Outback Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 1)

by Stoker, Susan

  After about twenty minutes the tram finally docked at the top of Sandia Peak. Sam let the other passengers push their way out of the car while she tried to look around to see if she recognized anyone. She slowly made her way out of the car and toward the small building. She didn’t see anyone who looked like they were looking for her, so she entered the building. Most of the other passengers obviously had reservations at the restaurant and were making their way toward it. Sam stepped in and looked around. There were two children with their mother and some other people waiting for the return trip down to the tram station. Sam walked further into the building. Around the corner, she saw a man standing by the windows on the north side, looking out. Sam looked around. She didn’t see anyone else around. When she turned back toward the man he’d turned so he was facing her.

  Sam couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Alex! What was he doing here? All she could do was stare at him in confusion as he walked toward her.

  Alex approached Sammi. She looked beautiful. He couldn’t believe it’d been so long since he’d seen and talked to her. It was almost as if it was the same as the day they parted. Alex thought the confused look on her face was cute. He reached out to take her hands.

  “Sit with me?” he asked with some trepidation.

  Sam could only nod. Alex led her over to one of the benches alongside the windows. Sam sat down and Alex took the seat next to her.

  “What are you doing here?” Sam asked with her brow furrowed.

  “Sammi,” Alex started “I—”

  Sam interrupted him. “Actually, my name is Sam,” she told him, blushing lightly.

  Alex smiled. “I’d wondered about that. I knew your email said that was your name, but I thought maybe you went by Sammi. I should’ve known. My name isn’t Al either. It’s Alexander David Sanders the third.”

  Sam finally smiled. “I heard that when the show aired. That fits you much better than Al. Do you go by Alexander? I feel like I don’t know you at all.”

  Alex smiled. “You know me, Sam. We weren’t together very long, but I think we got to know each other pretty well. I go by Alex.”

  “Alex, okay,” Sam told him. Suddenly, a thought struck her. “Xander in your email…short for Alexander, huh?” She smiled at him.

  “I wondered when you’d figure that one out,” he told her.

  “I don’t understand, Alex.” Sam’s voice trailed off.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I wanted to explain to you,” Alex said. “And I did promise you’d hear from me again, remember?”

  Sam nodded, but didn’t say anything. Her head was reeling. She couldn’t believe Alex was here, apparently for her. It blew her mind.

  “You know about the contract I was under because you were under the same rules. I wasn’t allowed to contact anyone from the show until after it was over. It said I couldn’t write, call or see anyone, it didn’t say anything about sending things.” Alex smiled. “I’m sorry about the show, Sam. It wasn’t fair what they did in the editing to you. I called and cussed out Eddie after that second show. I don’t think he really cared since the show was doing so well, though. Frankly, I was surprised they were able to do it so well. But I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not sorry for—” He paused.

  “For what?” Sam asked him, leaning toward him and putting her hand on his arm. She sighed. It felt so good being able to touch him again.

  “I’m not sorry our date wasn’t shown on National TV. That kiss we shared would’ve melted televisions around the country.” He smiled at her.

  Sam looked at him sadly. “I felt the same way, Alex, but after seeing you on the finale…” Her voice trailed off. How could she explain to him what it did to her to see him being intimate with Amy and especially Kathi?

  Alex looked her straight in the eye. “Sam, if I could, I’d take it back. I was getting a lot of pressure from Eddie to step it up a notch. What you saw was for the cameras. After we went through that bedroom door we went our separate ways. I swear to you what you saw was all we did.” He waited anxiously for her response.

  Sam looked at Alex. He looked very earnest. “I believe you. I know how they edited me out of the show, and I’m sure it was easy to make the audience think you did something you didn’t. But honestly? I don’t know why you’re here and what you want from me.”

  Alex stood up and took her hand. “Please, I’d like the opportunity to talk to you more. Will you have dinner with me?”

  He looked so sincere, Sam stood up and squeezed his hand. “Of course, Alex, I’d love that.”

  They walked hand in hand down to the restaurant at the top of the mountain. Alex had already made reservations in the hopes that Sam would agree to stay there with him. As they were waiting to be taken to their table, Sam’s cell phone rang. Knowing exactly who it was, Sam blushed as she answered it.

  “Hello? Oh, hi. Uh huh. Yup, no problem. Okay, see you later.” She hung up and looked at Alex, who was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Problem?” he asked, laughing. Sam had an idea he knew exactly what had just happened.

  “Uh, no, everything’s fine,” she said, trying to act nonchalantly.

  Alex threw his head back and laughed some more. “I’m glad you want to stay, and I don’t blame you for coming up with a contingency plan.”

  Sam blushed some more. Luckily, right then the hostess came back and led them to their table. It was located right by the windows overlooking the city. Alex held Sam’s chair for her, then unexpectedly sat down next to her rather than across from her.

  “Is this okay?” he asked.

  “It’s great,” Sam told him earnestly.

  The waitress came by and they ordered drinks. Alex turned toward Sam and took her hand in his again. “I don’t know where to start,” he said honestly.

