Tangled Up Hearts (9 page)

It did not escape Alyssa's notice that he did not return the sentiment, but before she could get worked up over it another voice entered the mix.

“Cole? Oh there you are.”

Alyssa turned to watch as a tall, slim blonde made her way toward them. The moment she reached Cole's side, she slipped a slender hand, sporting incredibly long red nails, into the crook of his arm.

"Friends of yours, darling?" She gave Alyssa what amounted to nothing more than a cursory glance before turning to Paul and offering him a smile, showing off perfect pearly whites that must have cost a fortune to acquire.

Alyssa bristled. She remembered this woman from his parents' Christmas party. Since she and Cole were not on speaking terms at the time, they had not formally met. How unfortunate that she no longer had that excuse, especially when the brash woman leaned against Cole’s arm while giving Paul a thorough once-over. Seething as she was with dislike, Alyssa wondered how Cole could be attracted to someone of her ilk. Did he really find it necessary to populate his life with girls too blonde, too pretty and too busty for their own too-short britches? And how dare the woman dismiss her like that? It was rude and uncalled for. Her only recourse was to let the wench know here and now that her abhorrent behavior had no effect on her. So with that, Alyssa looked at Cole with what she hoped was a very bored, very disinterested expression and waited for him to make the introductions.

“Serena, this is Al, Trisha’s friend. I don’t know if you remember her from my parents’ Christmas party?” To which she gave a shake of her head and made a small laugh, indicating that Cole was silly to even suggest such a thing. “The gentleman with her is her friend Paul.”

“Al? What an odd name for a girl.” She held out a hand to Paul and smiled. “Hello, Paul. It’s nice to meet you.”

Paul shook her hand briefly, his smile slipping as he did so. “It’s short for Alyssa.”

Serena gave him a blank stare. “What?”

“Al is short for Alyssa,” he repeated patiently.

“But Al suits her so much better,” Cole interjected.

“I beg to differ.” Paul placed a hand at Alyssa’s back in a gesture of support and she smiled at him gratefully. He was her champion and tonight, it seemed, she was going to need one.

“I thought I heard voices.” Trisha came bouncing down the stairs and hurried over to give her a hug. “My goodness, Al, I love that dress. You look terrific.”

“Absolutely smashing,” Jack, following closely at his fiancé’s heels, leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek. Then he pulled away and winked.

Trisha gave him a playful punch. “Put your eyeballs back in their sockets, Jack.” She turned curiously to Paul and waited for Alyssa to make the introductions.

“Trisha, Jack, this is Paul Jordan. Paul, Trisha and Jack.”

Paul took Trisha’s outstretched hand in both of his. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Alyssa has told me so much about you.”

Trisha’s eyes widened at that confession and she threw Alyssa a questioning look before turning back to Paul. “Well, I hope she was kind and left out all the bad parts.”

Alyssa laughed. “There are no bad parts to tell.”

“If only that were true,” Cole muttered, his voice sounding pained and long-suffering.

Trisha punched him playfully. “Thanks a heap.”

Cole chuckled and gave her a wink. Then, after tugging on his collar and giving his shoulders a little roll, he gestured towards the living room. "How about we move this out of the hallway?” With Serena clinging tightly to his arm, he turned and led the way.

As they fell in step behind Trisha and Jack, Alyssa couldn't help but wonder what Cole's show of discomfort was all about. A more self-assured man she had yet to meet.

Paul waited until they were far enough from the others that he not be overheard then leaned down to murmur in her ear. “So far so good, wouldn’t you say? He doesn’t seem bent on making the evening unpleasant.”

Oh no? That snide remark about “Al” suiting her was still stinging. It was Cole who had first shortened her name. Everyone else just followed suit. Whatever he did seemed to set a standard somehow. Why couldn’t people see Cole as she did? Beneath that charming facade was the heart of the devil.

“I can feel all that negative energy, Alyssa.” Paul nudged her gently with his arm.

Alyssa’s eyes widened and she looked at Paul with wonder. “Are you psychic or something?”

Paul smiled. “I don’t have to be psychic to guess at your thoughts. You forget that I have heard all about the history between you and Cole. Besides, you have a very expressive face.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to work on that.”

