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‘Shit.’
Zac had no idea if it had been thirty seconds or not, but he shoved the door open anyway then stepped inside. ‘Time’s up.’
Alice was still struggling with her top so he point blank refused to look her way. Josh swallowed, then opened his mouth to say something but his gaze got drawn to the door. The blood drained from his face and his eyes grew wide—frantic—so Zac looked behind him half expecting to see their boss, or perhaps a two-headed monster, but there was just a girl stood there.
‘C-C-Caroline?’ Josh stuttered. ‘You’re early.’
Uh-oh.
‘Damn right I’m early, Joshua,’ snarked the girl in the doorway. She barged her way into the room with her hands on her hips and let the door swing shut behind her. ‘I got a message that you were up to no good and came to see for myself.’
‘A message?’ Josh said. ‘Who from?’
Zac winced and shook his head. Of all the things for Josh to pick up on, that part wasn’t it. Surely he knew he was on a losing streak almost as much as Zac was sure he knew who’d tipped Caroline off. He didn’t have to look far for the culprit but Alice didn’t so much as glance at him, too busy smirking at Caroline.
Caroline dismissed Josh with a cutting glare and addressed Alice directly. ‘I see you’re still up to your old tricks?’
Alice lifted one shoulder in a semi-shrug. ‘You know me.’
‘What have I ever done to you, Alice?’
‘Oh come off it. Does this ring any bells?’ Alice danced some sort of weird steps, never once taking her evil eye off Caroline.
‘What the fuck!’ Caroline gasped. ‘But that was months ago.’ She shook her head and took two steps back. ‘How do you even know about it?’
‘I was there, you two-faced, back-stabbing bitch.’ Alice’s face contorted into a snarl. She haughtily flicked her hair over her shoulder and strutted over to Caroline. ‘I watched it with my own fucking eyes.’
Caroline paled until she almost matched Josh. ‘So why now? Why break up me and Joshua?’ Her words stirred Josh back to life.
‘We’re breaking up?’ he blurted. ‘No. Please. Let me make it up to you.’
Both girls ignored him so he foolishly turned to the only other guy in the room for support except Zac held no sympathy for the cheating idiot either. He did his best ‘serves you right’ shrug then blanked Josh to watch the showdown between Alice and Caroline, ready to jump between them if things escalated.
Mean and menacing, Alice lowered her voice and got right up in Caroline’s face. ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold, you should know that. Especially after what you helped me do to Virginia.’
Whoa.
For a pretty girl, Alice sure had a major ugly streak. What happened to the funny girl that climbed trees and sat through dreadful Disney films with her little nephew?
Caroline made some sort of mewling noise and stormed out of the room. Josh charged after her—if he’d been a dog, he’d have had his tail between his legs but Zac didn’t rate his chances—which left just him and Alice in the room.
‘What the fuck was that?’ he asked.
Alice finally met his gaze. ‘That was Caroline, she’s—’
‘No, not her. You.’ Her eyebrows arched upwards but her forehead didn’t seem to move. Odd. ‘What exactly did I just witness?’
Alice jutted out her jaw. ‘Nothing.’ Her fake blue eyes sparkled under the lights but they had about as much life in them as a stone. ‘Just an old score being settled.’
‘By making Josh cheat on his girlfriend?’
‘I didn’t “make” him do anything.’
‘No, I’ll give you that, but it’s what you had planned all along.’
‘So?’
‘Dare I ask who Virginia is?’
‘No one you’d know,’ Alice replied, shutting him down.
Damn it, she was exasperating.
‘What’s happened to you? Or is this vamped-up version the real you and I’m the fool for thinking you were someone different? Someone nicer?’ The words escaped before he could stop them. If he hadn’t been glaring at her, he’d have missed the flash of pain.
‘What’s it to you, anyway?’ she replied, but the sass was forced. ‘It’s not like you could be bothered to stay in touch.’
‘And how was I supposed to do that?’
‘You know where I live.’
‘Yeah, behind six-foot iron gates in the middle of nowhere. What was I supposed to do, write you a postcard? I didn’t know if you even wanted to stay in touch.’
‘Well, I did.’ Her hand flew to her lips as though she hadn’t meant to say the words out loud.
