Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,49
on the TV, this time not bothering to worry about the volume. Alex would need to get up soon anyway, if she was going to get breakfast before their appointment. He’d brought up two cups of coffee, one for Alex, and he took it with him when he opened the door to check on her again. As soon as the door opened, the noise from the TV must have entered her consciousness, because she stirred, then jerked awake.
“Morning, sunshine,” Dylan said. He walked over to the bed and handed Alex the cup of coffee without remarking on her being dressed in the clothes she fell asleep in.
“Morning,” she replied. She reached for the cup he had extended. “Thanks.” After taking a sip and then a larger gulp when she realized it wasn’t very hot, she looked down at herself. “Why am I still in my clothes?”
“Well, I didn’t think it would be polite to take them off of you, since you were asleep. So I just made love to you with them on.” Dylan grinned as Alex gave him a look of confusion.
“We… oh, you’re joking. You jerk.”
Dylan grinned even more broadly. “I’ll have you know I was a perfect gentleman. And I don’t know why you’re still wearing your clothes. I excused myself to go to bed, and I don’t know what you did after that. You could have gone dancing for all I know.”
“Why didn’t we… oh, that’s right, you brought the boys,” she said, beginning to remember as she woke up more fully. “Where are they?”
“Next door, watching TV. Hey, sleepyhead. You better get ready, before it’s time to meet the Realtor.”
“Breakfast?” she said, a note of hope in her voice.
“Downstairs. The boys and I have been. Better hurry.” With that, Dylan dropped a kiss on the top of her head and walked away. Alex watched him go and wondered when the magic had gone out of their relationship. Was this to be their future? A breezy ‘hurry’ and a kiss on top of her head? In a moment of clarity, she knew it was her fault. She was so focused on these mysteries that she’d pushed Dylan away. Was it too late for them?
Later, after seeing enough houses to lose count, Alex complained to Dylan while out of earshot of the agent. “These are all so much alike. I don’t like any of them, do you?”
“I don’t know what to say, Alex. They all have what we need. There are only so many ways you can put a three bedroom, two bath house together. You’ve rejected ramblers, multi-levels and split-entries. There’s not much left.” Dylan sounded weary.
Alex knew the boys were just about at the end of their patience. “Maybe we’d better call it a day and talk about it, now we’ve seen what’s in your budget,” she suggested.
“Good idea,” he said.
Dylan went over to the agent and spoke to her in low tones, and then returned to Alex and the boys. “Let’s go get some pizza and figure out what to do tonight,” he suggested. A glance at Alex showed him she didn’t want to, but she nodded anyway.
If he could only figure out why she was so down, maybe he’d be able to suggest something that would cheer her up. Making love to her might do it, but that wasn’t a practical option with the boys along and too young to leave in a room by themselves. He was beginning to regret bringing them, and in turn, he resented Alex for causing him to feel that way. To avoid saying something he’d regret, he opted to say nothing at all.
After an awkward evening during which even the boys were unnaturally quiet, they went back to the hotel early and Alex went to her own room. The only encouraging thing Dylan could find was that she’d left her side of the connecting doors ajar. He got Davi started on a bath, told Juan to let him know when Davi was ready to get out, and went to see if Alex wanted to talk.
As Dylan pushed the door open gently, Alex looked up from her laptop, where she was tapping away at the keyboard. “Hey, whatcha doin’?” he asked.
“Writing a blog post,” she answered. Her tone wasn’t easy to read. She didn’t sound happy, and she didn’t sound sad, or mad, or whatever it had been all day.
“I thought we could talk about what we’re going to want in a house,” he said, sitting down on