by Kay Harris
Alice might be on this floor. Or maybe she was just below him. He didn’t think he’d find her on the first floor because that’s where the factory was, and he knew from looking at social media she worked in sales, not manufacturing.
“What do you think about helping us out?”
Darius forced himself to refocus on the conversation. He turned his attention to Everett. “I’ll have to have my manager look everything over before I sign anything.”
Everett and Julia both nodded.
“But, I like the idea. Even if it is a stretch. I mean, why me?”
He liked pretty, smelly candles as much as the next ex-NFL-quarterback, which meant he’d never purchased one in his life. So he had to ask, why would they want him to be their company spokesperson?
It wasn’t a surprise when Julia took over then. She was the VP of marketing, meaning she was in charge of this kind of thing. “We are completely rebranding the company. We’re dropping the E.E.R. and we’re just calling it Tranquility Candles. We’re launching a massive advertising effort in association with the name change, and we’re planning to expand into new markets. We need a recognizable face that can provide us with materials, photos, and commercials that are compelling.”
“How compelling can I be? I’m just a guy who used to throw a ball until I screwed up my knee.” Darius rubbed his knee under the table.
Julia shook her head. Her thin braids flew around her shoulders. “That’s not what I see.” She leaned forward, her dark eyes assessing him. “I see an all-American boy, football player, hero, and sexy-as-hell neighbor that all the women, and some men, want to borrow sugar from on a rainy Bay Area afternoon. And while they’re waiting in his candlelit kitchen for him to pour the sugar, being careful not to spill it on his bare chest, still damp from a shower, what do they smell? Tranquility candles. You get me?”
Darius chuckled. “Sex sells.”
Julia smiled. “Even candles.”
He grinned back at her. “Even candles.”
****
Darius walked a fine line. Stalking was not cool, and he certainly didn’t want to do anything that could be construed that way, even in his own conscience. So asking for a tour of the building for the sole purpose of hoping to get a peek at Alice was definitely questionable behavior.
Julia took him from the third floor down, making their way toward the entrance via all the floors, with a quick walk through each department. She didn’t introduce him to anyone or draw attention to themselves. They’d agreed they wanted to keep his involvement in the company a secret until the big reveal, and they didn’t want to attract attention that would only lead to large crowds of autograph seekers.
So he and Julia walked quietly through the building, using back hallways and creeping past departments. Alice’s department was a sea of cubicles sitting outside a wall of doors Julia told him led to the VP’s office and conference rooms.
Alice was tucked away in her cubicle. He could only see the back of her long, dark hair, which hung straight as a ruler against the back of her chair. He remembered her hair. It was pushed into a messy bun last time he’d seen her, wild and uncontrollable, just like she’d been.
Julia touched his arm. He turned to her and smiled, then followed her through the rest of the clandestine tour. His mind wasn’t in the present, though. It was on that night six years ago.
He’d had a secret crush on his brother’s girlfriend, even though she was almost four years younger than him. He’d noticed her when she was a freshman and he was a senior. She was lithe and graceful. She held herself with power and dignity in a way he couldn’t describe, but that left him in awe.
At that time she had been way too young for him. He was nearly eighteen when he’d met her, and she had just turned fourteen. He’d pushed her out of his mind.
Two years later, she had grown into herself even more. She was stunning. She was also dating his little brother.
He saw her a bit that summer between her junior and senior year. He was home from college, where he was a rising football star at U of M, on his way to the NFL. He’d come back to their small town in June to find the young girl he’d always felt guilty about wanting dating Derek, so he’d avoided them both as much as possible. But it hadn’t been easy.
Derek kept asking Darius to do things with them that summer. Derek was proud he’d managed to get the beautiful, confident Alice Bando to date him. They’d been an odd couple for sure. Alice was smart and sophisticated, whereas Derek was single-mindedly focused on football, and he wasn’t exactly a Mensa candidate.
Alice was interested in martial arts and Eastern philosophies. She always had an e-reader under her arm. Darius majored in sociology and had engaged her more than once in conversation about world religions or global politics as Derek fidgeted, bored and annoyed, at her side.
But for some reason, she’d seemed completely taken with Derek. She would look up at him adoringly, and despite her fierce independent nature, when Derek barked, she jumped. Darius found it discomforting. Each time he saw them, she seemed quieter, and Derek seemed more aggressive toward her.
Then, on September thirteenth, all hell broke loose.
Having saved Alice from her tormentors that night had earned Darius a quiet thanks and a kiss on the cheek. It had also earned him six years of silence.
DECEMBER
Chapter 2
Walker Springs. Alice hated this place. It had been three years since she’d last been talked into visiting out of sheer guilt. This year, her mother had managed it by mentioning her father’s bad heart.
The man seemed perfectly fine to Alice. He spent the majority of the time she was home working in his little tourist shop, pushing around boxes of trinkets to sell to the visitors from downstate.
