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How many times have you done that to others?
That was different though. Last night with Alex was something else entirely. My brain offered up images of Alex straddling me as I sat up and kissed her while we made love. Sweet and slow, lips touching. Whispered murmurs of,Yes, right there, andPleasemore. Don't stop.My name a whisper on her lips. That deeper connection I'd never felt with anyone before. And now she'd left me? That stung, and I didn't know what to do with that feeling.
If I’d been using my logical brain, I would have remembered that Alex was generally not one to examine emotions. That's why I'd been so freaked last night when she cried. Maybe she had no idea how to handle the morning after. It was awkward enough the other night when we woke up together. The thing that really burned the most was that she hadn't even left a note. What if she'd left the island?
No. As awkward and confused as we both might be, she wouldn't leave. At least I hoped.
* * *
Jensen
After a hot showerput things in perspective, I went down to the kitchen. Again, my grandmother had cinnamon bread baking. I’d hoped to find Alex in there, but it was just Grandma Lucy, and I greeted her. "Morning, Grandma."
"Morning, baby. Want some coffee?"
"I thought you couldn't have coffee? And shouldn't I be getting you something instead of you waiting on me? Do you want me to make you breakfast?"
My grandmother sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I'm going to follow the doctor’s rules. For a while anyway. You know how I get when I think things are exaggerated."
"Grandma, please, I want you around for a long time. You can't be scaring us like that again. If the doctor says no coffee, that means no coffee. Do you understand me?"
Grandma Lucy's brows shot up. "Well, this is a nice surprise."
I poured myself a cup even as I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's nice to see you taking the lead. I know how you usually handle things with your charm and being able to adapt to any situation. But I have to say, it sure is nice for you to stand for something. It's good to see. Helps me realize that you're doing just fine."
"Well, yeah. You get more flies with honey and all that."
She grinned. "Yeah, but sometimes a flyswatter's pretty good too."
I took a sip of my coffee and grinned into the dark liquid. "So, uh, have you seen Alex this morning?"
"No. You lost your girlfriend?"
I pursed my lips. When she put it like that, all the irritation came rushing back. But I shoved it back like I always did. "I'm sure she's just headed into Los Angeles to check on the gallery."
His grandmother nodded. "Mm-hmm. Can I ask you a question, baby?"
"Sure."
"Why don't you ever come home anymore?"
Oh. We were jumping right in, then. "You know why, Grandma."
"Well, I can piece it together. But you know, you've never actually told me. You just kept saying no when I asked you to come home and offered to take me somewhere fabulous instead. Now you know how I love to travel, so I'm never going to say no to that. But it would be nice to have you home more often."
“You and I both know that this isn’t my home anymore. I loved my father. I loved all the hotels. Every time we got to go somewhere, we'd stay at a Morrison property, and I'd get so excited. They all felt like home with different touches and different themes. I could never have seen myself doing anything else. But then Dad was gone, and instead of giving me the opportunity to show him and everyone in the family how much I loved this place, he gave everything to Martin. The dude who made it clear how much he hated me."
"Jensen, baby, he doesn't hate you."
"Well, he sure is a good actor then. He can't ever resist the chance to twist the knife that Dad overlooked me and didn't trust me enough with this place."
Grandma Lucy slapped the granite countertop with her palm. "Now that is enough, Jensen. If you didn't know your dad well enough to know his intentions, then let me fill you in. Your father loved you. He knew how much you love these hotels. But he also knew that you were the kind of person who would make everyone else happy first. It's in your soul. Hospitality was born and bred into you. He knew that you would constantly change and adapt yourself to be what other people wanted. And he knew that your uncle Jake, and Martin, and your cousins Jason and Mack would gang up on you and consistently outvote you since they sit on the board. He didn't want that for you. And the hotels needed a lot of upkeep, some of them were in serious debt, and he didn’t want to saddle you with that. He knew you had vision. He wanted you to build your own legacy. Your dad knew you were no worker bee. He knew that you'd want to come in and change things and do them how you want to. He changed the will so that Martin would inherit. He always meant to talk to you after the paperwork was finalized, but then he had a heart attack and was gone. Your father loved you."
I leaned against the counter, taking another sip of my coffee, letting the bitter taste ease down my throat along with the bitter pill I was swallowing right now. "I don't know about that Grandma."
"I knew my son better than anyone. You were all he cared about. When he and your mom called it quits, he worked hard to keep you in a lifestyle that would make you miss her less. Because he never got to choose, he wanted you to be able to. If you wanted, you could work at Morrison Hotels. He knew, sooner or later, you'd be in charge of everything anyway. Martin and your uncle Jake would all be forced to take a back seat.”
