Free Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) by Kathleen Royce Page A

through his hair, glaring at Alex with a frightening look in his dark
eyes.
    “Think you still want to play with the
big boy's little girl?” He was silently dealing with the frustration eating
away at his insides and was powerless to do anything other than take it out on
her. He noticed how she slid slowly off the counter, her legs still not quite
steady under her, watched how the color rose in her flushed cheeks. She lowered
her head to hide her embarrassment, ashamed by what she had allowed him to do
to her body just moments before.
    “That’s what this was about? Teaching me
a lesson? Was that it?” she asked in disbelief, not wanting to believe that he
was capable of that much cruelty, which is what he was implying.
    She raised her head, a look of
uncertainty in her eyes as she faced him. She turned away quickly, scared he
was going to see how much his answer meant to her. She picked her glasses up
from the counter, feeling her hands go numb in shock. For one telling moment, she
tightened her hold around them, and then with mock calm placed them carefully
on her face. Alex felt all her dreams shatter to dust at her feet when he
replied.
    “What did you think it was about, that I
was in love with you? It’s just sex, little girl. I could have taken you right
there on that counter without you making a single protest. Half the party could
have walked in and you wouldn’t have cared. If you don’t want to find your
pretty little backside on the front page of the gutter press, you may consider
where you take off your clothes. Just something you should think about if you
want to play in the big leagues.” He said it laughingly; mocking her, himself,
and his own stupidity for what he had almost let happen.
    Lost dreams taste sour, he
thought as he watched the last of his dreams slowly slip through his fingers, for
good this time . There was no going back. He had to make sure she despised
him completely. After tonight, they would have no future. Not wanting her to
keep dreaming for something that he could never give her. They could never have
a life together.
    Alex felt her heartbreak and turn to ice
in her chest. He was making sure that she understood clearly that they had
nothing left between them, not even friendship. It hurt more than anything ever
had in her entire life. A true friend would never set out to humiliate her in
the way that he had just mercilessly done. He had turned her own body’s
response to him against her, just to show her that she was not as grown up as
she believed, and that he knew she had feelings for him. Well he had nothing to
worry about. She would never bother him with her unwanted company again. When
she turned to look at him, he gave her a look of contempt.
    “Next time you want to play with the big
boys, think about the consequences, you may not like the outcome. You play with
fire, and you’re liable to get burned,” he said hauntingly, giving her one last
hard, unforgiving look as he stepped towards the door.
    “I’ll remember, cowboy. You just
remember that it goes both ways. Fire can also consume; body and soul.” she
said bitterly to his retreating back. Wanting him to know the fire she had
started in him moments ago would haunt him, never to be repeated, because Ty
was replaceable to her. He hesitated for one second, understanding the
underlining message, before regaining his stride and walking out of the
kitchen.
    Waiting for her heartbeat and breathing
to return to some semblance of normalcy before returning to the party, she
replayed what had happened over and over in her mind. Hoping that none of her
heartache was visible on her face, she left the kitchen wondering how she had
been so foolish as to think he cared for her in a romantic way. He had never
cared for her at all. Lost in thought, she rounded the corner in the hallway.
When she heard Ty talking to the same group of men he had been earlier, she
froze. She couldn’t hear the question they asked, only his