Damned if he knew what was going on with her but the compulsion to reach out to her, to try and protect her, proved too strong to ignore. ‘Then you’re just as bad,’ he said, softening his tone and relaxing his stance. ‘You knew where I worked. Why didn’t you come here or leave me a message?’
Alice opened her mouth but then closed it again. She broke off eye contact and stared at a spot over his shoulder before heaving a sigh. ‘I don’t know,’ she said eventually.
‘Never mind, you’re here now.’
‘Yeah.’ The vibe coming from her was different again. Lost? Scared? Confused? Her angry red flush faded and gave her the complexion of a china doll.
‘Er, Alice, you look like you’re about to puke.’
‘Don’t worry, it’ll pass soon.’
‘Right. Of course…’
‘Was I really caught on camera or were you just saying that to shake Joshua up?’
‘Oh you two were live-streaming all right. I think there’ll be some sweet dreams tonight among the guys tonight.’
‘Well…’ Alice fluffed her hair, then laughed but it sounded hollow and her hand shook. ‘I aim to please.’
‘We should probably get out of here before you get asked for an encore.’ We? Thankfully Alice appeared too distracted to notice his slip. ‘Are you parked out front?’
‘Yes?’ she said, her tone turning it into a question.
‘Great. I’ll walk with you.’
She eyed him cautiously. ‘Why?’
He wanted to tell her the real reason: that he wanted to ensure she got away safely, but the tension in her jaw and the glare in her eye told him it wouldn’t be appreciated. ‘How else would I be able to work on you for a lift home?’
Her eyes widened before she could blank her surprise. ‘You mean I’ll actually get to drive my own car this time?’
‘Sure, why not? I like to live dangerously once in a while.’
‘Hey!’
‘What?’ he said, answering her challenge her with his best grin.
‘Oh fine.’ All tension gone, her mood had lifted too much to pull off being outraged. She relented and walked towards him, returning his broad grin, then linked her arm through the crook of his elbow.
Zac took it as the signal for him to escort her out, only to be met with a chorus of jeers and whistles the instant he opened the door. Hordes of staff loitered outside the meeting room, all vying to get a look at Alice. ‘Shit.’
‘Wow, you weren’t kidding,’ she whispered. Her grip tightened imperceptibly on his arm and triggered his protective streak.
‘C’mon on. Let’s blow this joint.’ Zac tugged on her arm and bustled her down the corridor as fast as her heels allowed. He didn’t slow down until they’d cleared the foyer and were out of the front doors.
‘No way.’ Alice yanked on his arm, back-tracking to take shelter under the entrance from the rain still pouring from the sky.
Zac scanned the car park, glad to see the pink monstrosity of a car parked nearby. ‘Come on, it’s not far.’
‘OK.’ Alice nodded and they set off again.
Zac slipped and slopped in his pool sandals across the car park, keeping pace with Alice’s fast trot until they reached the shelter of her car. He dived into the passenger seat and watched Alice lower her barely covered body backwards onto the driver’s seat before swinging her legs into the car.
Warmth seeped into his cheeks as the memory of those long and lithe limbs wrapped around Josh’s waist flashed into Zac’s mind. He closed his eyes and briskly shook the images away.
‘Hey, stop it,’ Alice protested. ‘If I wanted to get wetter, I’d have stayed outside.’
‘Huh?’ Zac froze. He opened his eyes and noticed the windows were now splattered with water inside as well as out. Along with Alice. ‘Shit, I’m sorry.’
Alice turned over the ignition and turned to heaters up to full. ‘You’re worse than a dog.’ Rain-soaked hair clung to her face as she rubbed her hands over her arms to brush away the newest drops, then turned her attention to the rivulets running down what had to be silky smooth legs.
Zac followed the trail of water all the way over her shins and down to her feet. Parched from the sudden heat coursing through him, he coughed to clear his throat and captured her attention.
‘What? Have I got mud on me or something?’
‘No, I was looking at your shoes,’ he said, lamely latching onto anything to deflect where his mind threatened to take him.
‘You—a guy—were looking at my shoes?’ she asked, shooting him the raised eyebrow.
‘Yes. Me. I was trying to work out how you can actually drive in those things?’ he said, nodding to her feet to divert her attention away from his glowing face.
