Page 56 of The Money Man
“Wow!” Alice said. “I guess I feel safer knowing that.” But she wasn’t sure. If her watchers were carrying guns, Tully and Derek must think there was a serious threat. “Or maybe it scares me.”
“You should come stay with me for a few days,” Natalie said. “Dawn, you come, as well, to be our self-defense coach. We’ll have a slumber party.”
“And drag you into possible danger too?” Alice shook her head emphatically. “I willnotdo that. Besides, Derek and Tully don’t really think I’m a target. The whole point of the trip was to put KRG in the limelight instead, and Tully is former FBI, so he can handle problems like this.”
“Well, I’m going to mention this to the police chief,” Natalie said. “He can send a cruiser past your place on a regular basis. It will give them something exciting to do.”
“Seriously, no,” Alice said. “I trust KRG’s security.”
“If you weren’t nervous about your safety, why did you want company this evening?” Natalie asked, eyeing Alice over the rim of her glass. “Unless it has something to do with Derek Killion on a nonprofessional basis.”
Of course she would figure it out, since she had suggested that Alice jump into bed with Derek even before the expedition to Texas.
Alice swallowed the last of her drink. “Maybe.” She plunked the mug down on the table. “Okay, so I, um, joined the mile-high club on the trip home.” She decided not to mention their previous encounters just yet.
“Well, I’m impressed and a little surprised,” Natalie said, sitting forward to eye Alice. “I’m also glad you embraced the twenty-first century. I was afraid you’d only do it in a coach-and-four.”
“Okay, I’ve missed something,” Dawn said. “You had sex with some boring old consultant who you only met a week ago? I mean, I know you like dull men, but you usually don’t sleep with them that soon. Or at all, actually.”
Natalie swiped at her phone and handed it to Dawn. “That’s the boring old consultant.”
Dawn whistled. “He looks more like a movie star.”
“His father wanted him to be one,” Alice said, pleased with her inside knowledge.
“Now I get it why you’d do it.” Dawn handed the phone back to Natalie. “Except it’s still you and you don’t do stuff like that.”
“Natalie told me to,” Alice said with a sideways look at her friend.
“But I didn’t think you would.” Natalie reached across the table to pat Alice’s hand. “I’m happy for you, sweetie. You needed some fun. Itwasfun, wasn’t it?”
Alice felt a blush radiate over her cheeks and was grateful for the dim lighting. “Um, yes. Quite, um, fun.” She sighed. “The problem is that I like him for more than just his well-muscled body.”
“So date him,” Dawn said. “He’s obviously into you or he wouldn’t have done the dirty with you.”
Alice frowned. She had no idea if Derek wanted to date her. Their relationship was built entirely around the BalanceTrakR issue. “He’s leaving for a business trip to Asia next week. He hasn’t said anything about getting together afterward.” Admitting it out loud to her friends brought on a slicing pain like a knife had just plunged into her heart. She could feel her mouth twist at the sudden agony.
“Sweetie, this was supposed to be a one-night-stand kind of thing,” Natalie said, her tone gentle. “A fling to get your confidence up. You weren’t supposed to fall for him.”
“I know, I know. It’s ridiculous to feel this way about someone I just met,” Alice said, but her rational brain had gone on vacation when it came to Derek.
“I don’t know why he shouldn’t fall for you,” Dawn said. “You’re both smart. You both are crazy about numbers. He wanted to have sex with you. That seems like a pretty good beginning for a relationship.”
Natalie’s laugh had an edge. “Relationships have certainly been based on a lot less.”
Alice couldn’t bring herself to tell them that there had been more sex than just on the plane. It made her feel gullible all of a sudden. “I get it. He’s out of my league.”
“No, you’re out of his,” Natalie said. “Don’t waste another thought on him, except when you’re home alone and in need of some, um, relief. Remember, he doesn’t have a good track record since he couldn’t hang on to his fiancée.”
“Maybe it was the other way around,” Alice pointed out.
“I’m trying to comfort you,” Natalie said.
Alice gave a strangled laugh and raised her mug. “To girlfriends! The strong women who get us through the tough times in life.”
Tully barged into Derek’s office like a freight train. “We’ve got a problem.”
Tension whipped through Derek’s body, banishing the fatigue and—he hated to admit it—boredom of analyzing financial reports all day. “How big a problem?”
