Page 12 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

This officially catapulted the day from bad to super-extra-extremely-the-worst.

This time, I really did snatch my hand away. “What? Why would Eric callyou?”

“You should ask him that.” Abandoning the first-aid attempt, he tossed the wet tissue into a nearby trash can, then stood up, giving me my first real good look at him. He was wearing a scowl on his face and a well-fitted charcoal suit, looking likea snack he’d just finished a GQ photoshoothe’d come straight from work. He seemed different from the young man I remembered, because this version of Alec had sharper features and crinkle lines around his eyes.

He must have noticed that I wasn’t making any attempts to get up, because he offered his hand. “I saw what happened. Then I thought maybe you were having a hypo. A thank-you would’ve been appreciated.”

My jaw unhinged, and I stared at him, unblinking.He remembered… about hypos?

Alec McGrumpyface had been an all but permanent fixture in our house when we were younger. He was Eric’s best friend, and the two of them used to always turn heads wherever they went—my friendly, charismatic brother with his dazzling smile; and dark-haired, green-eyed, smoldering Alec, who charmed his way into girls’ pants with his devastatingly attractive grin and an arrogant crook of his finger. He unleashed said charm and grin on everyone, excluding me. No matter how hard I tried to win him over, his life’s mission had been to annoy, irritate, and exasperate the hell out of me.

Then that fateful night ten years ago clinched the tone of our relationship, affirming that I should stay as far away from him aspossible. I could probably have forgiven him had he only broken my heart, but I drew the line when he nearly caused me to cross to the other side, then disappeared without so much as an apology.

Living at opposite ends of the country had been an excellent start.

Until now.

Ignoring his outstretched hands, I pushed myself up, wincing when my wounded forearm protested. “I don’t know what Eric told you, but I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”

Alec snorted. “That’s not what your brother said. He asked me to keep an eye on you and gave me the address of this place. I believe his exact words were, ‘Ellie needs help, and you’re the only one I can trust.’”

If I somehow survived this ordeal, the first thing I’d do when I saw my brother again would be to kill him. Slowly and excruciatingly.

“Do you live here? In Port Benedict?”

“Been here for ten years.”

“And Eric knows about it? How often do you two talk?”

“Once a week, maybe.” He looked almost bored with my questions. “What, you think our friendship was over just because I moved to a different city?”

What were the odds?

Alec’s mother and mine used to be semi-friendly with each other, as they had a similar background—both came from Indonesia to the States as students, before becoming American citizens. But that was where the similarities ended. The two of them had lost touch, as my mother had married my father, a fellow Chinese Indonesian migrant, and then gone on to build a successful business empire, while Alec’s mother had married a Scottish American.

The two families had reconnected during an Indonesian community gathering, where Eric and Alec hit it off like a house on fire, much to the displeasure of my mother, who thought the Mackenzies were not affluent enough for the likes of our family. She’d never warmed up to Alec, even though he’d been thick as thieves with Eric when we were growing up. The only reason she tolerated Alec hanging around our house so much was because she wanted to save face, and not be seen as a heartless grouch who banned her son from making friends with those less wealthy. She had always treated his family with curt indifference, never going out of her way to be nice to them. Not even after Alec’s parents separated, leaving his single mother struggling to raise three children on her own.

“Why here, of all places?” Although I knew the answer. Fastest-growing city and all that.

Alec raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I needed your permission to live here. Are we done with the interrogation? Because I have somewhere else to be,” he glanced at his watch, “in forty-five minutes.”

“You’re free to go. Tell Eric everything’s under control.”

But instead of leaving, he cast a disinterested look at the shop. “Is that yours? What do we have here?”

“Nothing,” I said, a little too quickly. I wasn’t going to admit to the most irritating man I’d ever met that I was desperate for help. “We have nothing. Thanks for coming, and I’m sorry you had to drag yourself away from whatever important things you were doing. Goodbye now.”

I picked up my bundle of sleeping bag, then started toward the shop, hoping that he wouldn’t follow. But because the universe seemed to be intent on giving me nothing but trouble today, of course hedidfollow.

“Is that a sleeping bag?” He fell into step beside me, his eyes laser-focused on the bundle in my hand. “Are you planning onsleeping in the store? Because I’m pretty sure living in a commercial space violates a law or two.”

That meant I definitely had to figure out a cheaper housing situation, fast. “No offense, Mackenzie, but it’s none of your business.”

“Itismy business, because I’ve had to cancel a meeting to come here.” Alec gave me an annoyed once-over. “If it weren’t for Eric, I wouldn’t be wasting my time babysitting you.”

I came to an abrupt stop to face him and drew myself up to my full height. “Eric might have called you, but I didn’t. I never asked you to cancel any meetings, and I don’t need anyone to babysit me. This has been an enchanting conversation, but I’m sure you have somewhere else more important to be, and so do I. So, again, you’re free to go.”

He was standing a bit too close for comfort, assaulting my nose with a whiff of citrus and spice. His voice turned low, sending all kinds of shivers down my spine. “I would have already left if it hadn’t been for the sleeping bag, Ellie. Now show me the store.”

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