Page 56 of The Puck Charmer
Alek puts his hand on my back, like he can feel the war waging inside me. I lean into him, absorbing his familiar warmth and comfort.
“You’re good with kids,” Quinn says. “You’ll be a great mom someday.”
I nod, and bite the inside of my cheek, an effort to hide the storm roiling through me.
Alek’s hand tightens on my back, and I smile up at him. His dark eyes move over my face. “Do you have more work to do, or do you want to come in and hang out with us? I was just going to get the barbecue going,” Alek says.
“I need about thirty minutes,” I say, wanting to give him some time with his friends alone.
“Alyssa, do you need any help?” Quinn asks.
“No, I’m good, but thanks.” I smile at Quinn. Not only is she beautiful, with the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen, she’s sweet and thoughtful. My stomach squeezes. I’d really like to have a friend like her in my life.
She takes her son’s hands. “I’ll take Scotty inside to play with Captain Jack, and you boys can get caught up,” Quinn says.
I step back, giving the guys privacy and can feel Alek’s gaze on my back as I round the corner. I take a quick breath when I’m alone. Why the hell am I suddenly so emotional? Oh, maybe because the man I’m falling for is leaving soon, and I have to sell my grandmother’s place, and little Scotty reminded me of all the things I want and will likely never have. Why the hell did I ever get involved with Alek? I should have known better. I am so goddamn stupid, but the truth is, before Alek, I wasn’t really living. I was surviving, going through the motions of the day to day. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to make a life here with Alek, I want him to stay. I pick up the shovel and drive it into the ground.
“Hey, you okay?” Alek asks.
I jump and spin around. “You frightened me. I didn’t hear you coming.”
He touches my face. “Sorry.” He leans in and lightly brushes his lips over mine. “Everything okay, Aly?”
“Yeah sure,” I say injecting a lightness into my voice, but the frown on his forehead lets me know he doesn’t believe me. “Your friends are great.”
“They like you too.”
I nod, happy to hear that.
He jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “You seemed a little upset about something back there.”
I briefly close my eyes. “Oh great. I made an idiot of myself in front of your friends.”
“No, you didn’t,” he says. “I’m the only one that noticed. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Meeting new people. I’m not always great at it,” I say.
He grins. “Yeah, you hated me when we met.”
“I didn’t hate you. You rear-ended me when I was in a hurry and then you went all alpha on me.”
His arm slides around my back and he pulls me against him. “I thought you liked it when I went alpha?”
Heat moves through me. “Oh, I do.”
“And I thought we were going to stop saying rear-ended,” he says, his hand sliding down to grab my ass. He gives a squeeze and I yelp.
“Stop, before your friends see.”
“They’re getting settled in their room.”
“Are you guys okay?” I ask. “You all seemed to be in a pretty deep conversation when they first arrived.”
He takes a fast breath and scrubs his face as he lets it out. “Yeah, we just had some things we needed to talk about.” He looks past my shoulder, his eyes narrowed and I can almost hear the wheels spinning. “Aly, we need—”
He stops and turns at the sound of Scotty shrieking and Captain Jack barking and chasing the ball.
“You wanted to say something??