12. Chapter 12 #2
Danica released her hand long enough to fiddle with a control panel embedded in the wall. Once she was satisfied with the heating and security, she closed the panel door. A simple floral painting covered it.
“Finally,” Alicia quipped. “We’re alone.”
She expected either no reaction or a dry reply. What she got was Danica wrapping her arms around her from behind and hot breath in her ear. “I’ve been waiting all evening to be truly alone with you.”
Alicia didn’t think about the guards patrolling outside. I’m gonna assume this room is soundproofed. She'd better hope it was! “You don’t get to be alone that often, do you?”
“Not until I’m in one of my chambers, no.
Even then…” Danica released her, straying to the wet bar.
With her jacket off, Alicia appreciated the outline of Danica’s torso through her light blue silk shirt.
Her buttons were already coming undone. If we do it, will I finally see her naked?
What a strange thought to have while Danica poured them both a drink.
Alicia had no idea what the liquor was, but she hoped it didn’t burn too much.
She barely knew what Candice’s margaritas were made from.
“I usually have one or two people around. It gets lonely, otherwise.”
“People, as in your bodyguards?”
“Or other members of my staff.” Danica handed her a stout glass of brown spirits garnished with lime.
“Would you consider those people friends?”
Danica kept her eyes on Alicia as she sipped her drink. Alicia took her turn, the bitterness burning in all the ways she didn’t want. This is what I get for asking such a personal question when I have no right.
“No.”
Alicia hid her embarrassment with more of this drink. Sure, it was nasty, but it was better than facing that incredulous demeanor!
“I don’t have many friends,” Danica admitted with a matter-of-fact air that made Alicia think they were talking about social media friends and not real people. “I never have. Happens when you grow up in my family.”
Did she mean being rich and powerful? Or did she mean something about her father? Alicia couldn’t help but shiver again.
“Are you still cold? I can turn up the heat, if you’d like.”
“Oh, no…”
“You sure? Because I’d hate for you to be too cold to take off your clothes, Ms. Colbert.”
Alicia turned away, burying her embarrassment in the sleeve of Danica’s jacket. Her presence intensified. Oh, great. She had already come to call. Sure enough, Danica’s hand grazed Alicia’s hair, playing with the pins holding her bun together.
“Surely, you’re not shy around me anymore, are you?” Was that an air of playfulness to her voice? No way. “I didn’t mean right now. I suppose it’s different when we’re taking things more slowly.”
“I suppose so,” Alicia squeaked.
“Come. Have a seat. Would you like something else to drink?”
Alicia settled on one end of the Victorian loveseat at the foot of the bed. Great view of the flatscreen TV from here. What kind of stuff does this woman watch? The news? High-brow movies? Did she even watch stuff like sitcoms and talent shows? Blockbuster movies?
Ultimately, Alicia asked for water. She needed to wash away the flavor of whatever the hell that alcohol was.
“So,” she began, trying not to stare at Danica’s firm ass in those pants as she plucked a stout glass from the bar and filled it with water from a filtered tap. “I have no idea what we would even talk about, honestly.” Danica said she wanted honesty, right?
“Do you want to talk?”
Alicia cleared her throat and accepted the glass of water. Danica continued to stand before her, hand in pocket and throat swallowing another round of alcohol. “If you’re serious about dating me, that might be nice. How about I get to know you?”
In truth, she and Candice had done plenty of digging on Danica Moreau whenever they had the chance.
The internet was full of sparse news. Her Wikipedia page was hilariously short, merely talking about her birthplace and education.
The article about her great-great-grandfather, who founded the family’s legacy in the mid-1800s after making a smart investment in western rail, was more in-depth and interesting than what Danica Moreau had to offer.
The woman in question sat on the other end of the loveseat. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Me neither.”
“So, how about this?” Danica continued, leaning against the armrest. “You tell me something about yourself, and I’ll tell you something about me.”
“All right.” Seemed fair. “My favorite color is green. Especially if you pair it with pale yellow.” Alicia smiled.
“I have this blanket my grandmother made me. It’s this really pretty yellow…
” She stopped. “Er, never mind.” No one wanted to hear about her blanket.
Not even she wanted to hear about a stupid blanket!
“My favorite color is dark green.”
“Not black?”
