Losing Balance
by Lionel

chapter 33

With Lorenzo's guards trailing her every step of the way, Alexis made a quick visit to her orthopedist, who declared her ankle to be healing extremely well, and then took the elevator down to the clinic on the fourth floor of General Hospital for an appointment with Dr. Meadows. She wrote her name on the sign-in sheet at the reception desk and sat down in the waiting area.

Alexis's briefcase was full of things she should read while waiting - a recent securities law decision handed down by the Second Circuit, the draft of a brief due next week, the latest Business Law Journal - but she felt too edgy and impatient and distracted to focus on work. She needed something lighter, so she sifted through the pile of magazines on the coffee table in front of her. It was an eclectic assortment -- Newsweek, Wired, Seventeen, Parenting, YM, Sports Illustrated - but nothing that interested her. Where was The New Yorker? Didn't all doctors' offices subscribe to The New Yorker? Or Harpers?

She got up and walked to a table in the corner with more magazines, and she leaned over to flip through them. More issues of Sports Illustrated. Maxim. "What is this? The locker room section?" she muttered under her breath. The man sitting in the chair next to the corner table suddenly lowered the newspaper he held in front of him and looked at her. She felt his eyes burning into her and knew who it was an instant before she lifted her head and saw the deep blue of his eyes. Lorenzo.

Alexis froze in place, bent over at the waist, a magazine in her hand. She couldn't seem to look away from him. All of their new intimacy was in his eyes, and she felt naked and exposed under his gaze. In an instant she was back on the sofa at ELQ, caught in the thrill of abandoning good sense to wanton lust. For a long beat neither one breathed, feeling the current surging between them, and then they both exhaled at once. "Hi," Lorenzo said finally, his voice low. His eyes broke away from hers and flickered down for a moment. He licked his lips lightly, sending a tingle through her.

"Hi," Alexis managed, still frozen in place, taking inventory over her reaction. Lorenzo's eyes flickered down again, and a faint smile broke through on his face. Alexis glanced down and realized what was drawing his attention. He was looking down her shirt. Bent over as she was, the top of her blouse fell open, giving him a perfect view of her lace-clad breasts.

With anyone else Alexis would have been offended, but Lorenzo's lustful admiration just excited her. She didn't immediately move, granting him implicit permission to continue. He let his gaze linger hungrily on her breasts, licking his lips again, fighting to control his hands and his breathing, and her body responded enthusiastically to his attention. She let herself savor the pleasure of her physical response to Lorenzo and the power she held over him. She was playing with fire again, floating as close as possible to the edge of control. When she found herself staring at his lips, almost breathless, wanting them on her, having far too much success imagining what they would feel like on her breasts, she knew it was time to pull back.

Alexis stood up straight, embarrassed and aroused at once, and tried to catch her breath. Still Lorenzo's eyes burned into her, melting her insides, and before she could give in to either of her twin desires - to slap Lorenzo and to pull him down to the floor with her, neither one acceptable in a waiting room full of people - she simply walked away without a word and sat back down in her seat. She felt his eyes follow her, and she opened up the magazine that had somehow ended up in her hand and pretended to read, her head still spinning.

After a long minute of staring at the magazine, intensely conscious of Lorenzo's watchful presence across the room, and wishing the nurse would call her name, Alexis saw Lorenzo gather his things together. She hoped he might be leaving, but instead he walked over and sat down in the chair next to her. She shifted away from him as his arm brushed against hers, but he leaned toward Alexis and spoke in her ear in a rough, low voice that made her breath catch. "You are wicked and wonderful," he growled. "My beautiful witch."

Alexis turned and met Lorenzo's smoldering eyes for a moment, his face just inches from hers, then turned back to her magazine without saying anything.

Lorenzo leaned in again. "When you're done here, I want you to come with me," he murmured. "We need to be alone."