But her father’s absence most days meant less awkward time sitting in her parents’ living room and not talking to him. Instead, she sat in the stuffy room, filled with stiff, uncomfortable furniture, and had stilted conversations with her mother and her two unmarried aunts.
The only relief she got in those first three days was when she went next door to see Kyle. But that had its pitfalls, too.
“I’ve made so much money, Alice. And I could work from anywhere. I’m thinking maybe I should move out to the Bay Area, like you.”
Alice took in a deep breath. She tried to ignore the yearning in Kyle’s bright blue eyes. His dusty brown hair was perfectly cut, as always, and his sharp features would be considered handsome to anyone. But he was not what she wanted.
“You would hate it,” she told him.
It was true. Kyle was at home in this small Northern Michigan town. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. He was a bit of a local celebrity. Since the townsfolk had found out Kyle’s books, written under his pen name, Ken Krocker, had taken off and earned him a healthy royalty check every month, he had all the friends and potential girlfriends he could get.
But still, he wanted Alice.
Kyle shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. “I’m sure I could get used to it.”
He had been there for Alice during the worst parts of her life. He’d been her rock when she’d needed to lean on him and her shelter in the storm when it seemed everyone else had turned on her. She loved him.
Just not like that.
She stood and whirled on her heel. “I gotta get ready for the festivities tomorrow. My mom has a few last minute things I need to get before the store closes tonight.”
Kyle shot off the couch. “You want me to come with you?”
She tilted her head. “Kyle, it’s Christmas Eve. You know your mom and grandma are gonna want you around. I can smell something amazing being cooked right now.”
They both tipped their heads toward the kitchen where Kyle’s family was surely slaving away over a pre-Christmas dinner or perhaps preparing the portions of the meal they would contribute to the multi-family traditional get together that would be held the next day at Alice’s parents’ house.
&nbs
p; Alice reached up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You sure?” Kyle followed her to the door.
“I’m positive. Go hang with your fam. I’ll see you for the big party.”
Alice ran to her mother’s car, shoving herself inside and pulling away from the curb before he could come out and slide into the vehicle with her. She practiced her breathing exercises as she drove exactly the speed limit through town to the only grocery store.
Once there, she parked the old compact car her mother had driven for decades in a spot far from the entrance. As it spat and sputtered, she wondered how her father slept at night knowing her mother had to drive the deathtrap while he got a brand new high-end lease every two years.
She locked the beast, with the key from the outside, because it was that ancient and obsolete. She crossed the snow-covered parking lot carefully, her rubber-soled shoes, more fitting for the Bay Area, sliding on the dirty, icy slush coating the asphalt. Once inside the entrance, being blasted by warm air, she pulled the carefully constructed grocery list from the side pocket of her thick parka.
“I miss California,” she grumbled as she grabbed one of the last carts in the vestibule near the front of the store and made her way into the crowded produce section.
She elbowed her way through the first three aisles without too many cart-slamming incidents. “Excuse me” and “Sorry” were becoming regular parts of her speech at this point.
Then she ran into a brick wall of people, a literal wall, right in front of the canned green beans. At first she thought maybe there was some sort of massive special on the damn beans. She glanced at her watch. Three hours until the store closed. She decided to abandon the green beans for now and come back to them, if there were any left.
She’d managed to get turned around in the tight space and dodge several oncoming carts to get around the corner to the aisle with the baking soda she needed. But something must have happened at the green bean party because she heard people saying goodbye. Then, as she was perusing the baking soda canisters, she heard a voice.
“Alice.”
Her head turned in slow motion. She knew what she would see when she looked up. She’d never forgotten that voice.
“Darius.”
He smiled, and she nearly came undone. Darius Fleck had always been a gorgeous man. She’d thought so the first day she met him. And she’d thought he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen the last time she saw him in person. On television she’d watched him get bigger, stronger, older, hotter. Now here he was in person again, and he was breathtaking.
His blond curls shifted on his head as he tilted it down to see her better. From a good foot above her, his blue eyes twinkled. Actually freaking twinkled! “It’s nuts in here, huh?”
For some reason she remembered that he was a Christmas Eve baby. It’d been mentioned by the football commenters several times, and it had stuck in her brain. “Happy birthday, by the way. Nice way to spend it.”
“Wow. You remembered. Thanks. Yeah. Um, my mom needed some stuff, and I lost rock, paper, scissors.” He stopped and shifted on his feet.
Alice was sure he was stopping himself from saying the name of the person he’d battled to get store run duty, his brother, Derek. “I take it that traffic jam was you.” She nodded her head toward the other aisle.
“Yeah. I think I got them off my back for the time being. But it won’t last.”
“Better hurry up and finish your list then, eh?” She smiled, then turned back to the baking soda.
“Wanna get a coffee?”
Alice whirled back around. “What?”
“Um…with me…wanna get a coffee with me?”
The famous, confident, hero quarterback was nervous. And after six years of avoiding him, Alice melted. “Now?”
“Yeah.”
She glanced at her cart. “What about my groceries?”
He looked like he’d just been handed a puppy. “Follow me.”
