When You Were Mine Page 14

  Angel asked a few more questions about his surgery, once again offering to drop this semester’s classes if Alex needed him to. Alex assured his little brother he had this. He might be gone for a couple of days—a weekend tops. But he’d be back sooner than they’d notice him gone.

  Both Angel and Sarah were about to walk out into the dining room together when Alex finally bit the bullet. “Sarah, can I, uh, see you for a minute about next week’s schedule?” He pointed at the monitor on his screen. “I had to move some things around, and I wanna check to make sure you’re good with what I did.”

  “You need me too?” Angel asked.

  “Nah, you’re good,” Alex said, spinning his chair around to face the monitor.

  The moment Angel left, Alex turned to Sarah. “Can you close that door, please?”

  She looked at him a bit strangely but did as he asked. When the door was closed, he spun around and dropped his head back. “This has nothing to do with the schedule. I just wanted to talk to you privately.”

  Her brows pinched, reminding him a little of Valerie, and he almost groaned because everything reminded him of Valerie now. Inhaling deeply, he began. “Valerie won’t talk to me.”

  “Can you blame her?” Sarah crossed her arms in front of her, shifting her weight to one side.

  “Look. I know what happened looks bad, and I’ll be the first to admit it was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have kept it from her, but if I just had a chance to explain myself . . . Maybe you can talk to her—”

  “Alex, I don’t want to get in the middle of this.” Sarah shook her head adamantly. “But I have to agree with Valerie. This stormy thing between the two of you has gone on long enough. I’ve seen her cry over you more times than I care to remember.”

  “That’s the thing, Sarah.” He sat up. “It’s not like that anymore. I promised her things would be different.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “But then you—”

  “All right,” he said quickly before she could remind him what an idiot he was. “I know I fucked up.” Her eyes went dark and hard, so he continued quickly. “But I can explain it to her. She hasn’t given me a chance.”

  “My God, Alex.” Sarah shook her head. “She’s given you years.”

  “But things were different a few years ago. They really have changed now!”

  Her hardened demeanor went soft suddenly like the Sarah he was used to. “Honey, how many times have you said that in the past? She was really, really hurt this time, Alex. So hurt she said she needs you out of her life.”

  “I know but—”

  “If it was meant to be, you’ll hear from her again,” Sarah said, touching his shoulder. “She’s my cousin. You’re bound to run into her again at some point. I’d let her be for now. She really did sound like she needed time away from you. And personally, I agree. I think a little time apart would be good for the both of you. Maybe, in time, you guys can start over.”

  Yeah, if she didn’t move on like she said she was. Everything Valerie had said to him in that infuriating phone call about the real men she’d be meeting now in her new career assaulted him once again. He sat back in his chair and let his head fall back, bringing both hands to his head. The last two weeks felt like a dream, a mind-numbing exasperating nightmare he couldn’t wake from. His phone beeped, and he straightened out quickly with the feeble hope that it might be Valerie.

  “Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, Alex?”

  Alex looked up at Sarah as he grabbed his phone. “No,” he said, shaking his head and forcing a smile, “but thanks.”

  He glanced down at the text. It was from Joe.

  “Is that her?” Strangely, even after all she’d just said, Sarah sounded hopeful.

  He looked up again this time, not even attempting to smile. “Nope.”

  “She needs time to heal.” Sarah headed for the door and opened it then stopped and turned back to him. “Remember if it was meant to be . . .” She shrugged with a sympathetic little smile then walked out.

  Alex clicked on Joe’s text, feeling the massive ache in his heart weighing heavier by the second. No surprise Joe needed to talk to him ASAP. There were more decisions to be made.

  Valerie’s crying pleas from that awful night came to him. She’d begged him to stay out of her life, and now Sarah was saying she agreed that time apart from each other might be a good thing.

  As much as he hated to concede that, it seemed he had no choice. Even if he did manage to convince her to give him another chance, he wouldn’t be able to give her the time and attention she deserved right now. But he wasn’t giving up, not by a long shot. He’d just give her time to heal. Time to calm down. In the meantime, he’d get his shit together.

  He sat there quietly, staring at the crutch so tightly gripped in his hand it shook. With deep slow breaths, he tried desperately to convince his aching heart this was for the best. Giving her what she was asking for was the honorable and mature thing to do. He owed her at least that much. But it wasn’t working. “Fuck!” he growled loudly.

  In the next instance, the crutch flew across the room, shattering a picture frame and knocking down a few plaques on the wall with a thunderous crash.

  Chapter 12

  Valerie

  Two Months Later

  The guy sitting at the bar was looking at her again. Isabel had dubbed him Mystery Man because Valerie could swear she’d seen him before but couldn’t place him. She’d been trying not to be too obvious about looking at him, but he seemed to catch her every time. His smile was a slow-rising one with the corners of his lips lifting leisurely, and he lifted his glass at her. His eyes were warm and inviting, big and dark, just the way she liked them.

  Sexy.

  She lifted her glass at him in response, feeling her face warm. He motioned to the bartender that he was moving over her way, which meant he likely had a tab going, then got up and started her way.

