If You Want Me (22 page)

No love.

God, how could she have been so stupid? Just yesterday she’d questioned his motives about getting her into bed, but she’d wanted him so badly, she’d given in to her lifelong dream of loving him.

And he’d given in to his attraction for Desirée LaCroix.

Last night, she’d forgotten one very important thing—this was real life, not a Hollywood movie. Marcus wasn’t going to fall in love with her just because she had wanted him for fifteen years. And she realized that she had been waiting for this moment all these years.

But it had been no more than sex for him.

“I see,” Alice said, quickly rising.

Marcus’s chair scraped on the linoleum floor as he shot to his feet. “Alice—”

“For God’s sake, don’t treat me like some lovesick teenager. I don’t need to be coddled and comforted. I’m a big girl.”

Alice could have sworn she saw the light in Marcus’s eyes snuff out, but she had to be wrong. He had no feelings for her, at least no feelings other than
friendship
, so why would he be disappointed?

No, there was only one fool in this room. And it was her.

She made a hasty retreat upstairs and was thankful that he didn’t follow her. She couldn’t let him know how much of a fool she actually was.

She couldn’t let him know that she was in love with him, body and soul.

For the rest of the week, Alice and Marcus didn’t say much to one another. They were nothing more than polite strangers as they coexisted in his house. They tried not to get in each other’s way, and they spoke only about necessary things, such as Marcus telling Alice he would be working late, or Alice assuring him she’d call him from the theater to let him know she was okay. The distance between them hurt her, but Alice would never let him know that.

She still couldn’t get past their night of incredible lovemaking—and the subsequent realization that she had been so wrong in judging Marcus’s feelings. The blame lay squarely on the pathetic part of her that was a dreamer, always hoping her life would have a Hollywood movie ending. But more disturbing than the reality that Marcus didn’t love her were her own feelings for him. She thought she’d long
since gotten over her major teenage crush on Marcus Quinn, but clearly she hadn’t.

She wished to God she hadn’t admitted to him that she’d been in love with him years ago. It was so much harder to look him in the face now, all because she’d opened her big mouth.

In the past week, Alice had entertained thoughts of returning home to her mother and sister, but they would only see her return as proof that she didn’t have to leave in the first place. No, as painful as this was, she would stay here until they both felt the threat against her was over. Then she’d move out and go on with her life.

But did that entail moving back to Hollywood? Now, thinking about it, she wasn’t so sure. It surprised her to realize she didn’t miss Tinseltown, even though movies had been her life for the past thirteen years.

“Aunt Alice?”

At the sound of her name being called, Alice’s eyes flew open. The children stood on the stage before her, regarding her curiously. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts, she’d forgotten where she was.

It was Saturday, and while Marcus wasn’t at work, he wasn’t here either. For the last hour, Alice had tried to tell herself she was glad about that fact, but the truth was, she missed him.

Maybe he was right. Sex had complicated things between them.

“Yes, Mia?”

“I asked if you thought I should try saying this line another way? I’m not sure if it sounds okay.”

Mia had been cast in one of the lead roles in the
play, not because she was Alice’s niece, but because she’d done so well at the audition that she couldn’t be denied the part. Approaching her now, Alice glanced over her shoulder at the script she held. “Which line?”

“This one.” Mia indicated a scene where the students first start to wonder if their class is haunted because of strange happenings. “I don’t know if I should sound scared, or sound like I’m not taking the situation seriously.”

“Why don’t you try it both ways, and we’ll see.”

For the next few minutes, the children rehearsed the scene, after which Mia said she thought her character would be skeptical rather than scared at this point, and Alice agreed.

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly, and Alice felt they’d accomplished a lot. She said good-bye to Mia and Chad and the other parents and children, then stepped outside. The sky was dark and ominous. No doubt it would rain shortly.

She was opening her car door when she heard the sound of screeching tires. Automatically, her head whipped in the direction of the sound. A mere second later, the door to the Jeep flew open and an enraged Terry jumped out. Alice’s heart froze as he stalked toward her.

“What’s wrong?” she managed, though her voice was merely a croak. She was afraid of him, she realized. He’d never liked her in high school, and he certainly didn’t like her now.

“You know damn well what’s wrong! I don’t know why Tanisha hired you, but you shouldn’t be teaching children.”

“If you can just calm down…”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. My daughter looks up to you, but for God’s sake, you’re a druggie. If you really care about the children, you’ll quit as their teacher right now.”

