I did love Alden, and that’s what made what had happened so terrible.
I closed my eyes and curled up in Sara’s arms like she was my mother and I was a child who’d just broken their favorite toy and was throwing a temper tantrum, when a firm knock came from the door.
I sat up immediately and Sara reached into the vase where we kept the mace and held it at the ready.
“Who’s there?” she shouted.
“Alden McLaren!” Alden’s voice called back. “Is Belle there? I need to speak to her!”
Sara looked over at me and, when I didn’t answer, shouted back at him.
“I don’t know any Belle! I suggest you leave before I call the police!”
There was a long pause before he answered that felt like an eternity. I realized my entire body was tense and I was staring at the door like a hopeful child staring at the TV before her favorite movie came on.
“Belle,” he spoke, his voice low and firm, loving even. “Please. I know you are there. Let me in, baby. I have to explain what happened back there.”
“I told you, there’s no Belle here—” Sara started to say again, but I cut her off.
“What is there to explain?” I asked. “You’re fucking married, Alden!”
“I’m not,” he replied. “She’s my ex. I told you that.”
“Bullshit!”
“Baby, please,” he said. I could hear the sincerity in his voice…couldn’t I? “Just open the door so I can look into your eyes.”
“Don’t do it,” Sara whispered.
“I—I have to,” I whispered back as I got to my feet.
“He’s lying!” she hissed.
She was right; Alden could have been lying. But his voice still had me bound to him like ropes of gold circling my body, and I had to look him in the face and hear his explanation.
So I got up, walked over to the front door and opened it.
Chapter Thirteen
Belle
Alden stood on my steps, soaking wet and devastatingly gorgeous like something out of The Notebook.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he smiled.
“How did you find me?” I asked, unable to contain a little humorous jab. “Are you stalking me or something?”
“That guy you passed in the hallway, remember?” he asked. “Wagner. He does a lot of things for me, tracking down the most gorgeous girl in New York being one of the easiest he’s had to do lately.”
Awww…I thought as I stared at his flawless, symmetrical face, his sharp jaw and perfect stubble. His clothes hung to his body, leaving nothing to the imagination. I knew Sara could see it all too and I felt a little bit proud knowing she was having a similar reaction to the one I’d had when I first saw him.
I had him, I thought even as I stood before him wishing I’d never met him. Talk about being conflicted. I was so mixed up that if you’d asked me my name, I probably couldn’t have told you.
“Okay, so spill it!” Sara said for me.
“Do you mind?” he replied. “I’m talking to Belle.”
“So talk or get out!” she snapped. “Can’t you see what you’ve done to her already?”