His words sent a surge through her, and she swallowed hard. Just the thought of being somewhere alone with Lorenzo, a hotel room, his house, anywhere with a bed, was almost enough to send her over the edge. But she shook her head almost imperceptibly. "I can't," she whispered.

"Yes, you can." Lorenzo was much too close, and his warm breath against her ear sent ripples racing through her body. His lips brushed against her ear, making her gasp, and Alexis looked up, suddenly aware of the attention they were drawing.

"Stop it. Not here." Her voice was firmer now. She was serious and almost angry, and Lorenzo relented, leaning back in his seat. He kept watching her, but she kept her eyes glued to the magazine in her hands.

Lorenzo glanced down. "Good reading?" he asked in a low voice.

Alexis focused for the first time on the magazine she had picked up and the page she had been staring at: "25 Exotic, Dangerous and Sexy Places to Have Sex in Public (and How to Do It Without Getting Caught!)" She dropped the magazine as if it were burning her hands, and it fell closed on her lap. Cosmo. Of all the magazines to grab, she had found Cosmo. "Oh, god," she said, wincing at the trashiness of it.

Lorenzo reached over and straightened out the magazine on her lap. "No, I think it's a good choice. Obviously we could use a few helpful hints so we don't get caught the next time. Tell me what you learned."

Alexis glared at him. "Avoid public bathrooms. And alleys. And doctors' offices. There isn't going to be a next time, Lorenzo."

Lorenzo smirked confidently. "That seems increasingly unlikely."

Alexis couldn't disagree. She could only scowl at him.

"Looks like a good issue," Lorenzo said brightly. He pointed to the cover and read the names of the articles teased there in a too-loud voice that made Alexis shrink into her seat. "'Why We Love Bad Boys.' '5 Ways to Break Up Without Breaking His Heart.' '7 Sneaky Tips If You Just Have to Cheat.' That's good stuff. That's the kind of advice you can't get from a doctor."

Alexis threw the magazine onto the table and crossed her arms over her chest tightly. It just couldn't be a good sign when your personal life came straight off the cover of Cosmo. "Why are you here, Lorenzo? Are you following me?"

Lorenzo smiled. "No, I'm not following you. I didn't know you would be here."

"So what are you doing at the gynecologist? Knock someone up?" she asked caustically, wondering again just where he had been that morning.

"No, I didn't knock anyone up," he said with more patience than she deserved. "And it's not the gynecologist, Alexis. It's the Sexual Health Clinic." He pointed up at the sign over the reception desk. "It's for boys and girls, men and women."

"Oh." That explained the magazine selection.

"Are you supposed to be someplace else?" Lorenzo asked.

"No." Alexis frowned. "At least I don't think so. My doctor didn't mention the name of the clinic; she just told me to go to the fourth floor. She holds her office hours here on Fridays."

"Is anything wrong? Are you okay?" Lorenzo asked cautiously, and then a dark cloud crossed his face. "Please tell me you're not pregnant."

Alexis shook her head vigorously. "No, I'm not pregnant," she said, suitably horrified at the thought. "Not as far as I know. It's just a routine check-up. Scheduled months ago." She could see that Lorenzo was genuinely worried, but she wasn't about to tell him the truth - that she had made the appointment two days earlier after she first slept with Jax so she could be fitted for a new diaphragm. After three and a half years without use and one child, it was time.

"I'm glad," Lorenzo said. "That you're okay, I mean."

"And you?" Alexis asked nervously, eager to deflect attention off herself. "What brings you to the Sexual Health Clinic today?" She realized before the words were out that she didn't really want to ask the question, but it was too late to stop. She adopted a teasing tone. "Getting tested? Or are you here for that magic little blue pill?"

Lorenzo smiled politely. "I think you know I don't have any trouble in that area." His expression and tone were innocuous enough but his eyes bore into her relentlessly, and Alexis blushed and looked away, trying not to think about the evidence she had seen of Lorenzo's excellent sexual health. "Nor do I need any tests done today."

