Page 62 of The Alpha Escort Agency
“Oof,” she says, bouncing backwards and lifting her gaze.
“Are you okay, Alice?” A warm hand comes out to grip her elbow and steady her.
His scent floods her nostrils and she lifts her gaze to stare at him, not believing her eyes. The room silences; the buzz of voices, the beat of the music, fading to nothing, and everyone else vanishes into thin air.
It’s just him and her.
And she feels like the floor has disappeared too and she’s falling through space, the numbness in her fingers, in her limbs and her chest growing stronger and stronger.
There’s a harsh line cracking the skin between his eyebrows, but it’s too dark to make out his eyes and his scent is a confusing swirl of signals.
She opens her mouth and her tongue sticks to her teeth, refusing to move. When it does, it’s heavy and laboured and her voice sounds strained.
“What are you doing here, Rory?”
“I came to talk to you.”
He’s dressed in the same suit he wore to the gallery, although there’s no tie tonight, his white shirt open at the collar, a flash of his muscular chest visible at the neckline.
She rubs at her forehead. Did she drink too much? She can’t get a handle on her thoughts or her feelings. They’ve disappeared. She doesn’t know what she wants to say to him. She doesn’t know what she wantshimto say toher.
“Why?” She stares straight ahead at the round, clear buttons of his shirt, avoiding his eyes.
At the top of her peripheral vision, she sees his mouth open and close, his tongue working behind his teeth and his lips forming the shapes of letters. But his words go unheard.
“What?” she says.
It’s then she registers his hand still holding her arm as he leans closer in, bending down to her ear, and a wave of panic rushes up from the pit of her stomach to the back of her throat, her skin cold.
She snatches her arm away and jumps backward, holding up her hands. “Actually. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care why you’re here. I don’t want to hear it. Whatever this was between us is over.”
Lisa was right. Maria was right. He’s not the right man for her. What would she tell her children? What would she tell her mum and her sister? What would they all think of her? Pathetic, lonely, so lost in the world she has to pay a man to have sex with her.
No, that’s not who she is. She’s independent. She’s strong. She’s in control. She has a plan. She’s always had a plan. She’s not going to let some man, some Alpha, waltz in and ruin it now. She’s not going to let him hurt her.
She turns away from him and pushes her way through the bodies, unable to breathe, needing oxygen. She reaches the terrace and flings herself at the door, pushing her whole weight against the heavy glass and falling out into the night.
The frozen air assaults her and she shivers, wrapping her arms around her chest, flinging back her head and drawing in oxygen through her nose. The cold stings her airways and her lungs and her eyes stream with tears.
“I’m quitting the agency.” His voice floats from behind her through the darkness.
“Why?”
“I want you in my life, Alice.”
She snorts, “Three weeks ago, you wanted to end things. Without an explanation.”
“Things got complicated. I should have been honest with you, explained.” He pauses. He must be several paces away, as if he knows not to come closer. “Will you let me explain now?”
“Like I said. It doesn’t matter. You were right then.”
“No, I wasn’t. I just didn’t have any choice. I needed the money — I couldn't lose my income.”
The money. Yes, of course, doesn’t everything always come down to money? Isn’t it how all this began? A transaction between two people. Paying for his services. Yes, of course, he’d choose the money over her. “And what, all of a sudden you don’t need it?” She spins around to confront him. His face is still bathed in shadow and she’s relieved she can’t get lost in his mesmerising eyes. “Do you know how ludicrous that sounds?”
“I didn’t have a choice. Now I do. And I choose you.”
“You did have a choice — there’s always a choice — and you didn’t choose me.” Her voice is swallowed by a croak and she throws out her hands towards him in exasperation. “It doesn’t matter though, Rory. We weren’t meant to be — can’t you see that? The way we met — that’s not how people meet. And the timing, it’s all wrong too. I don’t want to be in a relationship. I don’t want to be some Alpha’s Omega.”