They wove through the crowds. People continuously shouted things at Darius. He waved, smiled, and kept right on going. Alice kept her cart rolling just behind him. The journey through the store ended at the customer service counter. At the same time they reached the counter, an older, balding man arrived, huffing and puffing as if he’d run at top speed to meet them. His nametag indicated he was the store manager.
“Darius! What can we do for you?” the man boomed, ignoring everyone else in the long line.
“Hi, Ed. Can we stick our carts somewhere for a little while?” He gestured to his own cart as well as Alice’s. “We’ll be back before you close to finish up.”
Without batting an eye, the man led them over to a set of swinging doors and had them park their carts in the employee area. With lots of smiles and much praise for Darius’ skills with a football, the man accompanied them back to the front of the store, promising to keep their groceries safe until they returned.
It wasn’t until they were on the street that Alice laughed. “What the hell was that?”
Darius looked down at her and winked. “I’m kind of a big deal.”
She laughed even harder. “Okay, big shot. Take me out for coffee.”
They managed to get down the sidewalk to the small local coffee shop a block away with only two couples stopping Darius for a selfie. But when they walked into the Kuppa Joey, their good luck ended.
The little shop was packed. The half of the small town that wasn’t at the grocery store was apparently at the coffee shop getting last minute gifts for family members who were more strangers than friends, or warming up from the cold evening with a mug of hot chocolate.
The crowd descended on Darius as soon as they were through the door. Alice stood about two feet away from him and held her ground as people shuffled forward to shake his hand, get selfies, and ask him about his future plans now that an injury to his knee had killed his career. She didn’t allow herself to be shuffled aside, but she did wonder how the hell they were ever going to get up to the counter to order.
It seemed getting to the counter wasn’t necessary, though. The owner of the shop, Joey Markle, elbowed his way through the crowd to ask Darius what he wanted. Darius ordered an Americano for himself and turned to Alice.
“Really? An Americano? Could you get anymore all-American?” She teased. “I’ll have a Carmel Latte.”
Joey ran off to fill the order. Alice listened to the banter of fans trying to get Darius’ attention, but he ignored them and tried to engage Alice instead. It didn’t work. The crowd was too loud and distracting. Alice wasn’t in the mood to battle them for Darius’ attention. She grinned and gestured toward the waiting fans with her chin. In defeat, he looked away from her and took a few more selfies.
When Joey returned with two steaming to-go cups and refused to take the twenty-dollar bill Darius shoved at him, they turned to go. A collective goodbye went up from the crowd as Darius opened the door to the shop and held it for Alice.
As she walked through the door and out into the brisk air, Darius placed his hand on her lower back. He kept it there while they headed down the sidewalk.
“Where are we going?” Alice asked.
“What about Fountain Park? Is that okay?”
Fountain Park sat in the center of town. It was basically a big square piece of grass with a massive stone fountain in the middle. This time of year it was covered with Christmas decorations and would hold a small crowd of families, bundled up and wandering around. It was the perfect combination of public and private. There would be enough people for Alice not to feel creeped out by being there with him alone in the waning evening light, but not enough in a small enough space for them to be swamped with Darius’ endless fans.
He’d clearly thought that through, and she appreciated it. “Sounds good.”
They didn’t talk as they walked to the park. Darius’ hand remained at the back of her parka. Alice’s mittens wrapped around her hot drink as she sipped at it carefull
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It wasn’t until they were in the park, standing in front of a lit up Rudolph that stood as tall as Alice, that she turned to him. His hand dropped from her back as she twisted, and he looked down into her face.
“You don’t need to feel any sort of obligation to me, you know.” She’d been wanting to say this to him for six years, but couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone to do it.
“I don’t,” was his simple answer.
“Then why are we here? Drinking coffee and staring at Rudolph?”
He bit his lip. It was so adorably vulnerable she might have actually made a small whining sound in her throat.
“Can we sit down? Are you warm?”
“I’m fine, and yes, we can sit down.”
A ring of benches sat around the big fountain, which was not running since the water would just freeze anyway. But the benches were pretty full. So Alice led him over to another bench that sat by itself on the far edge of the light display.
She moved quickly, on the edge of a jog, which warmed her up. But Darius, with his long, powerful legs, moseyed at her side, easily keeping up. When she plopped roughly onto the slatted wood, he dropped smoothly into the space beside her.
His shoulders were so broad he took up the vast majority of the bench, and if she’d wanted to she could tuck her small frame into his side. She wanted to. But she didn’t.
“So, Darius. You gotta tell me. Why are we here right now? And why do you call me every year on my birthday?”
“Did you have a good birthday this year?”
She spent a moment deciding if she wanted to let him change the subject. In the end, she figured a quick detour wouldn’t hurt. It was more time for her stare at the short scruff on his chin that she found impossibly sexy. “Yes, I did. I celebrated the last two years with three women from work. We all share the same birthday.”
“Oh. That sounds fun. You don’t celebrate with your family, though?”