  “I know,” Sam began, “it seems as if we just met yesterday, but we know each other better than a usual blind date couple would. I know things were pretty intense in Australia.”

  “They were,” Alex agreed, “but there are things you don’t know about our time over there that I feel like I have to tell you.”

  Sam started to look and feel nervous.

  “Nothing bad, I promise, but I told myself if you agreed to meet with me I’d be honest with you and I want to do that. I feel like there’s something between us. If I’m wrong, please tell me now before I get too far involved in this.”

  Now Alex looked nervous. His thumb was smoothing over the back of Sam’s hand absently, sending shivers down her spine, only making her want him more.

  “I feel the same, Alex,” Sam told him quietly. “There are things that happened in Australia that I’d like to share with you too.”

  “I get to go first.” Alex insisted with a smile.

  The waitress came back and they ordered their meals. Sam knew the restaurant was expensive, but Alex didn’t seem to care about the prices. After some more small talk their meals arrived. They took their time eating. Sam seemed to enjoy the meal more than she ever had before eating at the top of the mountain. Perhaps it was the little brushes of her arm against Alex’s, or maybe it was the small talk they engaged in. Whatever it was, it made the meal almost magical.

  Finally, after they both finished their meals, Alex said, “I don’t really know where to start, but I did want to tell you that I had nothing to do with you going home or the editing of the show.”

  “I know,” Sam reassured him for a second time. “I never thought you did. I figured you were as much in the dark as the rest of us were.”

  “The fact is, though,” Alex continued nervously, “I was consulted and asked on many occasions who I wanted to leave. I chose the first five or six women who went home. Including the very first one, it wasn’t a random thing.”

  “How is that possible?” Sam asked. “We hadn’t even met you yet!”

  “I’m assuming you watched the show, right?”

  “Some of it. I really only watched the first couple shows and the last one,” Sam admi
tted reluctantly.

  Alex would have teased her, but he was too intent on telling her everything about the show. “Remember, I was the bus driver, I made the decision based on first impressions.”

  “That’s right, you saw all of our video introductions live and in person.” Sam blushed, remembering her video. “Man, I was a dork!”

  “On the contrary, I thought you were very refreshing. After listening to the other women talk about where they liked to shop and go out at night your story about the bus was precious.” Alex reassured her. “Eddie asked me who I wanted to go home, I told him and they rigged the outcome. On the day you went home, Eddie told me you were going to go. I begged him to let you stay. He tricked me. He promised me Cindee would be going home that night, but he didn’t say for certain that you wouldn’t be.”

  “It’s okay, Alex.” Sam soothed him. “I knew that given the choice, any of the other women would choose me to leave. I simply didn’t fit in with them. And I know I didn’t fit in on the show.”

  Alex leaned over and kissed her gently, cupping the side of her face with his palm and keeping her face close to his. “The other reason I knew who I wanted to go home was because I was allowed to see all the tapes from the camp and from the competitions and stuff when I went home at night.” Alex explained.

  Sam stared at him. What was he saying? That he’d seen everything they’d done at the camp? “What do you mean?” Sam asked confused.

  “Just what I said, Sam, I saw you fall in the river and not complain one bit. I saw the scrapes on your side from that fall. I saw you save Kina’s life with that snake. I saw the conversations that everyone had back at the camp, I saw everything…”

  Sam could only stare at him. “W-w-what do you mean?” She stuttered, feeling stupid.

  Alex pulled her close again and rested his forehead against hers. “I mean just what I said. I think I fell in love with you after that first night. You were freezing, but you never complained, never brought attention to yourself, never told anyone you were hurt. Beauty in a woman I can take or leave, but true courage, pure unselfishness gets me every time. When you saved Kina’s life and didn’t bring it to the attention of anyone else, not a lot of women would have done that. And let’s not even start to talk about the barn incident. Why didn’t you tell my aunt and I what really happened?” he asked her firmly, leaning back and mock glaring at her.

  “Your aunt?” Was all Sam could manage. She was dumbfounded with all that Alex was telling her. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it all.

  Alex chuckled. “Yeah, Nancy is my aunt. We watched all the tapes together and she helped me decide who was leaving. You impressed the hell out of her, you know. We didn’t know what really happened in the barn, but we could make an educated guess. But without you telling us for sure, we couldn’t say or do anything.”

  “I did it for selfish reasons, Alex,” she told him honestly. “If I’d said anything they would’ve made my life a living hell. I was able to do it, it wasn’t a big deal. I felt pretty darn proud of myself.”

  “Ah, honey,” Alex murmured, bringing her palm up to his mouth and kissing it tenderly before continuing. “That’s not selfish, it’s self-preservation. I just wish you didn’t have to get hurt in the process.”

  “So you saw all the tapes every day?” Sam asked, trying to take his mind off of the barn.

  “Not all of them. Eddie got pretty sneaky and started leaving out the most interesting ones…”

  “How did you know they were leaving some out?” Sam asked.

  “Kina would bring them to me. I think you made quite an impression on her,” he told her. “She’d bring me the ones that Eddie was leaving out on purpose.”

