Free Perfect Stranger (Novella) by Carly Phillips Page A

work to do.” Without meeting her gaze, he picked up his pen and looked back down at his papers. If not for the slight tremor shaking his hand, Alexa would think him completely unaffected.
    “One more question,” she said softly.
    Maybe it was her tone of voice but he glanced up. “What is it?”
    “What did we do for my fifth birthday party?”
    His gaze narrowed once more. “I don’t remember.”
    “Tenth?” she asked.
    He clenched his jaw. “Same answer.”
    Alexa nodded. The only birthdays she recalled were the ones she spent missing her mother and hurting that her father chose to work instead of staying home.
    “The sad thing is, I wish I didn’t remember them either,” she said, fighting to speak over the lump in her throat and the tears threatening to fall.
    Something flickered in her father’s gaze. Or maybe Alexa just wanted to see emotion there. She didn’t know. “Bye, Dad,” she said.
    But when she looked over, he’d returned to his work and didn’t reply.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    F amily gatherings at Luke’s parents’ house were always huge events. With three sisters—all married, all with kids—cousins, neighbors, and friends included, the noise level was high and the privacy factor nil. Usually Luke loved these events. Not today.
    Today his heart wasn’t here, it was back in the small town of Serendipity, New York. A place he never thought would leave a mark on him, much less impact him so strongly. He couldn’t get Alexa out of his mind.
    They’d said good-bye on Thursday. Today was Saturday. He’d programmed his number into her cell and hoped she’d use it. With the way they’d parted, Luke giving her his unasked-for opinion on how to live her life, he wasn’t holding his breath.
    In order not to focus on himself, he looked around to see which sibling he was in the mood for and his gaze settled on Ashley, the youngest of his three sisters. She had two kids, having married right out of high school to a guy Lukehated. And Luke considered himself an easygoing guy who got along with most people, but not her jackass husband.
    “Hey, sweet cheeks,” he said, using his nickname for her.
    “Hey, yourself.”
    He sat down next to her on the picnic table bench and she immediately laid her head on his shoulder. Warning bells went off in his brain. “I was only gone a week. What happened?”
    “I left Todd,” she said, her voice cracking.
    Luke held in his cheer, more concerned about his sister’s feelings than his own. “Why?”
    “He was cheating on me with Mandy Stone.” The whispered words came with a wealth of hurt, Luke knew.
    “Mandy Stone whose daddy is Todd’s boss?” Luke asked through gritted teeth. The same Mandy Stone who felt it was her civic duty to hit on Luke at every town event he attended, and had done so since Luke accepted the scholarship to University of Miami to play football for the U.
    “I think Mandy was just the most recent in a long line. He never liked being tied down.”
    Luke stiffened, wanting to beat the crap out of the other man. “Then he shouldn’t have gotten you pregnant the summer before college.”
    She sniffed but ended in a laugh. “Takes two to be stupid, Luke. And I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything.”
    “What will you do now?”
    “The kids and I moved in with Mom and Dad. I need some time to work out a plan.”
    He kissed her temple. “You will. And I’ll be here to help you.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Anything for you, sweet cheeks. You know that.” He loved his sisters even when they were being pains in his ass.
    She sighed. “I do. And I love you for it. So how was your trip east?”
    “Business was good, got some solid endorsement deals lined up.”
    “Just for Men? Erectile dysfunction meds? Hemorrhoid cream?” She nailed him in the ribs with her elbow.
    He rolled his eyes. “This is when ‘sweet cheeks’ changes to ‘brat,’” he muttered. “How about Ford Broncos and my own cologne?”
    She let out a Texas whoop.