“Paul? Al? Can I get you anything to drink?” Cole walked over to the bar and assisted Serena in settling onto one of the barstools. She perched with excessive wiggling, her tight blue dress showing more leg than Alyssa thought was necessary. Why didn't Cole think she was acting like a floozy? He didn't seem to mind her silly display and calculated wiggling as he poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her.

Serena accepted the glass with a slow suggestive smile and ran her finger along the length of his forearm. Cole smiled at her antics and she held is gaze as she took an appreciative sip. Giving a little moan of pleasure, she turned to look at Paul. “The wine is very good. You should try some.”

“I’ll have a soda if you have any,” Paul answered.

Cole held up a can of cola. “Is this all right?”

“Yes that will be fine, thank you.” Paul turned to Alyssa. “What about you, angel, what would you like to drink?”

“Yes, angel, what would you like?”

Although Cole's voice was solemn, his eyes danced with amusement and Alyssa's anger bristled. He was going to be quietly infuriating tonight and since he was better at quiet warfare than she was, he had a pretty big advantage. Damn it. She needed to put a stop to this right now. So with a lift to her chin, Alyssa threw him a warning look, her eyes narrowing as they held his gaze
. Don’t
forget
about the truce, Cole
. The thought was so strongly sent that she almost said it out loud. If he did anything to make Paul uncomfortable, she would make him very, very sorry. Somehow. Without Trish finding out.

“Dad made some punch,” Trisha suggested. She glanced from Alyssa to Cole and then back to Alyssa, her gaze a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. She must have caught on to their staring contest. “It’s spiked though.” She lifted her glass in salute to Paul for their mutual drink choice. “It’s just soda for me too.”

“Punch sounds good to me.” Alyssa forced herself to calm down.
Ignore him
. Surely if she gave herself a firm enough command, she would obey it?

As they walked toward the table where the large punch bowl was located, Paul leaned close to whisper in her ear. “You surely must see that he is going to comply with the truce.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “My God, don’t tell me that he has fooled you too? Can’t you see how he mocks me?” Her frustration was such that tears blurred her vision and she quickly blinked them away, aghast at the idea of crying over the tumultuous relationship that stewed between her and Cole. But damn it all, everyone was always quick to defend that man. She hadn’t thought of the possibility that Paul would jump camp as well.

Paul put a comforting arm around her. “Hey, you know that I do my best to see the good in people. Why should it be any different now?”

Alyssa managed to give him a weak smile. She couldn't fault Paul for the attributes she most admired about him. “I’m sorry, Paul. When it comes to Cole I tend to think the rules change.”

“That is the problem, Alyssa. Your thoughts affect how you feel.” He gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze and bent to speak quietly in her ear. “You allow only negative thoughts about Cole to pass through your mind and that clouds any sort of honest assessment.”

“Hmm. When it comes to Cole it’s darn near impossible to think positive.”

“Did I just hear my name?” Cole spoke close to Alyssa’s other ear, sending little shivers down her spine. Although Paul had done the same, he didn't affect her in that way. Then again, she liked Paul. Cole's voice, however, grated on her nerves and his presence put her on edge.

“Do you have to sneak up on people?” Irritated, Alyssa stepped away from him and took a large swig of her punch. Maybe if she fortified herself with a little alcohol, she wouldn’t care so much about being in close proximity to him or give credence to his comments and how they were delivered.

“Your conversation must be quite absorbing. I did not sneak up on you.” Cole handed Paul his drink then lifted his own glass in salute. "To peace.” He gave Alyssa a pointed look.

How dare he remind her of their truce! He was the one trying to sneak in violations with snide remarks. His veiled, vindictive comments were as transparent as glass, why was she the only one who could see that?

“So tell me, Paul, how long have you and Al known each other?”

“About two years now,” Paul answered.

“Two years?” He looked at Alyssa in surprise. “Al’s never mentioned you.” His eyes held her gaze for several seconds and she wished she knew what was going on in that warped brain of his. “I didn’t think you capable of keeping secrets that long, Al.”

Alyssa’s brows arched with satisfaction, feeling smug that he didn't know everything. “There are many things to which I am capable that you are not aware of.”

