Her heart squeezed with joy on Caitlyn’s behalf. There was only one reason Ben could be here—he’d finally realized what an asshole he’d been and was here to win her back. Thank God. Caitlyn deserved her happily ever after. And so did Ben.
Despite everything he’d put her friend through, she’d always liked Ben. Maybe because he reminded her of herself. The first time she’d met him at Cagney’s, she’d spotted it—the way he kept a distance between himself and Caitlyn. The way he sought out fun and adventure but steered clear of commitment. She could definitely relate.
But look at him now. A flicker of pity shot through her. He was leaning against the theater panting, like he’d just run miles to get here. The poor schmuck had gone and done it—he’d gone and fallen in love.
Another one bites the dust.
Ben’s eyes moved from her in her gown to Nicholas in his scrubs, studying them. She waited for him to take a crack at Nicholas, but he turned to her, more than a little wariness in his eyes.
“Hey there, sailor,” she said.
Surprise flickered in his eyes—no doubt he’d expected her to chew him out for the shitty way he’d broken her friend’s heart. And he was right to think that, especially since she’d vowed physical harm if he ever hurt her. But there was something so pathetic about him just then that she didn’t have the heart to pile on more pain.
The surprise passed and his eyes focused on her, taking in the dress, the hair, the gloves. “Gilda?”
Alice nodded, barely suppressing her amusement as she watched him eyeing the front door, looking like a man possessed. The poor fool knew Caitlyn was in there and the pitiful puppy dog look on his face was almost more than she could bear.
“What are you waiting for? Go on and win back your girl.”
In a second, Ben had disappeared into the lobby.
Alone once again, Alice faced Nicholas, her confidence slightly shaken by the sight of Ben, though she couldn’t say way. Maybe because he was a loner like her…and he’d crumbled. Not that she wasn’t happy for Caitlyn, but still. It was a loss for Team Anti-Love, for sure.
She pulled herself up to her full height, which, even with heels, had her looking up at him. Her forehead just reached that ridiculously square jaw of his. She cleared her throat. “So it’s agreed then,” she said, feeling the need to spell it out. “We’ll work together on this project, but it will be strictly professional.”
He didn’t answer immediately, and her stomach clenched with irrational fear.
When he finally spoke, it came out slowly, as if he was carefully choosing each word. “I like you, Alice.” He paused and she felt his gaze studying her reaction. If that was the case, he probably hadn’t missed the fact that she’d held her breath at those words.
Don’t panic, she told herself even as the panicky sensation stole over her. They were just words. Harmless words. It wasn’t like he was proclaiming his love for her. Besides, he barely knew her. Once he got to know her he’d change his mind—they always did.
As if reading her thoughts, he continued on in that same slow, gentle tone, as if he was afraid of spooking her. “I don’t know you very well. But I’d like to change that. I think working together could be a great way to fix that.”
She forced herself to release the breath she’d been holding as naturally as possible. “I wasn’t aware that was an issue we needed to remedy,” she said as lightly as she could manage.
His flicker of a frown showed her that her barb had struck exactly as intended. Be as sweet as you want, Prince Charming, I’m not falling for it.
Instead of backing away as he should have, he took a step closer so they were nearly touching. She tried not to hold her breath, but his deliciously male scent was making her dizzy and the feel of his warm body so close made her mouth go dry.
He reached out and lightly touched her chin so she was forced to meet his gaze.
“I like you,” he said again in that slow, deliberate way. “But I won’t push you.”
Her scattered brain clung to the second part of that sentence. He wouldn’t push her. And while she had no reason to trust this guy—every instinct told her he meant what he said. He was far too old-fashioned and gallant to lie about that.
Gallant. The word nearly made her laugh aloud. She couldn’t remember ever thinking anyone was gallant—that was a word reserved for fairy tales and princes. She supposed it was perfectly fitting for the knight in shining armor before her as well.
