Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) (3 page)

“I used to model. Posture was everything. So, any more questions about the expansion or the gym?”

He chuckled. “No. No more business questions. I have some questions about your modeling, but I need to get to my lunch appointment. Maybe another time.”

She was clearly done with him, and he did have places to be.

Alexa walked him back outside, and he stopped on the driver’s side of his Lexus SUV.

“Thank you for the tour. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

Alexa extended her hand for a shake, but Graham clasped it between his hands and held it there. He craved the reaction he could get from her.

She gave her hand a yank, and he dropped it.

“You said you have a lunch meeting.”

“I did. I do.” Graham opened the door slid behind the wheel.

“Then, I’ll see you around.” She turned and rounded the front of his massive vehicle to head back to her gym.

Graham shouted after her. “Bye, Lola.”

He laughed. She walked faster, and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing again.

B
efore Graham pulled away
from Alexa’s gym, he tapped her name into the search on his phone, bringing up her social media, her gym’s website, and some old, sizzling modeling photos.

He cataloged the new information in his racing mind.

For three weeks, he’d asked every partygoer he knew if they remembered her. And poured through party pictures online. And ignored why he wanted to find her so badly.

Seeing her today answered the question.

Women loved Graham. He was handsome and charming. Never had a woman walked out after a night with him content to never look back. Alexa’s dismissal galled him.

A tantalizing memory of her smiling up at him at the New Year’s Eve party stirred his lower regions. Those dimples of hers might be the only sweet thing about her.

He should let it go.

On his way to the northwest Austin steakhouse where he was meeting his partners, Graham called Jonah.

“Jonah Moran.”

“I found her.”

“What?”

“It’s Graham. Remember the chick from New Year’s?”

“The one you nailed? How?”

“Random. She doesn’t live in Dallas. She lives here. I walk into a meeting today and boom. There she is. Alexa Stevens.”

Jonah snorted. “I told you. No one is named Lola.”

“Whatever. That’s not the point. The point is that I’ve finally found her.”

“Are you going out with her again?”

“Uh, not yet. She’s a little uptight about dating her landlord. I can wear her down.”

“Listen to you all excited. She must have cast quite the spell.”

“No.” Graham’s voice clipped. He was not bewitched by some random hookup.

“You sound
really
excited.”

An ancient Toyota Tercel swerved in front of Graham, and he laid on the horn, braking and checking the next lane for escape. “Jesus. No wonder that guy has to duct tape his bumper on.”

“Don’t let this Alexa agitate you into an accident.”

“That had nothing to do with her. It’s just some shitty Austin driver.” Graham released his tight grip on the wheel and relaxed into the leather seat.

Jonah’s voice taunted him. “But you want to see her again.”

“It’s my quest, man.”

“A quixotic revenge fuck?”

“I’m going to be way more successful than Don Quixote. And it’s not a revenge fuck. It’s a cathartic walk down memory lane.”

“Alexa Stevens. That name sounds vaguely familiar.”

His friend’s pondering tone made Graham white knuckle the steering wheel again. “Please tell me you don’t know her and haven’t slept with her, too.”

Crossing swords with his friend would creep him out.

“I don’t know. It’s not like I have a spreadsheet with every lay I’ve ever had. Text me a picture. I’ll let you know.”

The image of Alexa tangled in the sheets with Jonah hit him like sucker punch. He and Jonah had shared some wild times, but never a woman. Never. No. Alexa was his. Okay, maybe not
his
, but certainly not Jonah’s.

“Forget it.”

“No. Let’s sort this out. Maybe we can compare notes.”

“Fuck you.”

Jonah’s evil snicker faded. “Why do you care? I thought you were just going to bang her again and move on.”

“That, I will do.”

“Huh. Yeah.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I wish you luck in fucking this girl out of your system. But, you know, you could always date her. You sounded like you had a really good time that night. Maybe if you got to know her, you might like her.”

Graham cackled. “I’m not you, Jonah. I’m not looking for a white picket fence, and trust me, she’s not any more interested than I am in anything long-term.”

