Momentous Kisses: Love in Sandy Beach (4 page)

Allison was sick and tired of thinking about Russell all the time. He’d invaded her heart and her body, and despite her best efforts she hadn’t been able to ban his image from her mind.

When Saturday rolled around, she couldn’t face another day of sitting around her apartment moping, so she hopped in her car and drove up to Ashton to visit her sister Reese. It was a twenty-minute drive, and as she entered the small exclusive resort town, she marveled that her sister had been able to make it here.

Ashton was one of those places like Aspen – it catered to the rich and famous, and was a whole lot fancier than Sandy Beach. The villas were bigger and the cafés more elegant, and she’d never seen more Bugattis or Lamborghinis cruising the streets than here.

Reese greeted her at the front door, and as she waited for Reese to grab her shoes, Allison shook her head at how organized Reese’s small apartment was. She’d always admired her sister for being so super-organized. Everything had its own place in her house – and in her life. Reese surely would never experience such turmoil over a man, let alone jump into bed with one she barely knew.

Allison’s sister earned a more than decent living as a professional organizer, helping her rich and famous clients organize everything from their schedules to their bedroom closets. Not to forget their shoe collections…Reese had once told her about a female client who owned easily a thousand pairs of shoes and wanted them organized by type, color, and season.

“How about we head down to the promenade for some iced coffee?” Reese suggested as they stepped out of her doorway.

“Sounds good.”

They walked the two blocks in relative silence, being observers of those around them and taking in the atmosphere of the small town. After grabbing their drinks, Reese led her sister over to a small bistro table. Once Allison was seated, Reese leveled her gaze at her and demanded, “Okay. Spill it. What happened?”

When Allison had decided to come up here she knew she couldn’t keep quiet if Reese asked. She’d never been able to keep anything from her sister and now was no different.

Allison had played it out in her head, how she would carefully tell the story of how she and Russell had gotten caught up in the moment, breaking the news to her sister slowly. When she opened her mouth, all of her carefully rehearsed words flew away.

“I slept with Russell!”

“What?!” Reese shrieked, and an older lady at the next table raised her eyebrow at them.

Allison nodded glumly. “You heard me. I slept with him.”

Reese had difficulties assimilating the information and looked puzzled at her younger sister. “But you don’t do one-night stands.”

“I know. Believe me, I’ve regretted it every single moment.” She was also scared to death at the magnitude of her emotions, and how she couldn’t get him out of her mind, but she kept that bit of information to herself. At least she could try to figure things out on her own before involving someone else.

“Gosh, Ally, I can see why you were tempted. Let’s face it, the man is scorching hot.”

Allison agreed, “He is.”

“And he’s a player. How could you…”

“He’s really not like that. I know he seems grumpy and cold on the outside, but once you get to know him a bit, he’s considerate and tender. He’s much different than he appears, and there’s something about him that sets him apart from the other men I’ve dated.”

“You don’t have to defend him just because you slept with him.”

“I’m not defending him, just saying that there’s more to him than meets the eye.”

“I bet! And you got to see all 6' plus of him, didn’t you?”

Allison blushed and diverted the conversation back to what type of person Russell was. “I think he’s never truly gotten over his parents’ death. I mean, he’s so driven and reserved.”

Reese listened for another few minutes as Allison continued to tell her about Russell’s good attributes. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer and interrupted her: “If you believe he’s that great, then go for it.”

“What?” Allison asked.

“If he affected you this much, I say go for it. Go after him.”

Allison shook her head. “It would never work. Besides the fact that he lives in Chicago and I live in Sandy Beach, we move in two totally different social circles. I would want a more traditional relationship, and he’s used to one-night stands with the flavor of the week.”

“Why don’t you meet him again before you make any rash decisions?”

“No.” Allison shook her head. “It’s better not to see him. He’s not really cut out for relationships anyway.”
Didn’t he say this himself?

Reese opened her mouth to say something else but the alarm on her phone went off. “Sorry. Bad timing, I know, but I’m organizing the beach house for a businessman this afternoon. He only comes here for vacation, but he owns a fabulous villa and wants it to feel like home.”

“You are working on a weekend?” Allison asked.

“I don’t have much choice. These super-rich people demand quite a lot. But who am I to complain? They pay my not-so-modest fees without complaint, and I actually enjoy working with most of my clients.”

