Chapter 12
Alex snagged a sleeve of crackers from the cupboard and took her glass of water to the couch. She’d just shoved a cracker into her mouth when there was a knock at her door. Chewing quickly, she slapped absently at her chest to remove any crumbs as she hurried for the door, secretly hoping it was Recker. They hadn’t spoken or seen each other since their kiss last night, and honestly, she’d been equally eager and nervous to see him again.
Creaking her door open, she found Recker on the other side with several grocery bags in his hands.
“Special delivery.”
He pushed the door open and brushed her aside as he walked in and headed for her tiny kitchen.
“Uhh… What’s this?”
“Food.”
“I can see that, but why?”
“We didn’t get to any of our interview questions last night, so I figured we could talk over dinner.” He stopped mid-unpacking of grocery bags and glanced over his shoulder at her. “You didn’t eat already, did you?”
She shrugged, “Just a cracker.”
“All day?” he frowned hard eyeing her up and down and making her feel self-conscious in her jeans and baggy sweater. “You need to eat more than once a day, Alex.”
She knew that she just couldn’t afford that. She sidled into the kitchen and tiptoed to peek into one of the grocery bags. “What are we having?”
“Teppanyaki,” Recker muttered, pulling ingredients from the bags. “I’ll grill the loin. You do the rice.” He stopped in his task to eye her quizzically. “You do like Teppanyaki?”
Alex nodded with a grin. “Never made it though.” She grabbed a saucepan from her cabinet. “You’ll have to walk me through it.” Her belly fluttered when Recker flashed her a satisfied grin.
“That I can do.”
He walked her through the steps of her fried rice and grilled his steak all the while. Alex had to admit it was really fun and a little intimate. When she’d been cooking the eggs, he’d placed his large hand over hers on the spatula and showed her how he’d wanted them scrambled. His touch made her feel funny, and she’d had to force herself to not lean back into his large frame.
The meal prep was easy. When everything was ready, they settled at the table to a meal of onion soup, fried rice, steamed vegetables, and the most delicate, flavorful, grilled steak she’d ever had in her life.
“This is the best food ever,” she murmured around a bite.
He nodded and chewed appreciatively.
They ate in silence a while longer, and Alex was surprised when she scraped the last of her fried rice off the plate and into her mouth before setting her fork down and groaning. “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Recker just grinned like he was proud and she shrugged and took a swig from the glass bottle of chilled Coke he’d bought for her. He’d offered her one of his bottles of beer, but she was more of a soda drinker.
Recker shoved his plate aside and leaned back in his chair, taking his beer with him. “So.”
She wiped her lips with her napkin and sat back in her chair too. “So.”
Leaning forward, Recker rested his arms on the table. “Tell me about your family, Alex.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I’d rather not. This has been so nice and…”
“And what,” he prodded.
“I don’t want to ruin it talking about sad shit.”
“So your family story is a sad one.”
“You already knew that, Recker Rhodes.” Standing, she took her Coke with her to the counter where she started cleaning up.
“You know,” his voice was right behind her. “You’re gonna have to give me some answers some time.”
“Just not today, okay?” She turned to face him.
“Alex, what if I told you everything was in your file?”
“Lie.” She gave him her back again and started filling up the sink with water. “If you knew everything, you wouldn’t be hounding me all the time.”
“Hounding?” he sounded mock offended. “I do not hound.”
Alex giggled. “I disagree.”
He grabbed her hips and spun her around before pressing into her. The sink at her back kept her from retreating, and all the air left her when Recker grabbed the counter on either side of her, caging her in.
“I mean it, Alexandra.”
Oooh, Alexandra. He must be serious.
“I’ll give you tonight, but soon, you’re gonna have to spill. Understand?”
It was hard to concentrate with him all pressed up against her, and it took a minute for Alex to retort. “Fine. I-I just don’t understand what my family has to do with my ability to do a job. You haven’t once asked me about my qualifications for the position I put in for.”
“I read all that. I know you were top of your class. I know you’d be working in your field now if this town wasn’t so damn small and stuck in time. I don’t need to know your qualifications, Alex. I need to know your character. I need to know where you come from, what you believe in. I need to know if you’d be a good fit or not.”
She was having difficulty concentrating now though because all she could think about was how good her body fit with his. “Recker,” she breathed his name. When he simply kept looking at her, she realized she didn’t have anything to say.
Recker lowered his head a fraction, and Alex’s eyes dipped to his mouth. She wondered if he was going to kiss her again, and she realized she wanted him to.
His head lowered further.
Alex licked her lips and waited, and just when Recker’s breath fanned across her lips, he pulled back abruptly.
“Shit.” He stepped back and buried a hand in his hair. “Alex. I gotta go.”
Why was he always doing that? It was like he was always getting scared and running off.
“Sure,” she mumbled turning back to the sink of dishes as she tried to slow her breathing. “Thanks…thanks for dinner.” She heard the door open but didn’t turn around. Not even when Recker offered a soft, “Good night.”
***
In his truck, Recker pounded his palm against the steering wheel before banging the back of his head on the headrest. He felt like a fucking coward. Every time something was about to happen between him and Alex he ran. He knew it was because he was afraid of her eventual rejection, but she didn’t know that and having her think he was weak or a chicken shit was doing terrible things to his insides. There was no way Alex wasn’t thinking those things about him either because even he realized how bipolar he was acting. One second he was plunging his tongue down her throat and the next he was running from her soft eyes and fluttering heart. And, her heart had been fluttering. His keen sense of hearing heard it hammering in her chest almost as frantically as his own had been beating. The things that woman did to him. He shook his head and started his truck before he did some stupid shit like rushing back up to her apartment and giving her that kiss she’d been so eager for.
Fuck! Tomorrow, I’ll get it right, he promised himself. Tomorrow, he’d get that damn second interview out of the way and no matter what Alex said or how perfectly she answered, he’d go back to StoneCrow and tell Amanda and Jenny and whoever else needed to hear it that Alex Hayworth wasn’t a good fit for StoneCrow. The woman was dangerous and this, whatever it was that was happening between them, had to end.