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Alice appreciated the need for rules. Without rules, there were no games. Without games, there was no competition. Without competition, there was no growth.
But she still resented being read rules like she was some kind of errant kid who didn’t understand that she shouldn’t eat other guests.
Scarlet must have had a lawyer go over her agreement; every i was dotted and every t was crossed. And Scarlet herself... Alice knew it was too much to hope that the woman would prove to be friendly and forthcoming, but she hadn’t expected the sharp, judgmental scrutiny that she got, or the intimidating power that the woman exuded.
Fifty million dollars, she reminded herself. Fifty million dollars to snoop out just one tiny detail. So Alice was so forward and friendly that she feared she was being flirtatious, asking about the resort and Scarlet’s role until she was aware of Mary giving her suspicious sideways looks.
Scarlet seemed nothing but cool and professional in reply, her veneer unbroken until a leggy, cream-colored young cat leapt up onto the counter between them.
“This is Tyrant,” Scarlet introduced with a tolerant smile that cracked her cool facade, scooping the kitten off the paperwork. “She doesn’t understand boundaries.”
Alice wondered if that was a dig at her for being nosy, but Scarlet let the three women coo over the affectionate feline and trade chin scratches for purrs, explaining that this was a real cat, not a shifter. “Though Gizelle does seem to hold out hope,” she chuckled, releasing Tyrant back to the floor with a swift stroke from ears to tailtip.
Mary laughed knowingly, and Amber said, “I’m looking forward to meeting Gizelle in human form at last.”
Alice had heard all the stories about the shifter zoo and Gizelle’s captivity. “I’m looking forward to meeting her, too,” she said more boisterously than she intended.
That earned her an actual frown from Scarlet, and Alice remembered that Gizelle was shy, and afraid of more than Mary was. She grinned winningly back at Scarlet. Sometimes the timid students surprised her by responding well to a little encouragement. One of her best wrestling kids had been soft-spoken and terrified before joining the team.
Scarlet only looked at her more dubiously, and handed them each a key. “Let me know if you have any questions or problems,” she said dismissively.
Fifty million dollars, Alice reminded herself, taking hers.
Then she turned away to go with Mary and Amber to their cottages... and even fifty million dollars was nothing.
He was standing at the entrance to the resort, wearing a green polo shirt with the Shifting Sands logo and khaki pants like the rest of the staff. His big hands were in fists at his side, and his thick blond hair was wild around his face. He had a jaw like a brick, and blue eyes like holes to the sky, and a dozen other romantic notions that meant absolutely nothing as he started to stride towards her.
Alice was in motion before she was aware of giving her feet the command, her bear roaring urgently to her as she crossed the distance to her mate.
Damn Mary for being prophetic, Alice thought fiercely. And damn her for feeling like she had a net of butterflies instead of a stomach, for the weakness and need that was burning inside her. She didn’t want to swoon at his feet, and at the same time, she desperately did. It made her teeth clench, the way she wanted to give herself to him. She belonged to no one.
They were standing in the middle of the courtyard, staring at each other, and Alice was distantly aware of the surprised scrutiny of her friends, and of Scarlet.
But mostly she was aware of his strength, and the height of him—he had an inch or two on her—the smell of him, and her own rising desire.
Without considering, she peeled her lips back, and growled at him wordlessly in challenge.
What are you going to do? she taunted him with her eyes, half-hoping he would run and prove all her fears right.
He didn’t run.
He reached over and put one hand at the back of her neck and pulled her in for a bruising kiss. It wasn’t a kiss that asked permission, and it wasn’t a kiss that pretended to be gentle or courtly, and at some point Alice realized that she was the one kissing him, her arms around his broad shoulders and her mouth fierce against his.
The sound of a throat clearing made her stop at last, her mouth throbbing, and draw back.
Mary and Amber must be staring, and probably Scarlet was too, but Alice had no interest in looking away from the strange, gorgeous man’s intense gaze to find out.
She wanted to ask who he was, find out why he looked so grim, hear the sound of the voice that must come from those lips, from that chest.
She wanted to know where he came from, what he’d been like as a child, what he was afraid of, what he did for fun, where those big hands had been that made them smell like dirt and grass.
She wanted to know why him, why her, what now...
But most of all, she needed to know, “Where?”
His smile was so slow, so hopeful, so utterly beautiful that it gave Alice little unwelcome jolt in the center of her chest.
Then he was taking her hand and she was following him out of the courtyard as Mary and Amber fell into delighted laughter behind them.