“You are an incredibly desirable woman and I would like nothing more than to take you to bed and show you how much I want you. But right now, I think you need to talk to somebody, and seeing as you won’t talk to me, I’m going to call for your sister.”
Mumbling in discontent, Dana flopped down onto the bed and put her head on the pillow.
He took the opportunity to call one of his assistants at Covet and told him to look for Viola. She would round up Anise and the other women. After he made the call, he pulled up a chair next to the bed, facing Dana.
Her eyes were closed, and for a few minutes, she appeared to be asleep. But then she moved her legs, the long limbs sliding against each other, and opened her eyes. She looked right at him. “You’re still here, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve embarrassed myself.”
“Don’t be embarrassed.”
“Right. I guess women throw themselves at you left, right, and center, huh? You’re used to it.”
“You’d be surprised at how few women throw themselves at me. Nowadays, I barely need to duck when they fly past my head. I just step aside.”
“Ha ha.” Her lashes lowered. For a couple of long minutes, she seemed to be doing nothing more than contemplating his shoe. “Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Why do you care?”
“I’d rather have that conversation when you’re sober.”
“So youdowant to have that conversation?”
He leaned forward, hands on his knees. “I do and we will, but right now, you need to rest.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed but the skin around them pinched, as if she was trying hard to shut out a bad memory. That, or she was fending off another bout of nausea.
He began to fidget. When he caught his knees bouncing up and down, he forced himself to sit still. Instead, he passed a hand over his face. Her perfume lingered on his fingers. So fucking sweet.
He wanted to smell her up close, to touch her and taste her again and show her pleasures she’d never known before.
It went deeper than animal attraction too. He was amazed he could feel so much for someone so quickly. Her pain made him feel sick inside.
He needed to take her pain away. It was that simple.
The sound of female voices outside the door drew him from his daydreams.
There was a knock. “Dana, it’s me. Can you let me in?”
Dana really had fallen asleep this time so Alex padded to the door. He opened it and put a finger on his lips. “She’s asleep.”
Bea and Jessica gawked but Anise’s eyes hardened. “I’d like to see her,” she said, pushing past him.
He stood aside.
Anise hurried into the bedroom and they followed. When she saw her sister on the bed, she ran over and crouched next to her. She ran a hand over her hair. “Honey? Dana, are you okay?” Her angry gaze darted toward Alex. “What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t hurt her. She just had a bit too much to drink.”
“She had one cocktail!”