“No.” Danica grinned. “Contrary to popular opinion. I also like navy blue. Dark colors, I guess. Things that complement black well. Ah, I guess I do like black a lot…”
A giggle escaped Alicia’s lips. “What’s your sign?”
“Pardon?”
Right. She’s too smart and fancy to degrade herself with astrology. “Like, are you a Sagittarius or a Leo or something?”
“I have no idea. How would I know something like that?”
“When’s your birthday?”
She wrinkled her nose. Uh-oh. Too personal already? “February 10th.”
“An Aquarius?” How fortuitous for this Gemini! “That means we’re really compatible. How about that?”
Danica sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I wouldn’t want the stars to decide we shouldn’t be together.” Was that sarcasm? That had to be sarcasm. “Now, you have to tell me something about yourself.”
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “How about what you want from a relationship?”
Well, that was certainly heavy. From favorite color to Where do you see yourself in five years? bullshit. “I guess I want something stable and loving. Isn’t that what everyone wants?” Alicia knew she shouldn’t ask, but here she went. “How about you?”
“You already heard me back in the restaurant. I want someone I can see myself spending the rest of my life with. I don’t take to transient people too well.
I like stability as much as the next person.
With as few friends as I have, it would be nice to have one or two people I can rely on to always be there. Isn’t that what most people want?”
“I suppose so. So, you want a family?”
“Naturally. It’s expected of me, but I don’t want to start a family until I’m sure I’m with a woman I can trust with not only my personal life, but with raising my heirs.
My father… well, my parents divorced when I was very young.
My father raised me. It wasn’t bad, but it would’ve been nice to have my mother around as well. ”
“I’m sorry to hear about your parents.” That answered the question about the missing Mrs. Russell Moreau. At least she wasn’t dead? “I’m guessing that means you’re the type really committed to making a family work.”
“That would be nice.” She crossed her legs toward Alicia.
Hello, sexy pants . “Trust me when I say I’ve had plenty of opportunities to at least get engaged.
Every time I came home from school, my father had a selection lined up for me.
Started with boys, of course.” Danica chuckled.
“My father is not… pleased with my proclivities. He blames himself for my sexuality. Thinks that I was surrounded by too much testosterone and his own womanizing. We’ve already fought about it quite a bit.
He’s very… old-fashioned.” That chuckle turned into a sigh.
“But once he realized there was no forcing me to marry a man, he took it as an opportunity to butchify me further. Get the son he never had. Which meant bringing a new wife into the picture. For me, of course. Girls from all over the world, each one from their own prestigious family. They were always the meekest, most uninteresting people. Or so out of control that I didn’t dare get within twenty feet of them. ” She drank without a second thought.
“I see.” Rich, well-bred women from all over the world? Sheesh. “Any princesses?”
“Actually?” Alicia didn’t know if that grin was facetious or serious. “One. The youngest daughter of a principality came knocking a few years ago. She would have lost her title marrying a commoner like me, but her family thought it worth it… my family has twice as much money as they do.”
“So a step down, huh?”
“As I said,” Danica leaned forward, drink dangling between her legs. “I don’t ‘date’ unless it’s with serious intent.”
“You have serious intent with me, huh?”
“I take my gut instincts seriously. If it says to give you a healthy chance, then I’m inclined to listen.”
She was on the verge of popping out the M word again.
Already! “Unfortunately, I doubt your family would accept me, should it ever get that far. Sounds like they’re intent on marrying you to someone more on your social or at least financial level.
I barely have an income. My debt is as much as you pay for your dock space rent. ”
“That would be my father who cares that much.” Danica ignored the other things said. “Except he’s not the one getting married, is he? He never remarried after my mother, and that was a marriage of convenience arranged by their parents. They only met a handful of times before marrying.”
“Wow.” Things really were different at this level, considering Danica was born in, what, the mid-90s? “No wonder they got divorced.” Alicia bit her lip. “I mean… excuse me.”
“No excusing necessary. You’re not wrong.”
They sat in silence for more than a minute, Danica nursing her drink while in deep thought and Alicia staring at the blank TV before them.
This woman is something else . She had brought up love at first sight and marriage so many times tonight that Alicia wondered if she actually had any solid handle on reality.
No woman jumped right into the marriage talk unless she was unhinged…