by R. S. Lively
"How could this happen?" I lament. "I was just starting to think things might work out. I was actually getting excited about the future, then this happens."
"You can still be excited about the future," Dean says.
"Don't give up, Alice. Things are still going to work out. This is just a fluke. I'm sorry if I scared you."
"You don't need to apologize. It is scary."
"But it's going to get fixed. Shannon will be back in the morning and the crew can start cleaning up. I'll call a locksmith and have them take a look at the door. As for tonight, I promised you a second adventure. Lee, are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"I'm going home," he says. "I'm going to put on my fuzzy slippers and binge watch that show with the big men making barbecue. You take care of her."
I hug my best friend, feeling like I've missed out on too many hugs in recent days. We walk out of the theater together and the air feels suddenly colder. I watch until Lee is in a taxi and headed down the road before turning back to Dean and curling up into his arms.
"You just have to try to put it out of your mind and keep going."
"I just don't want to think about it anymore. Make me not think about it anymore."
"I can do that."
Chapter Twenty-One
Dean
The next night…
I will never underestimate the power of a woman who can look at three pictures of another woman and know not only what style of dress would look right on her, but also the exact size. I'm not the type of man to even begin try to do something like that. I might think I know what I'd like to see Alice in, but somehow, I don't think it would translate into reality well. At least, not a reality in which anyone else gets to see her. So, when I went about planning this getaway for Alice, knowing she would need a dress for tonight's dinner, I did the only logical thing I could in such a situation. I snapped pictures of her when she wasn't paying attention and sent them to Emma and Victoria.
The result is exquisite. Alice wasn't completely sold on the idea of a getaway in the same city where she lives, but the presidential suite was enough to convince her. Waking up to this dress being delivered to her wiped everything else out of her mind, which is exactly what I want. I hate the look of worry in her eyes and the lines that pull down on the corners of her mouth at each new layer of stress that seems to show up. At least Micah decided to follow my instructions and back off. It will give her time to get through with the improvements to the theater and stage Luella's farewell and Alice's comeback.
I have to keep reminding myself how important it is for Alice to feel like she overcame this on her own. Even with Luella's endowment and choosing Wonderland for her bucket list performance buoying her, Alice is making the decisions about her theater and will be able to have the satisfaction of finally buying out the contract. Telling myself that on repeat throughout the day is the only thing that keeps me from spilling the truth to her. Every time those wide blue eyes gaze at me from across the room or her hand curls into mine, I feel the words swelling up in my chest. She deserves to know, and yet I question if it would actually do any good. It might make me feel better to lay it all out and make sure she knows all the details. But would it help her?
The risk of embarrassing her or taking away what she had put so much of herself into in honor of her father, isn't one I want to take.
"Where are you?"
The sound of Alice's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"What?"
She laughs softly.
"You looked like you were about a million miles away, which would be extremely ironic considering staying in a hotel less than ten minutes from your house was your idea."
"I told you I thought getting away from all your familiar surroundings would help take your mind off everything."
"It has definitely worked."
The deep green color of her dress brings out Alice's eyes and makes her pale skin look almost translucent. It's not tight, but the way the gauzy fabric flows down her body and accentuates her curves is somehow even sexier.
"You know, we didn't even explore the whole room," I tell her as we walk back across the hotel lobby and cross to the elevators.
"We didn't?"
I shake my head. We step through the gleaming doors and I insert our room key to grant access to the private floor. When the elevator starts to move, I reach out for her hips. Leaning back against the wall, I guide her against me and dip my head forward to kiss the center of her chest right above the square neckline of the dress.
"There is more I want to show you."
I kiss up along the side of her neck, then her lips as I move my head to the other side and kiss down her neck again. We arrive at the top floor of the building too soon, but my disappointment is short-lived when I remind myself what is waiting for us inside the suite. I guide her through the room to the feature that made me choose this specific hotel. A questioning look comes to her eyes when she steps through the door and onto the tile deck of the indoor pool.
"A pool?" Alice asks.
"Maybe it will get you into the spirit."
"I thought your goal was to make me not think about the theater."
"Not think about it as it is right now. This is practice for the future." I smile and nod toward the pool. "Want to take a swim?"
"That wall is glass," she says with uncertainty, staring ahead through what looks like a huge floor-to-ceiling window.
"It's one-way glass," I explain. "You can see out, but no one can see you."
She still looks hesitant, so I shrug and release her hand. I kick off my shoes at the edge of the pool, then step in. I wade in to the water backwards, maintaining eye contact. Alice stands transfixed on the edge of the pool, her mouth parted slightly in shock and amusement as the expensive suit I wear begins to soak and cling to me. I loosen my tie and pull it over my head, tossing it and my jacket somewhere in the water behind me. I don’t care where they go. All that matters, is if she is going to join me.
Her smile slowly changes, going from amused and shocked to engaged and mischievous. One shoe slips off her foot, and she dips her painted toenails into the water. The air around us in the heated room is humid and hot, but the water is just cool enough to take the edge off without being cold. Slowly she sits down, letting her legs, now both free of her heels, sink into the water.
