All I Need is You (The Alexanders 4)

“You’re not that far. Although I suppose driving over the bridge just to carry food back and forth is probably asking a lot.”

“Are you kidding? I’ll fight traffic if it means I don’t have to eat my own cooking every day. Your macaroni and cheese has ruined me for life.”

“At least I got you off that yucky boxed stuff.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out tonight. I was supposed to be going on a date, but he canceled. Remember that new guy I’m dating? I think I told you about Devin?”

Her friend had a tendency to collect boyfriends just like she collected snow globes. It was possible Sasha had mentioned him and Kaylee had just forgotten.

“Yeah, I think you told me about him. How’re things going?”

“Okay, he’s just the commitment-phobic type, I can tell. But God, he’s hot.”

“I hope this one doesn’t look like a felon. That last guy you introduced me to was a little scary.”

“Yeah, he was.” Sasha was silent for a moment and all Kay could hear was the soft crunch as she bit into something. “Speaking of tall, dark, and scary, have you heard when Eli’s coming home?”

Kay’s appetite immediately diminished. “No. Ridley said he hasn’t told them a date. So I guess he’s in no hurry.”

“Sorry, sweetie. I know you were hoping—”

“I’m not hoping for anything. Because that would be stupid. As a matter of fact, I think us hanging out tonight is a great idea. Why don’t you bring a movie or something and we can veg out after Hope’s asleep?”

“That works for me. I’m getting off early today anyway. We’ve been working way too hard and I need a mental-health day. Basically, I need a get-me-out-of-here-before-I-bitchslap-somebody day.”

“Isn’t that pretty much your normal state of being over there? You can come by here and pick up my spare key if you want.”

Since she didn’t know any of her neighbors, Kay had decided to leave a spare key at the office. She spent most of her time at work or at the studio, so if she lost her main set of keys, it was easiest to have the spare somewhere she could easily get to it.

She pulled open the third drawer on her desk and shoved a few highlighter markers and a random receipt to the side. When her hand hit the key immediately, she leaned down and peered closer. She’d always put the key all the way in the back. She shrugged and pulled it out. It must have shifted around due to all the junk she kept in that drawer.

“Okay, I’ll do that. I’ll stop by the store and get some popcorn, too. That low-fat kind you buy is gross,” Sasha added.

“Whatever.”

Kay’s smile faded as her eyes were drawn back to the picture still open on her computer. It was tempting to get caught up in the fantasy of what could have been. This was how she’d always lived her life, caught up in the clouds and high on the possibilities. She’d always played by the rules, done the safe thing. The predictable thing. She looked down at her sandwich. She even ate the same thing every day for lunch.

But she wasn’t an impressionable young girl anymore. She was an independent woman. A mother. And the time for believing in fairy tales was gone. She clicked the x in the upper-right-hand corner of the picture to close it.

And dumped the last of her sandwich in the trashcan.

THE DOORBELL RANG and Eli jumped. “Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you soon. Love you.”

“I love you too, my darling. I hope you know how much.”

Eli pocketed his cell phone as he walked from the kitchen to the entryway. A faint shadow hovered behind the glass in the brand-new front door he’d just had installed. Part of his preparation for moving back home was selling his current place. He’d made a lot of upgrades to the house over the past few months, including new carpet upstairs, wood floors on the entire main level, and energy-efficient windows. Now that he saw the place looking so good, he wondered why he hadn’t done the improvements years ago. It seemed strange that he was doing all this work and wouldn’t even get to enjoy the results.

He tapped the screen of the iPad installed next to the front door and, with just the push of a button, brought up the camera feed for the front door. All you could see when you looked out the peephole was the front stoop, so his cameras showed a panoramic view of the entire front of the house, including the areas to the sides of the door where an assailant could hide.

Carly stood on the doorstep, carrying a box and several shopping bags. Eli suppressed a groan. He hadn’t thought she’d be there that fast. Apparently, they had different definitions of the word “later.” He took a deep breath and then opened the door.

“There you are! I was trying to call you on the way to ask if you wanted me to bring you lunch.” Carly pushed past him and strutted toward the kitchen. Eli followed and watched as she set the box and several letters on his kitchen counter. She dropped the shopping bags at her feet. “Having an assistant is useless if you don’t answer my calls.”

Eli held out his hand until she put the letters in his palm. “I was on the phone with my mom.”

Carly grabbed his wrist before he could pull his arm back. “You wouldn’t have answered anyway. You never do. I don’t understand why you’re being like this. We’re good together.” She came around the side of the counter and slipped under his arm. When their chests brushed together, she let out a soft sigh. “We’re really good together. Not just anyone can give you what you need.”

Her brown eyes were luminous as she gazed up at him hopefully. He let his eyes flow over her, the long dark hair, the sun-kissed skin courtesy of her Trinidadian ancestry. She was exotically beautiful and didn’t have an inhibited bone in her body. He had no doubt she would do anything he asked of her. Anything. But the thing he needed most wasn’t something she could give him.