Club Wonderland (3 page)

An awkwardness she rarely felt around anyone had her feet itching, making it nearly impossible to stand still. Or for her mouth to stay closed.

“That was my friend. We’re going shopping.” Oh, brilliant. It’s not like he hadn’t been there for at least part of the conversation. “She has an event to go to and wanted help picking out an appropriate dress.”

Gael didn’t look her way. Alice chanced a quick glance, surprised to see the muscles of his jaw clenching. Great, he was so uncomfortable he didn’t even want to speak.

“She’s really pretty, not that she thinks that herself. I wanted to take her and help her get a dress that would make her look amazing. She deserves to be happy.”

Alice pressed the button for the concourse and stepped back against the wall. Her mother had tried to drill into her over and over to learn when to keep her mouth shut. A lady didn’t need to speak in order to gain someone else’s attention. Her looks, her demeanor—those were the things that mattered. Alice had often asked if her mother had been raised in the American South rather than the North York region of Toronto.

Gael leaned over and pressed the button for the parking garage level. “Your friend is lucky to have someone to help.”

That comment shouldn’t have caused warmth to ignite in her chest, but it did. “Thanks. I love her to bits, but she thinks a cocktail dress is something with a rubber phallus attached to it.”

Oh my God
,
what the hell did I just say?
Her face grew hot. “Sorry. That wasn’t very appropriate.”

Gael faced her, his arms crossed. “I have a few friends like that myself.”

The warmth in her chest spread lower, and now her stomach seemed to be housing a warehouse of butterflies.
Wonderful.
“I wouldn’t change her for the world. Even if it makes taking her shopping a painful experience.”

When she met his gaze, she got the impression that he wasn’t exactly sure what to say next. That was odd, not only given his profession, but also based on what she knew of him. Gael might be quieter than some of the other lawyers, but she’d never seem him having any difficulties navigating through office functions, or social situations. She couldn’t imagine that a brief exchange about Petra would throw him for a loop.

The elevator slowed its approach and dinged, announcing that they’d reached the concourse level. Alice wished she could have extended the short exchange, but at this point she’d take what she could get.

“This is me.”
Yes
,
another brilliant statement of the obvious.
“Have a good night.”

Alice stepped out of the elevator and was about to move on when she felt Gael’s hand on her shoulder. Turning, for a moment she forgot to breathe. The intense look in his eyes had her pussy clenching and her libido clamoring to be fulfilled.

“Yes?” The word came out far breathier than she would have liked. Not that she was thinking too much about appearance at the moment.

Gael slowly blinked once before huffing. “You’re an attractive woman. You’re a competent assistant and a good employee. I don’t want you to think I haven’t...noticed. I want you to know that I’m not looking for a relationship. Not now. Probably not ever.”

In one moment, Alice was ready to fall to her knees in front of this man and beg him to make love to her. In the next, she felt as if she were going to puke. Swallowing down her embarrassment, Alice tried once more to smile. “Oh. I see.”

“I feel it’s only fair to let you know. I got the idea that—”

“No, no, no!” Alice stepped back, breaking the contact between them. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. I don’t make a habit of sleeping with the firm’s lawyers.”

Most men might at least make an effort to ease the tension between them, to assure Alice that there wasn’t a problem or to apologize for embarrassing her. Gael Hernandez simply looked at her a few seconds longer and nodded. “Have a good evening with your friend.”

He let the door go and the elevator closed, cutting him off from sight.

Somehow, Alice managed to make her way to the subway station without crying. She got onto the correct platform without knowing exactly how she managed and onto the car with no problems. It wasn’t until she stood in front of Petra’s condo door and knocked that the walls of her self-control started to crack.

Petra swung the door open and smiled at her. “Hey.” The smile morphed into a frown. “What’s wrong?”

Alice couldn’t stop the tears from coming. She let out a sob and stepped into her friend’s arms. “Just a bad day.”

One that she’d have to relive tomorrow and every day that Gael Hernandez continued to work at Gibson, Murphy and Dow.

Maybe it was time to listen to her mother after all and consider a change in profession.

Chapter Three

Alice had just hung up the phone and her hands were still shaking. She mentally counted to ten before she jumped up squealing and did a poor interpretation of a Snoopy dance in her living room.

Earlier when she’d helped Petra get ready for her evening, Alice had no doubt her friend was going to turn more than a few heads when she showed up as PC at the nomination reading. But what were the odds that the hunk who’d been eyeing Petra from their local coffee shop would be in attendance? Astronomical? Gargantuan?
Fuck it
,
who cares!
Petra was about to have amazing sex with a handsome man and it was about time that particular sexual drought was over.

