Page 92 of Keeping it Real

Sheridan wore an indulgent smile as she watched the exchange.Alek shifted his gaze to meet hers.He wanted to say so much to her, starting with how he’d been a colossal fool for putting her in the same box as the other women who had jilted him before.The woman standing before him wasn’t like any other woman he knew.And he was damn glad for another shot.

Gus slapped him on the back.“I think I’ll go find Claire and Gary.”

“Hey,” Alek said when they were alone.

“Hi.”She cleared her throat.“Sorry for disappearing last night.I guess Finn wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by the possibility of almost losing Hattie.”

“No worries.You were still catching up on sleep from your shift at the hospital.I did the same.Hattie was pretty restless the night before.”

Her lips twitched.“Lucky for you, you managed to eke out a nap with her at the clinic yesterday afternoon.”

He rubbed his fingers through his hair.“I guy can’t do anything around town without someone ratting him out.”

“At least it didn’t make it to social media.Your cover as adog toleratorwould be blown.”

“Kessler would have a field day with that.”

She moved closer and reached up to gently trace his bottom lip.He managed not to wince when her finger drew close to his wound.

“Does it hurt?”she whispered.

The only thing he felt was the pounding of his heart brought on by her delicate touch.

“Nah.”He let his equipment bag slide from his shoulder and dropped it on the floor by his feet.Placing his hands on either side of her waist, he tugged her body in close to his.

“Liar.”She rested one hand against his chest while the other fiddled with the lapel of his suit jacket.“According to the rumor mill, you two fought about me.”

Alek sighed.Sheridan never liked to be the center of attention, much less to cause any controversy.The idea that she was the catalyst of any sort of conflict within the team had to have wounded her.Merriweather was lucky he was out of Alek’s reach at the moment.

He leaned his forehead against hers.“He said some unforgivable things.All of them untrue.None of the guys believed him.”Except for the idiot in front of you.“I straightened him out.”

“Brad was always jealous of Jamie.It’s so silly.My brother is gone and never coming back.”

“And so many of us still harbor some ire toward the guy.”

It was the wrong thing to say, given how stiff her body grew beneath his fingertips.She dropped her hands and stepped out of his hold.Her eyes were shiny when she brushed the hair out of her face.

Dammit.

“We need to talk.”She looked around the hallway, where anyone could happen upon them at any moment.“I-I need to straighten out some misconceptions you have about Jamie.”

Alek didn’t want to talk about Jamie.He wanted to talk about her and him.And their future together.A future that didn’t involve his former best friend.

He gripped her elbows, pulling her back against his body.“You just said Jamie isn’t coming back.There’s no point in dredging up the past and all the pain that went with it.I want us to start fresh and new.Do you hear me?I.Want.Us.”

Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes went round.He gave her a little shake.

“I want our little makeshift family, Sheridan.For keeps.And if my lip didn’t hurt so freaking bad right now, I’d prove it by kissing you senseless.”

She gasped in a breath before burying her face into his chest.He wrapped his arms around her, brushing soft kisses against her hair.

“Bus is leaving in ten, chumps!”Picard called out from somewhere down the hallway.

Alek swore.There was so much more he needed to say to her.To do to her.Not here, though.They’d have the entire day on Thursday.Enough people would be around to entertain Finn so they could carve out some alone time where he could tell her and show her exactly how he felt.

He shifted her away from his body, then lifted her chin with his finger.Her wet face nearly made his heart stop.“Please tell me those are happy tears?”

Her lips wobbled as she nodded.He blew out a sigh of relief, dropping his hand when Finn came bounding down the hall.

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