B071NZPNXN EBOK Read online

  “You looked so peaceful,” Alice replied as she returned to the bed and sat back down. “I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, I’m in no hurry; I was happy just to wait. How have you been?”

  “What’s happened,” Sophia asked sitting up properly on the chair and completely ignoring what Alice had said. “You look upset. Something has happened.”

  “Nothing has happened,” Alice assured her grandmother with a smile. “I’m not upset at all, I swear.”

  Alice knew she wasn’t completely telling the truth. She was still upset about what had happened on Friday night with Parker, and the truth was she was more upset at herself then at him. She had allowed herself to believe for a moment that maybe he had liked her, and after watching him from afar for over a year, she thought that just maybe her dream had come true and he had noticed her too.

  She realised that she had been a complete idiot even to think he could ever like someone like her.

  But what hurt her the most was, after what he had done, he believed that she would be the type of girl that would try and make money from it, even if he said that’s not why he had come to see her. She was humiliated enough without telling the rest of the world what had happened, and she was most certainly not going to tell her grandmother.

  Alice shook her head and forced a smile on her face. She needed to forget about that asshole and put it all behind her. She doubted she would see him again now anyway. She didn’t think that even Parker O’Neill would have the balls to come back into the coffee shop now.

  “So, are we going to do this picnic? Alice asked as she picked up her grandmother’s cardigan from the bed and helped her put it on. Even though it was May, there was still a chill in the air. “I brought you some cronuts.”

  “You do spoil me, Sweetheart,” Sophia smiled as she linked her granddaughter’s arm, before Alice grabbed their lunch and they made their way out to the gardens slowly.

  This was exactly what Alice needed. Spending time with her grandmother always made her feel better.

  A little after two, Alice was making her way along the corridor, heading for the exit.

  Gram had said she wanted to go back to her room a little after one. Alice felt a little disappointed, and also a little concerned. Gran hadn’t seemed herself at all, and she didn’t know what to think.

  When they got back to the room, Sophia said she felt tired, and she wanted to have another nap. Alice had settled her before she kissed her goodbye and she left her grandmother to sleep.

  She decided she would call the clinic director the next day and ask if there was anything she should be worried about with her grandmother.

  “Bye, Annie,” Alice waved to the head nurse as she passed by the front desk. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Actually, Alice,” Annie called after her. “Could I have a quick word with you?”

  “Sure,” Alice replied as she turned back and walked slowly towards the front desk.

  “Maybe we could go to the office,” Annie said, giving Alice a reassuring smile, but Alice knew something wasn’t right.

  “So,” Annie said, once they were both seated in the office. “I’d like to talk to you about Sophia.”

  “Okay,” Alice replied with a smile, but inside her heart was hammering. She knew her grandmother was eighty-one now, but still she wasn’t ready to lose her, not yet.”

  “The thing is,” Annie began with a deep sigh. “Over the last few weeks, your grandmother’s condition has deteriorated. We need to move her to full care, or we will have to move her out of the nursing home.”

  “Move her where?” Alice asked as the thought of her grandmother’s life being upended again made her feel sick.

  “She would be moved to a state facility,” Annie replied as she gave Alice a sympathetic smile.

  “But, I don’t want her to be moved,” Alice said as a feeling of panic washed over her. “She loves it here.”

  “Then I’m afraid it will cost you thirty thousand dollars,” Annie replied, and Alice knew from the look on her face, that she already knew that there was no way Alice would have that kind of money.

  “How long do I have to decide,” Alice asked even though she knew it didn’t matter how long she said, there was no way she could come up with that kind of money.

  “We can give you till the end of next week,” Annie replied shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “But then we will have to make arrangements to transfer Sophia. I’m sorry we can’t give you more time than that.”

  “I see,” Alice said as she slowly stood up. “Thank you for letting me know.”

  Without saying another word, Alice left the office and headed straight for the exit. By the time she stepped out into the afternoon sun, her eyes were burning with unshed tears, and her throat hurt from holding back her emotions.

  She felt so helpless. She was letting her grandmother down, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. Alice had no idea what she was going to do to help her grandmother, all she knew was she had to find a way to help her, and she had to find it fast.

  The last place she wanted her grandmother was in a state facility. She had heard some horrible stories about those places. Even if those stories weren’t true, Gram loved it where she was, and Alice would do whatever it took so she could stay there.

  Alice stood on the sidewalk and stared at the doors in front of her as her heart raced in her chest.

  You can do this; she told herself over and over in her mind. It’s twelve months; it will pass by before you know it. You can do this for Gram. She needs you to do this.

  She took a deep breath before she pushed opened the doors and stepped inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust from the bright afternoon sun to the dimly lit foyer.

  You have lost your mind; she sighed to herself, as she hurried across the marble foyer of the apartment building. This is beyond nuts.

  “Miss,” the man sitting behind the front desk called out, stopping Alice in her tracks, as she was halfway towards the elevator. “Can I help you?”

