[WS02] Taming Alex (14 page)

“Don't worry about it. I've been on the pill since I was seventeen and haven't missed
a day since.” She giggled.

“Oh,” he said, frowning a little more. She thought she'd see relief in his face, but
there was none.

“What?” she asked, her smile slowly dipping.

“What?” He looked up at her, “Oh, no, it's nothing.” He smiled slowly at her, running
his hands over her arms.

“Grant? How long have we known each other?”

His smile was faster this time. “Not long enough, darlin'.” He pulled her closer and
when he finally let her go, she'd forgotten what she'd been trying to get out of him.

When she walked in the front door, she was surprised to see Haley sitting in the living
room with a boy. Alex almost tripped over her feet and had to grab the door frame
to keep from falling over.

“Hey,” Haley said, looking over the back of the couch. An old movie was playing on
the set and the boy's arm was around her sister's shoulders.

“Hey,” she replied back, and when the boy turned around, she noticed it was Tom Blake,
one of the boys from Haley’s class at school. Tom was a good enough guy, but not the
kind of guy she'd imagined her sister going for. After all, Haley had been hopelessly
devoted to Wes Tanner since grade school. When Wes had left Haley high and dry by
joining the Army, she had waited. She hadn’t gone out once in all the time he’d been
gone, and Lauren and Alex thought their sister would have rather joined a nunnery
than try and date anyone else.

So it came as a shock to see Haley and Tom snuggled together on the couch, watching
old movies.

“Well, I'm heading up. Night.” She rushed up the stairs and stopped at the top, listening
for a short while. When she couldn't make out anything, she quietly made her way down
the hall and knocked on Lauren and Chase's door.

Chase answered in his boxers, and Alex rushed in the room. Lauren had the sheet tucked
around her shoulders. Alex knew she'd interrupted something, but didn't care.

“Did you know that our sister is downstairs with a boy?”

Lauren blinked a few times, shock registering on her face.

“A boy!” Alex repeated and sat next to her sister, hearing Chase sigh as he shut the
door.

“Who?” Lauren sat up a little more, adjusting the sheet.

“Tom Blake.”

“Tommy Blake? What's she…? I thought…”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I didn’t know,” Lauren said, shaking her head.

“I know, me either. I thought…,” Alex started.

“So did I,” Lauren said.

They stopped the word game when Chase cleared his throat. “Would someone please tell
me what the big deal is? Why does it matter if Haley has a boy downstairs? I happen
to know Tom and he's a good guy.”

“Oh,” Lauren said, waving her hand at her husband. “It's not about who she's with;
it's just that she's with someone other than Wes.”

“What?” Chase walked over and grabbed his pants and pulled them on quickly.

“Wes Tanner,” Lauren said. “Haley's one and only Prince Charming.”

“Wes is in Iraq or Afghanistan somewhere, I can't remember where just now. But I've
heard that he hasn't been back in town for almost three years now.”

“We know,” Alex said, then turned back to her sister. “Do you think this means…?”

“I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see,” Lauren broke in and answered her
unasked question.

“Ugh, I give up. I'm going to go get a drink of water.” Chase started heading towards
the door, but both women yelled at him.

“No!”

“Honey, grab a drink from the bathroom. Let's give Haley some privacy,” Lauren said,
smiling.

Chase shrugged his shoulders and walked into the adjoining bathroom.

That night Alex lay in bed thinking of Grant. Her mind flashed to what he'd been hinting
at. She'd seen it in his eyes. She’d known him forever and thought she knew what he
was thinking. He’d been sad about the possibility of not having kids with her.

No, she told herself. There was no way he was thinking that far ahead. She was only
twenty-four, and he was just a month older. They weren't even really an official item.
More like just distractions. Friends helping each other out, right? Maybe she'd forgotten
to tell him that's how she saw their relationship. Maybe she should have set some
boundaries before they'd gotten started. After all, she'd just gotten out of a long-term
relationship and was not looking for anything permanent.

Besides, Grant wasn't her type. Well, not for the long run. He was way too nice; she'd
just end up hurting him. Right? He was such an honest guy. She couldn't think of anything
wrong with that other than the fact that it used to annoy her in school.

She wasn't good enough for him. She knew it and probably the whole town knew it, too.
She was a waitress at a run-down diner. She had no real prospects of a future. She
hadn't even changed that much over the years. She was the same old Alex.

Grant wasn't the same kid he'd been in school. He wasn't the same kid outside either.
She remembered running her hands over his tight body earlier that night in his truck.
How his muscles had jumped and flexed under her fingers. His skin was toned and tan
thanks to the hard work he did outside in the sun. It had even lightened his hair,
giving him a beach-bum-meets-rough-cowboy look.

He was smart, responsible, kind, sexy, and damn good in bed. Adding it all up, Alex
started wondering why she still felt she had to talk herself out of thinking about
Grant in a long-term sort of way. She still felt like there was something holding
her back, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

G
rant had missed her last night and knew that his bed would be lonely again tonight,
since she had plans to celebrate with her family after the big fireworks show. He
also had plans to spend time with his family. He had cousins coming into town later
today and knew that his parents’ house would be full by nightfall.

So when he spotted Alex across the parking lot at the fairgrounds, he rushed over
to talk to her.

“Alex,” he called and smiled when she stopped and turned to him. But when a slight
frown appeared on her lips, he almost stopped. He jogged up next to her and looked
down at her. “What's wrong?” He pulled her close, looking into her dark eyes. He could
see shadows under them and wondered if something had happened.

