Chapter Eleven
Andrea settled back in her seat as Alex drove slowly through another run-down neighborhood. A couple of homeless people were camped in a doorway, and the shops all had bars over the windows. It was eight o'clock at night and everything but a nearby liquor store was closed.
"There he is," Alex said, relief in his voice.
She saw a lone figure standing in the shadow of a building.
"Stay here, Andrea. And keep the doors locked."
"Okay." Andrea watched as Alex walked over to the boy. The kid was wearing a baseball cap, a T-shirt and jeans, and he had a backpack over his shoulders.
Alex put a hand on the boy's arm. Whatever he was saying was making Tyler very uncomfortable. He kept looking at the ground and shuffling his feet. Once in a while he tried to make his own argument, but whatever he was saying appeared to be quickly taken apart by Alex.
As her gaze moved down the street, she noticed two older boys walking toward Alex and Tyler. She tensed, suddenly seeing Alex in the glare of the streetlight as they did—a prime, juicy target. His car and his suit cried money, a beacon calling out to the youths. It didn't take long before they moved.
Andrea's only thought was to warn Alex. She forgot about his admonition to stay in the car with the doors locked. She had never been a passive bystander, and she wouldn't be one now.
She jumped out of the car and yelled, "Alex."
Her voice brought everyone's attention to her.
Alex turned toward her, but he was further away than the two guys, one of whom grabbed her, wrapping his arm around her neck.
A surge of panic ran through her as she struggled in his hold.
"Stay back," the other guy warned Alex as he took a step forward.
"Tyler, get in the car," Alex said sharply.
Tyler took a wide berth around the group as he ran toward the car.
"Let go of her," Alex demanded.
"Give me your wallet," the other man said to Alex. "Toss it over here."
Alex hesitated and then took out his wallet and tossed it to the guy.
"Not bad," the kid said, whistling under his breath as he opened the billfold. "Jackpot." As he held up the wad of cash to show his friend, the grip on her neck loosened.
She knew she had one second to use it to her advantage. Remembering what Mick had just taught her, she kicked hard at the guy's shin and managed to throw him off balance. She gave him a shove backward, and he tumbled to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement and knocking himself out.
At her move, Alex had jumped the other guy, and they were now fighting. Alex dodged one punch, but the second one connected with face.
Alex threw a hard fist, and the kid staggered, but came back swinging. She looked around for some kind of weapon, some way to help. But there was nothing and no one in sight.
Finally, Alex shoved the kid against the wall as sirens lit up the air.
Within minutes, two police cars had pulled up, four officers jumping out to take charge of the situation. Alex released the kid and walked over to her.
He gave her a quick hug and a worried, searching look. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good," she said, her voice more shaky than she would have liked.
"You're more than good, you're amazing. You would have made Mick proud at that move you made."
"I guess I'm lucky I just came from class. It was fresh in my mind."
They broke apart as the police came to take their statements. An ambulance arrived to deliver one of the assailants to the hospital while the other one was handcuffed and put into the back of a police car. Then they were told they were free to leave.
"I'm sorry," Tyler said as they approached the car. He was standing by the door, a guilty look on his face. "This is my fault."
"Not at all," Alex said with a firm shake of his head. "We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Because I called you," Tyler said. "I mess everything up."
"This isn't on you. The rest of it—maybe—but not this. You take responsibility for what you do, not what others do. Now get in the car." As Alex reached for the door handle, he winced. He raised his left hand and gave it a bemused look. "Andrea, I think you're going to have to drive."
She stared at his swollen wrist in amazement. "Oh my God, Alex. It looks like your hand is broken. Why didn't you tell the police you needed medical help?"
"Because I don't need an ambulance. Maybe just a ride to the E.R."
"You are definitely going to the hospital," she said taking the keys out of his good hand. "Let's go."
She slid behind the wheel as Alex got in the front seat and Tyler slid into the back. "I hope your hand isn't broken."
"If it is, it will heal," he said pragmatically.
"You beat the shit out of that guy," Tyler interjected, awe in his young voice. "I thought you were dead. That's why I called the cops."
"That was the smartest thing you've done today." Alex shifted in his seat, flinging Tyler another look. "Now tell me what happened at your house?"