‘It’s easy,’ she said, pouting as she pushed the offending wet tendrils of hair behind her ears. To prove her point, she popped the clutch despite her heels and slipped the car into first gear, then pulled away smoothly.
‘I take it back.’
‘I always wear heels,’ she explained, navigating her way out of the car park. ‘Well, nearly always,’ she corrected, darting him a shy glance. At least it wasn’t just his face steaming the windows up any more. ‘Where to then?’
His brain took a moment to catch up. ‘Richmond Road. Do you know it?’
‘Yep.’ Alice made her way onto the bypass and motored along with the wipers going full speed against the rain lashing the windscreen.
Some way in the distance, Zac spotted a lonely figure walking along the grass verge. Whoever it was had no coat and had to be soaked. The next swipe of the wipers revealed that the unfortunate sod was Josh. Unluckily for him, Alice had recognised who it was too. She put her foot down hard on the accelerator and veered towards him, timing her approach to perfection to spray a huge puddle all over him.
Partly out of concern but mostly for the comedy value, Zac peered over his shoulder. Laughter burst out of his chest as a bedraggled Josh stood stock still, his mouth gaping open in shock as he watched the Barbie car whizz away from the scene of the crime. ‘Alice, you’re pure evil,’ Zac said, still chuckling as he turned back to face the front.
‘Why? What have I done now?’ Alice asked, oh-so-innocently.
‘Just remind me never to get in your bad books, OK?’
‘Oh, come off it, Joshua’s a lowlife. You’re nothing like him, Zac.’ She tensed and darted a glance at him as she spoke, as if to gauge his reaction so he kept his eyes forward and his expression neutral. ‘No decent guy cheats on his girlfriend, especially with the likes of me,’ she continued, tightening her grip on the steering wheel so much her knuckles turned white.
‘Er…thanks,’ Zac deadpanned, spouting the first thing that came to mind. ‘I think.’ He couldn’t argue with the Josh-being-a-lowlife part, but as for the likes-of-me part Zac wasn’t so sure.
Alice instantly relaxed. ‘You’re welcome,’ she said, disarming him with a playful smirk that made the corners of her eyes crinkle before her gaze drifted back to the windscreen to give the road her full attention.
Relieved to have passed the test, Zac let his head flop back against the headrest and stared at the soft-top roof. How could sharing a ride home be so exhausting yet so unbelievably exhilarating at the same time? Christ, every time he thought he’d got a step closer to figuring Alice out, she’d do something unexpected and become even more of a puzzle. One that he desperately wanted to solve.
Chapter seven (#ulink_ab87abc0-9879-5a83-b73f-2b7c04b20cab)
Blues
Alice
Out of the corner of my eye, I risked a glance at Zac. His head lay tilted head back against the headrest, staring up and seemingly lost in thought. If it weren’t for his eyes being open, I could have been fooled into thinking he’d fallen asleep. Shame. It would at least have accounted for his lack of conversation; several minutes had passed and still he hadn’t spoken.
In the funereal hush of my car, it was a wonder I couldn’t hear his heartbeat let alone my own erratic beat above the constant drumming sound of rain. The way my pulse ticked in my fingertips, I could have joined the percussion just by hovering my hands over the drum skins. Like I needed any more distractions when simply having Zac in the car did the job so brilliantly.
Christ knows why, but I really wanted to impress him with my driving skills, especially after his comment about my shoes, yet the weather tried its best to thwart me. At last, I turned off the scary-as-fuck-in-the-sluicing-rain bypass onto a slower stretch of road and could reduce the angry swoosh of the wiper to a less-aggressive swish.
I relaxed my grip on the wheel and shot another look at the super-silent Zac. He must have sensed my movement because he turned his head and caught me in the act.
‘You OK?’ he asked.
‘Me?’ I squawked. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. You?’
‘Er…if you say so.’ Zac grinned but I was too busy cringing at the total garbage tripping out of my mouth. ‘What’s got you all in a tizz?’
‘Nothing,’ I snapped.
‘Right,’ he said, drawing out the word and coaxing a half-smile out of me. ‘Cos this isn’t awkward at all. Should I stick to talking about the weather?’
‘Oh no, must we?’ I said, finally accepting his attempt to break the ice.