"Everyone needs testing, Lorenzo. It's good practice, really, especially considering - I mean, after Carly and all." Alexis couldn't help but grimace.

"I didn't say I don't need testing. I said not today. I'm a careful man, Alexis. Which is more than I can say for Sonny Corinthos. Having met your daughter, I have to assume that you weren't so careful. Perhaps you should get yourself in there before you harass me."

Alexis felt fairly chastised and dropped her teasing manner. "When you're pregnant they run all those tests. Some of them twice."

"And since then?"

"Since then --- I am not having this conversation with you, Lorenzo. Forget I asked. It's none of my business." Alexis waved one hand in the air, brushing away the topic of conversation. She scanned the room impatiently. "Not moving too fast here today, are they? Why am I even here? I don't even like my doctor." She looked at Lorenzo. "What time was your appointment?"

"I don't have an appointment. I'm here with my niece, Alexis," he finally explained.

"Oh," Alexis said, her confusion lifting. She looked toward the door to the examining rooms with concern, wary of Sage coming out and seeing them together. Just as she had stopped seeing Luis in Lorenzo's face, Alexis rarely remembered that Lorenzo was Sage's uncle - another reason why it was crazy to let this continue.

"Sage is in with the doctor now," Lorenzo explained. "No doubt telling her how mean I am and how I dragged her down here. She's at that age -- she's discovered the wonders of becoming a woman, but she needs a little push to be responsible. Perhaps you remember what it was like to be a sixteen year-old girl with all that newfound power over boys? Pretty heady stuff, I would think."

"Oh, I was never sixteen. But if I had been I would have considered myself lucky to have an uncle like you. It's quite touching, really. What I had was a protective male cousin who was much too proper and uptight to discuss my awakening as a woman, a great deal of misinformation and rumor shared late at night in the dorm, and one totally overwhelmed nurse at the boarding school infirmary. Thank goodness for books, or who knows how many children I would have by now." Alexis caught the sound of her own words and scowled. "I didn't mean that quite the way it sounded. Really, I wasn't a tramp. Until I met you."

Lorenzo laughed. "I didn't think so."

Alexis smiled, slightly bewildered by her own behavior. "Oh, that reminds me. Luke was looking for you this morning. Did he ever reach you?"

"Yes, he did," Lorenzo nodded. "He told me about his trip to Helena's yacht."

"Good." Alexis hesitated. "Um, he mentioned that he couldn't find you this morning."

Lorenzo missed her point completely. "Yeah. But we talked after lunch."

Alexis sighed in annoyance. She was going to have to ask outright. "So where were you?" She leaned forward and nervously flipped through the magazines on the table.

"I had some business to attend to," Lorenzo answered casually.

"What sort of business?" She picked up an issue of Parenting and settled back in her seat.

Lorenzo looked at her sharply. Her tone was unmistakable. "The kind of business you don't want to know anything about. It was business, Alexis. Not personal."

"Oh. Okay." Alexis nodded again.

"You thought I was with someone?"

"Not necessarily. I was just worried about you." She leafed through the magazine in her hands.

"You were jealous." Lorenzo stated it as a conclusion.

Alexis rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Why would I be jealous? I have no right to be jealous."

Lorenzo turned to her seriously. "Please. Look at me, Alexis." Alexis reluctantly looked up from her magazine and met his gaze. "You don't need to be jealous. Other women don't interest me. At all. I'm frustrated, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to run off and find a substitute. Not out of frustration, not out of anger, not out of physical need."

Alexis nodded and the edges of her lips curled slightly. "Thank you. It shouldn't matter to me. I know it's not fair, but I'm glad. And I'm not sure that it's jealousy exactly. I just - I think I hated the idea that you were the sort of man who could go from what happened yesterday between us to . . . someone else."

"Because you wanted it to mean something to me."

"I suppose."

"Because it meant something to you."

