The tightness in his throat made it nearly impossible to speak. “Thank you, Grandfather. That means the world to me.”
Looking uncomfortable at his outpouring of emotion, his grandfather waved away the thanks and reached for his water glass. “So where is the lively young woman who knocked some much-needed sense into me?”
Alex raised a brow at that. What had Lacey said to his grandfather? But the old man was waiting for an answer. He cleared his throat a bit and started rearranging the blankets at the end of the bed.
“It seems we were both mistaken on that one, I’m afraid. She’s gone home. We’re over.” He let out a short, humorless laugh. “We’re over before we’d even begun.”
There was a long silence before he looked up to see his grandfather staring at him in horror. “Are you telling me you just let that young woman walk out of your life? Forever?”
Alex blinked at the old man stupidly. He suddenly went from feeling like an accomplished grown man to a wayward child. “It’s not like I had a choice, Grandfather. She doesn’t want to be with me. She told me so.”
The old man’s face was growing so red with anger, Alex started to fear for his blood pressure. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it for a second that the passionate young lady who stood up to me—to me—on your behalf doesn’t have those feelings. If Lacey isn’t in love with you, I don’t know what love is.”
Alex’s mouth was hanging open by the end of the tirade. “Grandfather, I—”
“If you let her walk out of your life, you’re an idiot. A good-looking, intelligent moron, if you ask me.”
“But she said—”
“That woman sees you more clearly than you see yourself. She believes in you and trusts you and would give up everything for you.” His grandfather was shaking his head in disbelief. “And you just let her walk away?”
“I didn’t ‘let her’ do anything,” Alex shot back. “She went all on her own. I didn’t even know she’d gone until this afternoon.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed. “So she didn’t tell you why she was leaving to your face?”
“No, she left me a letter.”
His grandfather threw back his head with a bark of laughter. “Lawrence, my boy, if you let her walk away without at least trying to fight for her, you are no grandson of mine.”
Alex’s mind was racing as he tucked and untucked the blanket at his grandfather’s feet. “You think I can win her back?”
“I think any woman who had the guts to stand up to me would have the nerve to tell you she didn’t love you to your face.” He paused and gave his grandson a knowing look. “If she truly meant it.”
For the first time in hours, Alex felt a flicker of hope. He was filled with a new resolve. He could talk to her, convince her that she was making a mistake. He could prove to her that Sam would never love her like he could. He could never make her as happy as Alex because that was what Alex wanted more than anything in the world. Her happiness.
Maybe she’s happier with Sam. The wayward thought was almost enough to weaken his resolve but he shoved it out of his mind. That possibility wasn’t even worth considering. He loved her more than anyone or anything in the world. They belonged together.
And he would make her realize that. If she still refused to give them a chance, at least he’d know that he’d tried.
“Grandfather, I’ve got to go. I’m sorry, I’ll—“ The old man was already shooing him out the door.
“Go, go. And for the love of God, don’t screw it up.”
Chapter Thirteen
ALEX WAS EXHAUSTED by the time he arrived at Lacey’s apartment building. He hadn’t told her he was coming. At the time, he’d told himself he didn’t want to give her a chance to turn him away before he spoke. But now, standing there poised in her doorway, he was having second thoughts.
What would she think when he showed up on her doorstep without so much as a word of warning?
That he was a stalker. Who wouldn’t? This was the worst plan he’d ever had. He was still staring at the knocker, debating whether or not he should walk away when the door opened.
He drew in a deep breath, a mixture of nerves and excitement at war in his chest as he prepared to see the woman he loved.
He found himself staring into the red-rimmed eyes of a sniffling brunette who was at least a foot taller than Lacey and with far less curves. “Who are you?” he asked. Not exactly his most gracious moment.
The girl’s teary eyes widened. “Who am I? Who are you?” She looked at her door pointedly. Oh right, he was the stranger here.
Before he could answer, a light seemed to go off in her eyes. “No way. No. Way! You’re the Greek god.”
“Excuse me?” He could have sworn he heard her say Greek god. “I’m the…what?”
She shook her head and he had the distinct impression she was smothering a smile. “Never mind. What are you doing here?”
He shifted uncomfortably under the woman’s watchful stare. “Uh, does Lacey Ames live here?”
“She’s my roommate.”
Ah. “You’re Morgan.”
“The one and only.” She struck a funny pose in the doorway.
“And you’re Alex,” she said. Something about the way she said his name made the heat rise to his cheeks. It was slightly sing-songy as though at any moment she would start chanting “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
How much did she know about him? What had Lacey told her? He tried to look past her into the apartment, but she was completely blocking his view.
“Is she here?”
Morgan looked like she was debating how to answer that question. Oh God, she totally thought he was a stalker.
