10. Chapter 10
A licia knew that anything Danica had planned that night had to be extravagant. What she didn’t expect was a high-rise restaurant all to themselves.
She also knew not to question it. Why would she question anything at this point?
This was a woman who owned the most luxurious sex club in the nation.
Her family owned Blue Bird, for goodness’ sake.
Not that she would ever clear that place out so they could dine, of course…
but it was the fact she could that counted.
It wasn’t enough that they had the best seat in the house.
Of course they did. They would have the round table overlooking the darkened city center, full of twinkling lights and rubbing cheeks with jets coming in and out of the nearby airport.
The fact that they were sitting in the gallery all alone, however?
That was the crazy thing. Alicia had never seen such a quiet restaurant in her life.
Both a hostess’s wet dream and her worst nightmare.
Depending on how she felt that day, anyway.
“Allow me.” Danica pulled Alicia’s chair out for her. “By the way,” she continued as Alicia sat down and a waiter lit the candles on their table, “you’re radiant tonight.”
Alicia froze in her seat even after Danica pushed her back toward the table.
She sat down across from her, candlelight licking her features.
God. Slam me on the table already. Alicia needed to think proper thoughts to get through this dinner.
What kind of example would she be setting if she succumbed to thoughts of sex every time she was around this woman?
Told you. It’s the perfume . Full of pheromones. She had heard that was a thing.
“Thank you.” Alicia waited for the waiter to disappear, eyes lingering on the single red rose in the centerpiece as opposed to drinking in the sight of Danica’s face. “You’re not so bad yourself. You know that, though, don’t you?”
Fingers drummed on the table. “I may have heard it a time or two. I’ll take your word on it. I’m not my type.”
Oh, good. She hadn’t imagined Danica’s sarcastic sense of humor taking over.
Red wine was brought out. Before she could sip it, however, Danica made sure to point out the vintage and make. Not that it meant anything to Alicia. All she knew about wine was that sometimes it tasted good and other times it made her retch. She doubted Danica served the latter.
Sure enough, when she had a taste, her tongue exploded in tarty flavors. “Do you like it?” Danica asked.
“Pretty good.” Alicia had another sip. “Is that an appropriate way to describe wine?”
“It works for me.”
This was already the best date ever. An incredibly gorgeous woman with Danica’s kind of humor.
A beautiful, delicious restaurant all to themselves.
The promise of more of what she craved later.
Alicia allowed herself to be quite proud of what she had managed to achieve in as little as a few weeks.
How had she achieved this, per se? Well, it was her gut that she listened to when she first kissed this woman at Midnight.
“So,” Danica said with businesslike flair. “Tell me about yourself. Tell me everything.”
The waiter had left again after depositing their appetizers. “I’m sure anything you want to know about me can be found online. You already found out where I live and work. What’s stopping you from pulling up my college transcript?”
“Absolutely nothing. Other than the fact I’d rather hear it from your beautiful lips.”
Danica said that while her own lips wrapped around the rim of her wineglass. Can think of a few other things they can wrap around. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Tell me about how we came to meet. Why were you working at Midnight? That has me intrigued the most.”
Alicia shrugged. “I’ve been in hosting for years. It’s how I cut my teeth in the market.”
“Interesting. So, you fancy a career in hospitality?”
“Well… no…” What did she fancy a career in? “I have a degree in English. Doesn’t mean much, I guess. I can quote Dickens and Elliott until I’m in my grave, but it won’t get me a real career. Guess that’s why I’m still doing one of the only things I know how to do.”
“You don’t have a family business?”
She looked at Danica as if she had sprouted horns out of her head. “Not exactly. My father’s a schoolteacher, and my mother’s a nurse at the same school.”
“I see. Noble professions.”
“You think so?”
“The economy wouldn’t get far without them.”
“Ah, yes, the economy.” Why wasn’t Alicia surprised? “So, I hear you went to Princeton. Let me guess. Economics major?”