“Fine,” she said, taking a step back and stumbling a bit as her heel met with the side of the theater’s brick wall. She glared at him in warning when he reached out to steady her, and he drew his hand back quickly.
She inwardly cursed at her clumsiness at such a crucial moment. Why was it she lost all sense of grace and composure when this guy was around? Wetting her lips she tried again, this time sticking out a hand for him to shake. “Fine,” she said. “It’s agreed. We will work together, but we will keep it strictly business.”
His lips parted as if to protest, but she saw him concede with a small, self-deprecating laugh. He reached to take her outstretched hand, and she instantly knew she’d made a mistake. His hand was warm and enveloped hers, sending electric energy pulsing through her.
A handshake—such a simple touch, but so intimate.
She shook her head in disgust as she tugged her hand out of his. There was nothing intimate about it. It was a business deal.
So why were her hands shaking as she looked up into his warm gaze? And why was he looking at her like she’d just agreed to more—like this was something more. He leaned in then and for one heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to kiss her. And the worst part was that she wanted him to. A little part of her nearly closed the distance between them, impatient to feel his lips on hers even though her brain was screaming, “Bad idea!”
But just before their lips met, he moved his head slightly to the side so his lips were next to her ear. “We can agree that this is strictly professional,” he said in a low voice that made her shiver. “But you can’t stop me from liking you.”
Alice gasped and her mouth fell open as she tried to think of the appropriate dismissive comment. The snide sarcastic remark that would turn him off. But her brain was a blank, and all too soon he turned around and walked away from her, leaving her stunned and shaken.
Chapter 6
An hour later, Alice was bundled up in her comfiest pajamas, an open box of Oreos in front of her sitting next to a glass of milk. Sophisticated it was not, but she’d needed comfort, not class. Besides, no one was here to judge her.
Even as she thought it, her door buzzer rang, startling her off the couch. Who the hell…? Nicholas. He knew where she lived, maybe he hadn’t been content with the way they’d left things. Her heart hammered in her chest, but for the life of her Alice couldn’t figure out if it was due to nervous excitement or terrified dread.
She still didn’t know when she swung the door open, but her heart stopped its hectic pace at the sight of her sister in her doorway, her lips pinched tight.
“Meg! What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
Meg held up a hand to silence her as her all-seeing gaze took in Alice’s boxy pajamas and the black-and-white flickering in the dark apartment. “You’re here?” she said, her voice shrill. With a sound of disgust she whipped out her phone to text someone.
“What are you doing?” Alice asked.
“Telling Jake I found you and he can call off the search and rescue team.”
Alice’s stomach plummeted. Guilt gnawed at her. She probably should have told someone at the party before she’d taken off like that. But she’d been…rattled. No, rattled didn’t cover it.
You can’t stop me from liking you. His words had echoed through her and she’d found herself standing there alone with a confusing mix of emotions. She’d been inexplicably pleased, she couldn’t deny it. Something about the certainty in his voice—the sincerity—filled he
r chest with a joy that even now threatened to burst out when she wasn’t paying attention.
But terror had far outweighed the happiness. So much so that she wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there, paralyzed outside the front doors of the theater, shaking from the cold and…something else. It wasn’t until a tipsy couple stumbled out of the theater and bumped into her that she was finally spurred into action.
And she couldn’t bring herself to go back to the party—she just couldn’t. Not to make idle chit-chat or catch concerned glances from her sister and friend, and certainly not to watch Ben and Caitlyn have their happily ever after. She just couldn’t. So she’d run.
But now, watching Meg finish up texting and put her phone away with a weary sigh, Alice was consumed with guilt. Opening the door farther to invite her sister in, she mumbled, “Sorry, sis.”
Meg rolled her eyes as she stormed past her and fell onto Alice’s white leather couch. “It’s okay. I needed to get out of there and off my feet anyways.” With that she propped her feet up on Alice’s coffee table. She shot her one more scowl. “But you shouldn’t have worried me like that.”
Alice fell onto the couch beside her. “I know.”
