Chapter 14 Pizza, Plans, and Puppy Dog Eyes
Pizza, Plans, and Puppy Dog Eyes
Alyssa
Being made to feel like a liar was not Alyssa’s idea of a good time.
Three days had passed since Evelyn’s visit to Four Paws—the one that had been so spectacularly disrupted by Hannah showing up.
The epic miscommunication that followed.
The awkward hug goodbye after Alyssa had explained that Lil wasn’t her girlfriend.
Hannah had accused Alyssa of moving on to her next notch on the bedpost. Normally, an accusation like that was water off Alyssa’s back.
But when that comment was aimed at Evelyn, it irked her.
Evelyn wasn’t a notch on the bedpost. She was a friend—a very sexy friend that Alyssa wanted to do naughty things with, but not just for one night.
And that’s where the lie came in. Or was it? During her time with Hannah as friends with occasional benefits, Alyssa had been straightforward, honest about her intentions—or lack thereof—because she wasn’t lying when she told Hannah they could never be more than what they were.
Alyssa didn’t have the time or inclination to be in a relationship. Four Paws was her chief priority. But now? Shit, there was something about Evelyn Crawford that made Alyssa, for the first time ever, want more.
Why did Bug have to go wandering off to Evelyn’s office? If he’d just stayed in the lower offices, this wouldn’t be happening!
Those were the kinds of thoughts that had been circulating around Alyssa’s head since Evelyn’s visit.
Not only had they been interrupted by Hannah, but Evelyn had thought she was a cheat.
How could they have gotten their wires crossed so badly?
The evening had ended with an awkward goodbye and a promise for lunch on Monday.
It was Tuesday now, and no lunches had happened. Evelyn apparently couldn’t stop for an hour, too swamped to eat lunch. Bug still got to visit, which sounded petulant, but that’s where Alyssa’s state of mind was at. Jealous of Bug getting to spend time with Evelyn.
Now Evelyn was Bug’s official volunteer, Alyssa didn’t have an excuse to go to the CEO’s office every day.
But she wanted to! Boy, did she want to—even if she could only see the woman for five minutes.
What was happening to her? How had Evelyn got under her skin so easily?
For the first time…ever, Alyssa was struggling to concentrate on the sanctuary.
Sure, she got the jobs done, but her focus was on the twentieth floor.
“What is wrong with you?” Lil huffed, jabbing Alyssa in the arm. They were spending the afternoon at Four Paws combing over their finances. It wasn’t a fun task, but not something they could shirk.
“Nothing,” Alyssa huffed back. Her mood had soured over the past forty-eight hours and Lil had noticed.
“Wanna try that again? Jesus, Al, you’ve got a face like a wet weekend.”
“Just had a thing with Hannah.”
“What does that mean? Bloody hell, Alyssa, spit it out.”
“She came over unannounced on Saturday. Asking me to reconsider having a relationship with her.”
“Right, and how did that go?”
“I told her I’m not the relationship type and that she always knew the score.”
“Okay, and?”
“Then she left.” Not the entire story, but Alyssa wasn’t sure she could explain what had happened without trying to make sense of her frustrating feelings.
“Tell you what, I’m going to go make a coffee and give you time to settle down. Then you can tell me the rest of the story and I can help.” Lil didn’t wait for Alyssa’s response.
Closing her eyes, Alyssa growled under her breath. This is why she didn’t do relationships and feelings. All those things ever brought was frustration.
“Can we not talk about it?” Alyssa pleaded when Lil placed her coffee in front of her five minutes later.
“Nope. You’ve been in funk and I don’t like it. C’mon, spill.”
“You’re so annoying.” Lil nodded in agreement and smiled sweetly. Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Evelyn was with me when Hannah arrived. I’d given Evelyn a tour of the shelter and asked her to stay for dinner.”
Chancing a look at Lil, Alyssa wanted to growl again. Lil wore a satisfied grin that rubbed Alyssa up the wrong way.
“Go on,” Lil urged.
“Hannah accused me of moving on to my next fling, which I don’t really care about, but…”
“You don’t want Evelyn to see you that way.”
“Yeah, I suppose. But it got worse. When I finally got rid of Hannah, Evelyn asked if you were okay with me sleeping with other women.”
“Why the bloody hell would I care who you’re shagging?” The look of bewilderment made Alyssa laugh.
“She thought you and I were a couple?”
“Why?” Lil laughed. “That’s ridiculous, and gross.”
“Hey!” Alyssa laughed.
“It’s gross,” Lil repeated.
“It is. Anyway…when we first met, I introduced you as my partner. I meant business partner, but Evelyn thought I meant life partner.”
