Love, Lies, and Deception(12)

I nodded. “That’s correct. I’ll be twenty-four in a couple of months.”

“I doubt you work since you go to school full-time, but I’m curious to know what you’re majoring in. If I had to guess I would say chemistry, medical research, biology … maybe?”

I gaped at him in disbelief, stunned at his impeccable observation. Was I really that easy to read?

“Wow,” I uttered, astonished. “How did you do that?”

“I’m just good I guess.” He grinned. “Actually, I’ve seen the books you carry around, so it wasn’t hard to make a guess.”

“Umm … that’s kind of creepy, Alec,” I said teasingly. “Don’t tell me you’ve been spying on me.”

He shrugged. “It’s kind of hard not to, and anyway, I’m just returning the favor,” he said slyly.

Biting my lip, I tried not to sound flustered when I asked, “What do you mean by that?” Please don’t tell me he knows I watch him when he goes for his runs.

Alec winked and smiled. “Oh, don’t play innocent with me, Marissa. I’ve caught you numerous times staring at me through your window. Why do you think I stand where I do when I do my stretches?”

Covering my face with my hands, I groaned and peeked at him through my fingers. “I had no clue you knew I was watching you. This is so embarrassing.” I could feel the heat flushing my cheeks, and I wished in that moment I could hide.

His laugh reverberated through the room. “Don’t be embarrassed. I just told you I watch you, too; especially in the mornings when you leave to walk to campus. I’m usually eating my breakfast and getting ready to leave to go to my aunt’s house. Think about it this way … it just makes us both stalkers.”

Snickering, I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. As long as you don’t mind, I won’t mind.” The room fell into an awkward silence so I tried to think of anything to get the conversation started again.

What do you talk about after admitting that you’ve been stalking each other? My body temperature had just skyrocketed through the roof, and my heartbeat was pounding a million times a minute. Think of something, I said to myself.

“So … your aunt must either pay you well or you have a lot of money to have all of these nice things,” I said, getting the conversation started again.

He chuckled. “Not exactly. My aunt doesn’t pay me to do the work at her house.” His light-hearted tone was back, but it was guarded.

“Well then how do you afford all of this?” I asked curiously, waving my hand around his apartment. He had secrets, which were obvious since he flat out told me so, but I was intrigued and wanted to know more.

He ate a few bites of his lasagna and sighed. “It all goes with the ‘long back story’ part. There are things I ran away from in California; things I’m not proud of. I came here to find myself and to change my lifestyle. I’m getting there, but it’s too soon to burden you with my past. I don’t want you running for the hills before we even get started.”

“Isn’t the past what makes us who we are today?” I asked lightly. “If it’s going to make me run away, then putting it off isn’t going to change that fact.”

“I know,” he remarked sadly. “If you still want to know in a few weeks after spending time with me then I’ll tell you, but for now, I want you to enjoy being with me for who I am today. For once I want things to be uncomplicated.”

Hmm … he actually had a point. I could do with an uncomplicated night. Alec gazed at me expectantly—pleading—waiting on me to say something. I nodded and held out my hand across the table. “Deal,” I agreed. “An uncomplicated night sounds great.”

Relief flashed across his face and he grasped my hand, clenching it tight. His eyes never wavered from mine when he responded, “Deal.”





After we ate our food, I helped Alec clear the table and pile the dishes into the sink. “All right,” he announced, leaning over the sink. “Since you’re Little Miss Independent, you’re going to help me clean up. Rinse or load?”

Taking my place at the sink, I turned on the water and admitted wryly, “I suck at loading the dishwasher. If you don’t mind, I’ll rinse.”

“Sounds good to me, because I hate rinsing,” he retorted back with a laugh. Opening the dishwasher, he pulled out the shelves, waiting on me to hand him the dishes to load. It was all so domestic, and not something I’d ever done on a date before.

“So … when you’re not at your aunt’s house fixing things or sitting here, what do you do? What sort of things do you like?” I asked, holding out a plate for him to take.

He took the dirty dish and placed it in the dishwasher before answering. “Let’s see … you already know I love to surf, but obviously, I can’t do that here. I can say that being here in the mountains has given me a new fascination for hiking. We have mountains back home, but I never took the time to notice them before. I usually hike out to the fire tower at least once every week. Have you been there?”

“Oh yes,” I said, handing him another dish. “You can see all the way to Blowing Rock up there.”

“So what sorts of things do you like to do?” he asked curiously.