Misty sat on the dock of Holly Adamcik’s little lake house and sipped herbal tea Angie Riley gifted her with when Misty had visited Angie’s new store on the square in downtown Verde. A cool April breeze blew gently into Misty’s face and if it had been even a little bit warmer, she would have put on a swimsuit and headed to the little beach park next to Jimmy Adamcik’s house. But the Hill Country didn’t get warm as quickly as it did down at the coast and it was still a little cold for sunbathing. The late afternoon sun shone brightly on the sparkling waves of Lake Templeton, and although Misty was a city girl through and through she could appreciate the peace and beauty of this lakeside community. It seemed like paradise, but it had had plenty of trouble in the last couple of years, which was why Misty was here now.
Misty glanced down at the three-ring binder in her lap and studied the notes she and Jeb Knippa, the hot-shot new Verde County DA, had made regarding her trial testimony.
Even though the trial was not starting until tomorrow, she had been here several days already, working with Jeb to perfect her already solid testimony to put former Deputy Sheriff Hutch Pruett behind bars for many years.
Misty glanced at her watch. Alex would be here any minute and they were due at Jimmy and Holly’s house for dinner in an hour or so, where they would again play their parts as a loving couple. Only now they would have to convince not only her best friend Caroline and Caroline’s husband Jack, but her old lover Jimmy and his perceptive young wife. Misty prayed they could pull it off.
The low rumble of the BMW engine announced Alex’s arrival. She met him on the front porch and gave him a quick peck on the cheek for the benefit of Lisa Keller getting out of her car across the street. “I cancelled the reservation at the motel on the highway when Holly offered me her cabin,” Misty said as Alex followed her into the house. “The sofa folds out into a bed, and the larger bathroom is downstairs. That all right?”
“Sure.” He threw his duffel on the floor beside the sofa. “Nice little house. So what about dinner? Do we drive back into town?”
Misty looked at her watch. “Actually, we are due at Jimmy and Holly’s in about forty-five minutes for dinner with them and the Briscoes.” She bit her lip when Alex’s face darkened. “I’m sorry. I know seeing Jimmy and Holly will bring back memories but I didn’t quite know how to decline.”
“It’s all right. They were victims just like Leigh Anne and me.” He looked around the little house. “Is there anything to drink in the cabinet?” Misty unearthed one of Jimmy’s bottles of Scotch and poured a glass.
They freshened up then walked past the beach park and were greeted at the front door by Jimmy’s six-year-old daughter, Carrie. “Miss Misty,” the little girl squealed as she threw herself into Misty’s outstretched arms. “You’re all better.”
“And you’re all taller,” Misty said as she squatted down to hug Carrie tightly. Misty stood and turned Carrie around. “Carrie, this is Mr. Alex.”
Carrie smiled and held out her hand. “How do you do?”
A faint smile touched Alex’s lips as he shook the child’s hand. “I’m glad to meet you, Carrie. You look just like your dad.”
“And so does Courtney. Peas in a pod, Mommy says. Come on back.”
Misty and Alex followed Carrie into Jimmy’s spacious family room where they found Holly nursing Courtney and Jack and Jimmy down on the floor with the two Briscoe boys building a fighter jet out of Legos. Caroline was across the counter in Holly’s huge kitchen tending to a skillet of chicken.
Jimmy jumped up and engulfed Misty in a huge hug. “It’s good to see you, cara. You’re looking a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you. Is San Antonio agreeing with you?”
“Lots of things are agreeing with me.” She disentangled herself from Jimmy’s long arms and turned to Alex. “You two remember each other, of course.”
Jimmy reached out with both hands and clasped Alex’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, Navarro. And under better circumstances. I still appreciate your help that morning. The information you provided saved our lives.”
Alex shook his head. “Anyone would have done the same.”
“It’s still very much appreciated.”
Alex greeted Jack and Holly and called out a hello to Caroline. Misty spent a few minutes ooh-ing and aah-ing over Courtney and the Briscoe boys before leaving Alex in the family room and making a beeline to her best friend.
She and Caroline hugged. “God, it’s so good to see you.”
“Likewise.” She leaned back and looked Misty in the eye. “So what’s all this about you and Alex?” she asked softly. “I get an email from you saying that he’s being a horse’s ass and demanding sex and the next thing I know you’ve hooked up with him. What gives?”
Damn. She’d forgotten about the email. “For now let’s just say my life’s gotten interesting. I can fill you in later when nobody’s listening.”