And that was it. Meg had a quick temper but never held a grudge. “So what happened?” she asked, reaching for a cookie.
Alice feigned nonchalance, even though she knew she couldn’t fool her sister. “Nothing. I just got tired.”
Meg snorted. “Right. Miss Party Planner Extraordinaire suddenly developed an aversion to parties?”
Alice picked up a cookie and toyed with it as she considered how much to tell her sister. “It’s a work thing.” That wasn’t a total lie—this situation with Nicholas did have to do with work. She took a bite of the cookie, pleased that she’d told the truth, albeit a partial truth.
“Uh-huh,” Meg said, her eyes never wavering from Alice. “So it had nothing to do with the hot doctor you were talking to?”
Alice sighed. “We’re working together. That’s all.”
“Is it?” Meg asked. “Because I’m pretty sure I saw some sparks flying. And Ben said you two looked…intimate.”
Alice gaped at her sister. “Ben said that? Since when did Ben become an expert on intimacy?” She drew the word out mockingly.
Meg grinned. “Since he got his head of out his ass and told Caitlyn he loves her.”
Alice gasped. She couldn’t help it—her heart had clenched painfully, but it was the good kind of pain. The joyful kind. Her friend deserved to be happy, they both did. “Thank God,” she said on an exhale.
Meg nodded. “Right? About time.”
Alice laughed at her sister’s disgruntled tone. Meg had no patience when it came to her friends finding their soul mates. What she never seemed to understand was that, A, not everyone wanted to find a soul mate and, B, not everyone who did was lucky enough to meet said soul mate during their freshman year of college like she had.
“What happened? What did he say?” Alice asked.
“Uh-uh, you are not distracting me with talk of Caitlyn and Ben,” Meg said, her arms folded over her chest in a stubborn pose Alice knew all too well.
She widened her eyes in her best innocent look. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Meg sighed. “You’re trying to distract me, and it’s not going to work. You had me worried tonight and I’m not leaving here until I know why you fled like that.”
When Alice failed to respond, Meg patted her belly. “You made me stressed. The least you can do is spill.”
Alice fell back against the couch cushions in defeat. There was no way she was going to outlast her stubborn sister; she might as well tell her the truth. “I, uh…”
Meg was waiting expectantly but Alice found herself at a loss for words. She would tell the truth…if she knew what it was.
“Oh my God,” Meg murmured beside her.
Alice turned quickly to face her. “What?”
Her sister shook her head. “This is worse than I thought. You like this guy.”
Alice jerked back so quickly she nearly toppled over on the sofa. “What? No. No, I don’t.”
Meg’s mouth slammed shut, but she continued to stare with those all-seeing eyes and that smug look.
“I don’t like him,” Alice snapped. “I barely know the guy.”
Meg’s silence was irritating and grating on her nerves. It was like she was outright saying, Yeah, right.
“I slept with him, okay?”
Meg didn’t so much as blink. But then, Alice wasn’t exactly known for being chaste.
“And I didn’t expect to have to work with him.” She bit the inside of her lip to shut herself up, but Meg’s expectant silence was all but begging to be answered. “Okay, fine, I never expected to see him again. Oh, maybe every once in a while since he lives in this building, but that…that I could handle.”
She stared at the TV screen, barely registering the movie that was playing as she replayed that evening’s run in for the millionth time.
“But working with him—that you don’t think you can handle?” Meg’s quiet voice cut into her memories.
“What? Oh…no. I mean, yes, I can. Of course, I can. I’m a professional.” Even to her own ears, she sounded like she was protesting too much. Dammit, he wasn’t even around and he had her rattled.
When she turned to face her sister, she caught her small smile that she was struggling to hide.
“What are you laughing at?” she demanded.
Meg shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just—I’ve never seen you so...”
“So, what?”