Alice was hurt, confused, and enraged at the same time. How dare Terry attack her like this!

“I’m not about to be bullied…” He flung something at her, and Alice flinched. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized he was holding anything.

“Think about the children you’re supposed to care so much about,” he said, then stalked back to his car.

When he was gone, Alice allowed herself to look down. An ad for a cigarette company on the back of some paper met her eyes. Trembling, she bent and retrieved the paper. She turned it over—and felt her world start to spin.

It wasn’t simply the headline that jumped out at her. It was the picture. A picture she had seen for the first time weeks ago when she’d come to this theater.

Anger flowed through her veins like hot lava. Gripping the tabloid paper in her hand, she stood and charged back into the theater. This time, Tanisha had gone too far. And Alice had finally had enough.

Tanisha looked up from the pile of papers before her as Alice stormed into her office. Her eyes widened in shock.

Alice glanced quickly to her right and scanned the walls. Like she’d known, the picture of her hugging Mrs. Stoffman was no longer there. It was on
the cover of the latest copy of
The Intellect
opposite a photo of her since she’d lost her excess weight. The contrast of before and after was startling, which made the crude headline all the more believable to people who didn’t know her.

“How dare you?” Alice said, then dropped the copy of
The Intellect
onto the desk.

Tanisha gave no show of being surprised as she glanced down at the paper. Instead, she read the caption aloud: “Miracle Weight Loss or Drug Induced? Desirée’s Secret Past Revealed!” Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet Alice’s. “What, you think
I
did this?”

“Don’t even play games, Tanisha. That very same picture is missing from the wall!”

Tanisha looked in the direction Alice pointed. “Oh, so it is.”

“I’ve been helping you out for how many weeks, yet you seem hellbent on sabotaging my reputation. I know you never liked me, Tanisha, but I won’t put up with this.”

“I had nothing to do with this.”

“You had nothing to do with the gift at my party, nothing to do with my tire being slashed. Poor little Tanisha, always in the wrong place at the wrong time, right?
Bull
.”

“I’m not the only one who has access to this office, Desirée.”

“What’s this about?” Alice asked. “Marcus? Are you still in love with him or something?”

Tanisha’s eyes flashed fire, but she ignored the question. “The parents have access to this office. So do other board members. So does
Marcus
.”

“Marcus would never do anything like this,”
Alice responded without hesitation. “I can’t believe you’d even imply that he would.”

“I didn’t say he did, only that he has access to this office.” Tanisha sighed. “Look, I’m sorry this happened. I really am. Why would I do something like this when I’ve been thrilled that your work here has done so much good for this theater?”

“Because you hate me.”

“Emotions have no place in business.”

Alice sneered at Tanisha. The woman had an answer for everything. For all Alice knew, Tanisha was deliberately trying to make her look bad. Hadn’t Marcus told her just last week how jealous Tanisha had been of her success? This made perfect sense.

“If it weren’t for the children, I’d walk away from this right now,” Alice told her. “But I promise you, if anything like this happens again, I will.”

“Like I said, I know nothing about this.”

“Whatever.”

Alice spun around on her heel and left Tanisha to chew on that while she coolly walked out of the office.

“Woowee. Mmm mmm mmm. Check out that one, Marcus.”

Marcus frowned up at Khalil as he lay on his back on the bench press. “Are you gonna spot me or check out the women all day?”

“Damn, Marcus.” Khalil glanced down at him. “Are you in a funk, or what?”

Reaching for the weight bar, Marcus wrapped his fingers around the cool metal. “Don’t start with me.”

Marcus pushed the bar upward and over its cradle, then lowered it onto his chest. It took every ounce of strength to lift the four hundred pounds once, then twice. By the third repetition, Khalil had to help him return the bar.

Marcus sat up and flexed his arms to ease the burning sensation in his muscles.

“You must have serious woman trouble.”

“Why would you say that?”

“You went way over your limit. That’s not like you.”

It was true that thus far Marcus hadn’t bench-pressed more than three hundred pounds, but still Khalil’s comment annoyed him. “Why does everything have to revolve around a woman?”

“Hey, I’m no fool. Besides, Tanisha mentioned something about you and Alice.”

“Ah, Tanisha. A reliable source of information.”

“I wouldn’t have believed it if you hadn’t been frowning all week at work,” Khalil retorted, sounding a tad defensive. “And since the moment you got here.”

