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“Your mother…she died of cancer?”
Alex signed deeply. “Yeah, breast cancer. It took her fast. She was gone within a year of finding the lump.” Picturing a scared, ten-year-old Alex, my heart broke for him.
“I made up so many stories about my family in the early days of Steel Roses that they started to feel real. I’m sorry if I’ve kept you in the dark about it. It’s not an intentional thing. My parents are dead, that’s all. I won't dwell on it.”
“You must have loved your mother very much, though, right? Her being ripped from you at such a young age must have had an effect. I can understand needing to shut that pain away.”
“She was the first person to tell me that I could sing.” Shit! Alex was talking about a memory with his mother! That was something he’d never done before. “She paid for singing lessons for me for a whole year.” He chuckled at the thought. “Every time I came out of those lessons, she had a small bag of Maltesers waiting on the dashboard for me.” That was where he’d gotten his chocolate addiction from? It was a memory of his mother! I could hardly believe that Alex was telling me all of this. “The notes I could reach as a kid were pretty impressive. It wasn’t until my balls finally dropped that I developed my legendary gravelly tone. The faith my mother had in me pushed me so much. I wanted to become a rock star for her. My only regret is that she never got to see it.” Alex stopped in his tracks, shocked that he’d admitted revealed so much. “Fuck! I’ve never told anyone that! Not even Diego or Milly.”
“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered, taking his hand in mine.
Alex pulled me toward him. Closing his eyes, he moved, pressing his lips against my forehead. “I’ve only ever felt content and happy with two people. My mother and you.” Touching his chest, I looked up at him, drowning in his beautiful confession. “This last year, watching you slip away…it was as painful as losing my mother. I can’t ever lose you, Straight Lace. Can you understand how much you mean to me now? If I lost you, I’d lose myself. This world makes no sense without you. There’s no way I could be the man I am today without you.”
“Hey, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere! I’m here, Alex. Always!” I touched the side of his face, my voice choked with tears. “I lost myself for a little while, but I won’t let that happen again. If I feel that abyss returning, I’ll tell you. You’re the only person that can lift me from my darkness. You and your songs have always held that power over me. You were there long before we’d even met, Alex. You gave me a reason to smile and escape from whatever craziness was going on inside my head when I was younger. Now you’re my husband and I still have to pinch my arm to remind myself that I get to live this life. You may be damaged, Alex, but no one has loved me the way you do. In my eyes, that makes you the most amazing person I know!” He crashed his lips against mine roughly. I was already breathless from talking so fast, and the kiss only made it worse. Gasping into his mouth at his urgency, I wrapped my arms around his neck. Alex wrapped his around my waist as we made out like horny school kids in the middle of the forest.
“If it wasn’t so cold, I’d be bending you over that tree stump right now,” Alex purred against my mouth when our lips finally parted.
“We need to get to this lake,” I grinned. “You can bend me over something in the cabin when we get back.”
“Mmm, that gives me a lot of choices.” Taking my hand in his, we continued our trek to the lake.
When we finally arrived, the scene was breathtaking. We skimmed a few stones across the water before finding a large rock to sit on.
“It’s so peaceful here. I can see why you come up here to clear your head. Even the air feels fresher.”
“It’s a good place to centre yourself. When Steel Roses split up, I came to meditate a lot.”
“You meditated?”
“What? Why are you so shocked? I wasn’t always drugged up in those days.” I gave him a disbelieving look. “Okay, Diego made me come up here as a sort of rehab. I meditated once.”
“I personally think sex therapy works better than mediation, anyway.”
“Oh, I completely agree. Shall we head back and have another therapy session?” His teasing tone was infectious.
“Eh…maybe we can have lunch first and then you can read me a few more chapters from your book!”
Helping me off the rock, Alex gave me his panty-dropping smirk. “We’re only a few chapters from your introduction.”
Crap! I was nervous to hear what he had to say about me.
Chapter Thirteen
I made us some chicken subs when we got back after our walk to the lake. Alex seemed in really good spirits, pouring us an orange juice while I carried our food to the table.
“I’m loving this no Wi-Fi thing. My phone hasn’t gone off once,” Alex mused, bringing the drinks over. “I dread to think how many messages we’ll have once we have service again.”
“Ben and Steve would let us know if there was an emergency. I’m pretty sure Gina and Iris are fine running everything for a few days. It’s a good test for when you go on tour, and they are left holding down the fort.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about that. I know our company is in safe hands. I’m contemplating making Gina a partner at some point. It will give us more free time. We can sit and relax while the money comes in.” I hoped he was joking, I’m not sure I was the kind of person that could sit around all day without an actual job to do. “I’d keep you busy enough, Straight Lace.” Raising his eyebrows at me, I knew exactly how Alex wanted to keep me busy.
“I love working for the record label! I’d go stir crazy without a job!”
“I could drive you crazy instead.” Heat rose from my centre at his offer. How could he do that to me with one look?
“Eat your lunch,” I panted, trying to hide the desire in my eyes. Alex chuckled softly, biting into his food, but never took his eyes off me.
I didn’t finish my sub or drink before Alex pulled me up and laid me across the large table. It appeared he wasn’t hungry for food anymore. I was all he wanted to devour.