“Alright. If you say so. Still, text me a picture of her.”

“Creep.”

“No. I just want to lay eyes on this woman who’s got you all twisted up. That’s all.”

“Google her. You can find her online. She was a model.”

“You’ve already looked her up, then.”

Heat crept over Graham’s face, and he thanked God he was talking to his friend over the phone. “I was wondering how we were connected. How we ended up at the same party.”

“Now who’s the creep?”

“Shut up.”

“Is this the only reason you called me?”

Graham tried to think of another topic on his agenda and failed. “Yeah.”

Ripples of Jonah’s laughter flowed through phone line. “You are whipped, my friend.”

After hanging up, Jonah’s suggestion that he might like Alexa more than another handful of screws worth vexed him.

“Shit.”

Graham flew past his exit and pounded his fist on the wheel.

He was not whipped. This was just a matter of pride.
Disappear in a puff of smoke, my ass.
He’d see who was begging whom to stay in the end.

* * *

A
lexa put
the disconcerting reunion with Graham Ryan behind her. She spoke with her contractor to get an overview of their electrical issue and sent a note off to her new landlord. Then, she changed into her workout clothes and taught two pilates and yoga classes.

By seven o’clock, her stomach grumbled angrily, sending her next door to Viva Sandwiches & More before she drove home. Since Alexa hated cooking, Toby and Sarah Larson’s shop provided many of her meals—morning smoothies, lunchtime sandwiches, and soups and salads to go for dinner.

“Alexa!”

A rambunctious, dark-haired nine-year-old charged toward her and threw her arms around her waist.

“Hey, Poppy!”

The gap in Poppy Larson’s grin made Alexa smile.

“You lost a tooth.”

“I did. I got five dollars for it.”

“Boy, the Tooth Fairy is getting really generous these days.”

“It wasn’t the Tooth Fairy. It was my mom. You don’t still believe in fairies and the Easter Bunny, do you?”

The little girl turned up her nose.

“Of course not. Everyone knows that only Santa Clause is real.”

“Oh, my God. You can
not
be serious.”

“I’m totally serious. Didn’t Santa bring you some great gifts over the holiday?”

“Yeah,” Poppy snorted. “Sure.”

“Don’t ruin the fun for her, Poppy.” Toby emerged from the back of the restaurant with a cleaning rag and began wiping down the counter. “You need some dinner, Lex?”

“Yes, please.” Alexa perused the menu alight over Toby’s head. “I’ll take the low-carb chicken wrap with a side of snap peas and hummus.”

“Coming right up.” Toby reached for the low-carb tortilla wrap and filled it with a handful of mixed greens and diced grilled chicken.

“Sarah here?”

“No. She’ll be back in a bit to take Poppy home. She had a meeting with the juvenile diabetes people. She’s getting the details on how we need to structure the fundraiser so we can make sure the donations are tax deductible and all that other money stuff.”

“Perfect. I have a ton of ideas of what we can do for the event.”

Alexa had volunteered to put on a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The cause had become dear to her heart ever since Poppy was diagnosed a year ago.

Her parents managed her condition carefully, allowing her to be the exuberant, healthy child shimmying around one of the café tables in the front of the shop. The Foundation had been a huge help to Toby and Sarah, and they wanted to give back.

“Great. I may have found you some help for that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. This morning, the new landlord came by and saw the store display about the benefit. We got to talking, and he said he’d love to help any way he could. I’ll bet he has a lot of connections.”

“That’s nice of him.” Alexa’s even tone gave no hint of her underlying irritation at Graham’s potential involvement.

“I know. I really liked him. I was worried at first about dealing with the big management company, but I feel much better now. Have you met him?”

“Yes. He came to the gym right after his appointment with you.”

Alexa fiddled with her wallet, pretending to look for the debit card she already held between her fingers.

“What? You didn’t like him? Sarah adored him. Maybe a little too much.” Toby slipped into an imitation of his wife. “‘He’s much better looking than Michael.’ I think she must have said that four or five times after he left.”

