“Okay, I’ll lead. The moves are slow-quick-quick. You’ll start with your left foot, and I’ll begin with my right. Basically, it’s an elaborate box step. Does that make sense?”
“Yes?”
“Just follow me.” She pressed a button on her phone, and a song began to play. As she stepped up to me, Alex moved one of my arms to her waist, my hand wrapping around her back, and the other she held up with her own. “Ready?”
I nodded, and then we were off. It took a few passes of me stepping on her toes to finally get the hang of the moves. And once that happened, Alex began moving us in circles around the kitchen. Thank goodness the space was oversized, because it felt like we were floating across the floor.
I finally pulled my gaze away from my feet and locked eyes with Alex. She smiled as we swirled around, but our stare never wavered. I was entranced by her.
My fingers rested on the hem of her T-shirt, the material dusting the top of her shorts. I slipped my fingers underneath the cotton to feel the softness of her back. My own grin swelled as I felt the hitch in her breath.
Being with her like this felt different. It felt like everything wrong in the world slipped away and it was just me and her. This nonsensical pair that somehow worked.
With each step of the dance, it was growing harder and harder to remember why I couldn’t pursue her. Harder to remember why being with her was a bad thing.
“Daddy, the music stopped,” Eloise said.
Embarrassed, Alex and I pulled apart. She ducked her head, her hair cascading around her face, most likely to hide her blush.
“Sorry.”
“That was so pretty.” Molly held her clasped hands in front of her with a dreamy gleam in her eyes.
“I don’t think I did too bad. What do you think, Alex?”
“Um… yes. You did great. I… um, need to get something from my room.”
As she brushed past me, I reached for her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just forgot I needed to water the plants in my room.”
Water the plants? Are there even any plants?
“Will we see you again tonight?”
“Maybe? I don’t know.”
Alex wandered off without a backward glance, and I wondered what prompted her retreat. Was my touch unwelcome? Did I take it too far? Maybe I had been lost in the moment, but I thought she had been as well.
The girls were confused about Alex’s departure as they helped me wrap up the cake and place the dishes in the dishwasher. It was getting close to their bedtime, so I sent them on their way to get ready for their baths while I locked up downstairs.
When I reached the top of the stairs, instead of turning left to go to our end of the hall, I opted to go right. My hand hovered at her door, ready to knock, but then Molly called for me. With a heavy sigh, I dropped my hand and made my way to the girls’ room.
But I made a decision, and I was done forgetting.
Chapter Thirteen – Alex
I was such a coward. I ran away at the first sign of being caught—by his daughters, no less. They were probably down in the kitchen, confused as hell. We’d all been having such a good time. Nate was a natural once he got the hang of the dance. And when he touched my bare skin, the world around us faded away into oblivion. For a few moments, I’d even forgotten there were two children seated at the island observing us.
Everything was turning into a muddled mess. With each day that passed, it got harder and harder to fight the pull I had toward Nate. I wasn’t sure I could do it much longer. It had only been a week. One freaking week of agony trying to decide if pursuing a repeat with Nate was worth the anguish it could cost my brother.
The more I thought about it, though, I wasn’t sure my brother would be so opposed to it. He loved hard, and Nate was like a brother to him. But if things didn’t work out, would Andrew worry about choosing a side?
I was getting more and more worked up with each scenario that shot through my mind. Would Andrew get mad or not if he found out Nate and I slept together? Did it even matter? We were all adults, and if Andrew wanted to be upset, then he could. Everything was consensual. He may still see me as his little sister, but I was a grown-ass woman and could make my own decisions about who I wanted to sleep with.
It’s not like we’d end up married. That wasn’t in the cards for me. My therapist was dying to delve into the reasoning behind my anti-marriage stance, but it wasn’t as serious as she suspected. I just never expected to find a love like my parents’. I thought I found my one true love in high school. He tricked me into thinking he was my be-all, end-all. And when I believed in him and his love, he destroyed everything.
Frustrated, I even considered messaging Andrew and telling him that he couldn’t tell me what to do. It was petty, but I was so done playing this back-and-forth game with Nate. And we hadn’t done anything more than make out since he returned to Ashfield.