“So all these weeks she’s been flirting with my girlfriend?” Lil gasped, holding her hand to her heart.
“Oh stop. She has not been flirting.”
“Alyssa, don’t be a moron. Of course she has. And why wouldn’t she? I knew the two of you were into each other.”
“Lil, c’mon, it’s not like that.”
“Oh, give me a break. Why are you in such a tizzy then, if it’s ‘not like that’?”
Bloody Lil. Ugh. “Okay fine. I have been feeling stuff.”
“God, you’re so deep and enlightened, Alyssa. You should think of doing some life coaching on the side,” Lil deadpanned.
“Look, I stand by what I said to Hannah. I don’t do relationships, I haven’t got the time—”
“But…?”
“But,” Alyssa sighed, “I can’t get Evelyn out of my mind. I want to spend time with her. Get to know her more than I already do and it’s frustrating me. I can’t concentrate on the things I need to. I feel like a liar, like I misled Hannah.”
“Alyssa, sweetie, you didn’t mislead anyone. You can’t help who you fall for.”
“Hold your horses, lady, no one said I was falling for anyone.”
“Didn’t you? I mean, you’ve just described everything that happens when you meet and fall for someone. Tell me. When you wake up, do you think of her first or the centre?”
Alyssa’s face flared red. Over the course of the past few weeks, Evelyn had been invading her mind more often. To the point Alyssa thought of her when she woke up, or grabbed a coffee, or lunch. It didn’t seem to matter the time of day. Evelyn Crawford was never far from Alyssa’s mind.
“Shit,” she hissed.
“Stop fretting. It’s not the end of the world to like someone, Al. Look, you know I have respected your choices regarding relationships and all that jazz, but I’d be a shitty friend if I didn’t give it to you straight.”
Well, this sounds ominous.
“The shelter isn’t going anywhere, Alyssa.
You have a crack team of people behind you, all willing to put in the hard work.
I think we’ve all proven how valuable we are.
I totally understood your aversion to relationships when you first got Four Paws up and running.
There was a lot to do, and you needed to focus.
But the thing is, you don’t need to focus that hard anymore. ”
“This place is my home, Lil,” Alyssa argued.
“Of course it is, and no one is saying otherwise. But the truth is you could, if you wanted to, dedicate some of your fierce focus on a woman. Obviously, the right lady has never come along, but I think that’s changed.
Evelyn likes you, that’s plain to see, and you like her.
Refusing to do anything about it is just stubbornness on your part. But it’s your choice.”
“Christ, tell me how you really feel, Lil,” Alyssa groaned. She was feeling pissy because her friend was right.
“I always will. Now, will you stop moping and help me get this finance shite out of the way so I can go home?”
“Who’s collecting the dogs?”
“You are. Get the pack and talk to Evelyn whilst you’re there.”
“Ricky, what are you doing here?” It was almost half five, and Alyssa had just arrived to collect the dogs.
“I’m taking the dogs back. Lil called me earlier, asked if I could stop by. Said you would drop the van off and she’d give me a lift into work tomorrow.”
Lil, you conniving so and so!
“Oh, my mistake. I thought I was taking them back.” Lil had set her up knowing full well that without the excuse of getting the dogs, Alyssa would not have come to Crawford’s today.
“No worries. I’ll get them loaded. You okay getting home?”
Lil hadn’t thought it through at all. How was Alyssa supposed to get home?
Well, she could take Ricky’s car, she supposed.
Oh, hang on a minute, Alyssa understood now.
Lil expected her to talk to Evelyn with the hope that more would happen and that she would either go back to Evelyn’s or ask her for a lift home. Neither one was going to happen.
“I’ll drive your car back if that’s cool. You get everyone ready and I’ll meet you back there. Don’t worry about Bug, I’ll bring him with me.”
“Roger Dodger! See you later, Al.”
Alyssa waited for Ricky to leave. She needed a moment to gather herself.
Even though she had no intention of going anywhere with Evelyn tonight, she wanted to clear the air between them.
When Evelyn found out Alyssa was not with Lil, she acted a little oddly.
Alyssa couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
However, the fact Alyssa felt Evelyn was avoiding her was enough to warrant a discussion.
They were becoming fast friends, and no matter how Alyssa’s feeling evolved, she didn’t want to lose that friendship.
As usual, the top floor was quiet when Alyssa arrived. Only a couple of employees lingered, but they were chatting amongst themselves, too busy discussing EastEnders to take notice of her.
Evelyn’s raised voice echoed through the door to her office. “Daniel, I don’t care. I have no time to plan a bloody Christmas event. It should have been done months ago.”
Alyssa stopped and listened.
“Dad might have always organised it, but he isn’t here and this is the first I’m hearing about it.”