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Chagrined, Lilly righted her clothes and quickly clambered to her feet, ignoring her wobbly knees as she fastened her dress’s buttons. “I…” In his arms she’d felt safe and not for a second had she considered someone might stumble upon them. “I’m sorry.” Her face continued to burn.
“No need for sorry, sugar.” Standing, he took her by the hand. “Not when we’re going straight to my room. There, you can make it up to me by divulging all your erotic secrets.”
As he led her out of the building and through the paths to the resort’s lobby, that word echoed in her mind. Secrets. There was that compulsion rising inside her again, to share with him more of herself. What, if in addition to becoming intimate with him, she also became intimate?
As in confessing who she came from. Crap people, she tried out in her head.
Yet even the crap people hadn’t really wanted her.
Upon reaching the lobby, she found herself overwhelmed by the bright lights and the noise. Chattering people stood around with coffees or cocktails in hand. Lilly hung back and Alec looked down at her, concern in his gaze.
“Okay?” he asked. He looked rumpled and delicious. Sexy.
She probably appeared a mess. “I need to freshen up,” she said, glancing in the direction of the women’s lounge.
“Give me your check slip and I’ll collect both our phones,” he said.
Lilly dug hers from her pocket, then skedaddled out of sight. In the restroom, she cooled her face with a bath of water and finger-combed the waves of her hair. Her mouth gave her away, she thought, grimacing at her reflection. No doubt about it, her lips appeared extremely well-kissed.
But would that be so terrible? she suddenly thought. So what if visitors caught sight of her at Alec’s side with her pink afterglow and her giveaway mouth? If even Tina saw them together the world wouldn’t end.
Her eyes widened and with a guilty start she realized she might be glad for the other woman to see them together and wonder.
Bad Lilly, she mouthed to herself and shaking her head, returned to the lobby.
But the platinum blonde wasn’t the woman talking to Alec as Lilly approached him from behind. It was instead Jessie Hathaway, the friendly resort staff person she’d spoken with a few times and who, she’d learned, was Alec’s second cousin. “She came to me crying the blues,” Jessie was saying.
Alec scowled. “Hey, I didn’t do anything to give Tina the impression I was interested.” As Lilly came to his side, he glanced over. His gaze then fixed on her mouth.
Yep, Lilly thought, total giveaway.
His hand reached up to tuck a tendril of hair behind her ear.
“And clearly you’re not available,” Jessie said drily.
“What?” Alec asked absently, still looking at Lilly.
Jessie sighed. “I do think she was sincere about her apology, though.”
Alec clearly wasn’t listening. “Uh-huh.”
“She feels bad she didn’t do more after—”
“No.” In an instant, Alec’s demeanor changed. His spine shot straight and he arrowed a narrow look at Jessie. “Let’s not—”
“You had a horrible tragedy in the family, Alec, and your supposed girlfriend at the time couldn’t bring herself to show up at the house with a frickin’ casserole.” Jessie’s lip curled. “She knows how shallow that made her seem.”
Alec grimaced, his posture tense. “We don’t have to air this in front of the whole world, Jess.”
“But Alec—”
“Some things are better left unspoken.” He cleared his throat. “Especially in front of strangers.”
The young woman blinked. “Oh.” Her eyes shifted in the direction of Lilly. “Oh. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“Well.” Jessie made a big show of shoving her hands in the pockets of her white jeans. “I’ll just take me and my big mouth off. See you kids around.”
Then she left, leaving Alec and Lilly—the stranger—and the elephant she hadn’t known about. He didn’t look at all happy to have her aware of some secret he held.
How ironic, when all she’d been concerned about until now were her own.