  Sam stared at him. “I had no idea. I was afraid she didn’t like me since I almost got her killed with that snake. Then when they weren’t filming me much anymore I figured that was why.”

  “No, Sam,” Alex continued, “you were her favorite from day one. I think she was as mad as I was when you left.”

  Sam could only stare at him, overwhelmed.

  “I saw the tapes from that day at the lake as well. I had no idea Kathi was faking it until Kina brought me the tape. I saw the wink that night, Sam. I knew Kathi was lying. I knew she didn’t almost drown. I about lost it. I wanted to quit the show, but I was under a contractual obligation. Besides, Eddie wouldn’t let me kick her off. I tried. God, how I tried. He said it made for good television…and ultimately he was right.”

  “But, I don’t really understand why you chose her at the end then,” Sam said with confusion. “If you knew the whole time, didn’t it matter to you?”

  “Of course it mattered. It was hard for me to even be civil to her. You said you didn’t watch much of the show, but did you see any of it after the lake competition?”

  “Honestly? No. After the second episode when they twisted everything around I had no desire to watch. My girlfriends made me watch the last episode with them. I didn’t see anything in between.”

  “I don’t know whether to be pleased or irritated,” Alex told her with a grin. “While Eddie told me that I had to keep Kathi around, I did my best to not have her win individual dates, and I certainly didn’t help her that much while she was ‘recovering’,” Alex told her. “As to why I chose her at the end? I heard what you told me while we were on our date, and I honestly liked Amy. But if I’d picked Amy I’d have no reason after the show ended to dump her. I didn’t want to hurt her. By choosing Kathi I had a perfect excuse to break up with her on National Television and use the information the show provided as my reasoning.”

  “I don’t understand, Alex,” Sam said, “If you’d chosen Amy you could’ve made that work. She was pretty nice, and I know you got along, and she’s from Texas, you could’ve seen her all the time. You have a lot in common.”

  “Sam,” Alex said quietly and intensely, “I didn’t want it to work. I knew the day you left that you were the one I wanted to make it work with. Do you remember what I said the other day on that morning news show?”

  Sam could only shake her head in confusion. Had he really just said he wanted to be with her?

  “I was asked if there was someone else, and I said I thought there was. That someone else is you Sam. I want to make us work. I know we have some obstacles in front of us, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you left the show. I go to sleep wondering what you’re doing. I dream about meeting your dogs. I can see us mucking out my barn together.” He smiled. Then said, “Please say something…” he trailed off.

  “I’m not really sure what to say,” Sam told him honestly. “I like you too. I guess that’s part of the reason why I didn’t watch any more of the episodes after they edited me out. I know how I felt that day on our date, but I figured there was no way I’d fit into your world anyway.” Sam saw the irritated glint in Alex’s eyes and quickly continued. “Don’t get mad, Alex. I know as CEO of your company you have to project a certain image, just as I know I’m not that image.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Sam,” he told her. “I’m a person just like you and just like everyone who works for my company. Are you telling me you think they’d rather have me be with a person like Kathi who would lie her way through life?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Sam said with exasperation. “I meant that you should have someone by your side that is beautiful and thin and—”

  Alex cut her off and grasped her arms, looking into her eyes. “You are beautiful. Why won’t you believe me? I’ve never liked bony women. There’s nothing to hold on to.” He smiled at her. “You’re beautiful, Sam. You’re beautiful in part because of who you are. You make me happy to be around you. I love your long legs, your eyes sparkle with life…there isn’t anything about you I don’t think is beautiful. I’d rather have you by my side than any of those women on that show. I thank my lucky stars every day you were in Australia, I’m not sure we ever would’ve met otherwise. Please tell me there’s a chance for
us. I want to date you, Sam. I want to get to know you here in our own little corner of the world. I want to take you out to eat, to the zoo, I want to hang out with you and your dogs and watch movies on the weekends. I want to hear about your day when you get home and be able to tell you about mine. I want to spend all day in bed with you, exploring your body and making you come apart under me. Do you think we can try that?”

  Blushing because she’d thought about having Alex in her bed as well, she managed to say, “But we live so far apart,” Sam hesitantly told him.

  “Did you forget I’m a pilot?” Alex grinned at her. “You think I’m going to let a few miles stand between us?” He got serious and stared into her eyes. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy, Sam. All I’m saying is that I want a chance. I want the chance to make you happy. If, down the line, we decide together we should make our home here in Albuquerque, we will. If we decide Austin is where we should live, we will.”

  At Sam’s surprised look, he continued. “I’m in this for the long haul, Sam. I want us to end up together, married, together for the rest of our lives. This isn’t a short-term fling for me. I want us to go into this expecting that we’ll make it permanent. I’m not promising anything, things might not work out, but I want you to know I’m serious here. I’ve had nine months to think about this, about us, and even though we weren’t physically together very long, I’ve watched those tapes from the show over and over and I’ve missed you terribly…please let me know what you’re thinking behind those beautiful eyes.”