Alexis nodded. "But you don't owe me fidelity, Lorenzo. I'm not offering it or anything else to you. I'm being ridiculous. I have absolutely no right to ask that of you."

"I ask it of myself, Alexis."

She frowned. "Even though I've told you again and again that I'm not going to be with you?"

Lorenzo shrugged. "I think you will. I'm willing to wait."

His confidence made her uncomfortable, and she turned away, scanning the room. "God, these kids all look so young. Could we ever have been this young?" She looked at Lorenzo, a man in full if ever there was one, confident and powerful and self-possessed in every way, and wondered what he might have been like at the cusp of manhood.

"Sure, we were. Don't you remember?"

Alexis squinted, trying to remember, and then she smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I do. It was a long time ago. But sometimes I think I'm still that girl. I walk down the street and I think that's who everyone sees. I look in the mirror and expect to see a sixteen-year old girl looking back at me."

Lorenzo gazed at her with a soft, fond smile. "I'll bet you drove all the boys mad." He raised his hand and brushed a piece of hair back off her cheek. "I think I know who you were when you were sixteen."

"Mm-hmm. I have this picture in my head. Wanna hear?"

Alexis hesitated, then nodded.

Lorenzo took her hand in his and stroked it gently. "Well, you were beautiful, of course, dark and mysterious, with those dark eyes full of secrets to be uncovered. Smart and serious. A woman of grace among a bunch of giggling girls. A little withdrawn - not shy, exactly, but cautious and regal."

"Most people describe me as arrogant and cold," Alexis said self-deprecatingly. "But I like the way you put it a lot better."

Lorenzo shook his head. "No, never cold. That I know. The boys who said you were cold were just bitter because they knew they couldn't have you. You were harder to get than any of the other girls. Most of the boys didn't even dare try."

Alexis smiled, remembering in spite of herself. "I'm afraid the boys found me a little intimidating. At that age most boys weren't comfortable with smart girls. And I was never very good at massaging their egos."

Lorenzo laughed lightly. "I'll bet you reduced more than one suitor to a quivering lump of jelly with your withering looks and biting tongue. But the brave ones knew it was worth the risk, and they tried to make you theirs. If they behaved well, you let them court you, maybe you even let them kiss you and more, but it was just for practice. You never really let them in. You were holding out for something more." Lorenzo lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Am I close?"

Alexis nodded slowly. "Maybe. More or less." She let out a sigh, lost somewhere in the distant past. "The thing about being a teenage girl is you never want the boys who want you. You always want the ones you can't have. For me it was the --- "

She was interrupted mid-sentence by the receptionist calling her name. "Alexis Davis," the woman said, reading from the sign-in sheet. Alexis shook her head clear and pulled her hand back from Lorenzo, then stood and approached the receptionist. "Ms. Davis? I don't seem to have any record of your appointment in the computer. Are you sure you have one today?"

Alexis lowered her voice so that Lorenzo couldn't hear her. "I just spoke to Dr. Meadows on Wednesday. She said she could squeeze me in today."

"Oh, that explains it," the woman said loudly enough for everyone in the office to hear. "If you just called Wednesday it wouldn't be in the computer. It would be on this piece of paper right here. And so it is. Great. The doctor will be with you in just a moment."

Alexis glared at the oblivious woman for a long moment, and then finally turned slowly and slunk back to her seat, hoping Lorenzo had perhaps been momentarily distracted or struck dumb. As soon as she was sitting, though, he leaned over and whispered low in her ear. "A routine appointment scheduled months ago?"

Alexis shrugged and smiled, but didn't offer an explanation. "You should go back over to your own seat before your niece comes out and shoots both of us."

"Sage isn't going to shoot anyone. She's angry with you, but I think she understands why you did it."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Lorenzo. Her father is dead. She is never going to understand you sitting here making eyes at me. Or anything else about you and me. I don't understand it, and I'm a grown woman."

Lorenzo shook his head. "No. Sage will understand eventually. I will make sure of that. But you're right. This isn't the way for her to find out about us."

