Love, Lies, and Deception(52)
Alec’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it that way. I know you’ll miss your friends. Look, I’ll sit over here and give you your privacy. You have about ten minutes before we start boarding.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, reaching down to squeeze his hand.
Kristian was leaning against the wall with his muscular arms crossed at his chest. His smoky gray eyes watched me intently as I made my way to him, and it made me nervous. I’d never seen him look at me like that, with such longing and need.
When I approached, he loosened his arms and pulled me straight into them, enveloping me in his scent of bodywash and cologne; he smelled completely different from Alec, like they had their own enticing scent. He was wearing the cologne I had given him for his birthday the year before, and it made me smile as I laid my head on his chest.
“Please don’t go, Marissa. I can take you somewhere and keep you safe. Why does it have to be him? If anything, it’s more dangerous since whoever is after you is only doing it because of him.”
In all honesty, he had a point, but I didn’t want to imagine not going with Alec. I held onto Kristian tighter and breathed him in. I was going to miss him so much.
“I have to go, Kristian,” I whispered. “And I have to go with Alec. I don’t want you or any of our friends being targets just because of me. If anything happened to any of you I would never forgive myself.”
Kristian let me go and placed both of his hands on my cheeks, lifting my face up. “I’m not going to know what to do without you, Mare. You’ve been such a huge part of my life for so long. Just please promise me that you’ll call me or text if you need anything.”
Smiling, I leaned into his hand and placed mine over the top of his. “Always,” I whispered wholeheartedly. A lone tear escaped out of the corner of my eye and Kristian wiped it away with his thumb.
A pained look crossed his face and my heart shattered for him. “Be safe, Marissa.”
“I will,” I said, slowly backing away from him. “But I have to go.”
As soon as I turned to leave, Kristian grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, crushing his lips against mine. They were firm yet soft, and the desire that flowed through them to me shot through my body like electricity. Kristian had never kissed me like that before, or ever for that matter. The kiss only lasted briefly because Alec came up behind me and tore me away from him, and stepped in front of me.
In a low, menacing voice Alec said, “If I ever see you touch her like that again I’m gonna rip off your arms and shove them up your ass. Be thankful I can’t do anything about it now, but when we come back you better watch out.”
Kristian met Alec head on. “I’d like to see you try,” he sneered.
Backing away from Alec, Kristian sent me one last lingering glance before turning away and disappearing through the crowd.
Alec’s fists were clenched and his shoulders shook with fury. “One of these days I’m seriously going to kick the shit out of that guy.” Slowly, he finally turned around and gazed at me wearily. “You don’t care for him in that way, do you?” he asked.
I cared for Kristian, and yes I was attracted to him, but my heart belonged to Alec. Shaking my head, I answered, “My heart is with you, Alec. As long as you keep it safe, it’s with you.”
His smile didn’t touch his eyes, but he grabbed my hand and led me over to our stuff. As soon as we sat down, our boarding announcement came over the intercom. “All passengers for flight 1073 in first class may now proceed to board. I repeat, all passengers for flight 1073 may now proceed to board.”
“That’s us, sunshine,” Alec muttered, grabbing our bags for carry on. “Are you ready?”
I took a good long look around and sighed; the reality was starting to settle in and I was getting nervous. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Here’s to a new life, Mr. Conner Jacobs. I just pray we’re safe in it.”
He smiled half-heartedly. “We will be safe, Ms. Jaime Gold. As long as you’re with me, nothing is going to happen to you.”
I hope he’s right. I sure hope he’s right.
The flight to Atlanta was quick. After our one hour layover was over, we were boarding a plane heading for Denver, Colorado.
“Where’s the farthest west you’ve been?” Alec asked, taking the aisle seat … again. I was thankful he let me have the window seat for both flights. I loved looking out at the land below.
“Hmm … let’s see,” I said, furrowing my brow. “I think the farthest west I’ve been was Tennessee.”
Alec’s eyes widened, surprised. “You mean to tell me you haven’t been anywhere out on the West Coast?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Nope, not at all, but I have been to Mexico and to Aruba. Before my mom died, we used to travel together. For my graduation present she took me on my first cruise, and the next year after that she took me to Aruba. The year she died we were supposed to go to Scotland. That was the one trip we both looked forward to the most. Men in kilts were our favorite, hence the reason I read about them all the time.”
The thought made me laugh, and Alec smile for the first time since we left Charlotte.
He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I tell you what … how about after all this mess is done and over with I’ll take you to Scotland. I wouldn’t mind seeing the place myself, except minus the men in kilts. I don’t really want to see that.”