“It's nothing.” She shook her head and tried to smile at him, but her eyes showed
that she was still thinking of something else.

He pulled her aside, just outside the entry gate, and walked her into the shade where
they could talk alone.

“Something’s wrong,” he said, running his hands up and down her arms.

She sighed and looked at him. “I think I need a break,” she said, not looking into
his eyes, focusing on a button on his chest.

“A break?” he asked, feeling his heart skip a beat.

She nodded. “Yeah, I need some time to think about things. I'm thinking of going to
my cousins’ for a while. I think I just need to get away for a while.” She gently
pulled her hands out of his, removing all doubt in his mind of what she meant.

“Time?” he said, feeling his heart skip again. Hell, he was sure it had just broken
in two. He didn't know what to say. Had he not taken the time and told her how he
felt? Maybe she didn't know? And after last night! Maybe he'd done something wrong?
“Listen Alex, if I've done something…”

He broke off when she started to shake her head. “No, of course not. You've been…”
She sighed. “Wonderful.” Her eyes darted over his shoulder. He turned in time to see
her sister walking towards them, hand in hand with Tom Blake. Alex frowned even more.
“Listen, I have to go get ready.” She turned and started walking away, and he felt
like his whole world was crashing down on him.

He walked to the goat section, not really seeing anything or hearing anyone. When
he got there, he leaned against the gate and would have continued staring off into
space if Mojo hadn't been adamant about getting in his face.

“What?” he finally asked her after she'd head-butted him for the tenth time. “I'll
get you your damn breakfast.” He turned to go get some grain, when he noticed there
were only two kids in the corral with her.

“Where's Buttercup?” he asked Mojo, half expecting the goat to answer him. He went
down the first row, looking in every pen, searching for the lost goat. After he'd
searched the whole barn, every corral, he started enlisting help. An hour later, everyone
was on the lookout for Buttercup. After two hours, he'd worked himself into a frantic
state; his baby was gone.

The plans were ruined. It was all over the fair grounds that she'd broken up with
Grant. Panic settled in. Then a peace fell as a new scene unfolded. Grant was walking
towards the large barn where Alex was. Maybe this could be a little fun after all.

Alex found it very hard to concentrate. She was up next and her eyes still burned.
She'd spent most of last night going over how much better off Grant would be without
her. She'd just hold him back. She was trouble. She’d known it her whole life. It
was her fault that their mother had gone back inside after Haley. She'd distracted
Lauren long enough that Haley had slipped away. She would be a distraction to Grant,
she just knew it. His internet business and farm needed his full attention. He had
a future. Plans.

She shook her head clear and prepared herself for the run. Sophie nervously jolted
under her when the buzzer sounded, and she tucked her knees and held on as the horse
ran its programed pattern. When they flew across the gate, she knew that she'd gained
time instead of shaving it off. Closing her eyes as Sophie came to a halt, she looked
over at the scoreboard and sighed. Five seconds gained.

Waiting for the other ladies to take their turns, she took her time brushing down
Sophie and preparing the horse for the ride home later that night. Chase, Lauren,
and Haley would all help load up Sophie and Haley's blue-ribbon steer after everyone
left for the night.

As she was cooling the horse down, Travis walked up to her and leaned on the post.
“Heard you broke up with Holton. Decided he wasn't man enough for you?” Travis leaned
over and flipped a piece of her hair out of her eyes.

“Something like that.” She jolted away, not wanting to give him any time. He moved
closer and pinned her in the stall.

“Well, if you decide you'd like me back…” He leaned down as she pushed him away, the
horse brush still gripped firmly in her hands.

“Back off,” she said under her breath.

He pulled her hips towards him and she could feel he was hard, causing a shiver to
race up her spine. He smelled of booze and cigarettes, a scent that caused her stomach
to turn. She pushed him even harder, wedging the sharp brush between them.

“Come on, Alex. We both know you were just toying with Mr. Goody Two-shoes.”

Before she could say anything, she looked over and saw Grant standing at the end of
the stall. He'd clearly heard what Travis had just said. Grant's blue eyes looked
hollow and the look on his face told her he believed it all.

Before she could yell for him, he took off, walking quickly down the lane. Travis
laughed when he saw Grant walk away.

“Serves him right. Now he knows what it's like to have your woman taken away from
you.” He tried to pull her closer.

“You idiot,” she screamed. “I am not your woman. You're the one that cheated on me,
you son of a bitch!” She kicked out and caught him in the chin, hurting him enough
that he loosened his vice-like hold on her. Shoving the wire brush between them, she
kicked out again.

By the time she finally freed herself from Travis' hold, Grant was nowhere to be found.
She ran out of the barn and started searching for him.

It was midday and everyone was outside trying to find someplace to eat. The booths
and tents that lined the food court were packed. She could hardly wade through the
growing crowd of hungry people. She searched everywhere for Grant. She swung by the
goat barn. He wasn't there, but she saw a sign posted to the gate about Buttercup.
Her heart skipped. Buttercup was missing. He'd probably come to ask her for help looking
for the lost goat.

Finally, she headed towards his truck to leave him a note. She was walking through
the parking lot packed with trucks and trailers when she heard bleating. She approached
the trailer and looked in the dark windows, but couldn’t see anything. Getting up
on the wheel well, she looked inside the bigger window and saw Buttercup butting the
door.

Jumping down, she rushed over to the door and yanked it opened. The young goat looked
at her like she was thinking it was about time she got there. A shadow fell over them,
and when Alex turned to see what it was, a light exploded on the left side of her
head followed quickly by darkness.