"There is no us, Lorenzo," Alexis said, shaking her head miserably.

Lorenzo took her hand again. "Of course there is. And if you would just stop fighting it, I think you'll find that you really like us."

Alexis just looked at Lorenzo helplessly. She was spared from responding when Dr. Meadows stepped into the waiting area. "Alexis," she called with a smile. "Can you come this way, please?"

Alexis let go of Lorenzo's hand, picked up her briefcase and stood. With a quick, sorry glance back at Lorenzo, she followed Dr. Meadows down the hall toward an examining room.

"So how is your little girl doing?" Dr. Meadows asked as they walked.

"Great. Really great." Alexis saw Sage Alcazar come out of an examining room down the hall, straightening her clothes. Alexis thought Sage looked a little pale and out of sorts as she walked down the hall, no doubt completely typical for a teenager visiting the gynecologist, and Alexis found herself giving the girl a small sympathetic smile as their eyes met. To her surprise, Sage smiled back, a small, tight smile, but a smile nevertheless. Alexis couldn't help but wonder where the girl's mother was.

Dr. Meadows opened the door to an examining room and Alexis followed her in. "So the gentleman in the waiting room. I take it that's the new man in your life?"

"Um, no, actually. Well, maybe. One of them."

Dr. Meadows raised one eyebrow but didn't comment. "He's very handsome."

"Yes, he is, isn't he? Not really my type, though. He could stand to be cleaned up a bit. Or maybe he's exactly my type. I don't really know."

"He looks familiar. Would I know him?"

"No," Alexis said hastily, drawing a suspicious look from the doctor. "I don't think so," Alexis added more calmly. Dr. Meadows mercifully dropped the subject.

Twenty minutes later, Alexis walked back into the waiting room with a prescription in hand and found Lorenzo still there. He stood up and walked with her toward the door. "Where's Sage?" Alexis asked.

"She went to meet some friends," Lorenzo explained as he held open the door.

Alexis sighed. "I told you, Lorenzo. I can't go anywhere with you."

"I know. Just let me walk you down to the car. There are a lot of things we need to talk about. Helena, ELQ, us. Give me ten minutes, and then I promise I'll let you go."

Alexis gave him a wary look, but when he placed the palm of his hand firmly against her back she let him guide her to the elevator, and when they reached the car she let him slide into the limousine next to her. Alexis moved over as far as she could to the other side of the car and held her briefcase protectively in her lap. "So talk."

"Okay. Business first. ELQ. Our bid is due on Wednesday. You have the draft papers. When you're ready we should talk about what changes we're going to request."

"Fine. I'll send you a mark-up on Monday, and we can talk about it on Tuesday."

"And we should talk about billing."

"I'll send you my standard retainer agreement. You'll get a bill when the deal is closed."

"And will you cash my check this time? I noticed that you never cashed the check I gave you the night you saved my life. Did you lose it at the hospital?"

Alexis shook her head. "No, I still have it."

"Why didn't you cash it?"

Alexis sighed. "Because it would be unethical and illegal for me to take money that I know is tainted. I could be disbarred."

"You don't know that money is tainted."

"No, but I suspect, and that means I have to use due diligence to ascertain its origins."

"Okay, so why didn't you do that? Why didn't you just ask me?"

"It never seemed like the right time to have that conversation with you. Look, it's really not a problem, Lorenzo. I barely did anything for you. You don't need to pay me. You are doing enough for me already. Let's move on."

"Okay, Helena. Have you heard from her?"

"Nope, nothing."

"Okay, great. Now that all that is taken care of, we can talk about us. And we still have eight minutes left." Grinning, Lorenzo moved across the car to Alexis and took the briefcase out of her hands and set it on the seat. She watched, stunned, as he slid down onto the floor and kneeled in front of her.

"What are you doing?" she asked warily, trying to inch farther back in the seat.

