“I’m sorry I dragged that all up.” Alicia stood, clearing away the dirty tea dishes. “It wasn’t my place.” Sort of like how it wasn’t her place here.
Danica’s arms wrapped around Alicia’s midsection and brought her down into a waiting lap. “I’ve got some time, my love,” Danica muttered in her ear. “Why don’t we have a chat? You’re the one who likes to get to know people so well.”
Alicia wiggled against her hips. “All right. What are we talking about?”
While she sat in Danica’s lap and listened to her soft words, Alicia was taken on a meandering journey that began with Danica’s isolated childhood and ended with their meeting several weeks ago. Of course, she didn’t talk about everything. They only sat there for about an hour, sharing sweet kisses in between admissions about their lives. Alicia frankly talked about her past relationships. The ones she never went far with.Matt. Fucking Matt. When she mentioned how he strung her along with Wait Until Marriage bullshit and cheated on her anyway, Danica’s arms stiffened around her.
“How callous,” she said. “That ignoramus asked you to abstain from one of life’s greatest pleasures and still couldn’t be true to you. It’s not right to always ask and never give in return. I’m sorry you wasted so much of your youth on him.”
Alicia gently combed away the bangs that had fallen into Danica’s face while they talked. “I’m not wasting anything on you, right?”
“I don’t allow waste in my life. I certainly wouldn’t expect it in yours.” Her hand dropped to Alicia’s ass and toyed with the hem of her sheath dress. “One day, when you and I have beentogether for as long as anyone can expect, I’ll ask you if you had wasted any part of your life with me. And you will say no. And tell the truth.”
Alicia curled against her.She’s talking about our future.Every time this woman spoke, Alicia was enthralled. She said all the right things. Did the right things. Promised her the world and beyond. How was this possible? How had a woman stolen one glance at her and decided she was her fated person?
“I love you,” Alicia said, anxiety gripping her heart and extremities. Would she regret saying that? “I’ve been trying to deny it, since I couldn’t believe it could happen so quickly, but I’m pretty sure I love you, Danica.”
She was silent for more than half a minute, eyelashes slowly moving against her cheek. Her big hand gripped Alicia’s hip with tender affection. A far cry from the way she usually made love to her. “I love you too, Alicia. You’ve become one of the most precious aspects of my life in so little time. I already hurt to think of a life without you in it.”
Alicia had barely registered those words when she continued to speak.
“I ask so much of you. I want you to be the type of woman I am searching for. Are you, truly? Are you the woman I’ve been waiting to cross my path for so long?”
“I want to be, Danica. I have little to ask from you in return.”
“Such as?”
She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, head resting against hers. “Protect me, for one. No matter what happens, I want to know that you’re always on my side and willing to do anything to protect me.”
“Precious,” she replied, stroking the small of Alicia’s back. “I already do that. You will have nothing to fear as long as you are by my side. That I can promise you.”
Alicia sighed. “Call me precious again.”
“Precious.”
Alicia took a bubble bath with the bathroom door open, her heart twittering in happiness as she thought about how much Danica loved her. She occasionally passed by the open door, glancing at Alicia, conversing with her as she shaved her legs, and already wished Danica would propose to her. As ridiculous as it sounded, she wanted to say yes.
When they went to bed, with arms around each other and lips making love to the nape of her neck, Alicia thought of all the ways this could go wrong… and all the ways it could go right.
“If I said it made me happy to think about having a family with you, what would you say?”
Danica kissed the edge of her mouth. “I would say that it makes me happy to hear that. You and I, Alicia… we would have some wonderful kids, if I do say so myself.”
She laughed as she rolled Alicia over and properly kissed her. They made slow, gentle, happy love that ended with many sighs and more than a few,“I love yous.”Yet Alicia knew that this was only the calm before the storm. Wherever these Moreaus went, hurricanes followed.
Chapter 10
Alicia continued her morning ritual the next day, but this time with enough confidence to make brusque requests of the kitchen downstairs. After all, Danica liked her eggs poached, not fried or scrambled.
Naturally, she made her curt requests as politely as possible. The only reason she was brusque was because, like her girlfriend, she valued her and everyone else’s time. Other guests were calling down to make requests, and Alicia had other things she could be doing. Like sending Danica’s clothes out to be dry-cleaned and her shoes to be scrubbed.
Ms. Sarah Clayborn was up before her boss. When she saw what Alicia had done for the second day in a row, she said, “I suppose things are changing around here.”
Alicia narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend’s assistant. So much for the coffee she enjoyed at the table.What is this woman’s deal, exactly?How was she related to Mr. Nigel Clayborn, a man conveniently not there and seemingly in Russell’s pockets?“Remind me how you’re related to Danica’s other assistant. Your husband?”
For the first time since meeting her, Ms. Clayborn flinched. “No. He’s my brother.”
“How does that work? You and your brother have the same job, that is.”
