by Kayla Wolf
There he stood, resplendent in a charcoal-gray suit with a green tie that perfectly set off the red of his hair. Alice fought the urge to let her jaw drop—he looked so different from the way she usually saw him. Back home, he had two modes—beach bum and construction worker. This third—this debonair, suited gentlemen, clean-shaved and effortlessly elegant—she wasn’t ready for this.
But there was a strange look on his face, too, and though she’d been worried about what kind of expression had flitted across her face at the sight of him, she realized now that he wouldn’t have noticed how she was looking at him—not with how thoroughly he was taking her in. Self-consciously, she tugged at the bodice of her dress. It was a dark green, not unlike the color of his tie—had he matched her intentionally? Surely not. Nobody had ever seen her in this dress.
”Wow,” he said softly, after a silence she realized had stretched out for a minute. “I’ve never seen you in a dress like that. You look beautiful.”
This blush couldn’t be fought—she ducked her head as she felt her cheeks grow hot. Get a grip, Alice, he’s just being polite, he’d give the same compliment to his mother if he saw her in a dress … “Thanks,” she managed. “You look pretty good, too.”
He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah? I’m worried I should’ve gotten a haircut before we came up. It feels a bit too long. Then again, I have no idea what’s in fashion with humans these days; I might be spot on.”
She shrugged. “Can’t go wrong with a suit, at least. Timeless.”
”The new James Bond has red hair, doesn’t he?” Daniel struck a pose, shaping his hands into an invisible gun. “We’d better get martinis.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. Daniel might have looked like a stranger in those unfamiliar clothes, but his goofy spirit shone through clear as day. “Sure. Let’s do that. Shall we head down?”
It felt … different, walking down the hotel corridors together. Daniel stayed close to her, offering her his arm when he noticed she was a little unstable on the heels of the shoes she was wearing, and she could feel the warmth of his body, smell the scent of his cologne up close … this wasn’t making the crush any easier to deal with, that was for sure. She tried to focus on the work—on where they were going, what they were here to achieve. Not on an idle daydream that was trying to force its way to the surface … a dream that Daniel was her date, that they were all dressed up to spend a romantic evening together, that later that night they’d go dancing under the stars and—
She shook herself. God, it was hard to focus. She blamed the suit.
But the ballroom was a welcome distraction. Her jaw dropped a little at the size of the place—it was enormous. There were tables groaning with food set up around the perimeters of the room, and a small army of wait staff rushing through the growing crowds with trays of drinks. Daniel grabbed them each a flute of champagne from a passing waiter then steered them into the fray, effortlessly comfortable in this enormous crowd. And to Alice’s surprise, she felt … well, not exactly confident, but the crowded room wasn’t making her want to scream and run for cover. She followed Daniel’s lead, sipping at her drink as they mingled with the other attendants of the conference. There were so many people here—people like them, people running hotels and bed-and-breakfasts all across the state. Why had she been so anxious about this, she wondered as she listened to an elderly man and his partner describe the painstaking restoration of the heritage-listed historic mansion they now managed as a hotel. This was—fine. This was more than fine. This was fun.
Maybe she wasn’t such an introvert after all.
She left Daniel deep in conversation with the two men and headed for the buffet. Usually, socializing like this would have banished her appetite—it was a pleasant surprise to find that she was actually hungry enough to partake in some of the delicious-looking food. She was waiting in line for what looked like a potato bake and smelled absolutely divine when she nearly bumped into a tall man with blonde hair pulled back into a bun high on his head. His eyes fell on her, and she felt an unmistakable thrill of recognition that she hadn’t felt for quite some time.
He was a shifter. And he was sizing her up, too—she could see the look of recognition in those sharp yellow eyes. They regarded each other for a moment and shared a quiet nod before he extended his hand to her.
”Nice to meet you. I’m Lawrence.”
”Alice,” she said, smiling. What kind of a shifter was he? He didn’t have the bright silver eyes of a wolf, and though she could feel it in her bones that he was a shifter like her, the instinct didn’t give her any more information than that. And with hundreds of humans surrounding her, she couldn’t very well ask him, could she? “What brings you here?”
”My family and I run a resort out east, near San Bernardino.”
Her eyes widened. “I went to med school there!”
”Oh yeah?” The shifter smiled, clearly pleased by the recognition. They chatted for a while by the buffet, and Alice was surprised to realize that she was actually enjoying the conversation—Lawrence was full of new stories about the city she’d lived in so long ago, and she found herself listening avidly, no sense of wanting to run and hide. Was this what normal people felt like in social situations? God, she’d been missing out.
Talking with the friendly, handsome stranger was almost enough to take her mind off the crush on Daniel that was steadily getting stronger.
Almost.
Chapter 6 – Daniel
Daniel stood on the balcony of their hotel room, staring out over the ocean. The hotel’s location was unbelievable—he hadn’t realized quite how close they were to the beach. This was clearly a pretty expensive conference. Something told him that renting a room at this place wouldn’t be cheap—especially during peak tourist season when people were flooding to California for a bit of sun and surf.