"I'm going to make you deal with this." Lorenzo took both of her hands in his. "We need to find some way to get you comfortable with you and me, because it's not going away, and you and I are both going to be miserable until we do. And sooner would be much better than later."

Alexis swallowed hard. "You promised you would leave me alone."

"And I will. In eight minutes. Give me those eight minutes to convince you, however I can, and then I promise I will open that door and get out. No matter what."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Do you want a choice?"

Alexis ran her tongue over her dry lips. "Go ahead."

"Okay. You trust words. I trust actions. Which do you want to start with?"

"Um. Words."

"Okay. Words." Lorenzo paused thoughtfully, watching her for a long moment as the seconds ticked away.

Alexis could barely breathe under the intensity of his hungry eyes and the heat growing in her belly. "So, are you trying to decide what to say or what kind of sauce to put on me?" she muttered.

Lorenzo laughed and raised her left hand to his lips, kissing the inside of her wrist tenderly. "You like me, Alexis," he declared finally. He ran his tongue slowly from her wrist to the tip of her middle finger, and she whimpered as he put the tip of her finger between his lips and ran his teeth over it lightly.

"No, I don't," she lied, though every nerve in her body was extremely fond of him at the moment. She unconsciously squeezed her legs together under her long skirt.

"Yes, you do," Lorenzo insisted. He raised her right wrist to his mouth, and unbuttoned the sleeve of her blouse with his teeth. He pushed her sleeve up and trailed kisses along her forearm, raising her arm as he went. "You like talking to me."

"Uh, sometimes."

He released her left hand just long enough to pry her legs apart so he could move between them and get closer to her. She fought him only a moment. "You like the banter, and the teasing, and walking along the edge of what's appropriate."

"It can be fun."

Lorenzo raised himself up on his knees and brought her hands together above her head, pinning them against the seat with his left hand. "And you like telling me your secrets, letting me see who you really are, because you know you're safe with me." His right hand began work on the buttons of her blouse, and he lowered his mouth to her neck.

"That really doesn't make any sense at all, does it? Ooh. I really shouldn't do that." She groaned as his lips found the base of her throat.

"You like spending time with me." His right hand finished with her buttons and pushed her blouse open, revealing the white lace bra that had set him off earlier. Instinctively, Alexis tried to pull her hands down to cover herself, but Lorenzo's grip on her wrists was firm.

"It has its moments," Alexis murmured with a faint smile.

Lorenzo's game plan was thrown overboard for a moment and he buried his face between her breasts, kissing one, then the other. Her nipples begged for his attention from under the white lace and he scraped his teeth gently over them. Alexis writhed under him, arching her back, pushing herself closer to him. Lorenzo pulled back. He needed to regain control over the situation. He moved his face close to hers and looked her in the eyes, stroking her cheek gently. "You like the way you feel when you're with me," he declared.

Alexis lifted her head as far as she could and captured his mouth in hers, making him kiss her. Lorenzo's free hand found the back of her head and pulled her into him, tipping her head back and kissing her deeply until her teeth found his lip and drew blood. He pulled back in pain and surprise. "I haven't decided," Alexis said with a secretive smile. "It's certainly different."

Lorenzo nodded and licked his wounded lip. He deserved it for what he was planning to do. "So have I convinced you yet?" he asked, bravely returning to her mouth and kissing her lightly.

"Not yet," Alexis said, shaking her head slowly.

"No? How much time do you think we have left?"

Alexis shook her head again. "I don't know," she said in a husky voice. "Enough. If you hurry."

Lorenzo looked at his watch. "Mmm." He went back to her neck, maddeningly slow and patient. "Well, where were we. Oh, I was trying to prove that you like me. Let's see, I think we had established that you like to spend time with me and you like to talk to me. What else is there? Oh, right." His right hand moved to her knee and grabbed the loose fabric of her skirt, pulling it up roughly over her hip. "You like it when I touch you." He ran his hand down from her hip along her curves to her knee, and he felt her knees squeeze tight around him. "You like it a lot."

