AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alyssa shifted from one foot to the other, trying to calm her idiot body. “O-Okay, sure.”
“See you then.”
He hung up, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then the thought of him arriving so soon hit her, and anticipation took over. He would no doubt greet her with a kiss, and a hand at her waist or back. Longing turned her around to the point that she walked in the opposite direction to where she intended. She started back the way she came and then stopped at a familiar voice coming from behind a door to her left. Maybe this was the room and she’d forgotten. Shaking her head in confusion, she pushed at the panels, glad it wasn’t shut all the way.
Piper came into view and then a woman she didn’t recognize. “I told you I would call you,” Piper said to the woman, who had dark hair cropped so close to her head, she seemed more like a soft-featured man than a woman. Her figure, almost as slender as Piper’s was unmistakably female, though, with large breasts and curvy hips.
The woman frowned and drew Piper close, so close that their chests touched. Alyssa expected Piper to jerk away, but she stayed in the embrace and lowered her lashes like a woman in the throes of desire.
“Why wouldn’t I try to see you?” the woman complained. “I hate that you haven’t told them about me yet. It’s been three years, Piper. I think it’s time, and I got my dad to agree to let me come down here. Please, just—”
“No. Look, I love you, but I’m not ready.”
Alyssa didn’t realize she’d gasped until the two women turned in her direction. All the blood drained from Piper’s face, and she rocked so much on her feet, her girlfriend had to steady her. Alyssa took a step back.
“Um, sorry, I think I have the wrong room.” She yanked the door shut with too much force and spun on her heel. In seconds, she arrived back at her seat and dropped into it, panting.
Lydia frowned in concern. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Alyssa forced a smile. “I’m fine, thanks.” She scrambled for an excuse while trying to make sense of what she’d just witnessed. “Oh, Nathan is going to join us for lunch, so I need to order him something.”
Lydia clapped her hands. “Good! We can show him what we bought. Leo gets worn out too quickly, so I have to make Nathan endure it.” She laughed. “He’s a good son. He doesn’t complain.”
Alyssa laughed. “So you know what you’re doing.”
The older woman winked. “Of course. Men are here to serve us, darling. Never forget that.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They continued to chat after Alyssa put in Nathan’s order with the waiter, and just before he arrived, Piper returned to the table alone. She sat down, more subdued than Alyssa had seen her since they met, and the younger woman refused to meet her gaze. With her hands in her lap, Piper’s shoulders remained high and stiff. The moment her brother arrived, the tension in them grew still more. Alyssa guessed she waited on pins and needles for Alyssa to blow her cover.
If I was the bitch she thinks I am, I’d have her. Maybe now she’ll get off my back when she realizes I don’t give a damn about her secrets.
“Mom, Piper,” Nathan greeted his family and then leaned over to kiss Alyssa. She offered him her cheek, but a click of his tongue in chastisement made her raise her chin, and he kissed her lips. He took the seat next to her and scooted closer to Alyssa’s side, as if he weren’t near enough. She did her best not to fidget, but Nathan seemed at ease, damn the man. “So, ladies, how did the shopping go?”
Lydia launched into a play-by-play of everywhere they’d gone and everything they’d said while there. Between sips of wine, she rifled through bags to pull out items to show her son. Alyssa wondered how she could go on with so few breaths at her age. All the while, Nathan’s expression of polite interest never changed. On impulse, Alyssa laid a hand on his thigh, and the muscles tautened under her touch. She jerked away, but Nathan caught her fingers and placed them back on his leg. He peered down at her, causing her heartbeat to increase.
“Okay?” he whispered.
“Of course,” she murmured back.
Across the table, Piper knocked over a glass of water, and a waiter materialized from nowhere to mop up the mess. Nathan studied his sister in silence. Her hands fluttered all the more, and the same server saved the replacement glass from her destruction just in time.
“Is there something bothering you, Piper?” Nathan queried.
“Why should it be?” she croaked and then cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Worry about your girlfriend.”
Nathan looked from his sister to Alyssa and back again. Alyssa rolled her eyes and shrugged.
“They think I don’t know, but the two of them haven’t been getting along all morning,” Lydia said. “I’m trying to stay positive, but I don’t like the negativity. It’s not good for Dad.”
All conversation came to a halt. Guilt tightened the muscles in Alyssa’s chest. She’d thought Lydia’s constant chatter the result of just her personality, but from her words, she realized she worried about her husband.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Piper’s sincerity shone clear in her watery gaze. That they each felt the pain of Leo’s sickness no matter the happy face they put on brought home to Alyssa that she didn’t belong among them, least of all at a time like this. She considered informing Nathan when they were alone that she would fly home tomorrow. He could say she’d had an emergency.
“I’m not very hungry,” Lydia announced.
The food arrived, and with the assistance of a couple servers was soon in place on the table. Nathan pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to stay. This should cover everything.” He tossed a few bills on the table, and Alyssa guessed it amounted to much more than the charge plus a generous tip.