“Deal.”
Misty had been afraid Alex would find the chaos of two young families overwhelming but he seemed to take it in stride, conversing pleasantly over dinner and laughing at Jimmy’s stories of some of the more outrageous cases he’d already tried. If anyone noticed Alex’s haggard appearance or the weight he’d lost since they had seen him last they didn’t show it. More than once Alex sneaked a sad, wistful look at Brandon Briscoe, and Misty did a little math in her head and realized that the child was almost the same age Alex’s son would have been had he lived.
She and Alex were careful to keep up the pretense of being a couple with loving looks and touches, and although Caroline had asked about the email, Misty was pretty sure they had fooled everyone, especially when Jimmy and then Holly pulled her in for warm hugs at the end of the evening.
“I’m really happy for you, Misty,” Jimmy said, making no attempt to hide his deep affection for her. “It’s about time.”
“And I’m happy for you—for both of you,” she said as she hugged Holly also. “Thank you for making him happy again, Holly. He deserves it.”
“And so do you,” Holly said. “Knock ’em dead, tomorrow, you hear?”
“That’s right,” Jimmy added. “Nail that SOB to the wall.”
Alex was quiet on the walk back to Holly’s cabin. “What was that all about there at the end?” he blurted suddenly. “About him being happy for you and it being about time?”
“It’s been years since I’ve been serious about anybody and he knows it. He thinks I’ve finally found someone and he’s glad.”
“But I saw the way he looked at you. The man loves you.”
A small smile touched Misty’s mouth—was Alex jealous? “Well, I should hope he loves me. We’ve been friends for years.” Might as well be completely candid since Alex would probably find out anyway. “And we were lovers before that. To be honest, the last serious relationship I had with a man was with Jimmy. We were a couple for most of our law school years.”
“What? You and Adamcik were a couple? You were in love with him?”
“We were a couple, and we were mostly in lust, but yeah, we loved one another.”
“So what happened? Why didn’t you stay together?”
Misty unlocked the cabin door. “I refused to live here in Verde and he wouldn’t go with me to a city. So we wished each other well and went our separate ways. And yes, when I look at his children I’m occasionally overcome by thoughts of what might have been.”
“I can see why. So what did the two of you do once you’d split up?”
“I moved to Dallas and threw myself into my new career and he came here and married the love of his life. And then he had to watch her die by inches from cancer.”
Alex flinched. “That had to have sucked.”
“I’m sure it did. And Caroline lived through hell too. You remember all that from the tabloids a few years back—her first husband was shot in front of her and Ryan was snatched and she didn’t find her child for over a year.”
Alex gulped. “I remember that now. Leigh Anne said she didn’t know how the woman survived all that.”
“But they did survive.” Misty took a deep breath and plowed on; she had just been given a golden opportunity to say something Alex needed to hear and if she pissed him off then so be it. “They survived and they went on with their lives and both of them reached inside and found the courage to love again. And they’re both happy. Happier than they ever imagined they could be. You saw that tonight.”
Alex’s face turned a fiery shade of red. “And you just had to throw that up to me, didn’t you?”
“I’m not throwing anything up to you. I’m just speaking the truth. They loved their first spouses just as much as you loved Leigh Anne, but they went on with life and they let themselves love again.”
“And you think I should do the same.”
“If the shoe fits…”
“Damn it, you don’t understand. Nobody does.”
“I’m sure I don’t,” she said calmly. “But Jimmy and Caroline? I’m sure they understand. They understand completely.”
Alex nailed her with a seething look before collapsing in the easy chair.
Okay, she’d made her point and it was time to change the subject. “It’s late and I’m going to bed. There’s plenty of nibble food in the fridge and more Scotch in the cabinet and linens in the bathroom closet.” She grabbed a box of crackers and some cheese spread out of the kitchen. “They want me there by eight so give yourself plenty of time in the morning. We can grab breakfast in the café.”
“Anything else?” he asked stiffly.
She shook her head. “See you in the morning,” she said as she started up the stairs.
*****
Alex sat on the third bench of the packed courtroom and watched as Misty came down the aisle, looking cool and calm, with no tells to indicate that she was in any way nervous about her upcoming testimony.
He had been in the courtroom all morning, watching and listening as a jury was swiftly seated and opening arguments were made, with the defense attorney hinting that he and Hutch were going to use mistaken identity as their defense—never mind that the DNA of the skin under Misty’s fingernails was a perfect match to Hutch’s.
