Page 47 of Kiss Me Forever

"Not always all business," she reminded him, then was instantly sorry she'd gone down that road when an interested gleam entered his eyes. She cleared her throat. "Let's go back to your past. Did you have anyone in your life after your parents died that lessened the grief?"

"No, I didn't, not for a long time. But I couldn't worry about finding someone to like me; I was more concerned with surviving."

"It was that bad?"

"Yeah, it was that bad," he said grimly.

"Can you give me any examples?"

"I could, but I won't."

"Why not? Why can't you talk to me, Alex?"

"I am talking to you—I've been talking to you. My story has already been told, Andrea, by lots of other reporters, but you don't want that story. You want another one, one that will sell more magazines, one that doesn't exist. Maybe you should just make something up."

"I don't do that, Alex. And I'm just trying to understand you."

"You couldn't begin to understand my life. How could you? You grew up in a fairytale with a father you worshipped and a mother who baked cookies for you when you came home from school and a sister to share your secrets with." He placed his hands on his hips in a belligerent manner, daring her to defy his image of her. "Your biggest problem was probably trying to get your mother to let you wear makeup to school."

Andrea immediately shook her head. "You're more wrong than right, Alex. First of all, my mother loved for me to wear makeup, but I never did, because I was a tomboy. I cut off all my hair when I was eleven because I hated to brush it. Yes, my mother did bake cookies when I came home from school, and, yes, they were amazing, but our relationship was fraught with problems. My mother was always trying to turn me into herself. And I did worship my dad, but he was never around. I admired him greatly. He influenced my life. But the truth is that I barely knew him, and he barely knew me. He was always on the road, always working." She paused for breath. "I know what it feels like to lose a parent, maybe not two, but at least one. So don't try to tell me that there's no way I can understand your life," she finished.

"Did you really cut off your hair?"

She stared at him in amazement. "That's all you took out of what I just said?"

He shrugged. "I got stuck there."

"Yes, I cut it off with garden shears. My mother was so embarrassed she wouldn't go to the PTA meetings for a month. Even Laurel tried to disown me. She locked me in my room when she had a friend come over so I wouldn't be seen." She paused at his sudden smile. "It's not funny."

"Yes, it is. I didn't realize you were that impulsive."

"More like impatient. I used to swim, and when I got out of the pool, it took me an hour to get the tangles out of my long hair. It was painful, too. But I have to admit I looked pretty hideous after I cut it all off. My mother made me go to her hair stylist, who tried to make it look better, but we all just had to live with it for a few weeks." She took a breath. "I remember my mom on the phone with my dad, just ranting about how difficult I was, and how he should come home and help her raise me."

"Maybe that's really why you cut off your hair," Alex suggested.

"No." She wrinkled her brows as she thought about that. "I don't think I did it for that reason. No, it was just the tangles."

"If you say so," he said lightly.

"Now you tell me an embarrassing story," she ordered.

"Me? I don't have any of those. I was perfect."

"Think harder."

"Well, let's see. I was at a party in high school. One of those crazy big bashes where the parents aren't home and everyone is doing a lot of bad stuff."

"Go on."

"I had my eye on this girl. Her name was Shari. She was a cheerleader and a trust fund baby, definitely not someone who was going to look back at me, but I had a thing for her."

"What happened?"

"I drank a lot that night."

"Nothing good usually starts with that statement."

"So true. Shari told me she wanted to go skinny dipping in the pool, shock everyone, but she didn't want to do it by herself."

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