The doorbell buzzed and she finished with her braids. The two pigtails she had taken to wearing during her stay gave her a delightfully girlish look. Topaz flipped off her bedroom light and hurried downstairs. Exercizing caution, she took a quick look out the front door peephole and gasped.
She stepped away from the door and waited, but after a few seconds the bell rang again ... then again. Topaz grimaced, inspecting her clothing. Snug denim cutoffs and a T-shirt emblazoned with the well-known bunny across her bosom wasn’t her first choice of entertainment attire.
“Please go ...” she whispered, closing her eyes and praying that Alex would leave.
However, he must have sensed someone was home, for he continued to press the bell. Finally, his calls were answered.
Topaz whipped open the door to find Alex leaning against the doorjamb. He watched her as though he knew she’d been just on the other side all along—debating. His incredible eyes narrowed as they studied her appearance.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
“Alex—”
“May I come in?”
“My parents aren’t home,” she blurted, the first excuse that came to mind.
Alex’s lips twitched a bit and he glanced toward the floor to hide his amusement. “Does that mean you can’t have company?”
Topaz almost laughed as well, realizing how silly she sounded. She stepped aside, her lashes fluttering and her nostrils flaring at the scent of his cologne. Her stare lingered on the breadth of his back and shoulders. The entire package appeared ruggedly devastating in a pair of sagging light blue jeans, navy suede hiking boots, a lightweight hooded sweatshirt under a navy blue and gray flannel shirt. The black tobagan covering his head completed the ensemble.
When Alex turned to fix Topaz with an expectant stare, she cleared her throat and pushed the front door shut.
“Um ... can I get you anything? I don’t think there’s any coffee made, but I could make some, or even tea if you—”
“Is there someplace we can talk without being interrupted?” he asked.
Topaz blinked and glanced around the spacious, softly lit sunken living room. “We—we’re all alone here ... so anywhere’s fine.”
“Topaz, I don’t want us to be interrupted at all. Will we be alone all night?”
She smoothed both hands across the seat of her shorts, then bowed her head and stepped past him. She led the way to the wing that housed her suite.
“Nice place,” Alex noted, taking in the flawless luxury surrounding him. The two-story brownstone encompassed a massive space. Inside, its coolly elegant Mediterranean style created an atmosphere that was completely Old World.
“My parents may be out all evening. They usually are when they attend those lawyers’ association dinners, but just in case ...”
Alex motioned for Topaz to precede him when they approached her bedroom door.
“Have a seat,” he urged.
“Alex, what’s going on?” she asked, facing him with both hands on her hips.
“Sit down,” he softly, yet firmly, requested.
Topaz took her place on the edge of the brass four-poster queen-sized bed. Clasping her hands, she watched Alex step farther into the room, where he shrugged out of the flannel shirt and tossed it to a chair. He perched against the stately oak wardrobe, his hands hidden deeply inside his pockets.
“You’re scaring me,” Topaz remarked, when he simply stared at her.
“That’s the last thing I want to do, but it’s time I told you everything,” he said, his gaze never wavering. “I can’t hide from this anymore.”
“I’m listening.”
“I should start from the beginning,” he decided, pulling away the hat to rub his fingers across his silky hair. “De’s my cousin, but last names are all we have in common. Our lives were completely different. The family—my mother’s side—practically disowned her when she married my father. Because he worked a low-paying blue-collar job and because his ... complexion was darker,” he explained, looking up to judge Topaz’s reaction.
Her eyes were wide. “Well, that might explain a lot. Maybe that’s always been De’s problem with me.”
Alex cleared his throat and stepped away from the wardrobe. “When things didn’t last between my parents, the family still shut her out—saying it was what she deserved for runnin’ off with someone they’d deemed a no-good hoodlum. She didn’t even bother to tell ’em she was pregnant with me.”
“But they found out?” Topaz whispered.
“They let the wall down,” Alex confirmed as he nodded. “Mama wasn’t havin’ it, though.”
“I don’t blame her.”
“Yeah, neither could I. Still, it made things rough, real rough, and growing up that way made me hate seein’ my mother run-down from work. When I got older,” he sighed, “and more able, I took an after-school job delivering groceries for the corner market. The owner’s brother liked me right from the jump and I thought he was cool as hell. Eventually, he asked if I’d like to run errands just for him.” Alex laughed. “The money was incredible, but Mama didn’t buy the fact that there were no strings attached and she made me quit.”
“Did you stop?”
“I told her I did, but the quick cash and easy assignments seduced me,” he admitted with a lopsided grin. “Unfortunately, the older I got, the more difficult the assignments became.”
