Watched (2 page)

A ripple of heat ran through Alexandra at the image his words created. Her nipples tightened in response, poking through her sweater. Alexandra blushed, crossing her arms over her chest to hide the telltale bumps. Hunter was watching her with the same small smile, his dark eyes inscrutable. She took a gulp of cool water as another blush heated her face.

Pull yourself together, he didn’t mean it like that.

“I saw a new tenant moved in,” she said, clearing her throat. “Unit C, the redhead. She’s a pretty girl.” Understatement. The girl had walked straight out of a swimsuit calendar, with about the same amount of clothing. The way the bottle redhead flirted with Hunter as he helped her move in had grated on Alexandra’s nerves. “She seems to like you a lot,” she added, then regretted her sharp tone. What was wrong with her?

Hunter nodded, his eyes fixed on her face. “Maybe.” He set his wineglass down but kept his fingers curled around the bowl. “But I have my eyes on someone far more interesting.” His thumb rubbed against the glass while he studied her reaction.

He didn’t mean her. He couldn’t mean her. Maybe he meant her.

Despite Alexandra’s internal protests, a flare of nerves and excitement rose in her chest. She squirmed, inspecting the brick wall. When she snuck a glance back at him, he was staring into his wineglass.

Of course there was someone else. She looked back down at her plate, pulling herself together. Why was she upset if a man nine years younger was dating? She had no claim on him, and never had. They were friends. More like acquaintances. Just two adults sharing an occasional meal. What did it matter?

This was great news. If this new interest took up his time, Alexandra could get over these inconvenient urges.

CHAPTER TWO

Hunter

After dinner, Hunter leaned back in his chair. Alexandra had barely spoken all evening and jumped at even the smallest sounds. Now she looked everywhere but at him. She was pulling away, rebuilding those walls he hated. Normally, he would wonder if he had upset her, but only one person could put that mix of frustration, guilt and sadness in her eyes.

He wanted ten minutes in a locked room with her ex-husband.

Hunter had never met the man, but John destabilized Alex with threats and insults. Those tendencies alone described his character. A petty man who degraded others to feel good. Hunter concentrated on keeping his jaw unclenched. His anger toward John would scare her away, and so would his protectiveness.

Hunter’s nearly overpowering drive to defend her didn’t surprise him anymore. Alexandra had drawn his attention from the time she moved in, but she was as remote as a satellite. Always pleasant in conversation, but he could never break through her polite restraint or connect with the woman inside.

He’d held back for a long time, despite his growing need for her company. He recognized her look of pain and loss. It was the same feeling Hunter had experienced when his fiancée-slash-business partner left him and took the restaurant they had made famous together.

No court settlement or divorce papers could undo the damage of years spent with someone who didn’t care. Alexandra wasn’t prepared to risk rejection again, and he understood.

As time passed, she was unfailingly polite and he invented excuses to spend time with her. Usually that meant upgrades or repairs to her apartment. Alexandra’s place had more improvements than his did, and he owned the building. He was getting desperate when he built her a new bookshelf and saw her book collection.

Her gourmet cookbooks had caught his attention. They also sparked a long conversation about his past career as a chef and part owner of a restaurant. After Alexandra admitted she only had basic cooking skills, he’d offered to teach her and Simon. It seemed perfect. She wanted to serve nutritious meals to her son, and he missed cooking.

It was a disaster.

Three flaming pans and an exploded cabbage later, Hunter had finally conceded Alex had a gift. She could make even the simplest meals fail catastrophically. Luckily, Simon didn’t share her abilities. The boy had absorbed Hunter’s lessons effortlessly. Alex had cheered her son on from her new role as cutting station mistress.

“What are you smiling about?” Alexandra looked at him out of the corner of her eye. The small smirk on her face seemed wary.

“Simon’s first cooking lesson,” he told her, leaving out her involvement. They didn’t talk about the Exploding Cabbage Event.