Testimony was heard from the deputy sheriff dispatcher as to the time the 911 call came in and from the young college student who had discovered Misty and made the call, and then a lunch break was called. The presiding judge, down from Mason County to cover Jimmy Adamcik since he had a conflict of interest, was brisk and humorless, and the defendant, former Marine and deputy sheriff Hutch Pruett, was curiously detached from the proceedings.
Since Misty was testifying, she had not been allowed in the courtroom at all this morning, and over lunch at the café she told Alex she had alternated between studying her testimony notes and doing work.
She had been distracted this morning and again at lunch, which made sense, but he wasn’t sure what was distracting her, her upcoming testimony or thoughts of the road not taken with Jimmy Adamcik.
Alex saw the wistfulness on her face when she’d played on the floor with the Briscoe boys or held Courtney Adamcik for a few minutes. It was clear Misty adored the children and missed having a family of her own.
He had been surprised at the sudden surge of jealousy he felt when she’d told him about her past with Jimmy, the feelings of envy and possessiveness at the thought of her in the arms of another man. Those feelings made no sense. He didn’t care for Misty, at least not that way, and shouldn’t have cared about her previous love life one way or the other.
But he did.
And that bothered him.
Misty took the oath and sat down in the witness chair. For the next hour and a half she and the skilled young prosecutor took the spellbound jury through a detailed description of the vicious attack.
Alex was horrified at the brutalization she’d suffered. It was a miracle she’d survived, and amazing she remembered the attack in such vivid detail. She described her assailant down to his Marine tattoo.
The prosecutor took her through the details of her recovery and a description of the psychological trauma she’d suffered at the hands of her attacker. Through it all Misty remained calm and focused, relating her experience in factual detail yet making the jury feel the pain and trauma of the beating.
Damn few witnesses could have done that. They would have gotten so emotional the factual testimony suffered, or they would have frozen up and given a wooden account of the incident.
Misty did neither, and Alex admired her to no end for that.
After a short break the defense attorney had the floor, and for the next hour he questioned every aspect of Misty’s description of her assailant and the tattoo, from the dim light to her state of mind after the attack. She answered his questions patiently, clearly knowing he was hoping to wear her down and obviously determined not to let him do so.
Her description of the assailant never wavered, even when the attorney came up with some devilishly clever challenges, and didn’t she change one iota of the description of the tattoo. She assured the jury that yes, there had been enough light to see both her assailant and his tattoo in detail and that there was nothing wrong with her memory the morning after her attack. The defense attorney finally realized that he simply wasn’t going to shake her testimony and reluctantly let her go.
The judge declared a recess until the following morning and Alex followed Misty up the aisle and into the hall outside the courtroom. She took a few minutes to speak to a couple of reporters and three or four ladies from Verde she obviously knew. She was her usual gracious self, but was visibly relieved when the last of the women left and it was just the two of them.
“How are you doing?” he asked as he slipped his arm around her and felt her sag a little into its warmth.
“I’m exhausted. Utterly exhausted,” she admitted.
“Couldn’t have been fun having to relive the whole thing. So where to now? Back to the café for supper? Or do you want me to whip up something at the cabin?”
Alex almost laughed at her surprised expression. “You cook?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He steered her toward the elevator.
“Well, your mom has a cook and a butler.”
“I used to cook all the time for Leigh Anne and me. I’ll admit I live mostly on frozen dinners these days, but I haven’t lost my touch. So what will it be? The café or the cabin?”
“I’d love for you to cook something. I just want to sit out on that dock and stare a little at the water.”
Alex remembered the grocery store on the main highway. He bought bagged salad, ice cream, a package of spaghetti, chopped meat, and the ingredients for his homemade spaghetti sauce.
He sent Misty upstairs for a relaxing shower and while she sat out on the dock with a glass of sparkling water he assembled the meatballs and sauce and boiled the pasta. Rummaging around, he unearthed a folding table and carried it to the little dock and placed it between the two ratty folding chairs that appeared to be permanent fixtures.
“Too pretty an evening to be cooped up inside,” he explained when she looked at him with surprise. “You stay put and I’ll bring dinner out.”
He mixed himself a drink and made up two plates of food. It took two trips but soon they were seated at the table enjoying the sunset and the spaghetti dinner. “This is good, Alex—really good,” she enthused as she wound the spaghetti around her fork.