“Look, I’m not here to cause any trouble. She told me about Sam and I just wanted a chance to—”
She cut him off with a gasp and he was a little relieved. He wasn’t sure how he was going to finish that sentence. He wanted a chance to…what? Win her back? Plead his case? Inform her she was making the biggest mistake of her life by returning to a man she might or might not love?
Morgan was still staring at him in surprise. “She told you about Sam?”
Alex ran a hand through his hair. He hated that name with a passion. That one syllable word was like a drill going through his brain. Sam.
“Yeah, she told me. That’s why I’m here. Look, Morgan, I just need to talk to her…” His voice trailed off when she stepped to the side and gestured for him to come in.
Her eyes starting tearing up as she led him along a long, narrow hallway cluttered with bookcases and errant shoes. “It’s sweet of you to come,” she said is a wobbly voice.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure. I mean, of course.”
What was he missing here?
“Uh, so is Lacey here or…?”
Morgan gestured for him to sit on an overstuffed couch that barely fit in the teeny-tiny living room. From where he sat he could see into the open kitchen—even tinier than the living room—and into the open doorways of two large closets that were apparently being used as bedrooms.
If Lacey was here, she was very clever at hiding.
“Lacey’s with Sam right now,” she said. She blew her nose before continuing. “She’s picking up his ashes from the crematorium.”
The air left Alex’s stomach with a whoosh. Oh, dear God. Sam was dead? The man he’d spent the past two weeks wishing was dead was truly dead?
He was a monster.
“Maybe I should go.” He made a move to pull himself out of the quicksand-like confines of the couch but Morgan stood in his way.
“No, please don’t go. Lacey will be so psyched to see you.” At his questioning look, she added, “I swear.”
Half out of his seat, Morgan gave him a gentle shove and he found himself swallowed up once again by the giant cushions. Before he could protest any further, they heard the front door slam and an extraordinarily disheveled Lacey walked into the room.
She stopped short at the sight of him, a
nd Alex hesitated between offering to leave and rushing to her side so he could comfort her. What role was he supposed to play here? There wasn’t exactly a Miss Manners chapter on how to comfort your lover when her fiancé dies.
He should never have come.
Her eyes were so wide as she took in his presence in her living room with those unblinking, tear-filled eyes that as always seemed to be looking right through him directly into his heart.
Who was he kidding? He could never stay away.
There was a tense silence that had Morgan backpedaling out of the room in an exaggerated tip-toe move that would have made him laugh if he wasn’t staring at the woman he loved grieving over the man she loved.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” he finally said.
Lacey sniffed. “Thank you. What are you doing here?”
Not exactly the warm welcome he’d been hoping for but then, what could he expect?
“I-uh-I…” Somehow it seemed disrespectful to mention his real reason now. He’d never met this infamous Sam, but if Lacey cared about him, he deserved better than to have some stranger swoop in and declare his love to his fiancée while she was supposed to be grieving. Guilt over the countless names he’d called the poor dead guy was gnawing at his guts.
He ignored the question. This was not the time. Lacey needed him more than ever and he would be there for her. He would put aside all of his desires and needs and be the man she needed.
He took a step toward her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder in friendly camaraderie. “How are you holding up?”
She blinked at him like he was speaking Chinese. Damn, she was probably still in shock.
Her brows drew together in puzzlement. “Morgan told you? About Sam, I mean.”
He nodded. “Yeah, she told me.”
“And…you’re not mad?”
“Mad?” Now it was his turn to look confused. What kind of selfish bastard did she think he was? “Of course I’m not mad. I’m just sorry you have to go through this.”
“Thanks,” she sniffled. She gave a little shrug and let out a self-deprecating laugh as she swiped a hand over her puffy eyes and blotchy nose. “Most guys would say I’m overreacting. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t see this coming.”
“You did?” Alex’s head was spinning. How long had she known that her fiancé was dying? Is that why she’d stayed with him. Is that what this was all about?
Or had she just been running away from her problems when she’d been with him? The thought was a punch in the gut. Maybe he had just been a distraction—something to keep her mind off the man she truly loved who would be leaving her forever.
“How long have you known?”
Lacey moved past him to flop onto the couch. He watched her tiny frame get swallowed whole by the cushions. “Oh, about a year. The vet said he was lucky to live this long. I mean fourteen years is pretty old for a cat.”
The silence that filled the room was deafening as Alex felt the full force of the truth smack him across the face.
“Sam is just a cat?” The words came sputtering out of his mouth before he could stop to think. He watched Lacey’s eyes fill with horrified anger.
Oh yeah. He’d just said the exact wrong thing.
“Just a cat? Just a cat?” She was grieving here and all he could say was “just a cat?”
Lacey heaved herself from the couch and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She clutched on to the anger—it was so much more preferable to the helpless loneliness she’d felt at the sight of him in her home.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking as though he might hurt himself in his attempt to remove the foot from his mouth. “I didn’t mean that. I didn’t. I’m sure your cat was very important to you, it’s just that I thought Sam was…”
His voice fell off as his eyes narrowed.