Well, they weren’t likely to get much beach time in, for all that it was about a two-minute walk from the door of the hotel. There was a pretty busy schedule for the rest of the weekend, though he did notice that their Saturday evening had been left free. Probably giving people a chance to network … or to just cut loose and get hammered, he thought with amusement. There were more activities on Sunday, but he did notice that they didn’t start until a rather respectable ten in the morning, unlike the Saturday morning talks, which began at eight. Drinking and partying were just part and parcel of conferences like this, or so he’d begun to learn from the people he’d chatted to that evening. There were a dozen night clubs within walking distance of the hotel that apparently got a lot of action when everyone was in town for the conference.
It had been a pretty good night, all told. He’d gotten to know dozens of people from around the state, other hotel managers and staff, experts in tourism, marketing, and publicity—he’d picked up a few good tips already, especially on the marketing front. Ways to build a brand around the unique features of their peninsula, of telling a story that would get potential guests excited about their resort and all the wonderful things it had to offer. He’d almost wished he had a pen to take notes—but there’d be plenty of time for that tomorrow. Alice would have been proud of him, he thought with a grin. He was actually learning things—not just socializing.
It had been surprisingly nice to have her there with him, actually. He’d been expecting her to disappear into her shell, shy as she was … but she’d surprised him by going off to socialize by herself a few times, though she always came back to him periodically. People kept assuming they were together. He explained the situation a few times to the first handful of people who complimented him on his lovely wife … but after a while, he just shrugged and stopped correcting them. What did it matter if a few people thought they were together when they weren’t? They were there as partners, after all … just not romantic ones.
Still, he’d felt a little guilty. What would James say if he knew he was letting people believe that he and his sister were an item?
He
had a few texts from James on his phone—most of them asking if he’d met anyone exciting yet. He chuckled to himself, scrolling through the messages as the cool sea breezes played with his hair. Typical James. He’d always been a womanizer, always encouraged Daniel to chase after every pretty girl he saw … and now that he’d found his soulmate and settled down, not much had changed except the motivation behind that encouragement. Now, he wasn’t just trying to get Daniel to go after romantic conquests … he wanted him to find his soulmate, too.
He’d looked around, of course. Force of habit. And there’d been plenty of interesting people to talk to, including a few rather beautiful women who’d given him an appraising look and the unmistakable—though subtle—indication that they’d be interested if he was. But to his surprise, his interest just hadn’t been piqued. It was odd. Here he was, away from home for the weekend, in one of the most exciting cities on the planet … the possibilities were endless. So why was he so deeply disinterested in the prospect of a one-night stand?
He glanced over his shoulder through the glass door that separated the balcony from their hotel room. There was Alice, taking off her makeup in the mirror. He smiled a little at the careful, thorough way she was wiping at her eyes with the makeup removal wipes. Surgical precision, he thought. He’d always admired her deft, clever, well-trained hands—the dedication with which she approached every task, medical or mundane. And god, it had been a shock to see her in that dress. She certainly rivaled any of the women he’d met that night for beauty … the shape of her body in that dress, the way the color of it set off her ocean-blue eyes, the smile that danced across her face when he joked with her …
Well, it was good to be getting to know her, that was for sure. He felt a little silly for not having done something like this sooner. She was his best friend’s sister, after all. He should have made more of an effort. But how was he supposed to have known how interesting she was, how funny, how insightful? She’d always been so shy around him.
But she hadn’t been shy tonight. He frowned a little, thinking back to something that had happened during the dinner that had left an oddly sour taste in his mouth. She’d left him for a few minutes to head to the buffet, and he’d followed after finishing up his conversation with a woman who’d been telling him about permaculture in her sustainable farm up in the north of the state. He’d found her by the buffet, deep in conversation with a tall, rather good-looking guy with hard yellow eyes who was standing a lot closer to her than Daniel deemed necessary. He could tell just by looking that the guy was a shifter—they must have sought each other out in that instinctive way their kind had. But something about the scene—something about the way they were standing together, the bright look in her eyes as she looked up at the guy, the way he idly touched her shoulder as he laughed … well, it rubbed Daniel the wrong way. He’d found himself full of uncharacteristic anger, a strange urge to protect her welling up in his chest. But protect her from what? All she was doing was talking and laughing with some guy she’d met. She was networking, just like he had been. Why did he feel so weird about it?
It was probably a natural reaction to seeing her out of her element, he counseled himself. They were from such a remote little community … out here in the big world, there was a lot that could go wrong. It was only natural that he’d feel an urge to keep an eye on her, the same way her brother would. That was it, right? It was just a brotherly protective impulse. That was all.
