Oh God.
I nodded again.
Then I took a breath and laid my cheek to his chest.
Soft fabric, hard muscle underneath.
Beautiful.
“You’re smack in vast, sweetheart,” he murmured. “You can open up here. You can let it out. Close your eyes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Do you feel it?” he asked.
It took a second (probably more like twenty), then I whispered, “I feel it, Rix.”
“Okay, baby, open up and smile.”
I opened my eyes, smelling dust, man and sun, feeling his strong arm tight around me, the power of his chest under my cheek, the warmth of the morning sun on my skin, the air fresh, but still all around us.
And in that moment, it was just Rix and me.
No one would ever have that moment.
No one, but us.
I was his, and he was mine.
For then.
So I smiled.
His phone clicked.
He didn’t let me go immediately, and when he did, he turned into me so we were toe to toe, shifted his other shoulder to my side, and held up the phone in front of us.
“Our first picture fuckin’ rocks, woman,” he declared.
He was right.
It did.
My smile wasn’t huge.
But it was content, and my dimple was out.
Rix wasn’t smiling.
But there was no mistaking he was happy to be right where he was.
We actually kinda looked good together.
The phone fell away, and he muttered, “I’ll text it to you. You can text it to your sister.”
Right.
Pretend.
“Cool,” I mumbled.
Even if it was pretend, nothing could dampen that moment for me, standing there with Rix.
We stared at the rocks, we took in the vista, and at the exact same second I was about to do it, Rix turned to me.
“Breakfast down in that sun room, or room service? And my vote is, room service. On one of our balconies. Our views are better. We get back, text me your order, I’ll call it in. We can shower, get ready, by that time, they’ll have the food up. We’ll eat, and then we can hit the road.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He did something with his hand, it moved up an inch, then fell, and I sensed he was going to touch me.
But he didn’t.
Because we were pretend.
That produced a hint of melancholy.
But I shook it off and turned toward the trail.
Rix followed me.
I had a shower and was dressed and very ready for breakfast (in other words, there was a rumble in my stomach).
I also had a text that just came in from Rix that said, R&A Excursion 1, Operation Learnalot Nerve Center is my room. Breakfast on balcony T minus now.
And I was thinking he really was funny.
I was also thinking I could love a guy that was that funny.
Then I stopped thinking and started to head out.
I had my door open and was about to step into the hall when my phone rang.
I expected it to be Rix, telling me to get my butt over there, because he was funny, but I was also noticing he could be impatient.
It wasn’t Rix.
It was Chloe.
Considering what happened last night, I stepped back into my room, let go of the door and took the call.
“Hey, Chloe.”
“Hello, Alex, is it too early?”
“No, Rix and I have already had a short hike and we’re about to have breakfast on his balcony.”
Chloe said nothing for a moment, and then she asked, “I do believe you two have a good deal to pack in before your sister’s wedding, but…exactly how much practice are you getting?”
I wished.
“I’m in my room, he’s in his, but I need to get over to his. That’s where we’re meeting and the food has arrived.”
“Ah.”
I didn’t have a lot of time, so I got down to it.
“I took your call because I wanted to talk to you about last night.”
“Yes, that’s why I’m calling. We didn’t quite finish, and to answer your as yet unasked question, Judge’s sister Dru loosely knows your sister. And when you told Blake about Rix, you probably didn’t know that Elsa Cohen has spoken of Rix, and your sister is somewhat of a fan of the Elsa Exchange. So knowing Dru knows him, she went fishing. I’m sorry to say, Dru isn’t very fond of Blake, so she was concerned as to why Blake was calling about Rix, who Dru has become rather close to.”
Damn.
Well, at least that explained that.
“Obviously, I jumped to conclusions,” she went on. “I’m sorry if I made things awkward for you.”
“We talked it through, and Rix is going to go with me to New York.”
“Excellent,” she purred.
“So I guess it’s good you let the cat out of the bag, because Blake is going to hate me being with someone and she’s especially going to hate that it’s someone like Rix.”
“Then I won’t feel too badly I phoned, though I am glad that Rix cut me off, because I was going to discuss something else last night with the two of you, and given further time to contemplate, I think this should be between you and me.”
“All right,” I said warily.
“I’m not sure you’ve gotten to this point in learning of Rix, but he was once engaged.”
Oh, we got to that point.
“Yes, he mentioned that.”
“Obviously, considering he intended to make a family and spend the rest of his life with her, he loved her deeply.”
A stitch pinched my insides.
I ignored it.
“Obviously,” I mumbled.
“So of course, the blow she landed by ending things with him mere weeks after he had his accident, mere days after he came home after losing his legs, doing this because he lost his legs, was a heavy one.”
When she finished speaking, I stood immobile, listening to the rushing in my ears, seeing my vision go white like static on an old TV screen.
I had no idea how long I experienced this before I heard Chloe calling my name.
I just knew it was long enough for me to identify the feeling I was feeling.
An emotion I had not felt in my entire life.
Rage.
“Are you there?” Chloe asked.
“Yes,” I said, that one-syllable word harsh and trembling.
“I sense you feel much the same way Judge and I feel about Peri,” she noted quietly.
“I sense you sense right,” I forced through a throat that seemed dry and scratchy.
Chloe’s tone was different on her next. No nonsense. Determined.
“Okay, Alex, it’s no surprise to me that Rix is going to step up for you with your sister. He’s that man. Very much so. As you’ll soon learn. But as much of a bonus as that is, I hope you take no offense, this situation is not about you and your sister. Though I’ll warn you, I don’t know your sister, but her calling Dru, checking things out about you and Rix means she’s sleuthing, and it’s highly probable you understand why, so you two are going to have to be convincing.”
I already knew that.
I still swallowed nervously.
“Alex?” she called.
“I’m here. I’m listening.”
“Good. Now the important part of this is that Peri has recently approached Rix, and since then, has continued to try to reach out. She wants to get back together.”