Wrong For You (Before You Series Book 3)(53)

She shook her head. “No, I believe you.” For some reason, she did believe him. Mostly, she was disappointed in herself for not thinking and getting lost in the moment.

“I don’t want you to worry if you don’t have to.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, her nose, and her lips.

“No.” She smiled faintly, feeling the effects of the night before weighing on her and draining her. She sat down in the chair, watching him dress. “We’re good, but from now on, that can’t happen.”

“Agreed. No undue stress.”

She took in a deep breath, letting the stress drain out of her.

“Are you ready to go home?” he asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed something.

“I guess so.” She looked around the music room, now gleaming with new equipment. If her emotions weren’t all over the place, she would have loved to sit there and take it all in and savor the moment. She couldn’t wait to tell the kids about it tomorrow. She knew a couple of the kids played the guitar, but Alec had created a room that looked like a recording studio for a band. It was unbelievable.

Alec picked up the drumsticks he dropped on the floor and flipped them in the air twice before placing them on top of the drums. His phone buzzed and he looked down at the message. “Here,” he said, handing her his phone.

“What’s this?” she asked, looking down at the screen and then back at him.

“I had my assistant scan in my test results from right before I left for Montana.”

“Your assistant,” she said, her eyes narrowed. Why the hell did he have an assistant?

“I travel a lot for work,” he answered, without explanation.

Her heart fluttered as she stared at him for a long moment and then she directed her focus at the blood work analysis in the document on the phone. “Thanks,” she said in a small voice as she handed the phone back to him. “I feel better. You didn’t have to do that, though.” Now she felt guilty about her freak out. He’d told the truth and she still doubted him.

“It’s not a big deal.” He snagged her hand and pulled her up. “Let’s forget about it.” He kissed the inside of her wrist, smiling at her the whole time. “I already have.”

“Thanks for everything today.”

“Everything?” he questioned, his eyes dancing mischievously, a charming grin on his face.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an ass.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, his face blank and too innocent.





Chapter Eighteen





“When are you coming back?” Jax asked.

“Soon,” Alec answered, holding the phone to his ear as he closed the door to the office he’d been using at the Foundation.

“We’re going to start recording on Wednesday next week. You need to be back this weekend so we can make some final decisions about the songs.”

“Can’t you push it off another week? I have a couple things to wrap up here.” It wasn’t a lie. He still needed to make contact with his dad and have one final conversation with his mom, but most of all he wanted more time with Violet. His whole life he was always searching for somewhere he felt he belonged, and that place was beginning to feel more and more like anywhere near Violet.

“What’s with you and Marcus? I already pushed it back to Wednesday for Marcus. Now you need more time, too.”

“What’s going on with Marcus?”

Jax was silent for a few moments and Alec didn’t think he’d answer. He should pick up the phone and call Marcus himself. He hadn’t talked to him for a couple weeks.

“A lot of family bullshit.”

“That’s it.”

“He wouldn’t say more than that. He didn’t want to talk about it in detail and when Marcus doesn’t want to talk, it doesn’t happen.”

“Yeah,” Alec said. That was one of the reasons he and Marcus had bonded when they met. Neither of them wanted to talk about the past. Alec didn’t because his family life sucked and Marcus didn’t because his family stabbed him in the back. He didn’t know what that meant and Marcus never shared any of the details, which was fine, because he didn’t want to share details, either.

“So you’re coming back this weekend, right?”

“Are Cam and Taylor home?”

“They got back yesterday. You didn’t call her?”

“No,” he laughed. “They didn’t break up already, did they?”

“She’s still living with him.”

Alec shook his head. “Damn. I thought Cam would fuck everything up by now.”