That was his comfort zone, he told himself as he watched Jackson and his family near the front of the line. Casey was holding Molly and Jackson had Mia up on his shoulders. They looked…perfect. And Garrett was glad for his cousin, really. In fact, he was happy for all of the Kings who had recently jumped off a cliff into the uncharted waters of marriage and family. But he wouldn’t be joining them.
Guys like him didn’t do happy endings.
“That’s okay, though,” he whispered, planting a kiss on Mara’s forehead. “I’ll settle for spending time with you guys. How’s that?”
She burbled something he took as agreement then fixed her gaze on a bright pink balloon. “Boon!”
Garrett was just going to buy it for her when he noticed the woman.
Alexis Morgan Wells was having a wonderful day. Disneyland was everything she had hoped it would be. She loved everything about it. The music, the laughter. The cartoon characters wandering around interacting with the crowd. She loved the gardens, the topiary statues; she even loved the smell of the place. It was like childhood and dreams and magic all at once.
The music from the last ride she’d been on was still dancing through her mind—she had a feeling it would be for hours—when she noticed the man coming up to her. Her good mood quickly drained away as the same man who had followed her on to It’s a Small World hurried to catch up. He’d had the seat behind her in the boat and had come close to ruining the whole experience for her as he insisted on trying to talk to her.
Just as he was now.
“Come on, babe. I’m not a crazy person or anything. I just want to buy you lunch. Is that so bad?”
She half turned and gave him a patient, if tight, smile. “I’ve already told you I’m not interested, so please go away.”
Instead of being rebuffed, his eyes lit up. “You’re British, aren’t you? The accent’s cool.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
She was really going to have to work on that, she told herself sternly. If she wasn’t paying close attention, her clipped accent immediately branded her as “different.” Though it would take a much better ear than that of the man currently bothering her, to recognize that her accent wasn’t British, but Cadrian.
But if she worked at it, she could manage an American accent—since her mother had been born in California. Thinking about her mom brought a quick zip of guilt shooting through her, but Alex tamped it down. She’d deal with it later. She was absolutely sure her mother would understand why Alex had had to leave—she was just in no hurry to hear how much worry she’d caused by taking off.
After all, Alex was a bright, capable adult and if she wanted a vacation, why should she have to jump through hoops to take one? There, she was feeling better already. Until she picked up on the fact that her would-be admirer was still talking. Honestly, she was trying to stay under the radar and this man was drawing way too much attention to her.
Trying to ignore him, Alex quickened her steps, moving in and out of the ever-shifting crowd with the grace earned from years of dance lessons. She wore a long, tunic-style white blouse, blue jeans and blue platform heels, and, at the moment, she was wishing she’d worn sneakers. Then she could have sprinted for some distance.
The minute that thought entered her mind, she dismissed it, though. Running through a crowd like a lunatic would only draw the notice she was trying to avoid.
“C’mon, babe, it’s lunch. What could it hurt?”
“I don’t eat,” she told him, “I’m an oxygenarian.”
He blinked at her. “What?”
“Nothing,” she muttered, hurrying again. Stop talking to him, she told herself. Ignore him and he’ll go away.
She headed for the landmark right ahead of her. The snow-topped mountain in the middle of Anaheim, California. This particular mountain was probably one of the best known peaks in the world. Alex smiled just looking at it. She lifted her gaze and watched as toboggans filled with screaming, laughing people jolted around curves and splashed through lagoons, sending waves of water into the air. The line for the mountain was a long one and as her gaze moved over the people there, she saw him. He was watching her. A big man with black hair, a stern jaw and a plump baby on his hip.
In one quick instant, she felt a jolt of something like “recognition.” As if something inside her, knew him. Had been searching for him. Unfortunately, judging by the black-haired little girl he was holding, some other woman had found him first.
“Quit walking so fast, will ya?” the annoying guy behind her whined.
Alex fixed her gaze on the sharp-eyed man and felt his stare hit her as powerfully as a touch. Then his eyes shifted from her to the man behind her and back again. He seemed to understand the situation instantly.
“There you are, honey!” he called out, smiling directly at Alex. “What took you so long?”
Smiling broadly, she accepted the help he was offering and ran to him. He greeted her with a grin then dropped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side. Only then did he shift his gaze to the disappointed man.
“There a problem here?” Her Knight in Shining Denim demanded.
“No,” the guy muttered, shaking his head. “No problem. Later.”
And he was gone.
Alex watched him go with a sigh of relief. Not that he had ever scared her or anything, but she hadn’t wanted to waste her first day in Disneyland being irritated. The big man beside her still had his arm around her and Alex liked it. He was big and strong and it was hard not to appreciate a guy who had seen you needed help and offered it without a qualm.
“Boon!”
The little girl’s voice shattered the moment and with that reminder that her hero was probably someone else’s husband, Alex slipped out from under his arm. Glancing up at the little girl, she smiled. “You’re a beauty, aren’t you? Your daddy must be very proud.”
“Oh, he is,” the man beside her said, his voice so deep it seemed to sink right inside her. “And he’s got two more just like her.”
“Really.” She wasn’t sure why the news that he was the father of three was so disappointing, but there it was.
“Yeah. My cousin and his wife have the other two on the ride right now. I’m just watching this one for them.”
“Oh.” She smiled, pleasure rushing through her. “Then you’re not her father?”
He smiled, too, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Not a chance. I wouldn’t do that to some poor, unsuspecting kid.”