“Either that or you’re really tired and hungry. You barely touched breakfast and lunch today.”
“I know. I was so nervous. I was so afraid I’d blow the testimony and that bastard would walk.”
“Don’t they have him nailed on the DNA evidence?”
“Logically, I know that, but there’s nothing logical about the way I feel about the SOB.”
“Makes perfect sense. You need to know, you were superb on the stand. That DA couldn’t have asked for a better witness.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so. When I was doing trial work I would have done anything to have a witness as powerful or effective as you were in that courtroom today.”
He didn’t miss her slight flush in the fading light of dusk. “Thanks. I mean that.”
“And so do I.” He felt his body tighten as her gaze locked with his, the slight widening of her eyes letting him know she felt the same pull of their attraction. The thin line of her lips told him she wasn’t too happy about it.
So he would play it cool, at least for now, and see where they stood later in the evening. “So how much trial work have you done?” he asked as he sipped his drink.
“A lot. And I love it.” Misty turned back to her plate of spaghetti and for the remainder of dinner, as the sky darkened to ebony and the stars came out, she regaled him with stories of her experiences in the courtroom.
And as they laughed and talked together, he felt his need growing. He wanted her tonight. He wanted to lay her down and kiss her and caress her and make both of them forget she’d ever slept with Jimmy Adamcik. He wanted to talk to her as they made love, and he wanted them to connect on more than just a physical level. For once this desire didn’t feel wrong, and he wanted to act on it.
“I feel so much better with some food in me,” she admitted as they loaded the dishwasher. “Damn, we killed the whole thing. I must have been starved.”
Alex rinsed the skillet. “We both were hungry.” He placed the skillet in the dishwasher. “So what’s next? I assume you want to stay until the trial is over?”
“You bet. I want to be there when they find him guilty and I need to be there when they sentence him. Mr. Harrington told me to stay and I sure didn’t argue with him.”
“I bet not. I’m just sorry it happened to you in the first place.”
“Thanks. It could have been a lot worse.”
He couldn’t help himself. He stepped closer, put his arms around her. “Yeah, I know. And I’m so glad it wasn’t.” He bent down to place a feather-light kiss on her inviting lips and stared down into her dark eyes. “I’m glad you’re all right. I’m glad you’re here, and I’m glad I’m here with you.”
Her breath hitched. “Was that a statement or an invitation?”
“What if it’s a little bit of both? Can you live with that?” He paused and took a deep breath. “I want you. I want to lay you down and touch every inch of you with my fingers and my lips and I want to feel your warmth as you take me into you.” He tipped up her chin so that she had to look him in the eyes. “And I’ll know it’s you, Misty. I’m not drunk tonight. I’ll know exactly who I have in my arms. You won’t be hearing another woman’s name on my lips.” He bent his head and captured her mouth. “What do you say? Can we have tonight?”
Misty stared up, her face a portrait of desire warring with caution. “Tonight? You want just tonight? What about tomorrow? What do we do about tomorrow?”
Alex sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. If it was just sex, I’d say yes, tomorrow’s good too. But it’s not just sex for you, is it?”
“No, it isn’t.” She took a step back and he let her.
“It isn’t just sex for me either. I don’t know what the hell it is, and I don’t have a clue about tomorrow. But for one night it could be pretty wonderful. Can we have tonight?”
*****
Misty’s mind raced as she stared across the short distance that separated them. Could she do it? Could she make love to him, knowing that nothing had changed and nothing was going to? Could she, should she take what he was offering, especially since he admitted he had no idea what it was he was offering her?
This was the first time since his wife died this lonely, tortured man had reached out to a woman for something more than just some mindless screwing, and he had reached out to her. She couldn’t and she wouldn’t turn him down. And if she got hurt in the process? She would deal with that tomorrow.
Misty nodded and reached out her hand. “Come upstairs with me. The view of the water from the bedroom window’s breathtaking.”
Alex took her hand and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her with trembling arms. “Thank you,” he said as he lowered his lips to hers.
Their kiss started out soft and tentative, but as their passion flared, his lips became bolder, his tongue prying her lips open and to seek the warm sweetness of her mouth.
They clung together for long moments, letting their bodies become reacquainted as they both just savored being this close once again.
He broke the kiss and stared down into her heavy-lidded eyes. “Are you ready to show me that view from the upstairs window?”