“I’m sorry. Truth be told, I am a little stressed.” Briefly, he explained the situation with the threats against Alice and how she was now living with him.

“No wonder you’re in a funk. Living with such a beautiful woman but keeping your hands to yourself…I don’t pity you.”

Marcus could only shake his head at the fact that Khalil had completely missed the bigger picture—that he was worried about trying to protect Alice from an unknown perp.

But then, he realized that Khalil had hit the nail right on the head. Yes, he wanted to protect Alice,
but the fact that they’d hardly spoken all week had contributed to his stress factor more than anything else. That and the fact that every time he saw her, he wanted to make love to her. Keeping his hands off her was killing him.

“I’m gonna do some stomach crunches, then head to the shower,” Marcus said. “Five minutes all right with you?”

“Sure.”

Marcus tilted his head back and drank from his water bottle while he walked to the area of the gym that housed the nautilus equipment. A woman used the abdominal machine, so he stood to the side, waiting.

“Oh,” she said when she noticed him. “You’re waiting on me.”

“Take your time.”

She slipped out of the seat. “I’m finished.”

There was no mistaking the look in her eyes; she was interested. Marcus wasn’t. Smiling politely, he stepped past her and sat at the machine.

She moved away without any further conversation, but when he glanced in her direction, he saw that she was looking at him. She smiled.

And he suddenly pictured Alice, her head tilted slightly to the side, sending a beautiful smile his way. Damn, why should this woman’s coy smile make him think of Alice?

Five minutes later, he was in the locker room with Khalil, as promised. They both showered and dressed.

“Want to go for a drink?” Khalil asked.

“Naw.” He’d been avoiding Alice much of the week, partly because he sensed she wanted more
from him than he was capable of giving. Now, he wanted to head home and make sure she was okay. It was early evening and she should be home from the theater by now.

Khalil hauled his gym bag over his shoulder. “All right. See you Monday.” He paused. “I know I bug you a lot about women, but the truth is, I hope you find what you’re looking for. My sister wasn’t it, and Melissa…well, she wasn’t either.” He shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe Alice will be the one.”

Khalil couldn’t have floored Marcus more if he’d told him to take up needlepoint. Stunned, Marcus merely nodded. But hearing Melissa’s name forced some sense into him. It was important that he didn’t lose perspective, didn’t start thinking of Alice looking all sweet as sugar. He had to remember she was at his place for one reason—so he could protect her. He’d gotten too close to Melissa and now she was dead.

Marcus slapped Khalil lightly on the shoulder when they reached the gym’s front doors. “Take it easy.”

“You too, man.”

Marcus got in his car and decided to head for home right after he picked up a few things at the first variety store he saw.

“Alice? You up?”

Marcus’s deep, sexy voice lured Alice from her nap. Not until she heard it did she realize just how relieved she was that he was home. Today’s incident with the tabloid had her on edge. Whether or not
someone was out to do her physical harm, they were certainly out to destroy her reputation. Was it Tanisha? And if so, was she only behind the tabloid story, or was she also the one stalking her?

She sat up and finger-combed her hair. “Yeah, I’m up.”

“Are you decent?”

Fleetingly, she wondered what would happen if he walked into the room and found her naked. Would he be able to resist her?

That was the last thing she needed to be thinking of. “Yes,” she said, straightening her cotton top. “I’m decent. Come in.”

The door opened slowly, and Marcus walked into the room, looking as sexy as ever in gray sweats and a white T-shirt. This man could make a burlap sac look sexy, no doubt.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” he said.

“If you’re talking about
The Intellect
, I saw it.”

Marcus stepped further into the room, until he was standing a couple feet before her. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get over it.”

He bent on his haunches before her and regarded her with obvious concern—something Alice wished he wouldn’t do. It was so much harder for her to quell her feelings for him when he acted like he cared.

“You don’t always have to be tough, Alice.” He could see the pain in her eyes, and it touched him in a way nothing ever had. He’d do whatever he could to erase that vulnerable, timorous look, and he hoped she knew that. “At least not with me. I know this hurt you.”

Alice blew out a ragged breath—one that carried
her resolve to be strong with it. “Yeah, it did hurt. Because this time, it wasn’t an angry director in Hollywood trying to save face before people started asking questions about why I left the set. This time, it’s someone from my hometown who’s deliberately tried to smear my name. I think it was Tanisha.”