“It’s a business arrangement, so I can think of qualities more important than being hot.”

Toby’s eyebrows slid higher. “But you do think he’s hot? He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Not that I noticed that. Sarah did. I think she’s plotting.”

“What?”

“You know how she’s always on the look out for guys to fix you up with.”

Alexa frowned. “I don’t need her to play matchmaker for me and the landlord.”

“Already on it, then?” An amused feminine voice drew Alexa’s attention to the front door. Sarah hustled in, hoisting her large handbag higher on her shoulder.

“No. Not on it at all. You two don’t need to start.”

“Oh, come on. Why not?”

“We’re in business together.”

“Oh, hardly. It’s not like this is a company where you’ll get canned for sexual harassment or something. And you’ve dated guys who’ve come into the gym before.”

Alexa cursed silently. True. But Graham?
Been there, done that.
Of course, she wouldn’t tell Toby and Sarah. That would only encourage more foolishness.

“I appreciate the consideration, but I’ll stick to finding my own dates.”

Sarah erupted in laughter. “That’s a polite way to tell us to go to H-E-double hockey sticks.”

“That’s Hell, Mom. I can spell hockey sticks.” Poppy rolled her eyes wildly with one hand on her hip.

“With that, I think your order is ready.” Toby chuckled.

“Great. Excuse me while I bolt.” Alexa plopped her card down on the counter.

“Should I give Graham your contact information for the fundraiser?” He passed Alexa her food and dangled the receipt in her face. Alexa snatched it from Toby’s fingers.

“I’m pretty sure he has it.”

“It’s nice of him to volunteer to help, though. Don’t you think?” Sarah pressed on.

“It’s important for him to establish good relationships with the tenants,” Alexa offered.

“I thought he was a nice guy. And he’s much better looking than Michael.”

“So you’ve mentioned,” Toby piped in.

“Oh, you don’t have anything to worry about.” Sarah smiled at her husband and smacked her lips together for an air kiss before turning back to a retreating Alexa. “And
you
could do a lot worse.”

Alexa didn’t feel compelled to respond to her friend’s entreaty. Maybe she could do worse than Graham. A repeat performance might even be fun.

Her gut quivered.

Excitement? A warning?

Alexa couldn’t tell.

She grabbed her dinner and waved goodbye.

A
lexa rolled over
, restless, and threw off her covers. Darkness and quiet settled over her house and the entire neighborhood. She found the button on top of her alarm clock, tapping it twice to brighten the light. 2:16 a.m.

Dammit.
The surge of irritation at being awake only made her situation more dire. Now wide awake, she lay staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before deciding she might as well get up and get something done.

She threw on her fleece-lined slippers and trudged over to her desk. With all the activities going on at the gym, she was going to have to pull back her class schedule or find new instructors.

She flipped open her computer and brought up the spreadsheet with a list of classes and newly proposed times. As she tapped away, a Facebook notification appeared the top of her screen.

> What are you doing up at this hour?

London Adam.

>> Couldn’t sleep so I gave up tossing and turning and decided to work.

Within a minute, her cell phone rang.

Alexa paused before picking it up. “You didn’t have to call to keep me company.”

“I so very rarely have the opportunity to talk to you at a reasonable hour—or at least, reasonable for me. It’s too bad you’re not here. The weather in London has been unseasonably balmy.”

“Maybe I’ll make it back someday. Who knows? Now that her divorce is nearly final, Carrie is toying with the idea of moving back to the States.”

“Surely you have other reasons to be visiting London besides Carrie.”

“Of course. The London Eye. The Tate Modern. London is full of sights.”

“Funny. It seems if I’m ever going to see you again I need to go ahead and make those plans to visit you in Texas.”

“Sure.” She tossed the word out like a distraction to facilitate an escape. “Now is a terrible time to visit, though. We have so much going on with the gym and opening the spa. Maybe you could come over the summer. Or the fall is nice. It’s much less hot by September-October.”

