Promises by Ellen March

gave her one last searching look, then turned and left.
    It was only then that Alex released the breath she hadn’t been aware of holding. Her hand trembling, she emptied her mug in the sink and watched with detached fascination as the dark liquid swirled against the cold steel
    She hoped she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life.

     
    Chapter Four
    S olomon stepped over the fence, but instead of going indoors, he lay on the recliner in the yard. His arms folded beneath his head, he stared, deep in thought, at a crop of clouds smudging overhead. Little did Miss Alexandra Powell know that instead of dampening his interest, she’d well and truly stoked his fires. He was so hot he felt like he was in hell, and now he was more determined than ever to bed her.
    She was an enigma.
    Dressed like a middle-aged woman, yet wearing sexy suspenders underneath. She refused to let him make love to her, but she had acted like a whore in the bedroom. A first-class one at that , he thought with approval. He pulled at a blade of grass, popping it in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, debating his next move. He decided that he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Wherever she went, he would follow, eventually wearing down her resolve.
    B ecause he knew she wanted him. What he couldn’t work out was why she wouldn’t admit it.
    * * *
    Alex ran upstairs, anxious to get out of her ‘widow’s garb,’ which was what she called the horrendous uniform she wore. She threw it on the floor along with the piles of clothes littering her room. Fishing out a pair of shorts and T-shirt, she dressed and slipped on her sandals.
    Solomon , who lay stretched out on the sunbed, was aware of her peeping through the kitchen window. He hadn’t missed the way she practically drooled over him. Sol let her have her look. He wasn’t vain but he understood his body’s virtues. It was well-muscled and his chest held a smattering of dark hair. His taut, tanned skin glistened in the late afternoon sun.
    Solomon ’s body was honed to perfection from intense work-outs in gyms throughout the country. Noticing her disappear, he listened carefully and heard the front door slam shut. When he strolled around to the front, he saw her ambling down the avenue. Following her, he couldn’t take his eyes off her backside, which was almost falling out of her tiny shorts. A definite improvement from her library clothes, he was forced to admit.
    He followed her down to the beach front, to the small outside bar he’d passed earlier when he was exploring the small bay.
    Alex sat down at the table, relishing this time of day. When a shadow was thrown over her, she glanced up with an impatient sigh. “What are you doing here?”
    “Same as everyone else , I imagine.” Solomon’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “Taking time out to have a drink.”
    The hostility emanating from her was obvious, so he moved to a nearby table and took a seat, deciding to keep some distance between them. Deliberately, she turned her back on him and ordered a drink. His lithe frame caught her eye as he strolled up to the bar. She also didn’t miss the amount of interest he was generating with the females. She stirred her drink with the long black straw, stabbing angrily at the ice cubes. At the sound of his deep baritone laugh, she glanced up to see him enjoy a joke with a tall leggy brunette.
    He really is the male version of a tart , she thought and stared moodily into her drink, the brief peace and tranquillity she’d experienced dissipating. Casting one final glance towards the bar, she knocked her drink back and decided to buy a bottle of wine on the way home. She would enjoy the solitude of her garden without being forced to watch him basking in another female’s attention.
    Solomon saw her leave and noted the direction she headed. Finishing his drink, he loped behind her and waited outside the supermarket she’d stepped into.
    Alex held her bag close to her chest and