But it was the one lower that made him pause and suck in his breath. Tucked high on the inside of his thigh, damn near in the crease of his leg, exceedingly close to his balls. A clear reminder of where AJ's mouth had been.
Alec clenched his jaw tight and reached into the shower, turning the water to the coldest setting before stepping in.
NINE
Tap-tap-tap.
Tap-tap-tap.
Tim tossed the pencil onto his desk, leaned back in the chair with a loud squeak, tented his fingers under his chin, and stared at AJ. He was quiet for so long, his face completely blank, that she squirmed in the chair across from his desk, her hands fisting where she had them tucked under her legs.
"It's not an interview, AJ." His voice was flat, with no emotion in the tone at all. She leaned forward, ready to argue or at least defend herself, but Tim held up his hand to stop her. "It's better than an interview. I'm impressed."
AJ let out the breath she had been holding and sat back, the knots in her stomach slowly uncurling. She had had no idea how Tim was going to react to the article when she emailed it to him this morning, and had regretted sending it almost immediately. That regret had grown even larger when Tim called an hour ago and asked her to come in.
What had she been thinking?
Well, she knew what she had been thinking—the same thing she had been thinking for the last two days, and it had nothing to do with the article. It was pretty amazing that there even was an article, considering everything that had happened the last two days.
Which was, essentially, absolutely nothing.
Apparently waking up next to the world's biggest asshole after having the world's greatest sex ever with the same said asshole worked wonders for her writing. Although, to be fair, it wasn't like she had anything else to do for the last two days, since Alec had pretty much ignored her since that morning they woke up together.
In the same bed.
After having the world's greatest sex.
And yeah, she wasn't an idiot and knew it had been a mistake, knew that there wasn't anything more to it than two consenting adults getting together for one night. She knew that, knew not to read anything into it, knew not to expect anything from it, had even told herself that it would make things awkward for at least a little bit.
Yes, it would have been nice for at least a little bit of morning-after cuddle, but she hadn't expected that, either. What she really hadn't expected was Alec's aloofness and palpable regret filling the room with sub-zero temperatures before she was even fully awake. His attitude had been pure icy misery, as he held himself statue-still, laying as far away from her as he possibly could without rolling out of the enormous bed.
AJ still didn't know what was worse: that, or his attempted apology. Both memories still sparked anger, and she actually kicked the leg of her chair in retaliation to vent some of it.
Which made Tim sit back in his chair and stare at her. How had she forgotten where she was?
She knew how, and mentally kicked herself this time before looking over at Tim with a feigned wide-eyed innocence and gave him her complete attention.
"You haven't heard a word I said."
AJ opened her mouth to deny it, but wisely shut it. Tim shook his head then leaned forward, clacking away at his keyboard. "I like the entire set-up you've got going here, AJ. How much more do you have?"
"Um," she paused and looked away. More? Not much. As in, none.
Tim waved her off. "It doesn't matter. We can use what you've got so far. In fact, that would be even better for what I have in mind."
"In mind?" AJ sat up straighter now, worry flowing through her as she noticed the calculating gleam in Tim's eyes, the subdued excitement thrumming through him as he made notes on the post-it pad next to his computer, then clacked away again on the keyboard.
"Yeah. Forget the original interview idea. We're turning this into a feature series. Four parts, I think. We'll run this one on Sunday. I need the other installments by each Thursday. That gives you almost a full week to come up with the second one. Think you can handle that?" Tim pulled his gaze away from the computer long enough to look at her, the expression in his eyes actually taking her aback. Confidence, pride, encouragement. Tim had always been her mentor, had always believed in her, but seeing it so clearly now surprised her, and she wasn't sure why.
"Yeah, no problem." She forced more confidence into her voice than she felt, nodding her head enthusiastically.
"Excellent." He tilted his head and studied her for a second. "This really is great stuff, AJ. You should be proud. And don't be surprised when you're offered a full-time spot in four weeks. As far as I'm concerned, it's a done deal."
Done deal? Muted excitement and stunned disbelief filled her at the words. A four-week feature series and a full-time spot—exceedingly more than she had ever considered several weeks ago. AJ pushed herself out of the chair and mumbled an inane thanks to Tim then walked out the office, torn between skipping and stumbling. Tim liked her drivel, and what had started out as nothing more than some mindless musings about the game of ice hockey and one of its best goalies was now going to become the first part of a four-part feature that several hundred thousand people would read in three days' time.
AJ couldn't help it, she did a little skip as she entered the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby floor. She had set out to do something, and she was making it happen!
She couldn't believe it. A four-part feature. Read by thousands of people.
The elevator doors opened with a soft hiss and she stepped out, smiling as she thought of sharing the news with Alec.
She stumbled and the smile fell from her face as an icy blast tore through her.
Alec.
Oh my God, he was the last person she could share this with. The dead last. He would not be sharing her enthusiasm or excitement, she knew that as well as she knew her own name. But it wasn't like she couldn't not tell him—he would see it for himself in three days when it came out.
She had to tell him. She had to. She couldn't let him be blindsided by it. There was absolutely nothing in the article—the feature—that was even remotely negative or unflattering, but he still wouldn't like it. In fact, he would hate it.