  “It’s okay,” Alice said as she turned to face him, trying to appear as casual as she possibly could. “I know where I’m going.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss,” he said, stopping her once again. “But all guests must be announced.”

  “But Mr. O’Neill is expecting me,” Alice lied, knowing there was a very real chance that Parker wouldn’t see her if the doorman called up first. Why would he after the way she treated him the day before.

  “I’m sorry, I still have to call up first,” he insisted, but before he could say another word, the phone on his desk started to ring. “Excuse me for a moment.”

  He turned to answer the phone, leaving Alice standing in the middle of the foyer. She watched him for a moment, then without thinking; she hurried towards the elevator.

  As she went to reach for the call button, the doors of the elevator opened, and an older gentleman stepped out. Before she had time to think, she stepped into the elevator before the doors closed.

  “MISS!” The doorman called out just as the doors closed. She quickly hit the button for the penthouse, and blew out a deep breath as the elevator jumped to life.

  “You have completely lost your mind,” she said with a nervous laugh as she stood in the centre of the elevator. She watched the number to each floor light up, and as it moved closer to the penthouse, the faster her heart raced.

  As the elevator came to a stop, Alice took another deep breath while she waited for the doors to open. When they did, she straightened her summer dress, and stepped off into the small hallway, then walked towards the double doors in front of her. She needed to be quick in case the doorman followed her up and removed her from the building.

  You can do this, she assured herself once more, as she fought back the overwhelming feeling she had to cry.

  She reached up and pressed the bell next to the door. When she heard it chime from inside, she knew it was too late to go back now.

  She waited for a moment, and as she
did, the elevator doors closed behind her. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the doorbell once more, and this time she heard movement from inside the door.

  She held her breath as the door was opened, and she came face to face with a leggy redhead, wearing nothing but a shirt that clearly didn’t belong to her.

  “Hi,” she said giving Alice a smile before she looked her up and down. “Can I help you?”

  “I…um…I think I have the wrong apartment,” Alice sputtered, unsure of what else she should say. And once more she was humiliated. “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

  Just as she went to turn, Parker’s voice came from behind the redhead.

  “Who is it?” He asked as Alice hurried to the elevator and hit the call button.

  FUCK!” She cried in her head as she pressed the call button over and over, willing it to just open.

  “Alice?” Parker called out, sounding stunned as he appeared in the doorway.

  FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! She screamed in her head, feeling completely mortified.

  “Red,” Parker said, and Alice could hear the discomfort in his voice. “Can you go in and put some clothes on.”

  Alice still didn’t turn around to face Parker. Instead, she reached for the call button and pressed it again.

  She could hear him move closer to her and to her horror, tears suddenly pooled in her eyes.

  “Alice,” Parker said as he stood directly behind her.

  “I shouldn’t have come,” Alice said as she closed her eyes. She refused to cry in front of this arrogant asshole. That was the last thing she was ever going to do. She had already been humiliated enough.

  “Then, why did you?” He asked, his voice calm and dripping with charm just like always.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Alice said as she shook her head. Once again she reached for the call button. “I made a mistake. You can go back into your friend. I can see myself out.”

  “I’m here with you,” Parker said as he moved so that he was now beside her. “Now tell me, why did you come here?”

  “I came here to tell you I would help you,” Alice said without looking at him. “That I would marry you.”

  “Why?” He asked surprising her. “What’s changed?”

  “Does it matter?” She asked as the doors finally opened but she didn’t step inside, despite the fact that it was all she wanted to do. “You said you needed my help and I’m here.”

  “It matters to me,” Parker replied.

  “It’s private,” Alice said as once more she closed her eyes, as she desperately tried to hold back her tears. “And I would really rather not talk about it.”

  “Okay,” Parker said, his voice still calm and even. “But do you know what it is I am asking of you?”

  “I don’t care,” she replied as she opened her eyes and looked at him, and he looked a little surprised to see she was upset. “I will do whatever it takes.”

  “And why would you do this?” Parker asked.

  “I need thirty thousand dollars,” Alice said, feeling mortified to be even saying those words. “It’s not for me, and I am not too proud to ask you for help. I need your help.”

  “Well, if you do this,” Parker said as he watched her closely, making Alice feel a little uncomfortable. “The original offer still stands…”

  “I don’t want a million dollars,” she quickly cut in. “I’m not doing this for me…”

  “The original offer still stands,” he repeated, this time stopping her mid-sentence. “That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”

  Alice stared up at him for a moment. She wished she could have said ‘leave it’, but that wasn’t a choice. After everything her grandmother had done for her, she needed to do this for her.

  “Deal,” she replied, knowing in her heart that she may have just done a deal with the devil.

  Chapter 7

  Parker

  Parker checked his watch again. Alice was cutting it fine.

  “Where the hell is she?” He demanded looking at Harrison and Jensen. “What if she has changed her mind?”

  “She still has ten minutes,” Jensen said as he too checked his watch. “Besides, aren’t brides supposed to be late?”