She nodded, taking him by the hand. They climbed up the narrow staircase into the large single bedroom that occupied most of the second floor. “You want a shower?” She pointed to a miniscule bathroom with the tiniest shower she had ever seen.
“We should have stayed downstairs,” Alex laughed as he started shucking his clothes. “We could have had shower sex down there.”
Misty watched as he un-self-consciously shed his clothes, leaving them in a messy pile in the chair, and padded naked to the shower. He was looking better, she thought as she watched him disappear into the tiny bathroom. He’d definitely put on a little weight since she’d seen him naked in Corpus Christi, and the added muscle mass in his arms and legs made her wonder if he was working out.
She quickly shed her jeans and T-shirt and since she’d brought nothing enticing by way of nighties she pulled her kimono around her naked body. She pulled back the covers and was standing by the window and turned back to the room when Alex joined her, a large bath towel draped around his narrow hips. Moisture sparkled in the dark smattering of hair covering his chest, and the clearly visible five o’clock shadow gave him a sexy, bad-boy look.
She leaned in and licked a water droplet from his chest. “You are one sexy man,” she purred as she ran her fingers through the crisp hair between his nipples. She turned around and made room for him beside her at the window, putting her arm around his waist as they stared out at the moon just peeking over the eastern horizon and turning the water into molten silver. “So beautiful,” she breathed as they looked out on the lake.
Alex turned her toward him and tipped her face up to his. “Yes, so very beautiful.” He bent down and captured her mouth in a kiss that had her gasping. Gone was the tentative caress of a few minutes ago. This was a man staking a passionate, sensuous claim.
Misty opened her lips and returned his desire, staking a claim of her own as mutual need and hunger ignited a spark that quickly flamed into an inferno.
He pushed the kimono from her body and kissed her bare neck and shoulders, his lips and tongue setting her skin on fire as shivers of pleasure washed through her. She jerked the towel off him, baring his body to her eager gaze. “Just as impressive as I remembered,” she breathed as she looked at his erection, jutting from its nest of soft dark hair.
Alex laughed as he deliberately poked her in her tummy. “Have you been thinking about the last time?”
Misty felt her face redden. “I couldn’t help it.”
“Good. Neither could I. And now we’re going to see if our memories are as good as the real thing.”
Before she could catch her breath, he swept her into his arms and carried her across the room, laying her on the bed. He grabbed a condom from his wallet and placed it on the nightstand before lying down beside her and leaning over to capture one of her breasts between his tongue and his teeth.
“God, you have the most sensitive nipples,” he smiled against her skin when she writhed and squealed a little at his sensuous attentions.
“I—oh, that feels soooo good,” she breathed as he tickled the tight little bud with his tongue. Were her nipples more sensitive than usual, or were they more sensitive because it was Alex who was touching them?
He grinned. “If I have my way, this whole thing’s going to feel good.” He laid a flat palm in the middle of her stomach and rubbed a gentle circle while his mouth played with first one breast then the other. She tried to touch him, but he placed her hands by her side and shook his head. “You can touch me later. Right now, this is for you. Give over. Let me make love to you.”
She nodded and gave over to an absolute feast of pleasure as he touched, tasted and caressed every inch of her. His eager lips missed nothing as they traveled from her breasts to her stomach and lower as he gently parted her legs.
“Beautiful, so beautiful,” he said softly as he parted her folds with his fingers and lowered his lips and tongue to her core. She let go and savored the erotic touch of his talented tongue as the tension ratcheted up higher and higher, suddenly exploding in a sensual storm that had her gasping for breath.
What was it about this man that made her come apart in his arms? What was so different about him, about them, that the sex was so spectacular?
Alex moved away from her and grabbed the condom package. “Our turn,” he said huskily as he tore open the package and quickly sheathed himself.
“Absolutely,” Misty breathed.
He slipped into her warm, wet, willing body. He rolled them over so she was on top, setting the pace. This time climbing the peak was slow and steady, and they plunged off the cliff together, writhing in pleasure as he pumped into her, his hips flexing with power as he shuddered his orgasm. He gathered her to him, their bodies still joined as he stared into her eyes. “Misty,” he said softly as he kissed her lips. “Misty.”
Unexpected tears stung her eyes as she looked down into his precious face. “Alex.” Then she grinned at him impudently. “Was it as good as you remembered?”