I step back further now, beckoning to her to join me as I unbutton the top few buttons of my shirt. She shakes her head and uses one finger to signal that she wants me to come to her. As I begin moving closer, she slips into the water, a slight giggle escaping her lips as the water rushes around her waist. She begins to walk toward me as I move to her, and we meet just as the water crests her breasts, soaking the dress and making it cling to her. The sight is utterly entrancing.
I crush my mouth into her, our tongues instantly dancing across one another, hungry for the other’s taste. Her hands move to my chest and she grabs the open collar, ripping outward. Buttons pop as my shirt opens for her. She releases her kiss to begin moving her mouth along my neck. I reach behind her to find the zipper of her dress and begin to pull it down. I get as far as her lower back before I scoop her up, her legs wrapping around my waist and her mouth brought back to mine.
I carry her to the edge of the pool, the dress now slipping down her body until they cling to her only by her taut nipples. I pull it down farther as we reach the pool wall, exposing her breasts to me, and I take one nipple into my mouth immediately. My tongue swirls around it, flicking it lightly before I suck it in. My fingers play on her other nipple and I can feel her breath hitch below me. Her hands leave the back of my neck and begin searching for my belt, yanking on it until it comes loose.
When the belt is undone, she pulls it off of me and tosses it behind her. I respond by lifting her up again and placing her ass on the edge of the pool. I grab the sides of her dress and begin pulling it off of her, and she lifts herself up to let it come off completely. Even though our room is high
above the sprawling city, where no one could get a vantage point well enough to see us, I can tell the excitement of being surrounded by the wall-sized windows overlooking the city, and hearing the sounds of the bustling below us, adds another layer of the excitement for her. It does for me too.
With her body fully exposed to me now, I part her legs and slide between them. I turn my attention to her other breast now, my bare stomach now resting against her core. I can feel warmth radiating off of her, her anticipation nearly overflowing, but I am determined to take my time. My tongue traces the swells of her breasts and begins to slowly move down her center. As I reach her core, her body raises again, her sweet pussy rising to meet me. I lick her gently, running my tongue all around her center before plunging it inside of her.
Her sweet taste fills my mouth, and I relish the moment of being inside of her. She cries out, one hand holding herself up and the other grasping at the back of my head, grabbing a handful of hair. I slide my tongue out of her and up to her swollen clit. I nudge it gently, opening it up to my touch, as her legs move to clench around my neck. Her body is vibrating with pleasure. I slide my hands up her thighs, messaging as I go. I can feel her head fall backward and an uninhibited cry escape from her lips as I slip a finger deep inside her, continuing to swirl my tongue. I dip inside of her in an increasingly faster rhythm, her body humming below me and her cries beginning to become staccato and louder. Suddenly, she bucks hard into my mouth, a near scream emitting from her, and she crumples to the ground, both hands now clenching my hair. My tongue applies pressure to her clit as she rides the wave until her legs tremble and her body begins to relax.
I pull myself up until I can place one knee on the edge of the pool. Beside me, Alice stirs and begins to sit up. From the soaked pocket of my pants I pull out a condom packet and tear it with my teeth. It falls from the silver packet and lands on my lap, but before I can reach for it, Alice already has. She crawls forward on her knees, one hand holding the condom and the other pulling at my zipper. I unbutton my pants and she slides them off of me. I go to pull off my boxers, but she reaches up and grabs them herself, pulling them down and allowing my erection to spring out at her.
Without hesitation, she takes me into her mouth, one hand stroking at the base and the other unraveling the condom a bit. Her mouth is intoxicatingly warm and wet. Her head bobs and her hand twists as it strokes me. I fight the urge to come now, and Alice must sense it too. Her mouth slides off of my cock and her hand places the condom on the tip. She pulls it down a little bit before placing her mouth on me again and pushes it down as far as she can with her lips.
Once it is in place, she slides back down into the pool, beckoning a finger at me to join her. I slip back into the water. Her eyes dance across my body and soon I am as naked as she is, our bodies pressing together again. Just the feel of her breasts against my chest as I kiss her is enough to drive me mad, and I scoop her back up in my arms.
The tip of my erection brushes against her core and I hear her inhale sharply. Alice shimmies down me, moving her hips until she can feel my throbbing cock push against her opening. I gasp into her with another desperate kiss and her hips clamp down onto me, plunging me into her. She cries out into my mouth as I pull her hips down, filling her as deeply as I can. The water surrounds us and creates a wave near us as I thrust into her, pushing her into the wall. Her arms rest across the top of the pool, the position pushing her breasts up toward my mouth, and I take the invitation. Her legs are wrapped around me, and I suckle on her nipples as I pound into her.