  Valerie felt her heart speed up. She and Isabel had been playing the guess-what-he-does-for-a-living game among some of the other bar games they enjoyed playing such as guessing what he drives and his age. Isabel had pegged him for some kind of construction worker who cleaned up nicely and thought his name was Forrest or Hunter because of the aura of mystery. Valerie had said he looked more military because of his rugged good looks and had gone with Sebastian or Brett because of the sex appeal he exuded. He was very easy on the eyes, but she’d secretly hoped that, while she’d promised Isabel to finally be open to meeting someone, this would stay a fun, peaceful girls night out like the one she’d been having so far. Now she’d have the irksome task of turning on the charm for this guy. She glanced down at her drink as he got closer.

  “Valerie.”

  Hearing him call her by her name made her flinch and she jerked her face up. This close he was even better looking, and he seemed to catch himself, so before she could ask where he knew her from, he pointed behind her. “I caught your name earlier when your friend said it.”

  Valerie tilted her face ever so slightly, wondering when he’d been close enough to hear Isabel speaking. From what she’d remembered, he’d been sitting at the bar this whole time.

  He pointed at the empty stool next to her, the one on the other side where Isabel’s drink wasn’t obviously taking up that part of the table. It pulled her out of her thoughts for the moment, and she nodded, giving him the go-ahead to take the seat.

  Already she was beginning to look for fault in him as she had with every other guy who so much as flirted with her. She’d always wondered about people who came into bars by themselves and drank alone. What were their stories? She’d been thoroughly scolded about it by Isabel and made to promise she’d stop, so she chased away the disquieting notion that maybe he was lying about having heard Isabel say her name. There was still something a little too familiar about him, but annoyingly, she couldn’t figure it out.

  “My name’s Bruce,” he said, holding out his hand, and she shook it, smiling a
t how far off she and Isabel had been, though she had said Brett.

  “Well, you already know my name,” she said, taking her hand back.

  Isabel was suddenly there, but she grabbed her phone from her purse. “I have to make a phone call. It’s too noisy in here. I’ll be outside for a little while.” Valerie didn’t even get a chance to introduce her to Bruce when Isabel winked at her and walked away.

  The moment Isabel was out of sight, Valerie’s phone lit up with a text. She read it casually because it was from Isabel.

  I’ll be strolling around the organic food market a few doors down for a little bit to give you time alone with Mystery Man. He’s even hotter up close and he smells delish. Remember. Stay open-minded Valerie. You can do this!

  Valerie hit the button to black out her phone and set it back down. Yes, she could do this, damn it. So far she liked his smile and his name, and Isabel was right. He did smell damn good. She’d forget about any first impressions he may have already given her and remember that she still knew nothing about him. She wouldn’t start judging before she got to know him. But she did have to know one thing. She wasn’t judging; she was just curious.

  “You always go into bars and drink alone?”

  His eyes brightened and he smiled. “No, actually, I was stood up.”

  This time her eyes went wide. The last thing she wanted was to start up with another Alex, who’d make her stand in line with all his other girls.

  “Oh really? You had a date?”

  He chuckled softly and shook his head. “No, my buddy was supposed to meet me here for a few beers, but he couldn’t make it,” he explained. “I was actually getting ready to leave when I saw you and then couldn’t.”

  From far away, his eyes were simply dark. This close she could see they were this unique gray. The way he looked at her now was more than playful. There was something intense about his eyes. She hated to admit it, but it reminded her a little bit of the intense way Alex would gaze at her.

  Downing what was left of her drink, she took a deep breath, wondering if this was a good or a bad thing. The objective here was to forget Alex—move on—not be constantly reminded of him.

  “Things like this never happen to me, so I’ve never believed in fortuitous encounters,” he said, looking down at her empty glass and then bringing his eyes up to meet hers again. “I don’t see a ring on your finger. You seeing anyone?”

  She shook her head, feeling the small pang in her heart. “No, I’m not.”

  That slow gradual smile made an appearance again, and he pointed at her glass. “May I buy you a drink so maybe we can disprove my theory that I should be so lucky as to meet someone as beautiful as you on pure chance?”

  She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. Was this a line or was he really serious? Deciding she wouldn’t over think it but enjoy the moment, she shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  Within minutes, the bartender took their order, and she had another drink in front of her. “So,” she said, turning on the charm and relaxing a bit. “Tell me about yourself.”

  ~*~

  Alex

  Not a day had gone by that Alex hadn’t thought of Valerie since that infuriating phone call when he’d last spoken to her. He was trying to stay positive. Even losing his scholarship was something he was trying to find the silver lining to.

  Weeks after the surgery the doctor had officially let him know that his playing days were over because she wouldn’t be able to sign a release for him to play again for at least a year if ever. Alex had actually begun to feel as if it were a blessing in disguise. As hard as it was to deal with, he now believed everything happened for a reason as he’d always been told. Maybe this was what he needed. Without school or football to think about, he might get a chance to put some real effort into convincing Valerie to give him another shot.

