Page 27 of Pride
“I take that as a no, then?”
“Is that a problem?”
Not at all. She smiled. He narrowed his eyes.
“First question,” he said.
To stop herself from rolling her eyes, she took another drink. This was going to be a long night and she couldn’t exactly speed up seduction until Wyatt was gone.
“What is your favorite color?” Parker asked.
Alice spat champagne across the table. France’s most expensive liquid export dripped down his blinking face and onto his silk tie and shirt. Oh, shit. Alice jumped out of her seat, tipping it to the ground behind. She reached for a napkin, knocked over the ice bucket, and spilled more into his lap.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried as ice and fizzing liquid saturated his front.
She grabbed another napkin and rounded the table so she could dab him. She started with his face, careful to ensure her newly exposed chest was right where she wanted it, and then worked at his neck and—
He caught her wrist.
Alarm burst through Alice, but she kept herself outwardly innocent. Thoughts of her lethal hair pin came to mind. Could she reach it with her other hand? Would he notice?
“It’s fine,” he mumbled. “It was a stupid question.”
Something in his tone gave Alice pause, enough to let him tug the napkin from her hand and take over mopping himself. She hadn’t expected that. Was he embarrassed?
“It’s not stupid,” she insisted. “It just took me off guard.”
“You seem to know all about me, and I know nothing about the real you.”
Alice chose the seat next to him. A blush tinted his cheeks giving him the adorable look she’d only ever glimpsed when she’d interrupted him practicing a speech. His tone was abrupt but irritated—as though frustrated in himself.
Being spat on with champagne hadn’t made him blush, but asking about her did?
“The real me?”
He nodded.
“I don’t think finding out my favorite color will reveal that.”
“Okay… why the song?”
“The song?”
“You were humming it in my office. Then you played it in my car.”
Alice deflated. She wasn’t thinking he’d gothatintimate. But if Parker Lazarus wasn’t perceptive, she’d be worried.
“Okay…” She took a swig of her drink and braced herself. “You want to know about the song.”
Did she want to tell him? It was deeply personal. It would mean putting her heart on her sleeve. And the things she knew about him may involve his secret, but nothing about him as an individual.
She took a deep breath. “How about one for one?”
“You ask a question, then I ask one?” he asked slowly.
Alice nodded. “It’s only fair.”
He shifted in his seat, finally understanding she wasn’t going to go easy on him. She wanted to know him as well.
