Make It Count by Megan Erickson Page B

he was biting the inside of his cheek. “Yeah.”
    Since when was Alec not wordy? She pried, unable to help herself. “So are your parents divorced?”
    Alec paused and licked his lips. His eyes shifted away before returning to her face. He shook his head. “My dad was a cop. He was killed on duty by a drunk driver when I was five.”
    Kat sucked in a breath. Oh no. “I’m so sorry.” She pictured five-year-old Alec, all big green eyes and dark hair, dressed in a little suit at his hero father’s funeral, holding his mom’s hand as well-wishers gave their condolences in a stuffy church among foul-smelling bouquets. And . . . now her eyes were watering.
    Alec’s eyebrows snapped together and he leaned forward. “Are you crying?”
    “No!” she protested, but her voice shook and the tears spilled over. Oh jeez, now she looked like an emotional basket case.
    “Aw, Kat. It’s okay. I mean, I was really young . . .” His voice died when she hiccupped a sob. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Christ, if I knew you were going to cry I wouldn’t have told you.”
    “I’m sorry,” Kat blubbered. “I’m glad you told me. I feel stupid, because shouldn’t you be the one crying while I comfort you and we talk about the lasting effects of your father’s death on your psyche?”
    Alec paused and then laughed. Laughed! While she was a teary mess. The nerve.
    His eyes softened as he took in her face. “You might be the only one who can make me laugh after I just talked about my father.”
    Alec propped a leg up on the bed, facing her. They were chest to chest, and he leaned in, his face inches from hers, his hands on either side of her head, wiping her tears. His thumbs caressed her cheeks, leaving behind streaks of heat with every touch that echoed throughout her body.
    “I don’t really tell people about him, or that he’s the reason I want to be a lawyer.”
    She let the why hang between them unspoken until he answered. “The guy who killed him got out of a previous drunk driving conviction on a technicality because of an inexperienced defense lawyer and a lax judge.” He took a deep breath. “I want to prevent other families from going through what I went through, or make sure that whatever bastard takes away their family gets put away for a long time.”
    “God, that’s . . .” she shook her head. “That’s amazing. That you took what happened and turned it into something positive, something that fuels your ambition.”
    His smile was slow and when she smiled back, his eyes dipped to her lips.
    The heat on every inch of her skin intensified and she knew this moment had to end. She was too close to the fire. Way too flipping close, because she could barely focus through the desire to put her lips on his, to mean something to this man who lived his life with purpose.
    Alec’s smile dimmed and his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. His thumbs lowered from her cheek and swiped her bottom lip once.
    “We crossed the line five minutes ago, didn’t we?” he whispered.
    “I think so, because I can’t see it anymore,” she whispered back.
    “What do we do?”
    “I don’t know.”
    The high-pitched guitar rift of Sweet Child o’ Mine pierced the heat between them like an iceberg of Titanic -sinking proportions, and they both reared back. Kat fumbled on her bed for her phone and quickly answered it without looking at the caller ID. Alec stood abruptly with his back to her, and she stared at his shoulders as she answered her phone. “Hello?”
    “Babe.” Max’s voice cut through her.
    “Hey, Max,” she said softly. Alec’s shoulders tensed, and he quickly began to gather his things and shove them into his book bag, his back still turned to her. She closed her eyes slowly as Max talked.
    “What was the name of your oral communications professor? The one who always had the white spittle on his mouth, and it made you want to gag?”
    Was this