Mad Hatter's Alice (2 page)

“Yeah, what man wouldn’t want to go swimming with the bloody big head?” Kitty muttered as she dropped the poles and stood up. “She reminds me of the Red Queen. Do you know what we have here? Alice, Mad Hatter...”

“A mess.” Alice shrugged wryly.

“No. We have an Alice, a Mad Hatter, and a bloody big headed Red Queen. You know, all Alice in Wonderland characters.” Kitty’s cheeky grin caught on as Wayne laughed.

“I’m sorry. Kitty has a habit of looking for correlations, the mark of the consummate numbers junky.”

“That’s remarkable, Kitty.” He shook his head as he too dropped down to study the poles. “I think I’m seeing why the two of you still haven’t figured out this tent.”

“Yes, we like to talk too much.” Alice sighed as one pole refused to connect with another. He shot her a charming smile from where he knelt down beside their pile of tent poles.

“No, I meant these poles are from two different tents. Stay here. I’ll go see what I can do about getting you the correct poles.” He strode away with a purpose to his stride. Alice watched the way his jean shorts hugged his firm backside, and admitted she was a bit jealous of them. His legs were tanned and hairy enough to be masculine. She hadn’t thought herself as a butt woman until then, but couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Wow. Would you look at you?” Kitty’s voice right in her ear made her jump guiltily.

“What? Is there a bug on me?”

“No. I just haven’t seen you watch a guy that closely since the Christmas party when Andrew finished dancing with you.”

“Yeah, that’s the night I pretty much propositioned him. Andrew said I was attractive, but my dress size was five sizes too big.” Alice shook her head. “I never seem to learn.”

“You just get your sights set on the wrong kind of guys. Now, that one”—Kitty nodded her head toward where Wayne stood talking with Hopps—”he’s a catch. I think he likes you too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s just being nice.” She watched Wayne and Hopps move over to intercept Harrison on the way to his tent. There seemed to be a lot of head nodding and then Wayne slapped a hand on Harrison’s back. The man gaped at him and then grinned brightly. Alice quickly looked away as Wayne turned back to stride toward them.

“Well, there isn’t a spare tent, but don’t worry. We worked it all out. You ladies will be taking Harrison’s tent and he’s agreed to bunk with Andrew and me.”

“Harrison is giving up his tent?” Kitty gaped at him with her mouth open.

“You’re sharing a tent with Harrison?” Did he know what he was in for? The man belched loud enough to wake the dead. The dead newly created by the vicious odor from his farts.

“Sure. It’s no problem. I’ll help you pick up this mess, which should give him time to remove his belongings, and then you can get settled into your tent.” He immediately set words to action and began cleaning up.

“What are you? Some miracle worker hired to work your magic at Blake Inc.?” She sent him a suspicious look.

“Actually, yes. I’m sort-of a trouble shooter.” He winked at her and she nearly tripped over the tent’s bag as she picked it up. Heat burned all the way up to the roots of her hair as she offered him the bag. Wordlessly he slid the canvas into it.

“Now this is the example of the day for teamwork. Great job, Mr. Quinton.” Hopps came over with his clipboard still in hand. “Dinner will be in one hour. If you ladies would gather some firewood, it would be greatly appreciated.” He bestowed a dazzling smile on Wayne, but then glared at her. “Miss Grace, I do hope tardiness doesn’t become a habit with you. Weakest link and all...” Hopps turned sharply and left.

“Man, that guy has it out for you.” Wayne shot her a teasing grin. Something unexpected happened in that moment. Her toes curled within her heavy boots and she could feel her girlie parts sitting up to take notice. Then he reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. The sensation of his roughened finger gently touching her cheek as he pulled back made her breath clog in her throat and her mouth completely dry out. He cleared his throat as he got up and lifted the tent up. “I’ll give this back to Mr. Hopps and then help you get the wood.”

“We’ll be fine on our own. Besides, you have a date with a lake.” She bent to retrieve her backpack so he wouldn’t see her reddened cheeks.

“I’d rather gather wood, Alice.”

“Okay. Thank you, Hatter.”

“I like the way you say my name, so Wayne works.” He placed the tent on one shoulder as if it weighed nothing. She watched him strut back toward the white-haired guide.

“Yup. He likes you.” Kitty smiled as she picked up her own bags.