James was demanding to know if he’d met any romantic prospects, and he hesitated over the message he was sending back. Not yet, he wanted to say, but the weekend is young … but did he really have any interest in hooking up with anyone? To his surprise, all he really wanted to do right now was head to bed and get up bright and early, ready to spend the day with Alice learning everything they could about how to make their business thrive. What was happening to him? Maybe he was getting old, losing his touch … he grinned to himself as he headed inside, looking forward to chatting with Alice about how the evening had gone.
But to his surprise, he found her fast asleep on the bed, still wearing her dress though she’d done a very thorough job of removing her makeup. He paused for a moment, not sure what to do—surely she hadn’t meant to fall asleep on top of the covers like that? Hesitantly, he pulled back the corner of the cover, gently shifting her aside as he did … she stirred a little in her sleep, but didn’t wake. Gently, he reached down to unclasp the buckles on her shoes, and pulled them from her feet—then, as carefully as he could, he moved her into the bed and pulled the blanket over her.
They’d talk in the morning, he thought, pausing to look down at her peacefully sleeping face. Without the makeup, she looked much more like the Alice he knew … and he hesitated for a moment, a little surprised to notice how beautiful she really was. Those full lips, those high cheekbones, the way her dark, curly hair rested on her cheek … why hadn’t he noticed it before?
He lay awake for longer than usual, acutely aware of the space between them in the bed. It was king-sized, and more than roomy enough for them to both spread out without any contact … but still, he couldn’t help thinking about how close she was, about the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. What if he woke in the morning to discover he’d moved closer to her in his sleep, that their bodies were touching? Would she be angry with him? Or would she … but he fell asleep in the middle of those thoughts and dreamed strange, troubled dreams about trying to follow someone through crowds of people.
The next day dawned bright and clear—he was woken by the creeping sunlight through the window bright on his eyelids, and he wrinkled his nose as he sat up to escape it. Alice was stirring in the bed beside him, and he heard the soft sound of dismay she made as she sat up.
”Oh, man. Did I seriously fall asleep in my dress?”
”You did,” he said, glancing over at her. He was acutely aware that he’d stripped down to his boxers before climbing into bed the night before—he kept the blankets around his waist, feeling oddly vulnerable as she blinked sleepily at him across the bed. That was strange. He hadn’t felt this way yesterday when he’d been getting changed while she did her makeup.
”Why didn’t you wake me up?”
”You looked too peaceful,” he shrugged. An odd expression flickered across her face—something like embarrassment, but there was a smile there, too, that she hid by lowering her face. He felt a strange temptation to reach out and tilt her face back up to look at him, then blinked, surprised by that sudden impulse.
“Well. I’ll try not to conk out so early tonight,” she said, getting to her feet. “Do you mind if I take the first shower?”
”Not at all,” he shrugged, gesturing a little awkwardly to the bathroom. “Be my guest.” Why did he feel so awkward around her? What had happened to him? Had he been possessed by some kind of spirit of self-consciousness?
He’d showered the night before, so he dressed for the day while she was in the bathroom. Once he was dressed and ready for the day, he felt a little less of that odd vulnerability he’d felt around her. When she padded out into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her, he averted his gaze, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable about his eyes on her … and mumbling an excuse, he ducked into the bathroom to give her the privacy she needed to get changed for the day.
They headed downstairs together for breakfast. She was dressed in more familiar clothes today—a pair of jeans and a nice blouse, much more the usual thing she’d wear on the beach or under her lab coat in the infirmary. There was a huge breakfast spread provided for guests of the conference, and he smiled and waved to a few of the people he recognized from the night before.
”Do you want to go say hi? I’m happy to eat alone,” Alice started, but he shook his head.
”No way. We’ve got an itinerary to go over.”
Her face lit up. “I thought you hated scheduling.”
”I’ve come around,” he said, grinning at her as they took a table togethe
r and spread out the schedule for the day. “I don’t want to miss a thing today. This conference could be exactly what we need to get the word out about our resort.”
They set about working on a game plan for the day, digging into a plate full of breakfast pastries and a hot pot of coffee as they did so. It wasn’t long before they had the whole morning planned out—they’d split up to cover as many panels and information sessions as they can, before coming back together for lunch to debrief about what they’d learned and how they were going to spend the afternoon. Breakfast done, they parted ways at the door to the dining room … and Daniel felt a strange pang of regret as he watched Alice head off towards her first talk. It made sense to split up to cover more ground … but part of him would have much rather gone along with her.
But he was soon distracted by the work of the morning. He’d never been to college or done any kind of formal study, but he had a feeling he was getting an insight into what it was like. There was just so much to learn, so many notes to take … using social media to promote your business, using the internet to build a brand, the subtle differences between marketing, advertising, and publicity … his hand was cramped from how many notes he was taking, and his head was spinning by the time he met back up with Alice for lunch. She shared his slightly frazzled look, though she was clearly much more on top of the things she’d learned than he was—and her notes were a lot neater than his.