Page 50 of Stained
“Let’s take things a step at a time.” Yes, that sounded good. Diplomatic. Level-headed. Alicia may feel like fresh Jell-O when in Danica’s presence, but that didn’t mean this Jell-O lacked a brain. “You wanna go steady? I can go steady with you. Never called a billionaire my girlfriend before. Could be fun.”
“Going steady… yes.” The chair creaked as Danica pushed forward, elbows leaning against the desk. “Contrary to what you may think of a woman like me, Ms. Colbert, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how… shall we say, committed… I can be. Like I’ve said before, I don’t date indiscriminately. I would only date a woman I see being fully committed to.”
That was definitely one way to promise she wouldn’t be a cheating bitch.Is it sad I sort of expected her to be?Alicia refused to consider the impossible: that Danica was actuallysoin love with Alicia that the rest of her life was already falling into place. Easier to think of herself as a temporary fascination. That much she would take from Candice’s worldly views.I don’t want to be made a fool of.Or have her heart trashed. Now was the time to have her fun, sexually and otherwise. Did Matt ever promise to take care of her like this? Pfft! No. Being a doctor’s wife would’ve been a good gig, but safe to say that a billionaire beat that out.
“So, Chicago,” Alicia said cheerily. “Let me see what I can do about work. What did you have in mind?”
Danica plucked Alicia’s hand off the desk and kissed it, letting skin linger against her cheek. “I want to treat you like you’ve never been treated before… in public, and the bedroom.”
Alicia shifted between her feet, teeth chomping on her lip. “Oh.” Whatever that meant. “Sounds nice.”
“I’ll give you more details after I sort them out, but I intend to introduce you more to the world I have in mind for us. Because if you want to really be my girlfriend, Alicia,” Danica’s sharp eyes flickered up toward her, “then you’ll be the kind of woman who still wants me, even after knowing the darkest parts of me.”
“Oh…”
“But to start,” Danica released her hand and pulled a paper in front of her. “I’ll make sure you’re plenty pampered by the time we take off in my jet. How does a day at the spa and a shopping trip sound? You should dress your best for the parties we’re going to in Chicago.”
Alicia couldn’t stop the smile cracking her face. “I haven’t been to the spa in forever.” The last time she went was with her mother. Hm. Seemed silly to go by herself. “Can my friend Candice come too?” Why not ask? Not like Danica couldn’t afford a spa day for two. “She’s also my roommate. I mean, I understand if you say no, but it’s not much fun to go by my…”
“She can go too. My treat.” Danica signed the paper before pulling another one on top of it. How could a woman write a signature with so many flourishes and not make a mess of it? “I’ll have Ms. Clayborn arrange everything. She’ll be in contact with you regarding the details.”
Not like she didn’t know where Alicia and Candice lived. “When will I see you again?”
Danica spared her a soft look. “Soon, I hope. Might not be until we take off. When we get back from Chicago, I will take a look at my schedule to make sure it’s more agreeable to a romantic relationship.”
Before Alicia left, Danica got up and kissed her one last time. The kiss could have transformed into something more, but Danica had work to get back to, and Alicia was ready to head home. Danica promised to call downstairs and have a car waiting. That information danced in Alicia’s hand as she fixed her clothing and grabbed her purse. So did something else.
“Danica,” she began, seeing a copy ofThe Wall Street Journalon the coffee table, “did you know that we were in one of the tabloids last week?”
“Of course we were.” Danica didn’t look up at her. “I arranged it.”
“You… arranged it?”
“Big news, isn’t it? Someone like me is publicly seen with an unknown woman. I knew those vultures would be there. I also knew I wanted the world to see me with you. So, they did.”
Alicia didn’t pretend to understand. She said her adieus and showed herself out of the office… and into the nearest restroom.
She wants me to be her girlfriend.She wants to spoil me.She wants to take care of me.Alicia combed her hair in front of the large mirror in a dark bathroom. A gold box full of petal soft tissues became her best friend as she fixed her makeup and washed parts of her body so she wouldn’t smell when she left.Even though her scent is now all over me.Alicia held up her jacket collar and inhaled. Flowers never smelled so good on her.
The woman looking back at her in the mirror was nothing special. She was still young, and being blond was on her side, but aside from that, what was so special about her face covered in drugstore makeup and sporting a high nose and cheekbones too low to match? She wasn’t ugly. She was plain. Normal. Boring. Her breasts weren’t big, and her hips were hilariously nonexistent. What was so damn impressive about her? Why would a woman, who could and did have anyone she wanted, be so taken by her? One thing for Danica to pick her out in her clubbecause of some stupid ritual she had. Quite another for her to repeatedly seek her out and ask to initiate Alicia in a dark world of depravity.
Oh, well. She had done crazier things in her life, right? Right.
Alicia zipped her purse shut and walked into the main reception area of Danica’s executive office. Ultra-modern with floor-to-ceiling windows, stark furniture, and a myriad of people dressed in pristine clothes and no hair out of place, the whole room harkened to Alicia’s day hosting at a Japanese-French fusion restaurant.Dark days.
She passed the receptionist’s desk, set apart in the center of the huge room with a giant “MOREAU INDUSTRIES, INC.” sign hanging above her head. The receptionist moved effortlessly as she answered phones, worked on a computer, and wrote down appointments using the kind of pen Alicia knew cost hundreds of dollars. She had to look away before the woman, with hundreds of beautiful black braids pulled back into a low ponytail and wearing a Queen Anne peach-colored dress, looked up at her with eyes that glared,“What are you doing here? Oh, another one. Go on. Your clothes are too cheap to be here.”Unfortunately for Alicia’s preconceived notions about the people Danica employed directly beneath her, the receptionist had done nothing but pleasantly smile at her. A frosted glass nameplate saidAbby Oduya. Canary yellow nails drummed on the floating desk. Nowthatwas the kind of gorgeous woman Danica Moreau would date.Maybe they have dated before. Alicia had wondered that about Ms. Clayborn, too, even though that woman was so plain she made Alicia look like the supermodel Danica claimed her to be.
She saw a Clayborn when she turned around. It was notMs. Clayborn at all.
Alicia didn’t know how the two assistants were related. Married? Siblings? None of that mattered when Mr. NigelClayborn, with his quick reflexes, snatched Alicia by the arm and half-dragged her to a conference room. “Hey!” she called out, stumbling as this guy made off with her. “Excuse you!”
She barely had enough time to realize she was being kidnapped before she was tossed into the conference room, and the door was locked behind her. Locked! What was this? Another one of Danica’s crazy sex schemes?
“Ah, Ms. Colbert.” A voice summoned her attention. “That is your name, right?”
Alicia regathered her bearings before acknowledging the man in the room with her. Two men, actually. The first one she saw was a stoic bodyguard standing with his hands crossed in front of him. His suit was crisp and freshly pressed against his large, broad body.
Then there was the man sitting at the head of the conference table. Tall. Gangly. Silver-haired. A force to be reckoned with. He owned the building, after all.