Uh oh. Lacey felt the blood rush to her cheeks. “Oh yeah,” she said. “I meant to tell you.”
“Oh yeah? You were going to tell me? When? Before or after you ditched me for a make-believe fiancé?”
“I didn’t—”
But he wasn’t done. “You let me stand here like an idiot thinking you were grieving over the man you love. You made me feel guilty for hating some guy who doesn’t even exist.”
“I thought Morgan told you,” Lacey said. Even to her own ears, it was a lame excuse.
She watched him warily. What was he doing here?
He’s come to win you back. She fought the desperate surge of joy that thought brought. She couldn’t let that happen. She’d already decided she couldn’t ruin his future. She wouldn’t.
“Why did you lie to me?”
She’d never heard his voice so gruff, and the pain she heard was nearly her undoing. She opened her mouth once, twice, but no words came out. She struggled to come up with a lie that would be convincing. But as much as her brain begged her to lie, her heart was pleading for her to tell the truth. She let herself imagine what would happen if she went to him and let him wrap her in his arms and tell her it would all be okay.
“It’s not a hard question, Lace.” His smile was bittersweet. “Just tell me the truth. If you don’t want to be with me, just say so. I can take it. But please, don’t tell me any more lies.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I can’t be with you,” she said. The words felt like shards of glass in her throat. Don’t do this.
He took a step to the side, his face as white as a ghost. “You can’t or you won’t?”
Lacey studied the wine stain on the rug at her feet. She heard him sigh as he turned from her to pace—not an easy feat in her tiny living room. She glanced up to watch him. She was torn in half. Part of her wanted to prolong this agony so that she could keep him near her a little while longer. But another part of her just wanted him to leave so she could stop pretending that she wasn’t heartbroken as hell over having to give up the first and only man she’d ever truly loved.
That thought had her sniffling all over again. Oh man, she must look like a wreck. One look at her reflection in the TV confirmed it. Red and blotchy, she looked like something out of a nightmare.
Which made it all the more impressive and painfully sweet that Alex was looking at her like she was the most stunningly gorgeous woman in the world.
“Tell me why, Lace. Give me one good, honest reason why you’re not even willing to give us a shot, and I’ll walk out of here and leave you alone for the rest of your life.”
Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it. Lacey forced herself to think about Arthur Wingate’s threats—everything he would take away from the man she loved. A man who deserved success and who shouldn’t be held back because he had the bad luck to fall into bed with the wrong woman.
She straightened her back and willed the tears to stay away for just a little while longer. “You know how important my career is to me,” she said. It was his turn to watch her pace around the room. She just needed to stay close to the truth and play on his insecurities.
“I never meant to hurt you, Alex, but when push came to shove, I just couldn’t walk away from the career opportunity that Ackland has given me.”
He was studying her closely, and she did her best to keep her expression blank. Just a little while longer. She just had to keep it together for a few minutes longer and he would be gone and she could cry until there were no more tears left to shed.
“So you chose Ackland then?”
She nodded, avoiding his hawk-like stare. “Yes, they offered me a promotion. A-and I couldn’t turn that down. After all the trouble Jess caused by calling my boss’s boss…” she gave a little shrug as she trailed off.
“So they gave you this promotion in exchange for giving up on me.”
There was a disturbing lack of emotion in his voice and when she looked up it was to find him watching her with a mix of confusion and…amusement? That couldn’t be right.
“Tell me about this promotion,” he said, leaning against the countertop that divided the living
room from the kitchen and acted as a makeshift dining room table and bookcase.
Damn it. She had strayed too far from the truth, and now she had to make up a story about some fabulous new gig she’d scored. When oh when would she ever learn that she was a terrible liar?
“Well, I start next week. They gave me a new client…” Her voice trailed off as his gaze mocked her. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m lying.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I never said that. I just find it interesting that Ackland gave you a promotion right after firing you.”
Lacey gaped at him, her surprise quickly turning to anger as he burst out laughing at her. “You think it’s funny that I got fired?” She placed her hands on her hips. “It’s your fault I was fired, you know. You could, at least, pretend to be sympathetic.”
He stopped laughing long enough to walk over to her and pull her into his arms. “I’m not laughing because you were fired.” He reached out a hand and gently pushed a stray curl behind her ear.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Then why are you laughing?”
He gave her that cocky, half-smile that made her want to smack him and kiss him all at once. “If you were lying about the promotion, then you’re lying about everything. I’m almost positive that you do want to be with me, Lacey Ames. In fact, I think you’re dying to be my girlfriend.”
She tried not to laugh as she rolled her eyes. “You’re too cocky for your own good.”
“And that’s what you love about me,” he teased.
“I don’t—”
“You do.” He pulled her closer so she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She was inches away from being pressed against him, happily cradled in his arms. So close but so far away.
Less Than Three: A Romantic Comedy Page 15