Tyler hesitated. "I was sitting in the car waiting for Joan to come out. The keys were in the ignition, and I was just thinking it would be cool to be able to drive wherever I wanted to go. So I moved behind the wheel, and I started the car. I wasn't going to do anything or go anywhere. Then the stupid cat jumped on the hood and distracted me. I hit the gas, and I accidentally drove through the garage door."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No, but Joan was pissed. She came running out of the house screaming at me. I got out of the car and I ran down the block, and I didn't stop."
"Tyler," Alex said with a sigh. "You can't run away. You have to make this right."
"It doesn’t matter what I do. They're going to get rid of me anyway. They're having a baby. I heard them talking the other day. They're finally going to get their own kid. You know what that means."
"Not necessarily," Alex said slowly. "You need to talk to them, and so do I. They're probably worried sick about you."
As Alex shifted, trying to reach his phone, Andrea saw the pain in his eyes. "Alex, you can wait to call them until you get to the hospital. Try to keep your hand elevated."
"All right, but I am going to call them." He gave Tyler a hard look. "And you are done running, all right? Don't make me chase after you."
"I won't," Tyler promised. "Maybe you could let me live at your house."
"We'll talk options later," Alex said. "The Monroes are a good family."
"Yeah, but I'm not in their family. I'm not their blood, not like this new kid is going to be."
Tyler fell silent as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. Andrea stopped the car at the door. "You can get out here. I'll park, and then Tyler and I will come in."
Alex didn't look like he cared for that scenario, but she knew he didn't have much choice. He couldn't leave Tyler alone, and right now she was the only one available to look out for the kid.
"Thanks, sorry about this."
"It's not a problem."
As Alex entered the hospital, she drove into the lot and parked the car. "I'm Andrea by the way," she said as she and Tyler got out of the car.
By the time they arrived at the lobby, Alex was already in an examination room, leaving Andrea and Tyler in the waiting room. It was the perfect time for her to pump the kid for information. He knew Alex better than she did. But Tyler was obviously worried about Alex, and she couldn't bring herself to take advantage of his vulnerability. It sounded like he had a lot of his own problems to deal with.
"How about something to drink?" she asked him. "Maybe a snack? I think Alex will be awhile."
"I am kind of hungry," Tyler muttered.
"Then let's go down to the cafeteria."
"Are you Alex's girlfriend?"
"No. I'm just a friend." As she said the words, she realized she didn't want to be Alex's friend or the reporter writing a story about him. But she didn't know how to be anything else, and more importantly, she didn't know if Alex wanted her to be anything else.
Even if he did, how could she contemplate getting involved with someone who had lied to her and to everyone else? She couldn't end up with another Doug. She had to be smart.
But she also wanted to give Alex a chance to explain. Before they were done with each other, she was going to know every last one of his secrets.
* * *
Andrea was probably grilling Tyler for information, Alex thought as the nurse stuck a needle deep into his arm, blending an immediate shaft of pain with numbing relief. He tried to remember just what Tyler knew about his past, but his brain was spinning from the adrenaline rush, the pain, and now the drugs, and he couldn't think straight. Nor could he do anything about the situation. He was stuck here until his broken hand was put in a cast, which was going to take some time.
In between visits from the doctor and the nurse, he managed to call Tyler's foster parents and explain the situation. Joan Monroe, Tyler's foster mother, wasn't angry, just very worried. When Alex told her that Tyler was concerned about his place in the family with a new baby possibly on the way, Joan started to cry, saying she loved Tyler. She didn't want to lose him. She wanted to adopt him whether or not a baby came along as well.
Alex was very happy to hear her honest and emotional words. The Monroes would do right by Tyler. Tyler just had to give them a chance.
He told Joan that he'd keep Tyler at his house for the night just to give them all a little breathing room. Then he'd take him to school in the morning, and tomorrow afternoon they could all sit down together.
After ending that call, he settled back on the exam table and stared at the ceiling, his body still tense with all the emotions that had run through him the past hour. When he'd seen that man grab Andrea, he'd been filled with anger and also terrified that he wouldn't be able to protect her. But she'd defended herself. She was a smart, gutsy woman, who didn't back down from a fight. She'd jumped out of the car to warn him, no thought to her own safety.
She was one hell of a woman.
The kind of woman he could respect.
The kind of woman he could love.
He tensed at that thought.