Alex rolled them both onto their sides and kissed her deeply. “Are you kidding? That was wonderful.” He kissed her a second time and she felt him start to harden within her. “Damn, I’ve just got the one condom,” he said as he withdrew from her body, his cock stiff again. He looked at her hopefully. “You bring any?”
“No, but maybe Holly has some in the bathroom.” She grinned. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll bet we can figure out something else for round two.”
Alex laughed and kissed her on the nose. “I like the way you think.”
A search of both bathrooms turned up nothing. “Okay, we’ll go to Plan B,” Misty said as she pushed a naked Alex down on the bed and slid down beside him. “Hey, I think I remember a can of whipped cream in the fridge.”
She jumped up and ran down the stairs. Sure enough, there was a can in the back of the fridge, and soon they had it spread all over them, licking and kissing it away as they brought each other over the waterfall again and again, Misty taking Alex in her mouth and giving herself as much pleasure as she did him.
When the whipped cream was gone they discovered it was possible to have sex of a sort in the tiny upstairs shower, and after they shared the carton of ice cream they collapsed into bed together, spent and replete, both of them falling into almost instant slumber, the problems of tomorrow a world away as they held one another in their arms.
*****
Alex reached toward the nightstand when the sound of his father’s ringtone cut through the dim light of early morning, but there was no nightstand where it usually was, and there was a warm, sweet-smelling woman beside him in the bed.
His eyes snapped open and he stared around the room until the disorientation faded and bittersweet memory took its place. He was not in his bedroom in San Antonio—he was in Holly Adamcik’s little cabin and he and Misty had spent most of the night making love.
Groaning a little, he eased himself away from the still sleeping Misty and found his phone in the holder on his discarded pants and belt. He slipped down the stairs and answered just as the phone was about to go to voice mail. “What’s up, El Jefe?”
“Your Tio Joaquin was admitted to the hospital last night with chest pains. He spent most of the night in testing and, to make a long story short, is scheduled for a quadruple bypass this afternoon at two. Ren’s going to be out for the next few days with Joaquin and you’re going to have to do both jobs.”
Which shouldn’t be hard, as little as he and Ren actually did.
“Won’t be a problem. I’ll come on back this morning.”
“Good. I’m sorry to have to bring you back but I don’t have much choice. Is Misty through testifying?”
“Yes, unless they call her back to the stand. She was magnificent up there, Papa. She nailed the SOB’s hide to the wall.”
“See you this afternoon. And again, I’m sorry.”
I’m not. To his everlasting shame, he welcomed the excuse to leave Verde and go back to San Antonio. He needed time away from Misty, time to process what had happened last night and to come to terms with whatever it was he was feeling about their relationship.
He crept back upstairs to retrieve his clothes. He took a quick shower in the downstairs bathroom, threw on jeans and a T-shirt and scrawled a message on the back of an envelope.
Tio Joaquin having bypass this afternoon. Had to get back. Alex.
He left the note in the middle of the kitchen table and hoped she would find it before she became angry. The polite thing to do would be to wake her up and tell her good-bye, but that would lead to a where-do-we-go-from-here discussion he simply wasn’t ready to have yet.
Alex threw his duffel in the car and drove slowly through the tiny community of Heaven’s Point. He passed the big house Jimmy Adamcik lived in with his second wife, and as he left the community, he drove past the south pastures of the Briscoe ranch, the ranch Misty’s best friend Caroline now shared with her second love.
How had they done it?
How had Jimmy put to rest his feelings for his first wife and learned to love Holly? How had Caroline Briscoe, who had been so in love with that little doctor she was married to, learn to love her big blond rancher?
What made them so different from him? Why were they able to move on and love again, while he was stuck in a cycle of never-ending grief and recriminations?
God, he wanted to care again, Alex thought as he took the turnoff onto the main highway that would lead him back to San Antonio. He wanted to let go of the grief and despair and be happy again. But even after the wonderful night he’d just spent with Misty, exploring her body and making her come apart over and over again in his arms, it was Leigh Anne on his mind this morning, Leigh Anne’s face that haunted him as he remembered loving warmth and her beautiful smile. Yet Misty was with him in the silence of the car, strong and proud as she took the stand and nailed her attacker in a court of law; vivacious and talented as she played her trumpet, generous and passionate as she lay naked in his arms.
She was a beautiful, wonderful woman, and given half a chance she would care for him deeply. So why couldn’t he let go of the past? Why couldn’t he feel the same way about her that he had his beautiful Leigh Anne?