Allison didn’t say anything as Reese gathered up her things and prepared to leave. Before walking away, she gave Allison one last piece of unasked-for advice. “Think about what I told you, and then do what your heart wants, not your mind.”

Allison let those words play over in her mind during her drive home. When she was about halfway between Ashton and Sandy Beach, she pulled over and made her way through the bushes down to the deserted beach. She walked along the water’s edge, thinking about her conversation with her sister.

When she found a dry rock, she sat down and watched the waves roll in for long moments, meditating on what she wanted. After a while, she came up with an idea. A relationship test, if you will. The idea was totally silly, and after thinking on it some more, she shrugged it off and headed home.

Later that evening, she donned her running shoes and took off along the lake. As soon as she reached the point of blissful blankness in her mind, the idea about the relationship test surfaced again. Without her actively pursuing it, the idea fine-tuned itself in her head until she believed she’d come up with something brilliant. Not brilliant in the common sense of brilliant but it was perfect for her, and it might be perfect for Russell as well.

She’d prove to Russell they were indeed a good couple together and should try to make a relationship work.  What did she have to lose? Absolutely nothing!

If the test didn’t work out, at least she’d never look back and wonder what might have been.

The next day she arranged with the souvenir shop to have a few days off. Her colleague readily agreed to switch shifts, because Allison offered to work two weekends in a row. Allison didn’t mind working the weekend shifts, and found the busier the shop was, the faster the time went. And putting her plan into action had top priority at the moment.

When she got back home, she debated about how to acquire Russell’s address. Finally she decided there was no other way and placed a call to Toni.

“Hi. It’s Allison Paxton.”

“Allison. Nice to hear from you. What are you up to?”

“I’m on my way to Chicago and I was wondering if I could get Russell’s address from you. He had expressed an interest in some of my paintings for his office. I thought maybe I’d drop some of them off so that he and his partner could take a look at them.”

“Hey, that’s a wonderful idea.” Toni rattled off her brother’s address and then wished Allison good luck and safe travels.

Allison hung up the phone with a huge smile upon her face. The first task had been easier than she’d feared, and Toni hadn’t asked any tough questions. While she was in the city she hoped to find a gallery or two that wanted to display her work.

She packed as many paintings as she could into her car. As she was searching for yet one more painting in the shed, she bumped into his portrait. His handsome face with the tousled blond hair and piercing blue eyes seemed to look right into her soul, and her heart ached for him. It was the right decision to go see him again.

During the drive to Chicago she almost turned around twice. Suddenly, her idea didn’t seem so brilliant anymore. In fact, it was outright silly. But she pressed forward. After all, Allison was known for her follow-through. She was going to Chicago and she was going to make her plan work. What did she have to lose?

Russell needed to relax. He’d had a damn hard day at work. His plans for the evening included putting on his running shoes and heading down to the lake to run the frustration out of his system. He was still trying to shake that stale and empty feeling he’d brought upon himself by sleeping with that prospective patient a few days ago. He couldn’t even remember her name, but the hollow sensation had followed him day and night.

On the bright side, it had challenged him once again to change his life for the better. He was more than willing to do so, if it didn’t require releasing his locked-up emotions and revisiting the hidden pain and grief.

He was just heading for the front door when the bell rang. He glanced at the clock, wondering who would be visiting him this time of day.

When he opened the door and saw Allison standing on the other side of the door with a shy smile upon her face, it took him a moment to recover his composure. His heart racing and his groin throbbing, all he could do was to close his dropped jaw and wonder if he was hallucinating.

She was even more beautiful than he had remembered. He’d been comparing her to his patients, and each and every woman had paled in comparison to Allison’s authentic beauty. She wasn’t self-conscious about her body at all, and he found that refreshing. He loved confidence in women, probably because he saw it so infrequently.

Finally he was able to speak again.  “Do you want to come in?”

She nodded with nervous laugh and then reached down and picked up a small suitcase. “Thanks.”
Why would she bring her suitcase all the way up here?

“I didn’t know you had my address,” he said, because he couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say. Her presence held his brain cells captive.

He led her towards his living room, unsure what to do next. Where were his manners when he needed them? He stopped and turned, bumping into her. To prevent her from falling, he reached out a hand to catch her shoulder, and the zing that rushed through his body caught him even more off guard.
Whoa!

