Alicia settled on one end of the Victorian loveseat at the foot of the bed.Great view of the flatscreen TV from here. What kind of stuff does this woman watch?The news? High-brow movies? Did she even watch stuff like sitcoms and talent shows? Blockbuster movies?
Ultimately, Alicia asked for water. She needed to wash away the flavor of whatever the hell that alcohol was.
“So,” she began, trying not to stare at Danica’s firm ass in those pants as she plucked a stout glass from the bar and filled it with water from a filtered tap. “I have no idea what we would even talk about, honestly.” Danica said she wanted honesty, right?
“Do you want to talk?”
Alicia cleared her throat and accepted the glass of water. Danica continued to stand before her, hand in pocket and throat swallowing another round of alcohol. “If you’re serious about dating me, that might be nice. How about I get to know you?”
In truth, she and Candice had done plenty of digging on Danica Moreau whenever they had the chance. The internet was full of sparse news. Her Wikipedia page was hilariously short, merely talking about her birthplace and education. The articleabout her great-great-grandfather, who founded the family’s legacy in the mid-1800s after making a smart investment in western rail, was more in-depth and interesting than what Danica Moreau had to offer.
The woman in question sat on the other end of the loveseat. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Me neither.”
“So, how about this?” Danica continued, leaning against the armrest. “You tell me something about yourself, and I’ll tell you something about me.”
“All right.” Seemed fair. “My favorite color is green. Especially if you pair it with pale yellow.” Alicia smiled. “I have this blanket my grandmother made me. It’s this really pretty yellow…” She stopped. “Er, never mind.” No one wanted to hear about her blanket. Not even she wanted to hear about a stupid blanket!
“My favorite color is dark green.”
“Not black?”
“No.” Danica grinned. “Contrary to popular opinion. I also like navy blue. Dark colors, I guess. Things that complement black well. Ah, I guess I do like black a lot…”
A giggle escaped Alicia’s lips. “What’s your sign?”
“Pardon?”
Right.She’s too smart and fancy to degrade herself with astrology.“Like, are you a Sagittarius or a Leo or something?”
“I have no idea. How would I know something like that?”
“When’s your birthday?”
She wrinkled her nose.Uh-oh. Too personal already?“February 10th.”
“An Aquarius?”How fortuitous for this Gemini!“That means we’re really compatible. How about that?”
Danica sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I wouldn’t want the stars to decide we shouldn’t be together.” Was that sarcasm? Thathad to be sarcasm. “Now, you have to tell me something about yourself.”
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “How about what you want from a relationship?”
Well, that was certainly heavy. From favorite color toWhere do you see yourself in five years?bullshit. “I guess I want something stable and loving. Isn’t that what everyone wants?” Alicia knew she shouldn’t ask, but here she went. “How about you?”
“You already heard me back in the restaurant. I want someone I can see myself spending the rest of my life with. I don’t take to transient people too well. I like stability as much as the next person. With as few friends as I have, it would be nice to have one or two people I can rely on to always be there. Isn’t that what most people want?”
“I suppose so. So, you want a family?”
“Naturally. It’s expected of me, but I don’t want to start a family until I’m sure I’m with a woman I can trust with not only my personal life, but with raising my heirs. My father… well, my parents divorced when I was very young. My father raised me. It wasn’t bad, but it would’ve been nice to have my mother around as well.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your parents.” That answered the question about the missing Mrs. Russell Moreau. At least she wasn’t dead? “I’m guessing that means you’re the type really committed to making a family work.”
“That would be nice.” She crossed her legs toward Alicia.Hello, sexy pants. “Trust me when I say I’ve had plenty of opportunities to at least get engaged. Every time I came home from school, my father had a selection lined up for me. Started with boys, of course.” Danica chuckled. “My father is not… pleased with my proclivities. He blames himself formy sexuality. Thinks that I was surrounded by too much testosterone and his own womanizing. We’ve already fought about it quite a bit. He’s very… old-fashioned.” That chuckle turned into a sigh. “But once he realized there was no forcing me to marry a man, he took it as an opportunity to butchify me further. Get the son he never had. Which meant bringing a new wife into the picture. For me, of course. Girls from all over the world, each one from their own prestigious family. They were always the meekest, most uninteresting people. Or so out of control that I didn’t dare get within twenty feet of them.” She drank without a second thought.
“I see.” Rich, well-bred women from all over the world? Sheesh. “Any princesses?”
