The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders) Read Online Free PDF

at a drive-through chapel in Vegas when they’re too drunk to even remember it. This is about trust. I trust Steven and I don’t want you checking up on him.”
    “I just don’t get why you’re so cynical. Especially when your sister is the poster child for true love. That’s what love is supposed to look like.”  
    Raina closed her eyes and was immediately assaulted with images. Dark, thickly lashed bedroom eyes. Smooth, golden-brown skin. Those curls she couldn’t keep her hands out of. She knew what love looked like.  
    It looked like Nicholas Alexander.
    Raina ducked her head, hoping Sam wouldn’t notice how she’d tensed up. It was sweet of him to worry about her. He’d always had her best interest at heart. But if he was trying to shield her from heartbreak, he was several months too late.  
    It had all started with Jackson asking her for a favor. Raina had never had anything more than a mild flirtation with Jackson and his two boys were adorable, so it hadn’t been a big deal when he’d asked her to accompany his brother to an event. She got plenty of exposure at fashion events, but showing up on the arm of a respected businessman at a charity dinner was something she didn’t get to do that often. It had been as much to her benefit as Nick’s.
    When she’d opened her door that night and seen Nick waiting for her, as soon as their eyes met, she’d known. Electricity sparked between them from the first time he took her hand. It had been pure carnal torture to sit next to him in the limo, their thighs brushing. The shocking heat between them had probably been why she’d been so off-kilter when they arrived. Despite years of posing in front of a camera, Raina still wasn’t comfortable with public speaking. She could strike a pose and stalk a runway, but when someone shoved a microphone in front of her face as soon as they’d exited the limo, she’d just frozen up.
    Nick had seen and somehow he’d realized she was terrified. She’d never forget how he’d made a joke and pulled her to his side. He’d taken control of the situation and sent the reporter away with a juicy sound bite instead of whatever foolish garbled mess would have come out of her mouth.  
    He’d looked at her and said, “I thought all models loved the spotlight. But you really don’t like all this, do you?”
    With one look, he’d seen a part of her she didn’t show to anyone else.  
      She’d known exactly what she was risking when she invited him in that night. Men like Nicholas Alexander didn’t change their ways, but she’d believed that she could have one night with him to treasure always. One night to look back on with no regrets.
    Only it hadn’t worked out that way because that one night hadn’t been nearly enough to satisfy her. As much as she’d tried to play it cool and hold back, he’d seen straight through her carefully constructed image to the real woman beneath. He’d seen her feelings and that more than anything had terrified her. If he left her, it wouldn’t be just the playboy leaving another one of his one-night stands.  
    It would be Nick leaving Raina because he didn’t feel as deeply for her as she did for him.  
    So the next morning, she’d done the only thing she could to take back some control. She’d left. She’d left him behind and refused to take any of his calls or respond to any of his emails in the days after. It had taken a few weeks, but he’d eventually gotten the message.  
    “Have you ever considered what it will be like if you marry him and then you meet the love of your life afterward?” Sam asked.
    She turned to Sam and gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile. “No, not at all.” She didn’t have to worry about meeting the love of her life after she married Steven.  
    She’d already met him and lost him in the same day.  

    *   *   *   *   *

    “DON’T SHOOT THE messenger.”  
    Nick looked up blearily from the spreadsheet he was working on.