She smiled fondly. “I think he was so hungry, he decided it was time to learn to cook.”

Hunter held back a laugh behind a sip of wine. Poor kid. His face nearly purple, Simon had marched over to his mother, snatched the pan and asked with painful politeness for more sliced cabbage. He must have eavesdropped on the cooking lesson while playing his video game, because soon the stir fried cabbage had been sizzling. Both side dish and dessert came out perfectly as well. Ever since, Simon was family cook, with Hunter as a willing teacher.

“He did a good job at it. Hardly needed my help,” Hunter pointed out. Simon was the best student he’d ever had, and not just because his mom was hotter than a fresh egg roll. The kid was good at everything.

Alexandra had smiled at her son’s success, rather than wallowing in shame. Fear of failure didn’t slow Alexandra down. She always turned it into self improvement or complimented someone else’s achievement. That optimism and kindness had turned Hunter’s attraction into intense interest.

He’d edged closer to Alexandra for months and waited until he was sure he saw a flare of desire in her cinnamon-colored eyes. Soon, she would be ready for another try. He hoped it would be with him.

At least, that was the plan. Every time she seemed ready to break down those walls, John called and kicked her confidence in the teeth. Afterward, she would retreat into a polite facade and keep everyone but Simon away. Every time. It was uncanny.

He wondered what the idiot had said this time. Judging from the several times Simon had confided in Hunter about John’s comments, it couldn’t be good. Normally Hunter would back off and give her time, but something about the way she looked today drew him closer. Maybe it was time he tried the direct approach.

“So.” His voice was casual as he turned his wine glass on the table. “You spoke with your ex-husband today.”

Alex’s eyes widened. The surprise in them was a punch in his gut. Could she really be shocked someone paid attention enough to know her moods?

“How do you know?”

He smiled gently. If she talked about it, she would make her own conclusions about John’s manipulation attempts. “I know you well enough by now. I can see you’re upset. Call it an educated guess. What did he say?”

She shrugged and turned away. He resisted the urge to pull Alex to her feet and hold her until the haunted look was gone. Instead, he leaned forward, rested his forearms on the table and dipped his head to catch her stare again.

“You can tell me,” he said, so softly he could hardly hear himself.

She leaned forward, not quite meeting his gaze. “He called because Simon is worried about…” She paused, waving a hand in the air while she searched for the right word. “You and me. Spending time together, I mean.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound like Simon.”

“I told John nothing was going on, of course.” She held up her hands with palms forward like Hunter should feel relieved. He didn’t.

“Of course,” he scoffed, “Why would anyone think that?” When she nodded absently, he drummed his fingers on his knee and bit his tongue.

Alexandra always dismissed his compliments and come-ons, but believed him implicitly when he mockingly said there was nothing between them. It was damn frustrating. He shrugged it off as he always did. Eventually he would tell her what she meant to him, but not today. Not when she looked like she was near a breakdown.

“But he said something else,” he observed, and took a deep breath for patience. Whatever it was had hit her harder than usual. A flush crept over her ivory skin. He tried not to imagine how her skin would feel under his hands. Alexandra needed someone to listen right now, not fantasize.

“Nothing important, he didn’t believe me about the relationship and told me it wouldn’t last. He was worried about how it would affect Simon.” She shrugged, her face a mask. “How did he put it? Oh yes. ‘You know you won’t hold his interest for long.’” The hurt in her eyes shimmered like tears. “As if holding interest was my most important role.”

“He isn’t a good judge anyway.” Hunter jumped to his feet, pulling her out of her chair and against him in one smooth movement.

Alexandra gasped as her soft curves molded against the hard planes of his body, but she didn’t pull away. He wrapped his arms around her. Damn, she felt good against him. He had wanted Alex in his arms, but he hadn’t counted on the sudden flare of passion which overtook his senses.

Being near her always made him hard, but feeling her body against his had him so aroused it was almost painful. He knew she could feel the pressure of his erection against her stomach. Alexandra’s quickened pants puffed against his chest, in time with his own breathing.

