticed us. She’s now looking at me with a puzzled
expression as Conner backs out of the driveway.

“Alex, I need you to
explain what happened just now.” His voice is calm and sweet, but I
still don’t answer. There is only one way for me to explain this
without sounding like I’ve totally lost my mind. I’m going to
have to tell him the truth.

“Just at least nod to
tell me it’s not a life-or-death situation.”

Isn’t it, though?
What happens when Logan decides he doesn’t want me to be a part of
his life? Or what happens if it turns out I’m not really his sister
and the letter was a fake?

Still, I nod.

We drive in silence,
the same way as before until we’ve reached the apartment. I head
for my door and Conner for his. If I don’t do this now, I’ll
never find the courage to do it again, and if I don’t tell him
something, anything, about what just happened, whatever this is
between us could be ruined.

“Conner, if you want
to come over for a minute, I’d like to explain some things to you.”
I say the words slowly, as if I need to say them to myself to
reassure in my own mind that this needs to happen. Maybe by telling
Conner, I’ll be one step closer to telling Logan.

His step falters as his
gaze meets mine. Worry and frustration take over his beautiful face.
Finally, he nods and follows me inside. I point to the sofa and then
take a seat across from him.

“Why have you never
asked what my last name is?” I ask.

“It’s easy to see
that you are still guarding yourself from me. I don’t know what
this is, but I never asked you too many personal questions because I
didn’t want to ruin whatever we have.”

“And I adore you for
that, Conner, but I didn’t just come here for a fresh start on a
new life.” I slide a magazine on the table toward him, waiting
until he reads it over. The moment he sees my name, Alexis Parker, I
expect him to be furious, but instead, he’s the total opposite.

“So it’s true? You
really are Logan’s sister.”

I can see in the way he
slouches into one of my kitchen table chairs that he’s hurt. I
should have told him sooner.

“I came here to find
my brother, and he just so happens to be your best friend. I didn’t
plan that, but I’m glad you’re friends with him.”

The way his lips
twitch, I can see he’s fighting the urge to smile. Sooner than I’d
like, the urge is gone and the frustration is back.

“Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“I didn’t want
anyone to know.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want
anyone to treat me differently once they knew.”

“Not even me?”

“Especially you.
Logan’s your best friend, and I knew if I told you, you’d make me
tell him.”

“You’re not going
to tell him?”

“No.”

His hand curls into a
fist on the table as he lets out a breath. Now his voice is low and
firm.

“Logan looked for you
for over a year. Not finding you tore him up. It caused problems with
him and Sara, and he sacrificed a lot for you. And here you are, in
the same town, and you don’t even have the respect for him to tell
him who you are.”

“Conner, it’s not
that easy. I’m not ready to admit to him that I’m here.”

“Why not?”

“I’m just not
ready.”

“You’re not ready
to tell your brother that the family he searched for, the family he
thinks wants nothing to do with him, came to Wind Valley to find
him?”

“Yes, and I’d
really appreciate if you kept this between us.” The last word comes
out almost in a whisper. I know how he feels about secrets, or
holding the truth from someone. Asking him to do this is asking him
to go against everything he is.

The gaze that usually
seeps right into my soul and warms my heart turns cold and angry. I
have to look away before I start crying again.

“You can’t be
serious.”

“I know how it
sounds, but—”

“Nothing good will
come from keeping this to yourself, Alexis Parker.” The bitter way
he says my full name stings. “I don’t want to be a part of it.
Either you tell Logan or I will.”

He doesn’t wait for
me to respond before he exits my apartment. I don’t even know what
I would have said if he had waited. He’s right, I need to tell
Logan. I just hope Conner gives me the time I need to do it on my
own.

Conner

It’s been a week
since Alex told me she’s Logan sister.
Alexis.
She’ll always be just Alex to me. I shouldn’t have doubted it for
so long. I should have just manned up and asked her about it. Been
there for her instead letting it dwell in my mind or instead of
walking out on her when she did finally admit the truth.

Every day I wait for
Logan’s call to either tell me about it or ask me how long I knew.
Each day that phone call doesn’t come, it becomes harder for me to
not say anything.

I know I should let her
do it, but she wasn’t here. She doesn’t know what Logan went
through. Although he never came out and told me he decided to give
up, all the signs were there, and I’ll never forget the way he
acted.

My phone rings and the
hope that it’s Logan strikes again.

It’s not. It’s
Alex.

I press the ignore
button, the same way I’ve done since she told me. We weren’t even
officially dating, but the fact that she couldn’t trust me, that
even after everything I told her she still kept it a secret, pains
me. Was she ever really listening to me, or was she just using me to
get closer to Logan?

I’m such a coward for
acting this way when I have things of my own I’m keeping from her.

I shake the thought the
moment I’ve made it. Alex and Logan haven’t even met, that I know
of, so it’s impossible she could have been using me. Still, another
woman I brought into my life didn’t trust me enough to let me into
her own.

“Knock, knock,”
Heather’s voice comes from my doorway. Jake runs in, his hair
spiked and his Ninja Turtle backpack half the size of him bounces off
his legs as he jumps on the couch next to me.

“Dad! Mom said I was
staying for a whole week! How cool is that!” Every word that comes
out his mouth is filled with excitement. There is no possible way I
can be anything but happy when he’s around. My feeling toward his
mother however, is not so happy. She picked him up for two days from
my parents’ house no less, probably avoiding me. And now, something
new apparently came up, and he’s back. His mother’s lack of
commitment to him these last two weeks is not okay.