Alice’s voice rises in volume, her cries continuing to ring out of her. I can barely contain myself already, but I want her to feel every inch of my desire for her. I pull myself back and her legs release me enough that I spin her around by her waist. Without waiting, I pull her ass back to me and plunge back into her core, my arm wrapping over her shoulder so I can pull her close to me and clasp her breasts. My mouth rests near her ear and her moaning sends me spiraling into a frenzy. I thrust into her rapidly, my other arm wrapping around her hips and pulling her into me as I did so.
Our voices rise together, and her body begins to tremble again. I can feel her tensing up as she reaches the peak of another orgasm and I push myself even harder into her. The intensity of our bodies melding rises, and I can’t hold myself back any longer. I pull her into me, my cock pushing as far into the walls of her as possible, and I let out a roar. I empty into her, my body convulsing as I come hard. Both of us are panting as we relax into each other, held up against the wall, our mouths meeting for another deep kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alice
The next day…
"How was your staycation?" Lee asks with a kiss to my cheek as I walk up to the door of Wonderland the next morning. "Where's Dean?"
"He dropped me off at my apartment this morning and said he'll meet us here."
As I say the words, Dean comes down the sidewalk toward us carrying a drink holder with three cups in it. He offers the first to Lee.
"Thank you."
"Do you tell him everything before you tell me?" I ask.
He hands me the second cup, and I smell caramel-laced hot chocolate rising up out of it.
"Not everything," Dean says.
"Our staycation?" I glance at Lee. "I hate that word, by the way."
"You said 'bae' to me. You had it coming." Lee raises his hands in protest.
"I told him about that. But only after we left the theater that night. I figured it would be best for him to know where we were going to be," explains Dean.
"And his coffee?"
"Lee always wants coffee."
"Yes, I do," pipes in Lee.
Shaking my head, I laugh, open the door to Wonderland and step inside. I immediately notice all the destruction that was here the night the police were called is gone. No more glass sparkles across the floor, and the walls are pristine. The vintage wallpaper is completely untouched like nothing ever happened to it. I rush up to it and run my hand along the area that used to be streaked with black and red. Unexpected tears come to my eyes.
“I didn't think they would be able to save the paper,” I say. “This has been here for decades and I was sure that paint was going to destroy it. Shannon and her team did an incredible job. Remind me to think of something I can do to thank them.”
“Shannon did a lot,” Lee says. “She's the one who fixed the broken glass and replaced all the materials that had been ruined. But she was just as stumped by the spray paint as you were.”
“She was?”
“According to her, she is a contractor, not an interior designer, and she is not equipped to handle wallpaper-related emergencies in any way other than tearing it down and replacing it. She was about to do exactly that when Dean's guys showed up.”
"Dean's guys?" I ask.
Lee looks over my shoulder toward Dean.
"You didn't tell her?"
"Tell me what?" I turn around and see Dean's face quickly soften from glaring at Lee.
"I called in a favor," he grins sheepishly.
"What kind of favor?"
"I know some guys who restore art and historic buildings for a living. They know essentially everything there is to know about cleaning and removing stains without damaging vintage or delicate materials. I knew how important it would be to you to not have any of the original elements of the building be taken away. You didn't even want them to replace the chipped crystal doorknob on a closet no one ever uses. So, I called them to see if they could come up here and work a little of their magic for you."
My brain and my heart battle for how I'm supposed to react in this situation. It's obvious I'm tumbling headlong into Dean. I've been falling for him faster than I've ever fallen for anyone else, and I'm completely Swept Away by everything he does. Like, capital letters and everything.
But that makes me hesitate. There's something strange about how incredible he is. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like there's some
thing I'm missing about him, something I don't know, and it's keeping me from letting myself truly give in to what I'm feeling. The suspicion makes me feel sick, like I'm sabotaging myself just for the sake of not having something else to worry about in my life. At the same time, there are things about Dean I don't know and don't fully understand. He has told me so much about himself and his family but has left out details that constantly creep into the back of my mind.
Finally, I know I can't ignore it anymore. I can't just keep sweeping up all the little pieces and tossing them away because I'm afraid to either jinx our relationship or make it real. The wallpaper is the last straw. Now's the time to find out who I am really dealing with.
"Dean, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Without waiting for him to answer, I stride across the lobby to the theater. Lee will be going into the office to start work for the morning and I need to have this conversation alone. I start toward my usual seat, then hesitate. Maybe it will be better if I am standing. I tend to pace when I get worked up, and if this conversation starts to go downhill, I'd like to shave time by avoiding the awkward transition from sitting to getting into the aisle.
“Is something wrong?” Dean asks when he joins me.
"Who are you?" I ask.
He looks at me strangely.
“What do you mean who am I? Are you so surprised by things actually starting to go well you've slipped into amnesia?”
“I'm serious, Dean. Who are you? Because I know you haven't told me the truth. At least, not the whole truth.”
“What is it that you think I'm not telling you?”
“If I knew that, then I wouldn't have to ask you about it. There's just something... something that isn't sitting right. Oh, my gosh, I sound like a raving lunatic.”
“Why don't you just tell me what made you come to this conclusion.”