He laughed. “Okay, then.”
Alex ordered pizza and forty minutes later, they sat in her kitchen as she systematically picked the pepperonis off her pizza, let her head fall back, and then dropped them into her mouth from greasy fingers. She caught Spencer watching her. “What?”
“I’ve never seen anyone eat pizza that way.”
“What way?”
“Like you could give a wank how you look.”
She dropped another pepperoni in her mouth and moaned. “I don’t. I take my pizza eating seriously. I have a system.”
“I see that.”
“Pepperoni comes off first, then I eat the crust, then I eat the cheesy-saucy bit.”
“That’s arse backwards, you know.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I like to be difficult.”
He grinned at that. “Yes, well, call me a masochist, but that’s what I like so much about you.”
That warmed her belly more than the pizza, which was a hard thing to do. She ducked her head and began to tear off the crust.
“So,” he said. “I know you said you’ve been here a year, but it seems the Paytons are basically an extension of your family.”
She swallowed her bite of crust. “Yeah. They . . . really are. I had some issues last year and they rallied behind me like no one ever had in my life. For so long, it was just Ivy and me, so to have this . . . support system around me was incredible. I’d do anything for them.”
He spun his glass of water on the table. “What kind of issues?”
Alex bit her lip, not wanting to rehash, but she’d told him everything already, so one more thing didn’t seem to matter. “I heard . . . uh . . . that Robby was looking for me. Asking around my old job. Wanting to know where I moved, where I was working. I kind of lost it. Looking back, I’m not sure I was entirely rational, but it didn’t matter. I was terrified. I wanted to move to Florida or Siberia or anywhere that was as far away from him as possible.”
Alex hadn’t realized she was strangling her napkin with a white-knuckled grip until Spencer reached over and covered her hand with his. She took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles.
“So when I threatened to leave, they basically had an intervention with me. Sat me down and told me that they’d help me. And I think the clincher was Jack. Have you met Jack?”
“He was at the barbecue, yes? Although I didn’t speak to him.”
“So, he’s like, the big kahuna. The boss. The dad. He told me if he ever had a daughter, he thought she’d be like me, and then he asked me to stay.” Her eyes watered, remembering gruff, gravel-voiced Jack telling her he’d make sure Robby never breathed her air again. “So yeah. I owe them so much. This is my home, my family. And since I know what it’s like not to have that, I guess I value them all the more.”
Spencer wasn’t looking at her anymore. His gaze was out the back window of her apartment. He licked his lips and then stared down at his empty plate. “I, uh, know that feeling too. Not to have that.”
“I’m sorry,” was all she could think to say.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “Sometimes, I’m sorry about it too.” A brief, tense smile flashed over his face. “Not sure I’ve ever admitted that, though.”
Alex blew out a breath. “Look at us, sharing a heart-to-heart. Never thought I’d be doing this with you when we first met, huh?”
Spencer chuckled. “No, no, I didn’t either.”
She tore off another piece of crust and shoved it in her mouth. She’d avoided thinking about this, had pretended it wasn’t looming, and now that she’d bared her heart to this guy, she couldn’t pretend anymore. “How long do you think you’ll be in town?”
He flinched, like the question hurt.
He cleared this throat. “I, uh, don’t know. I already recommended where to build the hotel, and now it’s all just a formality to get the final approval.”
“Where did you recommend?”
He paused a minute, and something flashed over his face so quick, then it was gone. He met her gaze. “That area of land by MacMillan Investments.”
Alex nodded. She knew the place. Easy to get to and right near the highway. “That sounds perfect.”
“Yes, I think so.”
“And then you’ll . . . go home?” Her voice cracked at the end. Shit.
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Yes, then I’ll go home to New York. I’m up for a promotion, actually.”
She couldn’t look at him anymore, so she looked down at her pizza. “Wow, that’s . . . that’s great. I really hope you get it.”
“Me too,” he whispered, his voice edged with something that sounded a little like regret.