She wasn’t jealous of her friend’s getting an unexpected offer of a one-night stand with the handsome stranger.

Well, maybe a little.

Not of the fact that Petra was hooking up with Darcy—it had been clear to her that the man had a city-sized crush on her friend—but that she was going to have a night with a man who
liked
her.

Picking up the bag of 100-calorie popcorn she’d been munching on, Alice looked at the clock and made a mental note of when Petra would be checking in. She had lots of time to kill while Petra was getting laid, and reruns of
America’s Next Top Model
would need to be enough to fill it.

At some point during the third episode, the phone rang. Alice didn’t even bother looking at the call display before she hit the talk button.

“I want details, girl! Spill it.”

“Alice, it’s your mother.”

The buzz of instant excitement was dampened in a heartbeat. “Mom. Hi. Why are you calling so late?”

“Darling, if you’re expecting to hear from someone, you should consider checking your caller ID.”

“I know. Sorry.”

“Is the call important? I can talk to you in the morning.”

“Well, yes. My friend Petra—”

“Oh lord, not that woman. Sweetheart, how many times have I told you, a lady is judged by the company she keeps. If you persist in spending time with that girl, others will begin to compare you. They’ll see her lack of good grooming and manners and assume you are alike.”

Alice had made the mistake of having Petra and her mother in the same room only once. It had been her twenty-ninth birthday, and there was no way she
wasn’t
going to have her best friend with her. But after the snide comments directed toward her, Petra left the party early and Alice felt like crap for ages afterward.

“Mom, what do you want?”

“What I want is for my daughter to stop being rude to me every time I call to speak with her.”

It didn’t matter how old Alice got, when her mother used that tone of voice with her, she once more became six years old, standing backstage at a beauty pageant. Sitting up straight, she tossed the now-empty popcorn bag to the side and turned off her television. “Sorry, Mom.”

“As you should be.”

For next thirty minutes Alice sat still and let her mother go on about her day. She wasn’t feeling well again—this time it was her stomach, though a lady doesn’t give too many of those details—and wanted Alice to drive up to Barrie to spend a week with her.

“The doctor wants to run some tests. It would be nice to have my daughter there with me in case it’s something serious.”

“Mom, I can’t take a week off work. I only have a bit of vacation left, and I’m going to need that at Christmas time. You wanted me to come up for Christmas, right?”

“I’m sure if you spoke with your boss he’d give you some time to check on me. They’re lawyers, not animals, after all.”

There was no way she’d win this argument. “I’ll ask Mr. Murphy tomorrow and see if there is something I can work out.”

“Good.” Now that her mother had gotten her way, the conversation turned to the next item on her list. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“No, Mom.”

“No one you have an interest in?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Mom, of course there are men I’m interested in.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to assume. If you’re a lesbian, you know I wouldn’t care and I’d love you regardless. Unless you’re dating that Petra girl. I couldn’t handle having her as a daughter-in-law. With your looks and talent you can do much better than that.”

“Mom! I’m not gay and Petra is out right now with a man. She’s who I thought was calling. She was having sex.”

“Oh. Well good for her.” Alice could hear her mother’s frustration coming down the phone line. “I just don’t understand why you’re still alone in your life. You’re a beautiful, smart girl. You should have men tripping over themselves to be with you.”

Normally, Alice would brush her mother’s comments off as little more than her normal parental berating. But there was something off in her tone, not to mention the time of night that this particular conversation was occurring. Sitting up a bit straighter, Alice switched the phone to her other ear.

“Mom, are you okay?”

“What? I’m fine.”

“You just don’t sound like yourself.”

The pause on the other end went on far longer than Alice would have liked. “I’m tired. I’ve been having trouble sleeping recently.”

“Why don’t you take something?”

“It’s fine, sweetheart. And don’t think you can get out of answering my question that easily.”

Oh well.
It was worth a shot.
“I’ve been dating. A bit. I just haven’t met the right man yet.”

Thankfully, her mother wasn’t here or she’d be able to tell what a complete and utter lie that was. Gael might be a bit distant and clearly not interested in starting anything up with her, but there was something about him that was just about perfect for her. Alice didn’t know why, but whenever she was in a room with him she could feel a tremor resonating deep inside her chest. An invisible string deep in her chest that tightened in his presence and his alone.

“Well, I certainly don’t want you to settle. Any man who isn’t perfect doesn’t deserve you.”

And just like that any annoyance she’d felt poofed away. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re my baby and I love you.”

They continued their chat much as they did every other conversation they normally had, until her mother yawned three times in a row.