Meg shrugged. “Out of control, I guess. You always seem to have it all together. You’re always so…”
Cold. Hard. Poised. Confident. These were all words she’d heard used to describe the vibe she exuded. It was a façade she’d worked hard to create—an illusion years in the making. And he seemed to knock it down without even trying the moment he entered a room or her thoughts, for that matter.
Meg never finished her sentence, turning to her with a wide grin instead. “I like this guy.”
Alice gaped at her. “You haven’t even met him.”
Meg shrugged. “I don’t have to. I can see the effect he has on you right in front of my eyes. Maybe he’s exactly what you need.”
Alice shook her head as her sister was talking. Oh no. No, no, no. She caught the excited glimmer in her sister’s eyes. It was her crazed romantic look—the one that screamed matrimony and motherhood. Meg had never gotten it through her thick skull that the monogamous life was not for her. She’d thought her sister had finally given up, but watching her obvious excitement now, it was clear she was still as obsessed as ever.
“Don’t go there, Meg. I’m serious. I don’t want to hear your theories about true love and all that crap.”
Meg pressed her lips together in a dramatic show that she would keep her romantic thoughts to herself.
Alice rolled her eyes at her sister’s response, but she was stifling a laugh. “Okay, fine. Say what you have to say.”
Meg shook her head. “No, you don’t want to hear it, and I can respect that.”
Her sister sounded like she had much more to say on the topic. “But?”
“But,” Meg continued on quickly. “I do think it’s rather…telling…that you reacted the way you did tonight.”
Alice tried to muster up a defensive response but was temporarily stuck. Her reaction had been over the top. Running away like that? Letting his words get into her head? She’d overreacted in a major way.
She shook her head quickly. That was it. Her sister was right, her reaction was out of proportion, and that was inexcusable. He may rattle her, but she was in control of her responses. She would dictate how she acted around him and how their relationship did—or did not—progress.
She straightened her shoulders at the thought. Control was practically her middle name. She’d been leading bo
ys around on a string since she was old enough to know what boys were. This man would be no different. She’d been thrown off by the sudden shifts in his place in her life that was all—in the course of a week he’d gone from nameless savior, to hot lover, to annoyingly persistent rejected lover, to business partner. It was enough to make anyone’s head spin.
But not anymore. She’d just needed some distance. Some perspective. Both of which she had now, thank you very much. She turned back to her sister with a satisfied smile.
“Dr. Nicholas Bale is my temporary colleague, but that is all.”
Meg raised one brow as she peered at her over her glass of milk. “Are you sure about that?”
She nodded with more confidence than she felt. “Absolutely. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll make sure we stay focused on the business at hand, and once the fundraiser is over, we’ll go our own ways.”
* * * *
Nicholas held his phone to his ear to his shoulder as he carried two steaming hot cups of coffee into Alice’s office building. There was every chance that at least one of these cups of coffee would soon be spilled all over him, but it was a chance he was willing to take. Coffee wasn’t much of a present to soften the blow, but it wasn’t like he could walk into Alice’s office with roses and chocolates—not if he expected to live.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Claudia asked on the other end of the line.
No. “Yes.”
“I mean it’s almost like you’re blackmailing her into a date—”
“It is not blackmail,” he interrupted. “I’m just…upping the ante a bit. Besides, she really does need to meet the hospital’s biggest donors, and what better way than to do it than at tonight’s gala?”
“As your date,” Claudia finished in a dry voice.
“As my colleague who is accompanying me,” he corrected. He ignored the uneasy feeling in his stomach that may or may not have been guilt, thanks to his friend’s less-than-supportive response to this latest plan.
But really, what other option did he have? Alice had taken the “business only” aspect of their relationship to the extreme. If he called, she sent him to voicemail and followed up with an impersonal email—usually one laden with bullet points. If he stopped into the office, he would inevitably find that she had stepped out or was conveniently in the middle of a meeting. The last time he’d tried to surprise her with a visit, one of the assistants had informed him none-too-politely that he should really consider making an appointment ahead of time to avoid wasting his time.
His Leading Lady Page 9