Cole’s expression gave nothing away. “Indeed? A tantalizing remark if ever I heard one.” He took another sip of his drink and once again returned his attention to Paul. “So how did the two of you meet?”

“Is this an interrogation, Cole?” Alyssa narrowed her eyes in warning and did her best to temper her annoyance. What was it to him anyway? He was out to stir trouble. She was sure of it.

Paul gave her arm a warning squeeze. “We met in college. Philosophy class.” He grinned down at Alyssa’s bent head and gave her shoulder a teasing nudge. “She was having trouble comprehending some of Plato’s philosophies. I gave her a helping hand and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Now the part about her not comprehending something as complex as Plato I can understand. Al always lets her emotions cloud proper judgment.” Cole looked at her with guarded interest, as if he’d discovered something about her that intrigued him.

Despite her determination to remain unaffected by anything he said or did, her heart tripped about, making her scowl, which inevitably showed him that she was most definitely not unaffected. Blast the man for being annoying and blast her stupid heart for reacting to it.

“To tell the truth, I wouldn’t have thought Al would be interested in philosophy, let alone take a class in it.”

Stung by the comment and annoyed with her physical reaction to him, Alyssa couldn’t keep from snapping a response. “What would you know about it anyway, Cole? You must first possess a soul before you can begin to understand anything such as philosophy. And as for my emotions clouding judgment, well at least I am capable of having some.” She lifted her brows pointedly.
Take that you unfeeling monster.
Obviously her determination to maintain civility with Cole was diminishing rapidly. With him it would always be this way.

Paul drew in a surprised breath. “Alyssa!” He looked at Cole apologetically. “Perhaps she should have taken psychology instead.”

“Paul.” She gave him a look of pure distress. Whatever happened tonight, she could not lose Paul’s respect. His reaction made her realize that she was being no better than Cole. Surely she could rise above his antics? “I’m sorry, really.” She turned to Cole and touched his arm. “I didn’t mean that, Cole. It was uncalled for and I apologize.”

Cole’s eyes dropped to her hand which she quickly withdrew. He gave her a small frown. “Don’t worry about it, Al.” After taking another sip of his drink and drawing in what sounded like a resigned sigh, he looked at Paul and gave a slight, apologetic shrug. “Al and I have always enjoyed sparring. You’ll have to forgive us.”

Was it true? Did he actually enjoy their fights? No. He was only trying to charm Paul over to his side. The wily snake.

“Cole, darling, may I have a refill?” Serena called to him from her perch, looking somewhat miffed that he was not pampering to her vanity.

"Be right there." Cole's eyes held Alyssa's for just a moment, his gaze assessing, then he glanced at Paul and gave a nod. "Excuse me, would you?"

Wondering what that look was all about, Alyssa watched him walk away.

“Alyssa, that was really uncalled for,” Paul reproved her gently.

“I’m sorry, Paul. He gets under my skin in the worst way.” Leave it to Cole to make her look bad in Paul’s eyes. It was why she hadn’t wanted them to ever meet. The miserable worm knew how to destroy any and all relationships she had with the opposite sex.

“If your attitude changes towards him, I am sure his would change towards you.” Paul finished his soda and set the glass down on one of tables scattered around the room. “Why don’t we join your friends? Trisha and Jack keep looking this way.”

“They are curious about you. I’m going to have a lot to answer for later.”

“It wasn’t my idea to wait so long for us to meet.”

“Well now that you have, I want Trisha and Jack to be just as good friends with you as I am.” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go on over there and forget about Cole for a while. He can keep himself amused with his latest Barbie doll.”

But as Alyssa and Paul sat with Trisha and Jack to discuss the upcoming wedding, Alyssa couldn’t help but keep a close eye on Cole’s whereabouts. He seemed content to hang out at the bar with Serena and she in turn preened and postured under the attention. Honestly, what did he see in women like her?

Thomas Delaney’s arrival put an end to the friendly argument about which flowers to use on the alter. “Alyssa! My girl you look great.” Trisha’s father, a tall handsome man, his dark hair distinguishably gray at the temples, strode towards her with a welcoming smile. “You get more beautiful every time I see you.” He drew her up for a warm hug. “Don’t you agree, Cole?” Thomas turned to look at his son.