“Go to bed, Mum.”

“There’s no point. I won’t last longer than an hour or two.”

“Hey, that’s better than nothing. If this keeps up more than another day or so you really should go see your doctor.”

“That man’s an idiot. If we had another family doctor taking patients in the city, I’d switch faster than—”

“Mom...”

“Fine. I’ll go. Though, I better be able to sleep. I’ve run out of books to read.”

They said their good-nights, but even after Alice hung up the phone something still niggled at the back of her mind. Although her relationship with her mom had been a bit strained ever since she’d refused to continue her pursuit of a modeling career, Alice loved her. They talked frequently, and she made a point of seeing her whenever she could manage to make the drive to Barrie. There was something off in her mother’s voice, something that Alice couldn’t put her finger on.

There wasn’t much she could do about it one way or the other tonight. It was coming up on eleven and Petra would be calling in anytime now. God, she hoped her friend was having an amazing time. If anyone deserved a little happiness, it was Petra. She’d had a rough time because of her last boyfriend, and the chance for her to have a little fun with a good-looking guy...okay yeah, Alice was jealous. But being alone was her own damn fault and she knew it.

She needed to get out there.

Once upon a time she’d known why she wasn’t comfortable dating. The reason itself would change over time, giving her the necessary excuse to keep from putting herself out there.

Date? Oh, not now. She needed to focus on getting established with her career.

She wanted to enjoy herself and not deal with the pressures of a committed relationship.

She wasn’t even thirty. There’d be lots of time for serious relationships later.

Men all wanted the same thing. She’d be better off waiting for the right man to come along.

The problem was the right man never seemed to show up when Alice was ready for him. Instead she was faced with a crush on a man who didn’t want a relationship. She should thank him for being so honest with her. A lot of men would string her along, flirt shamelessly, maybe even have sex with her. Then when she hoped things were about to move to the next level, boom!
Sorry
,
baby
,
I
really don’t think things are working between us.

Gael had at least saved her that particular embarrassment.

Closing her eyes, she did her best to settle her mind. Her mother was right that she was a smart and attractive woman. It wasn’t like she didn’t have options when it came to men and dating. If anything, Alice had the problem of attracting too many men when she went out to the bars. Petra always referred to her as the jerk magnet—if there was a jerk in the bar, Alice would attract him.

But if Petra was out there having a good time, there was no reason Alice couldn’t do something like that too. If she went to a different bar, there would be the chance to meet some new and different people. Hell, she could have her own one-night stand, maybe with someone tall, dark and handsome who didn’t have Latin blood, brown eyes, soft black hair and a wicked smirk.

Tomorrow was Saturday, the perfect chance for her to go out on the town. She had a few nice dresses tucked away in the back of her closet that she had been looking for an opportunity to wear. She’d do a little research, find out what the best singles bar in Toronto was, and hit it up. Surely she’d find someone to have a little fun with. One night of passionate fucking with a stranger might be exactly what she needed to get Gael Hernandez out of her mind once and for all.

Before she could finish formulating her plan, the phone rang once more. This time she was sure to check the caller display before answering it—not that she expected her mother to call again.

“Petra!” All thoughts except for her friend flew out the window. “Is everything okay?”

“Sec, I need to shut the door.” Petra’s whispered words were punctuated by a soft click and the patting of feet. “Holy crap, that was just...I...he...I don’t have words.”

Alice grinned as she tucked her feet under her butt. “Key question. Did you have sex?”

“Yes.”

“More than once?”

“In the shower, even.”

“And?”

“He was amazing! Hot. Funny and sexy. Hot. Did I mention he was hot?”

“I have eyes. I could see that.”

It took a little prodding to get the basic details from Petra. Her friend was being unusually tight-lipped. Still, Alice could picture the scenario. But instead of seeing Petra and Darcy, Alice imagined herself and Gael.

Being nervous as she went into his hotel room. Drinking wine while flirting with the man she’d been obsessing over for months now. Rolling around on the sheets as he licked and pinched various parts of her body.

Dropping to her knees in the shower.

Getting on all fours to let him take her from behind.

Crap, she really needed to get out and find someone for herself.

“Do you think you’re going to see him again?”

“I’ll have to. He’s another nominee.”

“Do you know what category?”

“We didn’t talk about it. I’ll check online when I get home.”

When Alice hung up, she was even more determined to hit the town. Petra would be tied up with the awards for the next few weeks, leaving Alice with more than a little free time. She could get her head sorted, scratch the itch that had started ever since Gael arrived at the office. With luck, she’d kill two birds with one stone.

Starting tomorrow, she would have her own adventure.