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“You’re going to ruin your pants,” she chided.
“I’m rolling them up.”
She chuckled, but it seemed a bit hollow. “I thought you had a business meeting dressed like that.”
“I did. I canceled.”
She straightened, and she’d never looked more beautiful in the simple white sundress. He took her hand and led her out to the beach. A breeze stirred her hair, and he pushed it back only to have it cover one eye again. Already the swelling on her cheek had begun to recede, but the bruising remained. He needed to work harder to protect her. Maybe as an official boyfriend, he would have that right on an ongoing basis.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
Her eyes widened. “Knew what?”
“Don’t play coy, Alyssa. Piper’s admission didn’t surprise you. Why?”
She sighed. “I caught them talking in the restaurant when we went shopping. She and Emma were arguing, and Emma begged her to tell you and your parents. Piper thought I was going to tell you, but it wasn’t my secret to reveal. I did end up advising her to start acting like a woman and not a spoiled child.”
He nodded. So he’d been correct guessing Alyssa’s influence. “I want us to make it real between us,” he blurted.
His sudden change of subject appeared to catch her off guard. She stared at him. “What?”
He reached out and tugged her to him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. “I said, I want us to make this real. I want you to be mine—on a long-term basis.”
“Yours?”
She stepped out of his hold and turned to walk down the beach. He followed, frustration eating at him. When he reached her, he fell into step beside her rather than force her into his arms. The crease between her eyebrows said she struggled with his suggestion. Perhaps she couldn’t look beyond his past after all, and he couldn’t blame her.
“Alyssa—”
“We already had this discussion, Nathan. I told you. I’m not going to be your mistress. The mere thought of it denotes you taking care of me financially and me giving it up in exchange.”
“Who said anything about you being my mistress?”
She stopped walking. “Well what were you talking about?”
He hitched his shoulders and stuffed his hands in his pockets. She’d been right. The pants he’d rolled up had uncurled, and now the ends were crusted with wet sand. Forget the pants. This is your chance. Being nervous with a woman was foreign. He’d always commanded control and set the pace of the relationship, if one existed. No, that was just it. He’d never had a relationship per se, but keeping Alyssa in his life dictated it.
“I want you as my girlfriend as well as my lover.”
Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened. She stuttered unintelligible words for a few moments, and he began to hope she would say yes. After all, she understood what he wanted, which he dared to guess was what she desired as well.
“No.”
His world fell apart. “Come again?”
She took a step back from him as if she suspected he would attack. A rush of—was it pain?—constricted his chest. He would never hurt her, and it killed him to think she’d fear him. “Alyssa.”
She held up her hands to ward him off when he raised his to touch her. He stopped midmotion. The full lips thinned, and the jaw set. Her narrowed gaze never left his face. “I did it for the money.”
He blinked. “What money?”
“I did it for the money,” she repeated. “I came here and pretended to be your girlfriend for twenty thousand dollars to save my bookstore.”
What she said might as well be gibberish. “I didn’t offer to pay you.”
“I know that, damn it!” Her hands slid to her hips. “When Trinity couldn’t come, or rather her boyfriend had a problem with it, I offered to instead in exchange for a loan from her to help me make some updates to my store. I didn’t tell you, and I asked her not to tell you because it’s my business, and—”
“You thought I would look down on you. Do you think so little of me?”
