Page 41 of Watching Ames

“The SUV. It’ll be easier to fit everything you need into it. Plus, you don’t have your car here.”

I took the keys with a nod at his reasoning, opening my wallet - one of the necessities that had come with the suitcases of my clothes - to place his credit card alongside mine. Alex narrowed his eyes on my face, almost reading my mind as he threatened, “If you buy anything with your money, I will deposit ten thousand dollars into your bank account.”

“Alex, that’s unfair.”

“What’s unfair about it?”

“You’re letting me stay here for free. You’ve made me food and coffee and bought me my favorite soap and shampoo, and I haven’t contributed anything.”

He shook his head, eyes warm on my face as he performed my favorite ritual, tucking my hair and tugging on my ear in turn as he told me, “I like taking care of you. Financially, emotionally, whatever you need. And you’re wrong, you contribute plenty just by being here.”

His words caught me off guard enough that he plucked my credit card out of my wallet before I could catch his wrist, smiling slightly at my exasperated expression. “Just so you’re not tempted. Besides, you keep calling this my house, so I should be paying for the decor, right?”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that stretched my lips at the warm words he gave me moments before. They weren’t a surprise; Alex had been trying to take care of me since the moment we met. Finding my phone, insisting on paying for every coffee and lunch, blocking Peter’s number yesterday. It was nice, being able to let someone else take over the responsibilities I’d been shouldering alone for the past five years. I also didn’t doubt that he would follow through with his threat, so I tucked his credit card into the empty spot in my wallet.

The motion earned me a half-smile, Alex brushing a fleeting kiss across my forehead as he picked up our plates and put them in the sink.

“I’ve got to head out now to make my meeting. Are you sticking around or leaving soon?”

“I’ll walk out with you. Probably a good idea to get started shopping early since I’m sure the stores will get busy on a holiday weekend.”

The cars were next to each other in the garage, but instead of heading toward his car door, Alex followed me to the SUV I’d be driving, opening the door and waiting until I buckled myself in to close it. I stifled a laugh at the domestic gesture, especially when I considered that he was likely heading into a meeting with a shady figure to perform some illegal activity.

Alex left the garage behind me, his car trailing mine down the driveway and the first few miles down the road until he needed to make a turn. I waved behind me at his car, catching the shape of his almost-smile before his car disappeared out of view.

My destination wasn’t far, the short drive relaxing me as I made my way down winding roads through the trees and drove a short stint on the highway until I reached the same area we’d been in yesterday to buy patio furniture. The various department stores pressed together made it easy to find everything I needed. I worked my way through the list quickly, enjoying decorating a home from the ground up, trying to find minimalist, modern items that fit what I considered Alex’s style while still maintaining the darker, earthier designs I enjoyed. I didn’t even consider choosing things in Alex’s taste, knowing he’d return them all in favor of what I’d prefer, so a compromise was the small rebellion I chose as I shopped.

Before I knew it, the sun was more than halfway across the sky and beating down on the asphalt as I headed out of my fourth store of the day with my bags in tow.

I turned toward where I parked a few rows over, passing by half a dozen storefronts situated along the strip, signs advertising sales and upcoming deals. A small movement behind the windows of a store caught my eye as I saw a couple dark figures, but I turned my back abruptly and moved toward my car, opening the trunk and placing the rest of my bags inside. There was still plenty of room, even with the furniture I’d picked up, and I was grateful for Alex’s compact SUV when I considered that I wouldn’t have been able to complete half my list if I had brought my small sedan.

I barely had the driver’s side door open before I felt those eyes again, the sensation prickling the back of my neck until I shut the door, turning around and heading back toward the eyes that I felt tracking my movements.

* * *

I was surprisedto find Alex’s car in the driveway when I got home, carrying in my latest purchases first since I knew it would take me a few trips from the car to unload everything.

“Hello?”

“Living room,” Alex called, and I found him sitting on the couch with his computer, dressed in suit pants and a button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled to expose his forearms. The corded muscles flexed as he typed, and watching the movement distracted me for a few moments, so much so that when I finally dragged my eyes away, Alex was looking at me with an amused half-smile as he watched me ogle him. “What do you have there?” He raised a brow at the box in my hand, and I blurted out the answer, ripping off the bandaid.

“I adopted a cat,” I told him, gesturing toward the carrier in my hand and the bags hanging limply at my side filled with all the necessities I could think of for a small animal. “So I hope you meant all that stuff about this being my home to use as I see fit.”

Alex eyed the carrier with interest before his dark gaze flickered up to mine, searching deeply with the same intensity that always left me breathless. As his eyes continued to bore into mine, it crossed my mind for the first time in a while that I should be scared. Here I was, living in the home of a man who had stalked me for months, relying on him for food and shelter after my boyfriend of two years tried to assault me in my own home.

There was nothing keeping Alex from attempting the same, or something worse, and yet all I felt was excitement over the box at my side. I felt my lips tipping up at the corners, Alex tracking the movement before he nodded, eyes relaxing as his piercing gaze turned to the friendly one that had become so familiar to me over the past few weeks.

“Of course,” he reached out to grab the bags from my hand as I settled the cardboard carrier on the couch in the living room. “I want whatever makes you happy. And if a cat would make this place feel like home, then I’m all in.”

I ignored the warning bells that started to ring at the idea of Alex calling this my home rather than a short-term layover until I could ensure my locks were changed. But he agreed to the cat, so I tried not to push my luck as I opened the carrier and revealed my second surprise.

“Good, because I got two.”

I stared back up at Alex, my eyebrows raised in defiance, expecting him to argue with me when the two black balls of fur tumbled out of the box and immediately started chasing each other throughout the giant living room. I saw the shift as it happened, lighthearted Alex who was first and foremost my friend, slowly turning into the dangerous, shady figure I knew he could be. His eyes tracked the kittens running around the room before shifting to me.

I felt the heat of his gaze tracing over the hands on my hips, the taut line of my lips, before landing on my challenging stare. And again, even though I knew that gaze should scare me, even though I knew he had infiltrated my apartment and my life and my mind, the only thing my traitorous body felt was pure heat, flooding my veins until I could feel a pulse deep in my belly, needy and wanton.

Alex took two quick strides, closing the distance between us before I could even feel shame for the arousal I felt pooling between my thighs. I barely squeaked out a noise of surprise before his mouth crashed down on mine, tongue parting my lips and delving into my mouth. I returned the kiss with equal fervor, no thoughts in my mind other than how good and right he felt with his body pressed against mine, his thigh pressed between my legs, so close to where I wanted him most. His mouth moved against mine effortlessly, drawing my need higher each time his tongue tangled with mine. I heard a moan fall from my mouth just as Alex pulled away, leaving me unsteady without his body to hold mine up.

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