Love, Lies, and Deception(38)

I smiled through my tears. “Neither am I.”





After the third round of love making I had to call for a break. “Alec, you’re killing me,” I sputtered weakly.

“Is it too much for you?” he teased, rolling off of me. We were sweaty, sticky, and I was really sore between my legs. Even though he was gentle, it still didn’t matter, I was hurting. I also wanted a shower, desperately.

“Yes, you’re too much. Why don’t we get out for a while and go for a walk. It’ll feel good to be outside, but first I’m going to rinse off in your shower if you don’t mind.”

Alec got up and threw on his clothes. “Be my guest, babe. I would join you, but I’m starving. What kind of sandwich do you want? I have ham and turkey.”

“Neither,” I muttered, getting out of bed.

Picking up my clothes, I headed for Alec’s bathroom. “If you have peanut butter I’ll take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

Alec’s grin was the biggest I’d ever seen. “Yep, it’s official. I am utterly and completely in love with you. Peanut butter and jellies are my favorite. Take your shower and I’ll have you one waiting.”

My heart swelled and I couldn’t help but feel weak in the knees for him. “Sounds good. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Even though we were from different worlds, it was amazing how many things we had in common. We loved the same movies, food, and a fascination for the ocean, except his was with surfing and mine was with researching. Maybe our relationship would work out after all.

After we ate our sandwiches, he agreed to go for a walk, so we took off for the woods behind the apartment complex. The path we took was about two feet wide and continued on throughout the woods for a couple of miles until it circled around a small lake and looped back. The ground was a little wet and muddy so I was glad I wore my old shoes.

Alec looked over at me and smiled. “This is a nice trail out here. As you already know, I usually come out this way when I run and circle around the lake.”

“Yeah, there were plenty of times when I wanted to join you, but I didn’t want to impose,” I said, following behind him.

Stopping mid-step, Alec peered down at me with an incredulous look. “You should’ve just said something and joined me. Think of all the time we wasted just watching each other through windows.”

“It sounds creepy when you mention it like that,” I remarked.

Alec chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right it does.”

Taking my hand, Alec pulled me along behind him, looking sheepish. “Well … I do have a sort of confession to make since we have this policy of being honest with each other, but first, did you realize your bathroom is above my bedroom?”

I gasped. “No, I didn’t know that. Okay, where are you going with this? I do not want to imagine you being able to hear me use the bathroom. That’s really embarrassing.”

Alec doubled over laughing, holding his stomach. “No, Marissa, it’s nothing like that. You have a really beautiful voice.”

My eyes went wide and my mouth dropped open. “Are you saying you can hear me when I’m in the shower?” I asked.

He laughed. “Yeah, whenever I’m around and you’re upstairs taking one I always listen to you. The first time I ever heard you was when I first moved in. I missed home so much and I’d just recently had a bad accident on my motorcycle so I was in a lot of pain. Your voice helped me during that time. Do you remember seeing me then?”

Furrowing my brows, I tried to remember back to that time I first saw him. I remembered seeing him limp around a couple of times, but back then I was too wrapped up in my own life to think much of it.

“I remember you limping around a couple of times, but I didn’t really see you out and about much there for a couple of weeks. What I want to know though is if you had an accident on your motorcycle, why do you still ride?”

Alec laughed and his eyes sparkled. “It’s in my blood, Marissa, just like surfing is. I couldn’t give it up if I tried. Anyway, I waited on you to sing here, but you didn’t. I must say I was a little disappointed.”

I smiled. “That’s because I took a shower in your bathroom. I guess you can say I’m a closet singer. I don’t like to sing when others can hear me.”

Exasperated, he shook his head in disbelief. “You have an amazing voice, Marissa. You should’ve tried out for American Idol.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “My parents used to say the same thing. I thought about it, but I didn’t want to be embarrassed on national television. Honestly, I don’t see how you could handle being in the public eye.”

Alec shrugged, but gazed at me wearily. “It had its ups and downs, but you get used to it. For the most part I liked being in the spotlight, but now I couldn’t care less. I do want to surf again, though. I’m hoping one day to go back to it.”

“What’s going to happen to us when you go back?” I asked. “Will we just go on with our lives? I can’t follow you, Alec. I have my own dreams to go after.”

Frowning, he took my hand and kissed it. “I would never ask you to give up your dreams to follow me, Marissa. I want you to do what you love, but when the time comes we can always do the things we love together. My life is a little more complicated than most men you’ve been with, and you have to be willing to put yourself out there. You’ve seen what my life entails and privacy is hard to come by. Would you be willing to sacrifice all of that to be with me?”