She didn't want to think about how she knew he would hate it, didn't want to fool herself into thinking she actually knew him well enough to know how we would feel. But that didn't stop her from knowing.
Alec was going to hate it.
AJ pushed through the lobby doors, her excitement replaced by trepidation as she tried to figure out the best way to tell him when she got back to his place.
**
Alec stretched out on the oversized sofa and flipped through the channels on the remote, not seeing a single program that flashed across the large flat screen television. He wasn't channel surfing trying to find something to watch; he was channel surfing because he was trying to think of the best way to start the conversation he needed to have with AJ.
Yes, he needed to have the conversation. Not wanted—needed. Something had changed in the last two days, and not for the better. They had barely spoken to each other since the other morning, sharing little more than distantly polite exchanges.
For as much as he had hated the idea of spending time with her before the whole stupid bet had backfired on him, he thought that not having to deal with her incessant chattering would have been bliss.
Except she didn't really chatter, and certainly not incessantly.
But he still hadn't thought he would miss it, not really. His usually quiet house had always been his refuge, a place he could go to escape, to unwind, to just be himself. He enjoyed the occasional solitude, enjoyed just doing nothing, talking to no one. Unlike AJ, he didn't consider that hiding. It didn't matter that lately he had been feeling like something was missing. He wasn't hiding...he was enjoying his peace and privacy.
Except he hadn't enjoyed it the last two days. Instead of being a welcoming quiet, the silence was opp
ressive.
He felt like his own house was condemning him.
So here he was, mindless channel surfing, trying to come up with a way to start a conversation with AJ, to make the last two days go away so he could hear her voice, her laughter, again.
Which was going to be hard as hell, considering the only thing he wanted to do every time he saw her was throw her against any flat surface, wrap her legs high around his waist, and bury himself deep inside her. He could just imagine that conversation.
Hey AJ...I really miss our talks. By the way, would you mind if I threw you against the wall and mindlessly banged you?
Christ.
The door opened behind him and he jumped, startled then guiltily when he looked over the sofa back and saw AJ walking in. She tossed her keys onto the hall table and took a few steps toward him. She stopped to look at him before completely entering the living room, her teeth pulling nervously on her lower lip.
Alec eyed her full mouth and swallowed a groan as memories from the other night raced straight to his groin. He pulled his gaze away from her lips and took in her outfit: a leather and shell necklace worn tight around her neck like a choker, a longer leather necklace with some kind of shell hanging from it, falling near the edge of a scalloped shirt that showed more cleavage than he thought she should be showing in public, especially when the longer necklace called attention to that same cleavage.
His gaze dropped lower still to her curve-hugging jeans with the slightly frayed patches hinting at the toned flesh of her thighs, the jeans tucked into brown boots. And shit, where did she get those boots? They looked like pirate boots, with a cuff around the top, the leather dark and soft, worn-looking like a bomber jacket. Except he didn't think many pirates wore boots with three-inch heels.
And suddenly Alec didn't want to talk. The only thing Alec wanted to do was find that flat surface he couldn't stop thinking about. Except that really wasn't going to work either, so he jumped from the sofa and took a step toward her, willing his mouth to start working, hoping the words would come out the right way.
"Alec, we need to talk."
Her words froze him in place, right in the middle of his tracks. They were words that nobody ever wanted to hear, no matter what the situation was. He couldn't read the look on her face, could only see that she really didn't want to talk about whatever it was she said they needed to talk about.
And suddenly he didn't want to talk. About anything. He held his hand out and shook his head, stopping her from saying anything else.
"We're going out. Just...give me five minutes and we'll leave."
"Alec—"
"Some of the guys are getting together tonight, so we'll go meet them and just hang out for a little bit."
"Alec—"
"Five minutes. Just stay there." He whirled around and headed for his room, taking the steps two at a time, thinking that a night out was suddenly a perfect idea.
**
AJ stared at the bright lights and flashing neon decorating the building in front of them in disbelief, then turned to face Alec to see if he was joking with her. He was too busy pulling the keys out of the ignition and putting his wallet in the back pocket of his jeans to notice her look. But he acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, and she couldn't tell if he was pulling her leg or not.
AJ didn't know what to think, considering how strange he had been acting since she had returned to his place a little more than an hour ago. He had almost literally dragged her out of his condo, brightly assuring her that a night out would be fun. Then, every time she had tried talking, he had interrupted, insisting they were going to have a great time, that this would be a perfect chance for her to get to know some of the other players.
Alec opened his door to get out, then seemed to finally notice that she was still seat-belted in and making no effort to move. He looked at her questioningly, and she pointed to the flashing neon in front of them.
"Um, Alec...you do know this is a strip club, right?"
She almost laughed at his expression, it was that comical. His head whipped from her to the building and back, his eyes momentarily widening before lowering in a frown. She couldn't be sure because of the light, but it almost looked like a blush was creeping across his face. His lips were moving and she knew he was muttering something, but she couldn't make out what it was as he dropped back into the driver's seat and closed the door.