  His parents were still gone almost every other week for days, sometimes a week at a time to see his grandpa, so the restaurant, along with the construction in full gear now, kept him busier than ever. The good thing was his grandpa was a fighter and it was looking as if he might actually pull through this latest scare. His dad said he was looking better every time they visited, but he still wanted to go see him often. His parents assured him the constant visits to Mexico would lessen just as soon as Abuelito was fully recovered, and it appeared that would be happening sooner than later.

  Once his parents were home on a regular basis, Alex would definitely go on a mission to get Valerie back. He had to. She was the only silver lining to all the shit he’d had to deal with in the last few months. His constant black mood was getting harder and harder to shake. The possibility of getting her back was the only thing that kept him from falling into that dark place he’d begun to sink into when he had to tell his parents he’d lost his scholarship and would have to drop out of school temporarily.

  The restaurant was winding down, and Alex was walking around slowly, making sure all the stations were being closed down and cleaned correctly. Romero strolled in with a big grin and walked straight to the bar where Alex was.

  He sat down at the bar in front of Alex and slapped his hands on the flat wooden surface. “Guess who’s one more step closer to getting his PI license?”

  Alex rolled his eyes with a smirk, drying off a glass and tried to remember. “What’s that goofball’s name?” He pointed the towel at Romero. “Shaggy?”

  Romero scrunched up his face. “Who?”

  “Never mind.” Alex chuckled, getting a couple of beers out from the bottom fridge because he was sure the guy was there to celebrate.

  “You’re looking at him.” Romero smiled wider. “Just a few more hoops to jump through. This last exam was a monster. I don’t know why they make it so fucking hard.”

  “You’ll get there soon enough. One step at a time,” Alex said, placing the beer bottle in front of Romero, then lifted his. “In the meantime, congrats.” He held it out and tapped his bottle against Romero’s. “To small victories.”

  “I heard that,” Romero said, taking a swig of his beer.

  Alex took one, too, then continued to wipe down the bar as Romero filled him on everything else he still needed to do before he got his license. From what Romero told him, it would only be a few more months before he was fully licensed.

  With another bitter swig of his beer, Alex tried not to ponder too much on the fact that even Romero’s career plans were right on track. He was genuinely happy for his friend. He just hated the reminder that his plans were shot to hell for now. Not that Alex had ever made any plans other than to continue with the family business. But like his brothers he would’ve liked to make his dad proud with a degree of some kind. It was bad enough that Sal was so insanely accomplished with his double majors and still striving for more. Now even his younger brother would be getting his bachelor’s before Alex would.

  “So I heard your gramps is doing better,” Romero said, setting his beer in front of him.

  “Yeah, looks like the old guy’s not going down without a fight.”

  “Angel told me. That’s cool. Glad to hear it. But, hey, that reminds me why I came this way in the first place. So things between you and Val are really over, right?”

  Alex peered at Romero, who was looking at him strangely. “Why?”

  Romero shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen the two of you together. I know you two have always had this crazy shit going on, but when I asked Sarah if you two were really done this time, just now she said you were.”

  “Just now?” Alex asked, trying not to appear as thwarted as hearing this made him feel.

  “Yeah,” Romero said, taking another sip of his beer. “I wanted to be absolutely sure.”

  For a hot instant, Alex was pulled out of his disillusioned thoughts. The memory of Romero so long ago making a move on Valerie came to him out of nowhere. He’d almost forgotten all about it. But there was no way. Still Alex wanted to get this clear before he dragged Romero’s ass over t
he bar by his shirt. Unable to hold back the glare, he asked, “You asked Sarah because you wanted to be sure?”

  “Yeah,” Romero started then stopped suddenly. The moment his face contorted in disgust Alex knew he’d been way off and felt like an ass. “I’m not asking if she’s available. What are you stupid?”

  Instantly, Alex felt like a complete idiot for even thinking it. But he didn’t say anything. He was feeling too tense now to even speak. So he just waited for Romero to go on.

  Romero shook his head, but he laughed this time. “I ran into Sarah and Angel down by the marina. Angel was telling me about your grandpa when we saw Valerie drive up with some dude in a suit.” He lifted a shoulder with a smirk. “You know me. My first instinct was to go ask her where you were, and I would’ve, but I know things are different this time, so I asked Sarah just to be sure. She said that you two are finally moving on. But you know how girls can be, so I wanted to double check with you in case I run into that shit again.” Romero cracked his knuckles, grinning even bigger. “I’d be happy to go introduce myself.”

  Alex didn’t know what to say. On the one hand he’d like nothing better than to keep his faithful bulldog breathing down the throat of any dude he might see with Valerie. But they weren’t kids anymore, and they couldn’t keep this shit up. As much as he hated to even think it, if Valerie had really moved on now the way Sarah told Romero, neither he nor Romero would have any right to do or say anything. Valerie had already warned him the cops would likely get involved.

  Romero was so close to getting his PI license. He’d already explained to Alex what a pain in the ass it was and how much he still had to pass, including a background check. The last thing Alex wanted was to give this ticking time bomb a reason to get arrested when he knew how hard he’d been working on getting his license.