He couldn't allow the word love into his vocabulary. It was the gateway to pain, and he'd had enough pain. A voice inside his head suggested that Andrea might be worth the risk. But he had other things to worry about besides love. He couldn't forget that Andrea had the potential to destroy more than a few people. She knew he'd lied about his parents dying in a car accident. He needed to stop her from finding out the rest.
* * *
By the time his wrist was set in a cast and he was released from the hospital, nearly two hours had passed. It was almost eleven when a nurse wheeled him into the waiting room. Andrea was reading something on her phone while Tyler was sprawled across two chairs and fast asleep.
Andrea immediately got to her feet when she saw him.
He tried not to look too closely at her, not wanting to let any of his hard-built resolutions of the past two hours get tarnished by a tender look. But when she touched the side of his face, tracing the bruise by his eye, his good hand went up to catch hers and he found himself letting her continue the gentle movement rather than pushing her away.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'll live. I just have a new accessory," he said, holding up his cast.
"At least you have a good story to go with it. You were quite the hero tonight."
"I think that could be said about you."
She shook her head. "I should have called the cops instead of jumping out of the car. That would have been the smarter thing to do."
"But you saw trouble, and you had to help."
"It's a bad habit of mine to act first and think later," she said.
"Most people are content to let someone else help out, but not you. I like that about you."
"Well, thanks. Does your hand hurt?"
"Right now I feel damn good," he said, his words slurring together.
She smiled. "Let's get you home."
"Good idea. By the way, I called Tyler's foster parents and told them he'd stay with me tonight."
"He'll be happy about that. He's worried about whatever punishment is coming his way."
"That's good. I want him to worry. Hopefully, he won't do anything so stupid again." Alex got up from the wheelchair and walked over to Tyler. Tapping him on the shoulder, he said, "Hey, kid. Time to go home."
Tyler blinked his eyes and gave him a sleepy look. "Are you finally done?"
"Yeah, and I talked to the Monroes. You can stay with me tonight."
Relief flashed in Tyler's eyes as he got to his feet. "Thanks. What about what I did to the garage?"
"We'll talk about that tomorrow."
"Okay."
They walked out to the car, and Andrea once again slid behind the wheel.
Alex yawned as he buckled his seat belt. He had a feeling he would be asleep before they were out of the parking lot.
"Do you remember how to get to my house?" he asked, his eyes very heavy.
"Yes. Just rest. Let me take care of you tonight."
"That sounds nice. I can't remember when I last let that happen."
* * *
During the quiet drive home, Andrea was filled with mixed emotions. The evening had certainly not turned out as she had planned. She still had questions to ask Alex. She needed to know why he'd lied to her and to the rest of the world. But at the moment she just wanted to take care of him, which was an unexpected feeling. She'd never really thought of herself as a nurturer. That was a title better suited to her sister or her mom. But with Alex, she felt so many things. He could make her hot, make her crazy, and make her feel incredibly emotional and protective.
She had the scary thought that maybe this was what love felt like.
Glancing over at him, her heart twisted once again. At the moment, he was not rich, powerful and in charge. Instead, he was vulnerable. His shirt was splattered with dirt and blood. The bruise around his eye was puffy and turning a dark purple, and his hand looked as fat as a watermelon in a white cast. He was definitely off his game. The guard walls were down. He might be a sexy playboy millionaire most days, but tonight he was just a man in pain, and she was going to take care of him.
When they arrived at Alex's home, she and Tyler helped a very sleepy and dazed Alex into the house. Fortunately, Tyler seemed to know where Alex's bedroom was, so she didn’t have to waste time figuring out which of the six bedrooms belonged to him.
After they got Alex onto his bed, Tyler said he was going to sleep in the room he usually used.
She followed Tyler down the hall, pausing at the door of his bedroom. She couldn't help noting that the furnishings were very teenage male: a queen-sized bed with a dark blue comforter, a TV on one wall as well as a video game box on a nearby table. A desk with a computer was by the window, and there were posters from Alex's games on the walls.
"Do you stay here a lot?" she asked curiously.
"Once a month," Tyler replied. "I wish I could live here all the time. And not just because Alex gives me stuff. He's just really cool. And he gets me."
She nodded. "I know he cares a lot about you, Tyler."
"He's still going to send me back to the Monroes."
