A girl could get used to waking up this way.
Alex's strong arm was draped over her chest. He was spooned up against her, his groin nestled against the curve of her bottom. She snuggled a little deeper in his embrace, and felt a stirring between his legs.
Yeah, a girl could definitely get used to this.
His chin was perched on top of her head and she fit perfectly into the hollow beneath him. This was paradise.
Well, it would have been if it weren’t for the constant beeping of her phone alarm. It kept going and going. Like there was something important she had forgotten. Somewhere she had to be.
Isobel's wedding.
Beth shot straight up. Alex let out a little groan of disappointment.
“Things were just getting good,” he said.
Beth blushed a little, and smiled to herself. After everything that had happened, it still stoked her ego that Alex desired her.
Then again, she had no idea how he felt about her otherwise. All she knew was that he liked her enough to keep her alive and sleeping in his bed. And really, shouldn't that be enough? Who wouldn't give their right hand to have spent two nights with this guy—three, if she counted the one he'd spent on the couch?
It should have been enough.
And yet, somehow, it wasn't. She wanted more. That was the problem. She had the feeling that when it came to Alex Tanner she would always want more. Even if she spent the rest of her days by his side, it would always be one day too little.
But the truth was that there was probably only today. And it had already started.
Beth pushed the hair out of her eyes and looked down at him. Her hand flew to her mouth.
He looked like hell. Well, as close to hell as a guy like Alex was ever going to get. His mouth was cut up and bruised. His nose and cheeks were red and swollen. And his right eye was sporting one hell of a shiner. It looked like he had fought for the heavyweight title last night.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“It's that bad, eh?” he asked. He rose up on his elbows, and she had the feeling that the rest of him wasn't faring much better than his face.
“No. It's just not...good.”
“You're very reassuring.”
“Sorry,” she said. “What are we going to tell everyone at the wedding?”
“The truth,” he said. Beth's eyes widened even further. “That you like it rough.”
Beth whacked him in the shoulder with a pillow. He grimaced a little.
“Sorry,” she said, immediately bending down to kiss the spot she'd hit.
“I'm fine,” he said.
Like hell he was fine. But she wasn't going to argue with him. She had her own problems to deal with. She had to get ready for a wedding.
Beth wriggled out of the sheets and stepped down onto the floor. She took a long, hot shower, all the time hoping that Alex would slide in behind her, help her wash her hair and…other parts. But he didn't. She understood. He had to be sore from the beating he’d taken last night. But still, it was hard not to want one last taste of him. She wasn't sure just how quickly he would be flying from her life once this was all over.
On the other hand, Beth wasn't sure she wanted to think too hard about how today was going to end. She wasn't sure the odds were in her favor of walking away alive. After last night's attempt on her life, she wasn't feeling all that optimistic.
Instead she reveled in the warm water washing over her. She looked out the window at the city below, just coming to life, and let her mind drift to all the things she'd never done, all the things she'd put off, thinking that she'd have the time to do them later.
Beth shoved the melancholy thought away. If this did prove to be her last day on earth, she wasn’t going to waste it.
Beth turned off the water and wrapped a big, fluffy towel around her. One thing that she did know for certain—if she did survive this day, she was buying new towels. Life was too short to settle for the thin, crappy towels she had at home.
Alex was on the phone when she stepped out of the shower. He wasn't talking, just listening intently as he paced the floor of the bedroom, twisting and stretching, bringing his muscles back to life. He paused as she stepped into the room. The look on his face was flat.
“Understood,” he said. He turned off the phone and tossed it on to the bed.
“That didn't sound good,” Beth said.
“They've intercepted another message. Apparently, our guy isn't too pleased with the last two failures. He's decided to come down and take care of things himself.”
Beth swallowed the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. “Is that a bad thing?” she asked.
“Depends on how you look at it. We have a better chance of catching this guy now than ever before,” he said.
“That's good.”
“But it also shows just how desperate he is to get you out of the picture. This guy is a total unknown. There's no telling what he’s going to do.”
“That's not so good.”
Alex shook his head slowly. “No, it's not. But no matter what happens, I'm going to be right by your side.”
She never doubted that he would. But there was an intensity to his words that made her pause, something underneath that she couldn't read.
“Thank you,” she said. She wrapped her arms around him. She rested her face against his chest, and breathed deeply.
She had to tell him how she felt. She didn't know how he would react, but she wasn't going to live what might be her last day in fear.
“Listen, I want to tell you something. I'm not sure if it's just a reaction to everything that has happened the last couple of days. I mean you've saved me from two assassination attempts—that can change the way a girl looks at a guy.”
“Beth,” he said. His voice was filled with hesitation, but he didn't push her away.
“Or maybe it was how you dealt with my family and friends. Or the way you helped me deal with them. Either way.”
“Beth, don't.”
She went on anyway. What the hell? The only thing was to just say it. Put it out there. Live a little before she died.
“The thing is, I love you.”
There. Done. She'd said it.
He held on to her for another half second, not saying a word. Then he took a step back so she was an arm's length away. His fingers dug into her shoulders. His eyes were hard, intense, like gemstones. “You're only saying this because you think that you're going to die.”
Beth shook her head. It wasn't entirely the reason. And it didn’t change the fact that it was true.
Apparently, he didn't believe her. “You're going to be fine, Beth. Do you hear me? Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“You willing to put money on that?” She tried humor. He didn’t laugh.
“You're not going to die. I swear it.”
He pulled her back into his arms, and held her with a protective ferocity that she'd never experienced.
He didn't utter another word. He didn't have to. He didn’t feel the same way about her. She didn't really expect him to. They hadn't known each other for very long. The time that they had spent together was hardly conducive to courtship. Intense emotion, yes. But traditional wine-and-dine romance, not so much.
But it was obvious that he cared about her. Deeply. Passionately. Perhaps briefly. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter. She’d take what she could get.
Only now, what she could get didn’t seem half as satisfying as it had last night.
***