Page 17 of The Alpha Escort Agency
Alice closes the door, leans back against the wood and closes her eyes.
Well, that was strange. Very strange. Did she just invite an Alpha into her house for tea, had she really just kissed him and offered him her number? Sure, it's not the first time an Alpha has attempted to hang around after a heat and there've been several who've tried to stick their tongues down her throat or thrust their number at her, but she's always hurried them out, pushed them away or declined the offer.
Alice Turner is not interested in dating. Alice Turner has a life plan.
But Alice Turner had liked being kissed by him. She'd liked being kissed by him a lot.
Is she losing her mind? She opens her eyes and shakes her head at her own idiocy. The man is an escort. He's not even a romantic possibility, even if she were searching for someone right now. There's a contract with her signature on it, the ink probably still wet, confirming her promise not to engage in any kind of relationship outside the one arranged by the agency.
Outside on the pavement, she hears the engine of a truck rev and then fade away down the street. See, he can't get away fast enough. Yet he'd been the one to turn up here unannounced.Hekissedher.
Strange. Very strange.
She shakes her head once more, this time to try to dislodge these peculiar thoughts from her mind, then grabs the plate of brownies and heads for the sofa to run through her work emails. She'd like to be on top of them before the week starts.
She must doze off because the next thing she knows, there's the sound of a key in the lock and someone calling her name.
“Alice! Alice!”
She pulls herself up and peers her head over the back of the sofa, yawning and scrubbing the ball of her hand over her eyes. Maria is in the doorway, head swinging around desperately and Ed is at her side gripping a baseball bat and looking like he is ready to strike someone with it.
“Here, I'm here. What's wrong?” she calls to them.
Maria spots her friend and her body visibly floods with relief. “Oh, Alice! Thank Heavens!” She races over to the sofa and lunges at Alice; wrapping her in a fierce bear hug. Ed lowers his weapon and swipes the back of his hand across his brow.
Alice laughs. “Maria. What's going on?”
“I've been phoning you non-stop for like the last two hours!”
“Really?” Alice reaches down and picks up her phone from the floor. “Urgh, sorry, run out of battery.” She twists the device around to show Maria the dead screen.
Maria buries her face in her hands and takes two long hard breaths, then grabs one of the scatter pillows and whacks Alice with it.
“Ow!” Alice protests.
“I thought you were dead or something. I thought you'd been murdered by the Alpha. I had visions of me appearing on Crime Watch talking about you and the last time I'd seen you.”
Alice reaches forward and takes Maria's hand in her own, running her thumb over Maria's knuckles. “I'm fine, see. A little sore and tired — you just woke me up — but all in one piece.”
Ed comes over and rests his hand on Alice's shoulder.
“I'm glad you're alright, Alice. You had us worried.”
Alice grimaces at his boyishly freckled face with its mop of fair hair. “Sorry,” she says, taking the opportunity for a discreet little sniff of him. As far as she can make out, there's no scent from another woman; only his own masculine smell combined with Maria's feminine one.
“My nerves are shot to pieces,” Maria says, holding out two shaking hands. “I need a drink! And then you are telling me everything.”
Ed shifts on his feet at the suggestion of that. “Maybe I'll head off then,” he says, “leave you ladies to it.”
“Okay,” Maria says. “I'll catch an Uber home."
Ed bends down to kiss her and then hurries away, still clutching his bat.
“There's beer in the fridge,” Alice tells Maria when he's gone.
Maria flips off her coat and pads into the kitchen. “Do you want one?”
“No, I'd better stick with water.”
