Page 31 of A Powerful Attraction
“I don’t know.”
He sighed and fell silent. Sherry continued to stare at the floor.
“I love her. She’s family and I was willing to do anything to help her. What would you do for the people you love?”
Sherry lifted her teary gaze to his. “Anything.”
“Then you understand.”
“I do. I understand why you did it. I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me.”
“Because I love you too, and was willing to do anything to hold on to you. It’s not an excuse,amor. Just an explanation.”
Seconds ticked by, and finally, Sherry said in a soft voice, “You can’t drive in your condition.”
“What do you suggest I do?”
“You can stay here,” she answered. “On the couch,” she added hastily.
A hint of a smile touched his beautiful face and made her ache. She missed him. Dammit, she was so weak.
Alex came forward and cupped the back of her neck. Heat splayed across her skin. Common sense told her to keep her distance, but she was starved for the feel of him and welcomed almost any contact.
She hated and loved him at the same time. Because that was what this torturous state meant—that she’d fallen in love with him and didn’t know how to proceed now that she knew the whole truth.
His lips touched hers. She backed up until the doorframe dug into her spine. His other arm circled her waist and brought her flush against his body. Alex pushed his lips more firmly against hers, and she tasted the gin. Her fingers splayed out against his hard chest, and she trembled.
He moved his hips in a circular grind against hers, and for a moment she considered giving in, just throwing caution to the wind and allowing him to sweep her away with his intoxicating kiss. Fortunately, common sense prevailed.
She dragged her mouth away from his. “Don’t.” She kept a hand against his chest to keep from fisting his shirt and pulling him closer. Seeing him was painful enough. She couldn’t afford intimacy, no matter how much her body craved him.
“I couldn’t help it,” he said.
“This isn’t a reconciliation.”
“I know,amor. Right now, I’ll take whatever I can get.”
He didn’t sleep on the sofa. She let him into her bed because Alex wanted her to lay down with him. She muttered a half-hearted refusal at first, but when he looped an arm around her waist and whispered to her temple, “Don’t make me beg,” she caved.
They slept in the spoon position, Alex curved behind her back, his face buried in her hair and one leg thrown over her legs, as if to keep her from getting away.
It was the best sleep she’d had in a week.
14
“Hello, may I speak to Sherry Westbrook, please?”
The unfamiliar female voice on the other end of the line was rather faint.
“This is she.”
“Hello, you don’t know me, although you may know my name. I’m Heather, Alex’s wife.”
Sherry had no idea what to say. The call had completely taken her by surprise. Why would Alex’s wife be calling her? She didn’t need any more surprises.
“Please don’t worry. I’m not calling because I’m angry or because I want to yell at you. I’m calling because I was hoping you and I could talk, for a little while, so that I could explain some things to you. Do you think it would be possible for you to come see me in the hospital?”
Sherry paced over to the window and looked out onto the street below her apartment. Her first inclination was to say no.