  “She isn’t a bride,” Parker reminded his friend. “At least not a real one.”

  “Wow,” Harrison said with a laugh. “Last of the great romantics.”

  “This isn’t a romance,” Parker sighed impatiently. “This is a business deal. I want to make that perfectly clear to you both. There will be no happy ever after, so enough.”

  Before either of his friends could reply, Parker spotted Alice making her way along the corridor, accompanied by her friend, Jenny.

  When Parker and Alice sat down the day after she visited his apartment, to work out the finer details of their deal, Alice surprised Parker when she said she wanted to tell her friend Jenny.

  At first, Parker refused point-blank to even consider her request. As far as he was concerned, the fewer people that knew the truth, the better.

  Alice reasoned that Parker’s friends knew the truth, so it only seemed fair that she had someone to talk to about it too, but Parker didn’t see it like that.

  Eventually, after much debate, Parker agreed that Alice could tell Jenny the truth, but only if she could get her to sign an NDA first. Alice thought he was being ridiculous, but agreed just to end the discussion.

  The one condition that Alice had insisted on did surprise Parker. She insisted that under no circumstances, was her grandmother to find out about the wedding. In fact, he was surprised when she refused to talk about her grandmother in any way, but he respected her request, and they didn’t discuss her any further.

  Parker watched Alice as she made her way along the corridor towards him. She was wearing a knee-length white dress. It was simple, understated, and very Alice. Her hair was down, in soft curls and she was carrying a tiny bouquet of daisies. As much as he hated to admit to himself, she was beautiful.

  Granted, she was nothing like the women he usually went for. In fact, he couldn’t have picked anyone more different if he had tried. There was an innocence about her that was intriguing. She was kind, intelligent, and articulate. Parker thought that Alice Whitmore had the potential to be anything she wanted in the world, so he had to wonder how she ended up working in a coffee shop for minimum wage. She was a true mystery.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” Alice said when she finally reached them, “Jenny insisted that I needed to get something old, new, and borrowed, but we had trouble finding something blue.”

  “Well you’re here now,” Parker said as he glanced at Jenny a little coolly. “We should be going in.”

  He reached for her hand and led her towards the office at the end of the corridor.

  “Wait!” Jenny exclaimed as they reached the door, stopping them all in their tracks. Alice turned around to face her friend, as did Parker. Jenny looked at Alice, then quickly glanced up at Parker, before looking at her friend once more. “Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I know you said that it was all sorted and that you know what you’re doing, but are you sure?”

  Parker looked at Alice, who just stared at her friend for a moment before she glanced up at him. For a moment, she looked so sad, that Parker almost wanted her to say no, but instead she smiled.

  “I’m sure I want to do this,” Alice said before she turned back to her friend. “I know what I’m doing, and everything is going to be alright.”

  Without saying another word, she turned back towards the door and slipped her hand back into Parkers.

  He stared at her briefly before he closed his hand around hers and led her through the door.

  Ten minutes later, the judge that performed the marriage told Parker to kiss his bride.

  Parker turned to Alice and hesitated before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. As they kissed, Harrison took a photo with his phone, making Alice jump back abruptly.

  “Sorry,” he said giving her a nervous smi
le. “But TMZ is going to want proof.”

  “TMZ?” Alice repeated, looking at Harrison with confusion.

  “It’s the website that has all the latest celebrity gossip,” Harrison explained.

  “I know what it is,” Alice replied impatiently. “I just don’t know why you think they would want my photo. I’m not a celebrity.”

  “You are now, Sweetheart,” Harrison replied with a grin. “You’ve just married the most eligible bachelor in New York, which makes you a superstar now.”

  Parker could see Alice turn pale as what Harrison had said registered with her. He had warned her that marrying him would come with some baggage, but she seemed so determined. Now she looked like she was beyond terrified that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

  She looked up at him, but she didn’t say a word. Instead, she just smiled and waited for his lead.

  “I have a table booked in the Four Seasons,” Parker said as he led her back out of the office and along the corridor. “I thought we could have an early dinner.”

  “I’d like that,” Alice said, giving him a nervous smile.

  “Good,” he nodded as they made their way down the front steps of city hall.

  “WAIT!” Harrison called out, as once more he took his phone from his pocket, then started taking photos. As he did, Jenny and Jensen threw handfuls of confetti over them.

  Parker pulled Alice into his arms once more and kissed her again. As he did, Harrison continued to take photos.

  When their lips slowly parted, Parker looked down into her eyes and was met with sheer and utter sadness.

  He slowly released her from his embrace as an uncomfortable feeling settled inside him.

  “That’s enough, Harri,” Parker said still looking down into Alice's eyes.

  “You need to have proof this actually happened,” Harrison argued.

  “I SAID ENOUGH!” Parker shouted as he turned to his friend and glared at him.

  Harrison stared back at him but didn’t say a word.

  Parker had no idea why he was so angry, but he was. He looked back down at Alice and sighed before he turned and continued down the steps to the two cars that were waiting for them.