“Sure. But he doesn’t want me using his nickname. That just screams long term commitment.” Alice rolled her eyes.

“Why are you always looking for commitment, Alice? You’re only twenty-five. Live a little. At the first opportunity you should grab that hunk, drag him into the woods, and hump his brains out.”

“Kitty!”

“Hey, I would if I weren’t kind-of seeing Milton.”

“You’re living with Milton,” Alice pointed out. They passed Harrison on his way out of the tent.

“Thanks for giving up your tent, Harrison.” At her words, he blushed a healthy shade of pink.

“Oh, no hardship. Mind the tree root in the very middle. I didn’t realize one got past me.” He nodded and kept on along his way across to the tent belonging to Wayne and Andrew.

Kitty nudged her arm with a pointed look at Harrison. “He’d make a great Knave of Hearts, if he wasn’t so darn nice.”

“Come on, we have to get wood.”

♦♦♦

Sitting on logs the guys dragged out, Alice ate her hot dog. The fire danced in the middle of everyone. Across the flames, she noticed someone watching her. Licking her lips, she met Wayne’s dark gaze. Heat filled her face and it had nothing to do with the roaring fire, but everything to do with the serious study of the male sitting across from her. Firm lips pulled up into a charming grin. She nearly choked as Kitty planted an elbow in her gut.

“Ogling each other over the fire much? Come on give the guy a chance, Alice. Jump down the rabbit hole for once without checking to see how deep it is.”

“You want me to break my neck.”

“Can I have your attention, my fine employees?” Andrew stood up to address them. The fire glinted off his dark head as he braced his hands on his hips in a gesture Alice liked to refer to as his power move. “I hope you’re all prepared to have some fun this weekend while learning how to build better relationships within the company. My hope is that we will be better able to communicate and understand our peers to promote a better work atmosphere. And in the spirit of communication, I want everyone to meet our newest addition to the Blake family. He’s my long lost brother in arms, Wayne Quinton. Stand up big guy.” Wayne stood and raised a hand in greeting. “Wayne has been offered a position as Asset Manager. He will be auditing the company to find ways to tighten our ship. I want everyone to get acquainted with him, but don’t kiss his rear. Trust me, it won’t help. Okay, I’m all through the boring speech. Enjoy tonight because tomorrow we face the climb of a lifetime.”

“Holy cow.” Alice whispered softly, using Wayne’s phrase of choice.

“You might want to refrain from jumping his bones, now. He’ll be in charge of firing you. Of course, if you’re really good, you’ll have job security for a long time to come.” Kitty laughed into her hands.

“Fifteen minute potty breaks and then meet back here for a trust exercise.” Hopps tapped his clipboard.

“I’m going to get some more bug spray and my sweatshirt.” Alice stretched as she stood and hopped over the log. The darkness seemed to swallow her as she stepped carefully toward their tent. Suddenly, her path became illuminated by a steady beam of light.

“I thought you might like to see where you’re going, Alice.” Beside her Wayne held a flashlight in his hand.

“Tell the truth, you didn’t want me breaking my neck to cut short this little adventure.”

“I love your sense of humor.”

“Yeah? Well, I hope you like my marketing skills more.” Their arms brushed as she tried to avoid a dip in the uneven ground. His hand shot out to lightly grip her elbow, supporting her as they came up to the tent.

“We’ll see. Do you have a flashlight to see your way back?”

“I do thanks. Really, you don’t have to be so nice to me.” Alice fought the urge to rub her tingling elbow as he released it.

“Maybe I like being nice to you. Is that such a novelty?”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Men don’t go out of their way to be nice to me.” She crossed her arms over her chest, conscious of him watching from the darkness.

“Good.” He bent to unzip her tent.

“Good? I’m confused. What does that mean?” He stood up and held the tent’s flap for her.

“You’ll figure it out. Get your flashlight, Alice. Seeing is part of the solution.” She wished she could see his eyes, but they were hidden in the darkness.

“Cryptic, Wayne?” He laughed as she ducked into the tent. Using the light from his flashlight, she quickly located hers and turned it on. “Got it. Thanks.” He quickly put his hand up to his face as she beamed him right in the eyes. “Sorry.”

“See you back at the fire, Alice. I think...”