"Mm-hmmm," Alexis managed, swallowing hard.

Lorenzo's fingers trailed slowly up from her knee, tracing the delicate skin of her inner thigh. As his fingers reached the edge of more lace and halted their advance, his mouth found hers again and he kissed her hard, his tongue forcing its way between her teeth. She kissed him back, straining against the grip he had on her wrists and moving her hips in a desperate and vain effort to get him to touch her where she needed to be touched.

Lorenzo pulled out of their kiss, leaving her wanting more, and still his fingers tormented her, refusing to give her what she needed. "Lorenzo," she panted. "Please. Now. I need you. There."

There was a soft tapping on the privacy window, right on schedule. Their time was up. Lorenzo pulled his hand from under her skirt, and kissed her lips once again. "You like me," he said in quiet triumph. "And when you're ready to admit it, and find out just how mind-blowing this can be, you come to me and we'll finish this."

Alexis stared at him stunned, her mouth open in disbelief, realization and fury gathering inside her. Lorenzo surveyed Alexis's wild state - breathless and aroused, hands still pinned above her head, clothes half off, those unbelievable breasts beckoning him - and he wasn't sure he had the willpower to leave her there. If she gave in at all, he would give her everything she wanted.

Alexis took a deep, controlled breath and looked at Lorenzo with forced calm. "Let me go," she said. He released her wrists and her hands fell to her lap. He picked up her left hand and started to rub at the red mark he had left, but Alexis pulled her hand away from him abruptly and straightened out her clothes. "You said you'd go. Get out."

Lorenzo moved to the door, his sense of triumph being quickly replaced by the fear that he had made a terrible mistake. He opened the door, but didn't get out. "Alexis . . ." he began.

"Get out," she said coldly.

Lorenzo got out of the car and leaned his head back in. "I'm sorry." She wouldn't look at him. "I wasn't trying to take away your control. I was trying to help you get what you want."

He stood at the open door for a long moment, hoping for a reprieve. He was about to close the door when he heard her again. "Wait," she ordered. "Sit down." Lorenzo got back in the car, and Alexis finally looked at him. She seemed less angry now, and had a quizzical look on her face. "I don't understand why you did that, Lorenzo. You already knew I was attracted to you. What was that supposed to accomplish?"

Lorenzo shrugged his shoulders ruefully. "I'm not quite sure anymore. It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"It was a lousy idea, Lorenzo. That was cruel." Alexis shook her head. "Let me see if I can figure this out. I went to therapy; I know how this goes."

"You really do analyze everything, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. It makes me feel better. Okay. You know I want you, but I feel like I need to resist. So you give me the touch of coercion I need so I don't feel fully responsible and can stop resisting and just enjoy it. Okay, I get that. It's despicable, but I get it. So why stop? Is that supposed to motivate me to wake up and realize that, gee, you really are a swell guy?"

Lorenzo grimaced. "Something like that. Look, I'm sorry. It was a lousy idea. I don't want to coerce you into anything. I just want you to realize that you like me."

Alexis threw up her hands. "I do like you, Lorenzo. Not as much as I did a few minutes ago, but I like you. I shouldn't, but I do. I just don't like who you are. Does that make any sense?"

Lorenzo grinned. "You like me?" He hadn't expected her to admit it so soon.

"I like you. But get out. Your time is up."

"You sure? Because I told you --- "

"I'm sure. Go."

Lorenzo got out of the car and closed the door, still grinning. As the car drove away, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. "She likes me." He raised his arms in triumph and said it again, almost shouting this time. "She likes me!" Lorenzo headed for his own car, never noticing Carly Corinthos sitting on a bench by the door, a magazine in her hand, watching him discontentedly. Her features were pinched and distorted by a mask of bitterness and jealousy and annoyance, and she peered after the disappearing limousine, desperate to know who was inside.