“Close.” Danica left her salad untouched. You gonna eat that? Alicia was starving. “I minored in Economics. I double-majored in Business and Rhetoric.”
“Double-majored with a minor? Wow. Overachiever.”
“Where did you get your degree?”
Not, “Where did you go to school?” but, “Where did you get your degree?” Alicia was catching on to all the ways Danica was different. “I went to a place called William and Mary University. Doubt you’ve heard of it. In Virginia.”
Danica looked askance at her. Don’t shoot those amber darts into my heart, okay? I’m not ready. “Of course I’ve heard of William and Mary. Second oldest college in America. Why wouldn’t I know it?” Danica leaned over her untouched salad. “That’s rather prestigious.”
“Doesn’t mean anything if I can’t get a job.
” Alicia hated it when people praised her for her schooling, then turned around to question her employment status.
How dare she squander a degree others would kill for?
“I originally thought I wanted to be a teacher like my father. Then I realized I’m no good with teaching children, so I set my sights on becoming a college professor.
That didn’t work either. I… didn’t go to grad school, to begin with. ”
“Why not?”
What was with the accusatory tone? Sorry, lady, not all of us craved to bust ass at Princeton.
“Because I made some bad decisions after getting my Bachelor’s.
” Matt. That bad decision’s name was Matt.
“Threw me off course. Suddenly, I had to make money to pay off my debt, but you don’t want to hear about that. ”
Danica folded her arms across the table. “Suppose I do?”
Why? Why was Danica so interested in her? This was the woman who knowingly got Alicia fired from the best opportunity she ever had, and then summoned her for a booty call! Something fishy was afoot.
“To be frank, it was an ex-boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Danica cleared her throat. “But you must be good at what you do for Mr. Sidney to hire you at Midnight. I hired him because of how discerning he is.”
“Yes. Discerning enough to fire me the moment you told him I failed your test.”
Danica only smirked.
“What is this really about?” Patience be damned.
Alicia was tired of what was either a complete disregard for her outside of the bedroom (not that they had ever been in one together) or some stupid head game Danica desired to play with her.
“I hear on the grapevine that you don’t date much.
No fewer than two people have told me that I’m special in that regard. ”
Danica ignored the waiter as he brought their main courses. “I like you, Ms… Alicia.”
“Uh-huh.” Alicia finished her glass of wine. Plenty of time for the waiter to get the hell away again. “More like you fancy my pussy.”
She expected Danica to flinch, to frown, to do anything other than continue to sit there with only her eyes betraying how interested she was in this conversation.
“There is that, yes.” She leaned back in her seat.
Did this woman ever eat? “If you want me to admit it, Alicia, fine. I was initially only interested in you physically. I’ve come to learn that when my body says it will be a good match, it’s usually right.
Well?” Everything about her demeanor became…
sultrier. Spare me. No, seriously, spare me.
I don’t have enough willpower. “Was it right?”
“You tell me. I was along for the ride.”
“I’ll say.”
Did she make a That’s what she said! joke?
Alicia felt like she was given a window into the real life of the world’s most reclusive billionaire.
“Yes, okay? I enjoyed it. Both times. In fact,” she would dare inflate Danica’s ego, “I would even go so far as to say that it was the best sex I ever had.”
Finally, Danica took her first bite of food, eyes never unlocking from Alicia’s. Her teeth bit down on her fork and pulled off a small piece of seasoned steak. How terribly animalistic. Alicia wouldn’t mind Danica biting her like that.
“It’s up there for me, too.”
“Oh, come on. Stop.” How could a girl snatch a piece of that steak? It looked and smelled more delicious than Danica did. Okay, almost. “You get your choice of supermodels and smokin’ hot farmers’ daughters. Porn stars, too. Don’t insult me by lying to me like that.”
“First of all,” she began, folding a piece of leafy green lettuce over her fork before eating it, “I don’t think I’ve ever dated a farmer’s daughter. Not to my knowledge, anyway. Second, I said up there. Top ten percentile. That’s hardly lying.”
“When you put it that way…” Was definitely not better. Sigh.