Chapter 26
twenty-six
At first, I honestly think I’m imagining her.
She looks… like an angel. Floaty ice-blue tulle swishes around her legs and hugs the beautiful canvas of her cleavage.
A gown.
She was on her way to the party, after all.
It’s sickening to think I was mad about her absence. All I have thought since they hauled Daniel’s body away is thank God Alice wasn’t there. I never would have wanted her to see that shit.
She must have left her house in a hurry. Her shoulders and arms are buried in a gray cardigan she clearly threw over her outfit before rushing out. It hides some of the curves I want to see, but that doesn’t matter. Especially when she gets close enough for me to see her face.
Wide azure eyes beam up at me. They touch each part of my face, as comforting and tangible as any caress. For a moment, I let her look at me, just to feel it, even though I swear she’s a mirage.
Her small, cool hand smooths over the sleeve of my formal shirt. “Marco? Are you alright?”
My chaotic emotions rise like a tide. Chagrin and concern mixed with relief. Both seep into my expression. “What are you doing here?”
Shyness colors her cheeks as she shrinks back. “I-I—” She blows out a little huff, frustrated with herself. “Tris t-told me the party was evacuated because s-someone had a gun. I just… I was scared for you.”
I blink down at her, shocked. “Me?”
She clearly doesn’t understand my disbelief.
Confusion pinches her eyebrows, then quickly morphs into embarrassment.
Her cheeks glow pink. “Y-yes? Tris said you were okay, but I wanted to try to do something to help, so…” She raises the arm twisted behind her back, offering a thermos and a takeout bag to me. “I thought you might be hungry.”
When I continue to stare, she looks at her own hands, forehead furrowing as if she’s made some sort of mistake. “I just figured you might be here late, and I thought you probably didn’t get to eat anything, so I just—I thought—”
Of me.
When she heard there was an emergency, she thought of me.
No one ever does that.
People don’t worry about me. I’m a good man in a storm. Others know, no matter what, I will soldier through.
But Alice is concerned. About me.
Lightning snaps through my center, an electric current that crackles in my blood. The surge short-circuits my brain and jolts my limbs into motion.
I haul her up, sweeping her body into mine and pinning her to the nearest wall. My lips find hers, crushing them under the weight of my desire and my desperation to get closer.
Alice gasps, letting me slip my tongue into her sweet mouth, sliding it against hers, tasting tea and mint. Her lush pink lips are even plumper than I realized during our one brief kiss. As they gently rasp over mine, an answering bolt of arousal hits below my belt.
I skim my hands down her sides, and a moan catches in her throat. I love that there’s so much of her for me to touch, even if it’s hidden under her sweater. My fingertips tingle, stroking soft, rippling curves that intensify the ache in my balls with every passing second.
Her free hand curls into the back of my tuxedo jacket, clinging to me while I ravage her with deep, licking kisses, beyond all rational thought. It doesn’t help that every little shift presses her sweetly curved belly right into my rock-hard cock.
Some sort of alarm clangs in a nearby exam room, our surroundings intruding just long enough to burn off the fog of arousal blanketing my mind. I pull back slightly, panting and gazing down at her bewildered face.
The crinkle of the bag still clutched in her hand reminds me why I lost control so completely. A deep, hidden spot, buried in my chest, starts throbbing. My voice turns hoarse. “Thank you,” I murmur, humbled.
As I take the takeout from her, her beautiful blush deepens. “It’s a steak sub. I didn’t know what to get you… But there’s a salad in there, too. And chips. I hope it’s okay.”
A steak sub sounds incredible. As I stare at the bag and the thermos, it hits me; she bought the meal but brought my drink from her house. In a hot thermos. “Did you make me tea, too?”
She nods, blonde curls bobbing around her head. “It’s the hibiscus one with spiced honey.”
Shame and gratitude simmer in my middle. She shouldn’t have paid for my dinner. I’ve seen the meager way she lives. Despite the much-needed cash influx from Grayson, Alice has debts and business expenses.
She can barely afford to feed herself, but she sacrificed some of her limited budget for me. It makes her gesture even more touching. And impressive. Few people possess that sort of generosity.
Feeling protective of them, I curl my hands around her offerings. The hitch in my throat turns into a quiet rasp. “I don’t deserve you, Alice,” I confess, meaning every word. “But I’m starting to doubt that anyone could.”
Her entire face changes. Softening into awe… before immediately turning stricken. “Marco…” She drifts back, putting space between us. Shaking her head sadly as her eyes drop to the floor. “I wish you would stop saying things like that.”
“True things?” I reply, narrowing my eyes. “Or compliments. Because with you, they’re one and the same, sweet girl.”
Something almost like anger flashes through her gaze. “Like that! ‘Sweet girl?’ W-why would you ever need to call me that? Haven’t I gone along with all of your requests and let you do your job since that day on the subway? I—I don’t understand why you’re still trying t-to—”
The only thing I’ve tried to do since that day is keep a professional distance.
And when that failed miserably… I was honest with Alice about my attraction to her. My opinion of her. My regard for everything about her.
My insides go numb as I realize. “This whole time… you thought I was manipulating you?”
Alice blinks those gorgeous crystalline eyes. “Yes,” she whispers. “Obviously. Just like the day we met, at the coffee shop. It’s—I’m your job.” Her gaze trails over my hardened jaw. Her lashes flutter when I burn my focus into hers. “Ar-aren’t I?”