Page 31 of Stained
“You think so?”
“The economy wouldn’t get far without them.”
“Ah, yes, the economy.” Why wasn’t Alicia surprised? “So, I hear you went to Princeton. Let me guess. Economics major?”
“Close.” Danica left her salad untouched.You gonna eat that?Alicia was starving. “I minored in Economics. I double-majored in Business and Rhetoric.”
“Double-majored with a minor? Wow. Overachiever.”
“Where did you get your degree?”
Not,“Where did you go to school?”but,“Where did you get your degree?”Alicia was catching on to all the ways Danica was different. “I went to a place called William and Mary University. Doubt you’ve heard of it. In Virginia.”
Danica looked askance at her.Don’t shoot those amber darts into my heart, okay? I’m not ready.“Of course I’ve heard of William and Mary. Second oldest college in America. Why wouldn’t I know it?” Danica leaned over her untouched salad. “That’s rather prestigious.”
“Doesn’t mean anything if I can’t get a job.” Alicia hated it when people praised her for her schooling, then turned around to question her employment status. How dare she squander a degree others would kill for? “I originally thought I wanted to be a teacher like my father. Then I realized I’m no good with teaching children, so I set my sights on becoming a college professor. That didn’t work either. I… didn’t go to grad school, to begin with.”
“Why not?”
What was with the accusatory tone?Sorry, lady, not all of us craved to bust ass at Princeton.“Because I made some bad decisions after getting my Bachelor’s.” Matt. That bad decision’s name was Matt. “Threw me off course. Suddenly, I had to make money to pay off my debt, but you don’t want to hear about that.”
Danica folded her arms across the table. “Suppose I do?”
Why?Why was Danica so interested in her? This was the woman who knowingly got Alicia fired from the best opportunityshe ever had, and then summoned her for a booty call! Something fishy was afoot.
“To be frank, it was an ex-boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Danica cleared her throat. “But you must be good at what you do for Mr. Sidney to hire you at Midnight. I hiredhimbecause of how discerning he is.”
“Yes. Discerning enough to fire me the moment you told him I failed your test.”
Danica only smirked.
“What is this really about?” Patience be damned. Alicia was tired of what was either a complete disregard for her outside of the bedroom (not that they had ever been in one together) or some stupid head game Danica desired to play with her. “I hear on the grapevine that you don’t date much. No fewer than two people have told me that I’m special in that regard.”
Danica ignored the waiter as he brought their main courses. “I like you, Ms… Alicia.”
“Uh-huh.” Alicia finished her glass of wine. Plenty of time for the waiter to get the hell away again. “More like you fancy my pussy.”
She expected Danica to flinch, to frown, to do anything other than continue to sit there with only her eyes betraying how interested she was in this conversation. “There is that, yes.” She leaned back in her seat. Did this woman ever eat? “If you want me to admit it, Alicia, fine. I was initially only interested in you physically. I’ve come to learn that when my body says it will be a good match, it’s usually right. Well?” Everything about her demeanor became… sultrier.Spare me. No, seriously, spare me. I don’t have enough willpower.“Was it right?”
“You tell me. I was along for the ride.”
“I’ll say.”
Did she make aThat’s what she said!joke? Alicia felt like she was given a window into the real life of the world’s mostreclusive billionaire. “Yes, okay? I enjoyed it. Both times. In fact,” she would dare inflate Danica’s ego, “I would even go so far as to say that it was the best sex I ever had.”
Finally, Danica took her first bite of food, eyes never unlocking from Alicia’s. Her teeth bit down on her fork and pulled off a small piece of seasoned steak. How terribly animalistic. Alicia wouldn’t mind Danica biting her like that.
“It’s up there for me, too.”
“Oh, come on. Stop.” How could a girl snatch a piece of that steak? It looked and smelled more delicious than Danica did. Okay, almost. “You get your choice of supermodels and smokin’ hot farmers’ daughters. Porn stars, too. Don’t insult me by lying to me like that.”
“First of all,” she began, folding a piece of leafy green lettuce over her fork before eating it, “I don’t think I’ve ever dated a farmer’s daughter. Not to my knowledge, anyway. Second, I said up there. Top ten percentile. That’s hardly lying.”
“When you put it that way…” Was definitely not better. Sigh.
“I’m serious.” Any humor in Danica’s voice dissipated. So did her fork, and part of her plate, obscured by her arms folding in front of it.She’s gonna get steak sauce on her suit sitting like that. Didn’t she have anyone to look out for these things? “Truth be told, Alicia, I thought you would be easy to forget. I won’t lie to you. I’ve been with many women. Most of them all run together like a giant, carnal blur in my head. Not you, though. You stood out, unlike any other woman before. I was still thinking about you when I got home. When I woke up, you were the first person I thought of. Days went by, and I still wanted you again. It’s been years since I’ve felt something even akin to that for someone. So, I had my assistant find you. I had to know.”