"Shit, sorry. Wasn't thinking," he mumbled. He leaned back in the seat and jammed his hand into his front pocket, searching for the car keys. "Stupid. Stupid idea. No problem, we can go someplace else. Really, wasn't thinking and—"
"Alec." She reached out and closed her hand around his wrist to stop his digging for the keys. Her fingers brushed against his jeans and she quickly let him go, pulling her hand back to her own lap and clearing her throat. "Alec, it's no big deal. We can go in."
"What? Are you nuts? No, absolutely not. That would be—AJ, no, where are you going?"
She opened the door and stepped out, then turned and leaned into the car to stare at him. "I'm going inside." She straightened and closed the door then took a few steps across the parking lot, not surprised when Alec rushed up to her side and actually tried to stop her by stepping in front of her and walking backwards.
"AJ, you can't go in there. It's...it wouldn't be right."
She stopped a few feet from the door, hearing the bass of the pulsing beat of the music. "Why wouldn't it be right?"
"Uh...because it's a strip club and—"
"But it's okay for you guys?"
"Um..."
"No, this will be fun. C'mon." AJ pushed around him, trying not to smile at the look of surprise and chagrin on his face. She pulled open the door and felt the music wash over her, drowning out whatever Alec had been trying to say.
TEN
The small lobby was relatively well-lit, showing a glass counter of merchandise with assorted shirts and posters displayed on the wall behind it. A young blonde wearing what AJ thought was supposed to pass for a bikini was leaning across the counter, talking to one of the two bouncers. The second bouncer was standing in front of a doorway that was framed by a metal detector, a scowl on his dark face, beefy arms crossed in front of his massive chest. A gold hoop earring hung from his left ear, and his dark bald head sported some kind of tribal tattoo across the side. He looked like the kind of man that any sane person would run away from.
"Leon!"
"Oh my God, it's little Amber!" The big man stepped toward her then leaned down to wrap her in a tight bear hug. He swung her around, planting a kiss on the top of her head before setting her back on her feet. "What are you doing here, girl? You gonna finally get up on that stage for us?"
AJ stepped back, shaking her head and laughing. She couldn't see Alec behind her, but she was pretty sure he was frozen in place, probably with his mouth hanging open and a scowl on his face. "Oh no. Not me. I'm here with a friend, who's meeting some more friends."
Leon looked over her shoulder and scowled as Alec finally came to a stop next to her. She rolled her eyes as the two did that whole male sizing-up thing. "This here your friend, little Amber? Now you tell me, what kind of man brings a date to a strip club?"
AJ stepped toward Alec, stopping him from saying anything as she placed her hand on Leon's chest. "He's not my date, Leon. He plays hockey for the Banners, and I'm doing a story on him."
"Yeah? No shit. Well, there's more of them hockey players in the back." Leon stepped back and eyed Alec up, then dismissed him with a slight shake of his head and turned his attention back to AJ, a broad smile splitting his dark face and twinkling in his eyes. "You better go say hi to Tawny before you leave or she'll be upset."
"I will. Hey, how's Scott doing?"
"He's doing great. He just got promoted from running that store at the aquarium, and now he's the regional director—oversees all the stores from DC up to New York."
"That's great! Tell him I said hi, will you?" She gave Leon another bi
g hug then grabbed Alec's arm and pulled him through the doorway and into the club area. The music was loud, but the crowd wasn't especially heavy so it was easy to move around the floor. AJ stood on her toes and looked around, then led Alec around the stage and toward the back corner, refusing to look back at him. Considering how bad he was dragging his feet and trying to pull her in the opposite direction, she could only imagine what would happen if she stopped to face him.
She waved to a few of the dancers on the floor that she recognized, but kept making her way to the corner. Alec finally escaped her hold on him and grabbed her hand, yanking her to a stop and turning her around, stepping close so he could lean over and talk to her. She at least gave him credit for keeping a blank look on his face. Either that, or he was still in a state of shock and didn't know what to think.
"Who is Scott?"
"What?" Of all the questions she had been expecting, that wasn't one of them. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, and leaned forward to talk in his ear. "Scott is Leon's boyfriend. They've been together for something like ten years."
Alec swung his head around, looking back toward the door. "No way. Really? Hunh." He turned back, his hand tightening on her arm when she went to move away. "Oh no. No you don't. Not until you tell me...I mean, how do you know...did you use to...?"
That was one of the questions she had been expecting. At least, part of one of the questions, since Alec seemed to have trouble finishing the sentence. Part of her was sorely tempted to play it up, to tell him yes, she had been a dancer and that yes, she used to work here, just to see what his reaction would be. But he seemed so shell-shocked as it was that she didn't want to take a chance and send him over the edge.
"No Alec, I've never worked here. I did a freelance piece on some of the girls last year." She gently pried her arm free of his loose hold and turned away, not sure what to make of the relieved expression that crossed his face. He caught up to her and took the lead just as they approached the alcove where half a dozen of his teammates were gathered. Some of the players—those who didn't have their eyes glued to the stage—greeted Alec, then stared in surprise when they noticed her standing just behind him.
Crossing the Line (The Baltimore Banners Book 1) Page 9