Communicating and talking about this shit was her least favorite thing to do, but after today, after the date from hell and her outburst in the rain and the sex that was the best she’d ever had, they really needed to set some ground rules. “So, this lasts until you leave, right? We can handle that.” Even as she said it, she was only about 25 percent certain they could.
“We can handle it.” His voice was deeper than normal. “As long as you’re okay with it. But I’d like to see you more, while I’m still here.”
Alex nodded, part of her grateful for that deadline that would prevent this from becoming too serious, too much. But wasn’t it becoming that already? “Yes, of course. We can do that. We enjoy each other’s company and the sex is kinda good. I guess.” She grinned at him.
He barked out a laugh, the sound echoing off the walls of her kitchen, and Alex’s shoulders shook while she tried to hold in a giggle. “Bloody liar,” he said, smiling.
She launched herself at him, and then the pizza was forgotten, and so was his return to New York, as they lost themselves in each other again.
He’d leave. Of course he would. But for now, he was here, and she was going to enjoy it.
Chapter Twelve
ALEX LEANED BACK in the chair behind the counter of Delilah’s and dropped some peanuts into her mouth. She rattled the plastic bag and dug around for some whole ones.
“Hey, you could always help me, you know,” Ivy said as she hung up some dresses on the sales rack.
Alex held up her greasy, salt-covered hands. “I don’t think Delilah wants me touching the merchandise.”
“You do that on purpose, eat messy stuff when you visit me at work so you don’t have to help,” Ivy said with a scowl.
Alex grinned, then turned her attention to the door as the bell rung, signaling someone had stepped inside.
Alex saw the blonde hair first, and her body stiffened. She knew that her reaction to Penny was irrational. Spencer had assured her Penny was very much only a friend and very much married to another man. But this was a person who knew Spencer a hell of a lot better than Alex did, and Penny’s presence made her a little uneasy. She wondered what Penny thought of her.
The woman glanced around the shop, running her hand over a couple of tops on a rack, before approaching the front counter where Alex sat.
“Hello,” Penny said, her smile warm.
Alex really needed to get over this feeling of inadequacy. “Hey, can I help you with something?”
“Alex, you don’t even work here,” Ivy said as she slipped a dress on a hanger. “Give me a holler if you need help.”
Penny’s smile never wavered. “Sure. Spencer told me this was a lovely place.”
Alex nodded. “It really is. Delilah is good at what she does.”
Penny hummed under her breath as she eyed some earrings. “I hear you’re good at what you do too.”
Alex raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Aren’t you training a new hire?”
Spencer must have told her. What else did he tell her about Alex? “Uh, yeah I am.” Alex cleared her throat, unsure what else to say. She darted a glance at Ivy to bail her out, but Ivy seemed to be enjoying this, if the smirk on her face was any indication.
Perfume hit Alex’s nose as Penny leaned close. “I want to thank you for the invitation to your Sunday dinner the other night. And for making Spencer smile.”
“Smile?”
Penny’s gaze was steady. “I’ve known him for a long time. I don’t think he would have attempted that game—what did you call it, washers?—for just anyone. He likes to look in control at all times.” She paused. “I like who he is when he’s around you. And most important of all, he likes who he is when he’s around you.”
Alex admitted she’d judged Penny when she first met her, with her perfect clothes and hair and flawless skin. But Penny was anything if superficial. She was direct, and kind, and ambitious, as Spencer had told Alex.
Spencer wasn’t surrounded by brothers like the Paytons were. He didn’t have a large crew of guy friends who would voice their approval of Alex to him. All he had was . . . Penny. And she mattered, Alex realized. She mattered a lot and so did her opinion.
So instead of a snarky comeback, a sarcastic, “Thank you for your opinion,” Alex thought the best thing to do was act like a grown-up and give Penny the respect she deserved, as an honored friend of Spencer’s. “Thank you. I like who I am around him too.”