All thoughts of taking a run to clear his mind fled. There it was again, that unwanted but undeniable thrill of attraction. He struggled against the urge to pull her against his chest and repeat that one night they’d shared together. She wasn’t there to be laid, and even if she were amenable to the suggestion, he wouldn’t do it. Allison deserved more than he’d given her the last time. A lot more. She wasn’t a one-night stand and he wouldn’t cheapen her by putting her in that position again.

Besides, their families were entwined now and he didn’t want to complicate things for the future. Russell Barkin didn’t do relationships. They were synonymous with grief and sadness, emotions he evaded like the plague.

A little voice inside his head reminded him that he did have relationships. With Toni. With the Armstrongs.
But it almost killed you to see her suffering after your parents died. Emotions make you vulnerable.

“So…what are you doing here?” he asked her, wincing inwardly at how harsh that had sounded. He expected her to respond but instead, her eyes jumped around the room, until she finally opened her mouth.

“Could I get a glass of water, please?”

Russell nodded his head and walked towards the kitchen. While he waited for the glasses to fill, he glanced back at her, puzzled by her obvious nervousness and the lack of words. That was so unlike the Allison he knew. She always wore her heart on her sleeve and it didn’t take long to know exactly what was on her mind. She told anyone, if they asked or not.

He turned the tap off and pulled the dish of lemons from the fridge. “Lemon?” When she nodded, he dropped the slices of fresh lemon into the glasses and brought one to her.

“Thanks.” She sipped from the glass and then looked around his apartment. “I like your place.”

Russell gave his apartment a cursory glance and shrugged. “It works.” He paused for a moment and then told her, “You never told me how you got my address.”

“Toni gave it to me.”

“Ah.” He nodded, blood rushing through his ears.
What did she tell my sister?

Allison took another sip of her water and then set the glass down on the side table. She took a deep breath and then looked up at him. He watched her biting her bottom lip, apparently in an attempt to gather her courage. With a swift nod of her head, she tensed her shoulders and looked right into his eyes. “Russell, I haven’t been able to forget you like we agreed.”

Hearing her put a voice to what he’d been going through was the last thing he expected. Part of him wanted to hop up and down with joy she’d been feeling the same way, but the bigger part recited all of the logical reasons why a relationship between them wouldn’t work.

He looked at her, and suspected there was more she hadn’t told him yet. She hadn’t come all the way down to Chicago just to tell him that. Had she? Judging by her nervousness there was more to her visit, and he was dying to find out what exactly. “Continue.”

Allison didn’t leave him wondering for long. 

“I came here to test something out,” she said, folding her hands together so she wouldn’t wring them.

“A test?” Now she was talking in riddles. That just didn’t make sense.

She nodded. “Yes.” After a pause, the words tumbled out of her mouth almost faster than he could process them. “I thought maybe I’d stay with you for the week and if at the end we are still of the opinion that a relationship won’t work, then we just forget it. I mean, I could leave with the good feeling that at least we tried. No regrets. We’d never have to wonder ‘what if’. If at the end of the week we think we might work together, we can talk about the details then.”

Russell was baffled. Totally baffled. He looked around, half expecting his in-laws showing up and laughing at the prank, but no, her determined face taught him she was dead serious about this test. He tried to contain his laughter, barely managing it as he replayed her words in his mind. Her idea was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.

He spied her suitcase and knew she’d come here expecting he would agree to this crazy idea of hers. She continued to talk without a pause while he tried to form a response, and finally he stopped her chatter.

“Allison, stop. Are you sure you want to do this?”

She nodded her head and he sighed, “I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not.”

He was about to say no, but then she smiled at him. Her wonderful, lighthearted smile that had originally drawn him across the room to her side. It was as if the sun was suddenly rising in his apartment, and he felt a warmth spread throughout his body.

Against his intention, he found himself agreeing to her request. “If you’re sure, I guess we could try it.” He thought it was a bad idea, and agreed for a single reason: so she’d see herself it wouldn’t work out.
Whom am I kidding? I agreed, because her smile captured me. This is such a bad idea.

Still, he hoped after a day or two she’d find out a relationship with him wasn’t in the cards and both of them could happily pursue their own lives again.