Glow (41 page)

SIX WEEKS LATER

N
o, no! My treat,” Alice cried out excitedly when Dylan reached for the bill. “You're always buying. My turn, now that I've started getting paychecks.”

The waiter looked at Dylan. Dylan nodded once, although he appeared a little exacerbated.

They were having lunch at a sleek new Chinese restaurant called the Great Wall. They made a point of having lunch together during their workday whenever they could. It was gratifying, to no longer have to hide their relationship. They didn't flaunt it, by any means, but the days of sneaking around were officially over for Dylan and her.

With great excitement, she withdrew the credit card from her wallet. She held it up next to her cheek and struck a pose.

“My first credit card ever,” she said.

Dylan reached across the table and grabbed the card. He looked exceptionally handsome today, wearing the new bronze and black tie she'd bought him yesterday—also with her new card. She thought the colors made his eyes look especially lustrous and mesmerizing. He peered at the credit card, a grin softening his firm mouth. He handed it back to her.

“You got it with the new name,” he said as she tucked the card into the folder and held it up for the waiter.

“I did. What do you think?”

“You know I like it very much.” He reached across the table and she put her hand in his. “Are you sure you don't want an expense account from the trust? It could be arranged in a matter of hours. I'm sure Dick has told you,” he said, referring to the new executor of her trust, a financial guru by the name of Dick Everhill. She and Dick, with Dylan's helpful input from years of experience, had decided for the time being to not make any changes to the trust. Alan had supplied such worthy directives, and Dylan had done a brilliant job managing it. Alice couldn't think of anything better for it than to keep it just as it was.

“He did tell me. But don't ruin my fun. I'm happy being a working girl and earning a paycheck.”

“Heaven forbid I suggest anything that defeats your happiness. But I don't want you going overboard, buying things for me,” he told her sternly, briefly touching his new tie.

“I like buying little bobbles for you,” she joked. She sighed when his dark look didn't remit. “You spoil me constantly, Dylan. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to return the favor, in my little way.”

He stroked her thumb and palm, looking thoughtful. Prickles of pleasure danced across her nerves at his simple caress. She reached and ran her finger over his knuckles, admiring his masculine hand. When she encircled his forefinger and squeezed, he blinked and met her stare.

“You'll definitely be home early tonight?” he asked, his deep, quiet voice and the heat in his eyes telling her loud and clear that he shared her amplified sensual awareness of him. Since they'd begun living together, Alice had reaped the benefits of not only fewer restrictions on how much time they could spend together, but Dylan's considerable imagination and energy when it came to lovemaking. She was a very lucky woman.

“If I get through the analyses on the Sweet Adelaide campaign . . . and Gabriel says I can,” she added with a wry smile,
referring to her boss in the marketing division. Alice liked her new job a lot. She was learning so much, sometimes it felt like her head was going to explode at the end of the day. It was a lot to take in, learning the ropes at a demanding new job while also trying to assimilate all that it meant to be Adelaide Durand. She was slowly, but steadily, going through all of Alan's and Lynn's remaining personal effects on the weekends, a process that could be intense and wonderful, yet emotional and exhausting, as well. She also was absorbing as many of Durand Enterprises' financial reports and historical information as she possibly could.

Fortunately, Sidney Gates had referred her to a counselor in Morgantown. It'd helped Alice, to have somewhere to go every week where she could just spill everything to an objective listener. Slowly, she was starting to rework all the confusion and discrepancy of her dual existence into a single new identity that increasingly made sense to her.

That she was growing to love.

Dylan's gaze narrowed. “You'd think the fact that the product Gabriel is having you work on was named for
you
by the founder of the company would have some weight on the whole matter.”

“Well it doesn't,” she said crisply, squeezing his finger again and running her fist up and down it suggestively. She smiled when his eyes flashed. “And that's the way I want it, remember?”

“You won't let me forget.”

“What are you thinking about?” she murmured after a moment, recognizing his preoccupation.

“Your name,” he said bluntly. “Now that you've legally changed it, I don't suppose you'd ever consider changing it again?”

Her heart gave a little leap.

“Absolutely not,” Alice replied. “I mean . . . I had to live without it for twenty years of my life. I'll never surrender it willingly again.”

He nodded, keeping his face impassive. Still, she sensed her
answer had subdued him. She laughed softly and stroked the back of his hand.

“I may, however, consider hyphenating . . . if the right offer came along.”

Frustratingly, he didn't say anything else.
“Dylan.”

“What?”

“Are you asking me if I'll marry you?” she blurted out irrepressibly.

“I was testing the waters,” he said, arching his dark brows and giving her that smoky, knowing look that always reminded her of a pirate.

“But—”

“Don't push it, little girl,” he murmured, his mouth tilting in amusement.

She shook her head in mock disgust. She knew him so well by now. He'd ask her to marry him all right, in his own special manner. Dylan never did anything halfway when it came to her. He was forever surprising her, whether it be with a gift presented at just the right moment or by thoughtfully including one of her friends, like Maggie, for a dinner.

He had become a lot less strained in his worry over her in the past weeks, but she had a feeling he'd always be cautious when it came to looking out for her. It was their history that had made him that way, and she understood. It was the same reason he never seemed to cease celebrating her presence, as well. She could hardly complain about his solemn, poignant gratitude about her very existence, even if it did surprise her anew every hour of every day.

Alice tore her gaze off him when the waiter returned. She took the folder, now finding it impossible to hide an ebullient grin. She was having more and more trouble disguising her joy behind a mask of tough indifference these days.

Could my life be any more amazing? Could I be any luckier?

“About those waters . . . ” she murmured in an offhand
manner, pretending to be preoccupied about adding a tip to the bill. “Just my opinion, but I'd say they're pretty damn inviting.”

She looked up at his warm, gruff chuckle. She saw it there in that moment, in Dylan's gleaming eyes: a whole future of wild heat and sweet, quiet moments of sharing. Their unusually strong bond was only going to grow unbreakable. Alice still doubted, at times. She still silently second-guessed herself, and she sometimes wondered if her sarcastic tongue and ever-ready cynicism could ever be fully vanquished. But one thing had forever changed. She now knew that her doubt and mistrust could potentially be the slayer of her bond with Dylan, if she let it be. And there was no way in hell she was ever going to let that enemy win on that particular battlefield.

Her parents had gotten it right. Her life really had been miraculous, in the end. Alice trusted, and she loved with all her heart. For her, there was no greater miracle than that.

She squeezed Dylan's hand. Turning to the bill, she signed her new name with a proud flourish.

Beth Kery
lives in Chicago where she juggles the demands of her career, her love of the city and the arts, and a busy family life. Her writing today reflects her passion for all of the above. She is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of
Because You Are Mine.
Find out more about Beth and her books at BethKery.com or
Facebook.com/Beth.Kery.

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