His heart raced as he pressed her soft, yielding body more tightly against him. “
He’s a special kind of fool if he thinks you could ever be uninteresting.
I’d love to show you how wrong he is.” His voice caught in his throat when shivers cascaded through her, little ripples under his hands.

When she pushed against his chest, he only released her enough to look into her eyes. She didn’t fight or push him farther away. A delicate blush spread over her cheeks, but her eyes were cloudy with desire. When her pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips, he lowered his head.

Their lips met, and the shock wave broke him down and remade him in one stroke. He let Alex set the pace, but when she shivered with pleasure and opened her lips eagerly, he was lost. He slanted his mouth over hers, plunging his tongue inside for a taste. Alexandra’s hands crept up his shoulders, small fingers making little divots in his flesh. She moaned and rubbed herself against him. Her taut nipples left trails like burning embers across his chest.

He broke the kiss slowly and smiled at the dazed look on her face. “I’ve waited so long for this. Stay with me tonight.”

When she didn’t answer, a spike of nerves ran through him. Had he ruined everything by moving too fast? He lowered his head again until their lips barely brushed.

“Say yes,” he whispered as his breath feathered across her lips. Alex’s fingertips dug into the thick muscle of his arms as her mouth opened. He drank in her breath as she tilted her face up to meet his kiss.

A beep sliced through the air, and Alexandra jerked out of his arms with a gasp. Her hands flew to the pager on her belt.

“It’s the hospital. I have to go.” She didn’t look at him as she hurried into her apartment. She glanced back once before she closed the glass door between them. The rekindled nervousness and tension sent an arrow straight to his gut.

Hunter sank into a chair beside the glass table, his lips still tingling with the taste of her kiss.

CHAPTER THREE

Alexandra

Alexandra slapped the clipboard shut. Her lips pursed as she approached the Laotian couple in the waiting room, but she smoothed them into a smile. It was time to put on her reassuring doctor face.

They stood, neither tall enough to reach Alexandra’s shoulder in height. She gave them her most reassuring smile. “It’s good you brought Kailea in when you did.” She didn’t have to consult the clipboard to see the scan results. They weren’t pretty. “It seems she inhaled some fungal spores, and they lodged in her upper nasal cavity. It’s a small colony, but the chemo has weakened her immune system. Her body is having trouble fighting it off. It was a more extensive infection than it appeared on the scans, but this surgeon working on your daughter is the best in the state. He is confident he will get it all.” She took a deep breath. “There are no indications it spread anywhere else. Just in case, I’d like to start a few weeks of antifungal treatments. I’m expecting she’ll kick this fast.”

The woman before her, Mrs. Louangrath, shook her head. “I don’t understand. The first time Kailea had leukemia, she never got sick. We did everything the same, I scrubbed the whole house so she wouldn’t catch any germs. Doctor Rosel said she was the healthiest patient he had. She’s still in the hospital all the time.”

Alexandra tried not to show surprise. Kailea’s mother rarely spoke. Her husband usually dealt with doctors and paperwork. When she said something, it usually meant she was upset.

“It’s hard to say how any patient will react to chemotherapy.” Alexandra lowered her hands to let the clipboard fall to her side. “Treatments leave the immune system vulnerable. Kailea doesn’t have the ability to bounce back like she did at five years old.” She studied Mrs. Louangrath’s face. Those frown lines had once been light, but now they seemed chiseled into her skin. A lump formed in her throat at the thought of their child’s first bitter struggle with leukemia. Dr. Rosel’s notes had been brief, but full of accounts of Kailea’s near miss with leukemia years ago. Reliving it must be doubly painful. She swallowed against it, then continued. “Kailea’s fourteen now, and while she’s still young, it’s a little harder for her body to keep up. She’s taking the treatment well, but we’re using a higher dose. We want to make sure this doesn’t come back a third time.”