“Not nearly soon enough, but we’ll see. Other than work, how are things? Every time I talk to you it’s nothing except the gym and spa and what you’ve got going on business-wise. I hope you’re leaving time to have some fun.”

Alexa thought back over the previous weeks to New Year’s, and knew Adam didn’t likely have that kind of fun in mind for her.

“I’m getting out of the office and the gym once in a while. No need to worry. What about you? Are you working on any new paintings?”

“I had my friend in again to sit for me. You saw my paintings of her when you were here.”

She had indeed. His “friend” was a stunning, leggy woman who enjoyed being naked. They dated years ago and allegedly that was over, but the running around his apartment naked wasn’t nearly over.

Whatever. It was none of her business. Maybe a dalliance with the mysterious naked woman would calm Adam’s ardor for her.

“Fantastic. You have to send me some pictures.”

“Will do. Well, I’ll let you get back to your work and, hopefully, back to getting some sleep. I’ll get back to you with my travel plans.”

“Sure.”

She said goodbye to Adam and turned back to her computer. He kept pressing for a visit, and she kept putting him off. Eventually, he had to get the hint.

The complications of an overseas relationship weren’t in her future. Neither were the complications of a relationship with her landlord, as tempting as that was. Simplicity—that’s what she wanted.

* * *

A
dam vacillated
between surprising Alexa or giving her advanced notice before he arrived in Austin.

One week into the New Year, a client sparked Adam’s interest in an upcoming trip to Texas for the technology and media conference at South by Southwest. He aimed to make that happen.

Before he got back to his artistic work for the afternoon, he needed to make one more phone call.

“Sandra, hello. It’s Adam.”

“Adam, love, how are you? I was about to call you. I know you’ve been waiting for the final word on Texas. I can tell you for certain now that we’re a go.”

The energy of anticipation surged through him. “Fantastic.”

“Your proposal was spot on, and you’re right. It’s best that you go personally to oversee the implementation. And, frankly, it will save me a trip. I love America, but with my husband and my kids, the idea of two or three months over the pond doesn’t thrill me.”

“No problem. That’s why I’m here. Consider me an extension of your team.”

“Contact my administrative assistant, and he’ll make your travel arrangements. We already rented a corporate apartment downtown for the festival and afterward. You’ll likely want a car, as well.”

“I’ll contact Rafael and book my flight.”

Adam wrapped up his call with an ear-to-ear smile at having convinced her to extend his engagement with them for a few months. More time billing
and
more time with Alexa.

He scraped the back of his fingertips down his jawline. He had yet to shave or shower. Instead, his current work-in-progress called him to the canvas early that morning without any substantive break.

The conversation with Alexa replayed in his mind.

His old friend, Martina, sat for him again, as she always did every time she passed through town. Usually, once she stripped naked with the grey light of London washing her body with shadows, they took a pass through his bed sheets as well.

Not this time. Since meeting Alexa, he’d been able to think of nothing else but the scent of her left on his pillow and the small movements of her body as she shifted and sighed while he sketched her.

She continued to tell him it wasn’t a good time for him to visit, but knowing how skittish she was about starting a more permanent relationship, he put it down to her interminable cold feet. He’d warm them when he got there.

Adam pulled the vision of her in his mind and pushed it into the brush he held in his hand. This painting was a larger, nearly abstract version of the sketches he did of Alexa when she visited in November.

Unfortunately, she insisted on taking them with her back to the States. Not working from his drawings left him dependent on his memories. He knew the shape of her, but he had to reconfigure her form in his mind and his brush each time he conjured her. His neck stiffened.

Lowering the brush, he closed his eyes and drew in a slow, hefty breath before gradually forcing it out between his teeth. Adam opened his eyes.

Envisioning her on the canvas wasn’t enough. He wanted to see her.

Maybe he should surprise her? No. It was better to let her know that his arrival was at least a possibility. Then, he would call her after he landed. Best not to give her time to push him off with another excuse.

When she saw him, he could pick up where he left off—breaking down the walls between her and the love he knew she wanted. He just had to use their chemistry and his powers of persuasion.