Lone Star Reunion

Alex spluttered, shivered and kicked her way to the surface to see Dan’s wicked smile and laughing eyes.

“You are such a child,” Alex told him, launching a wave of water into his face.

Daniel ducked, grabbed her and she instinctively wound her legs around his waist only to find out that cold water had absolutely no effect on his erection at all.

Well then. It seemed like a shame to waste it.

Nine

After making love, they swam some more until they realized it was past lunchtime and they were hungry. They dressed, Alex in her fuchsia bikini and Dan in his board shorts, and then they ate the sandwiches Alex had prepared earlier and polished off the apples they had also brought along.

Feeling relaxed, Daniel replaced the cap on his water bottle and, after rolling up his towel, lay on his back and tucked the towel beneath his head. Enjoying the sun, he opened one eye to look at Alex. “Come lie down with me.”

Alex curled into his side, her head tucked under his chin. The gentle breeze blew a strand of hair across his mouth. He picked up her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

“Best forced holiday ever,” Alex murmured, her fingers idly drawing patterns above his heart.

“Best holiday ever,” Daniel corrected her. “I love spending time with you, honey. I always did.”

Alex opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She had something on her mind—he knew that she was toying with a decision. Did he dare to dream that she’d reconsidered her living arrangements, that their forced week away—yeah, yeah, thanks old-timers—had worked?

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours, Lex?”

Alex took a while to answer. “That job I was offered... I could actually stay in Royal and still take the partnership.”

Daniel forced himself to stay still, but inside he was leaping to his feet, punching his fist in the air. “Are you thinking of doing that?” he asked carefully.

“Maybe. I sort of allowed you to believe that I had to move to Houston to take the partnership. I could stay in Royal and work remotely, traveling a couple of times a month.”

He wanted to sit up, to whoop with delight, but he knew he had to tread softly because Alex was like a skittish colt that needed careful handling. Which was okay—he could tiptoe with the best of them. As long as he got what he wanted in the end, he didn’t care how he got there. And he wanted Alex. In his arms, his bed.

And in his life.

“I’m scared of starting something, because I’m terrified I could lose it.”

Daniel turned her words over in his head, trying to make sense of her out-of-the-blue statement. Pulling his head back, he looked at her but her eyes remained closed. He ran his hand up her spine, keeping his touch light and comforting.

“Care to explain that, Lex?”

Alex sat up, crossed her legs and he pulled himself up, bending his knees and allowing his hand to dangle between them.

“I don’t like being left, Daniel. It’s happened too often, and I don’t think I can do it again.”

He thought he knew where she was going with this but asked her to explain anyway.

“As we discussed earlier, losing my parents when I was young was a sad time, but Gus and Sarah stepped in and I was okay. However, when I was twelve, I lost my best friend Gemma, too. I don’t know if you remember her—she was a redhead?”

He had a vague memory of seeing the two girls together, but he remembered the town’s grief at Gemma’s death more than he remembered the child herself.

“I was devastated. I thought my world ended.” Alex pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “I had friends at school but nobody I was close to. I didn’t want another friend who could die on me. So I kept my thoughts and feelings to myself and Sarah became my best friend. Then, in a meadow, I met and kissed you and I felt my heart opening up, expanding, and it became so full of you. That summer, you were my everything and I thought I was your world.”

Alex touched the tip of her tongue to her top lip and when she looked at him, Daniel noticed the tears in her eyes. “I know it sounds dramatic but losing you felt like losing Gemma again. But somehow it was worse because you weren’t only my best friend but my lover. All I wanted you to do was to choose me, to stick with me.”