"Well, you can talk to him about that tomorrow. I know that Alex wants to do right by you, and I think you have to trust him to know what that is."
"Yeah, okay. Thanks for buying me dinner, Andrea."
"Any time."
"Are you going to be here in the morning?"
She hesitated. "I'm not sure yet. Maybe."
He nodded. "You should stay. Alex likes you."
Her heart turned over at the simple words. "I like him, too."
"Are you sure you're not his girlfriend?"
"Our relationship is complicated."
"If you both like each other, what's the problem?"
She couldn't begin to answer that question. "Goodnight, Tyler."
After shutting his bedroom door, she wandered down the hall, curious about the other bedrooms. Alex had obviously had Tyler's room decorated with a teenage boy in mind. Did any other strays occasionally spend the night in his house?
She found her answer in the next room. There were twin beds with pink and white comforters, white bookshelves and desks, and floral curtains on the windows. It was a dream room for a girl or two girls, and she couldn't help wondering who had occupied this room.
Closing the door, she checked the rest of the rooms, finding nothing but ordinary guestrooms.
She returned to the master bedroom and saw Alex sprawled out on the bed. He didn't look very comfortable in his clothes, but there was no way she was going to attempt to undress him. She could at least take off his shoes and maybe his tie so he didn't strangle himself.
The shoes came off easily. The tie slipped off his neck, and she managed to undo the buttons of his shirt without any problem. When she got to his waist, she pulled the ends of his shirt out of his pants. The belt was a bit more of a challenge. She released the buckle and started to pull it through the loops, but Alex moved, his shirt coming completely open, and she was now staring at his solid, tanned chest. There was a smattering of dark hair covering the well-defined muscles of his chest and stomach, disappearing in a line below his waistband.
She flushed as her imagination completed the picture. What on earth was wrong with her? She had seen naked men before. But this half-dressed unconscious man sent her pulses racing.
Her fingers lingered on his belt buckle as her eyes traveled up his chest, to the strong jaw, the generous curve of his mouth, the amused grin in his eyes, the spark of desire.
Oh, Lord, he was awake.
"Are you taking off my pants?" His voice was a bit dazed, and Andrea suddenly realized that her fingers were playing with the snap on his waistband.
"I was just getting your belt off to make you more comfortable, so you could sleep."
Alex suddenly shifted, and his good hand came around her back, pulling her down on top of him. The amusement in his eyes faded into something darker and more dangerous.
"Andrea," he murmured, his husky voice turning her name into an intimate caress. "I've dreamed of having you here in my bed."
She stared at him, mesmerized by his tone, the hungry look in his eyes, the pulse working a rapid beat in his neck. She didn't resist when he pulled her face down to his. She was helpless, a victim of her own desire. He kissed her deeply, passionately, sliding his tongue into her mouth, demanding a response as his hand ran down the length of her spine, making her arch like a cat.
He wasn't holding her anymore, but she couldn't move away. Just one more kiss, one more moment, maybe two, and then she would stop.
His mouth worked its magic, his body stiffening against hers, making her aware of their intimate position. She braced herself on her hands and slowly pulled away, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Alex stared at her. "Don't go, Andrea. Stay with me."
It was really tempting, but while Alex was in a daze, she knew exactly what was going on. She also knew that sleeping with Alex with so much unresolved between them was not the right thing to do, no matter how much she wanted it.
"I can't," she whispered.
There was a light in his eyes, almost a fever. It burned right through her, tempting her again, making her want to forget everything but the desire that was pulling them together.
"I need you," he murmured.
"You don't know what you're saying." She sat back on her knees, looking down at him. He dropped his hand from her hair to his side, a look of pain turning his light green eyes to jade.
"Don't leave me. I can't take it. I just can't." His eyes drifted closed, and his breathing changed to one of slumber.
Andrea stared at him, touched by the depth of pain in his voice. This man had been hurt badly in his life. She only knew bits and pieces of his story, but that was one inescapable truth.
She'd been worried about him hurting her, but she could hurt him, too, she realized. She rolled over onto her side, propping her head on her elbow as she stared at his strong, handsome face. She didn't want to think about the article right now or all the lies between them. She just wanted to be with him.
Kicking off her shoes, she pulled up a quilt from the bottom of the bed and covered them both. She would just stay with him for a little while. In case his hand hurt. In case he needed her. Just a few minutes...