A stack of boxes is waiting for me to organize, but after the long flight, I’m drained. I toss my purse onto the bed and flop down next to it. I’m not used to coming to signings alone and wish Brooke were here. But even with her gone, I’m still happy to be away from all the stress and tension back home.
I startle when the hotel phone rings loudly.
“Hello?”
“This is the front desk calling to confirm your luggage has been delivered to your room.”
“Yes, it has. Thank you.”
I hang up the phone and look for a way to turn down the obnoxiously loud ringer. That’s when treachery creeps in.
I know I shouldn’t be having the thoughts I’m having, but I am, and before I know it, they’re racing out of control as my body begins to react in excitement.
This phone is untraceable.
I reach for my cell, pop off the case, and pull out the small folded piece of paper I hid in there that has Alec’s phone number. I was afraid I’d forget it, so I’ve always kept it like a druggie’s secret stash they smuggle into rehab.
I’m already hitting my high and I haven’t even called him, but knowing I can is enough to spark the live wire inside me.
Just one call, Tori. Landon will never know.
I pick up the receiver, fingers shaking, and with each number I dial I know I should hang up, burn his number, and get the fuck out of this room. But I don’t, because I know how good this call is going to feel.
The moment I hear his unmistakable voice, it all comes rushing back. Every vein weaving under my flesh tingles.
“It’s me,” I murmur when he answers, and I swear my heart is about to break one of my ribs, it’s pounding so hard.
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”
And suddenly, all the turmoil of these past few months rolls in like a tidal wave, crashing down upon the relief of finally being able to have a shred of freedom. Emotions slip out and fall down my face. I’m at a loss for words as I try not to completely lose it. But the moment I sniff, he catches it.
“Are you crying?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Tell me why you’re crying,” he requests, his voice soft and smooth.
“I don’t know,” I tell him. “I’ve wanted to call you, I just couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because my husband watches my every move.”
“When you never responded to my texts, I figured you didn’t want to talk to me.”
“You texted me? When? I never got them.” I reach for my cell and scroll through my texts, but there’s nothing. I then open my settings to find that Landon must’ve gotten into my phone, because Alec’s phone number is on my blocked list. “He blocked you.”
“Where are you calling me from?”
“I’m in Austin for a book signing. I’m on the hotel phone in my room.”
Tears continue to quietly slip out.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him after a long span of silence. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”
He still doesn’t respond.
“Are you mad at me?”
“I’m mad that you didn’t give me a choice,” he says. “If you would’ve told me from the beginning that you were married with kids, then I could’ve made the choice whether or not to pursue you, but you didn’t give me that. Instead, I blindly fell for a woman who was already taken.”
“And what about now?”
“I can’t get you out of my thoughts. I still want that cup of coffee with you.”
“But I’m married.”
“Are you sure about that? Maybe on paper you are, but are you married in your heart? Because you’re crying on the phone with a man that’s not your husband.”
“I don’t know what I am anymore. I mean, I don’t even know you. I’ve tricked myself into believing I do because I’ve spent the last three months creating you in my head. It’s not who you really are though. I don’t know who you really are.”
“Then come find out.”
“Alec . . .”
“All I’m asking for is to meet for coffee. Where’s the harm in that? You can go to a coffee shop and I’ll just happen to be there,” he suggests as if meeting him wouldn’t be a betrayal to my husband. It would be, and we both know it.
“Say I did meet you, and in a perfect world, things worked out, what about the fact I have two kids?”
“I love that you’re a mom. Like I said before, I want kids.”