Left alone in the tent she sank down on her sleeping bag. The man’s position gave him the power to fire people at will for not doing their jobs properly. She’d already bumped heads with him and just now she’d blinded him after his act of gallant chivalry. The future did not bode well for her, especially since all she wanted to do was snatch his floppy army hat off his head and lock lips with him.

♦♦♦

She’d placed an enchantment on him. Racking his brains for the past ten minutes hadn’t helped him come up with a reason why the curvy blonde would hold such a strong attraction for him. Besides the obvious, of course. Her beauty didn’t slap you in the face like the red-haired diva sitting next to him. Susan seemed like she could be loads of fun, but her charm didn’t surpass her arrogance. The woman had a model’s body. She knew it and she used it. He couldn’t fault her for it, but when she looked at him the zap of electricity he felt while locking eyes with Alice’s blue gaze didn’t exist. He watched her as she returned to the fire and sat down beside Kitty from accounts. She’d replaced the denim shorts with a pair of black sweat pants and pulled a grey sweatshirt over her taunting black tank top. She’d twisted her long blonde and caramel colored ponytail into a messy bun at the back of her head and two hunks of shorter hair framed her oval face. Beneath wispy bangs, her almond-shaped eyes were the color of the summer sky. He could look into those eyes all day long.
God, what is wrong with me?

Blake Industry’s new Asset Manager needed to get his act together and watch more than the way her loving breasts bounced when she laughed. Glancing over at his best friend and new boss, Andrew Howard Blake, he wondered why she wanted the man. Sure, the money and power Andy held would attract any woman, but he highly doubted Alice felt that way. His best traits involved reading people and she seemed down to earth, incredibly sincere, and sexy as hell.
Shit!

Mr. Hopps stood near the fire with his clipboard talking about trust and communication, but here he sat thinking about Alice the Marketing Manager’s nice plump ass. He needed a beer and a frigid shower. Perhaps a dip in the lake wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Maybe, he could even talk Alice into taking a walk on the wild side with him. If she didn’t break his neck or drown him. The woman could be quite klutzy in a charming way. He rubbed at the swollen bump on his forehead with a grin. Yup, she’d definitely made an impression on him.

“All right, so I’m going to pair you with what I consider strong and weak communicators. This exercise will help us learn to trust and define our words to help us be more efficient in the workplace. First off, we have our strongest communicator Andrew Blake and the weakest, Alice Grace. You’ll be my first pairing.” Wayne immediately looked to see her reaction to Hopps’ choice. She blinked up at the white-haired guide with a slight frown on her face. He couldn’t tell if it was attributed to her title of weakest link, or being put with the man she liked. It irked the hell out of him when Andrew groaned.

“Watch your hands and feet, Andrew. She’s bound to maim you in some way.” Sue commented loudly. He wanted to defend Alice, but heard his name next on Hopps’ list. Sue leaned closer and wrapped his arm with hers. “Hello, partner. You lucked out because I’m excellent at communication.” She squeezed his arm and blinked suggestively up at him. He smothered his own groan and glanced in Alice’s direction. Their gazes collided and held. The familiar zing of anticipation burned through his veins until she dropped her narrowed eyes to the human anaconda beside him. Her lush pink lips opened as she took a deep breath and then stood up. He watched her march around the fire, her fisted hands easily communicating her show of temper. His male ego danced a happy gig as she stopped in front of them.

“Hopps wants the weaker partner to sit on the right. You’ll need to move, Sue.” Her commanding tone sent a flash of heat down his spine that had certain male parts of him standing at attention. In his mind, snippets of her sexy, soft body and her strong voice commanding him to move faster in his bed didn’t help ease his excitement.

“Bossy much, Alice?” Sue stood and Alice sat down beside him. Awareness of her thigh pressing against his had him suppressing a groan as Sue sat down. He leaned forward, placing his arms on his knees in a move to keep her from wrapping around him once more. For some prehistoric reason, buried deep in his psyche, he didn’t want Sue touching him in front of Alice. Not when the sweet scent of her wafted to his nose.

“Donna will now hand each pair a bandana and a puzzle board. Keep the boards upside down in your hands until instructed to turn them over. No peaking allowed. What you’re going to do is blindfold the strongest partner. Then the weaker one will give whispered instructions on how to solve the puzzle to his or her partner. I don’t want to hear any talking out loud.
Whispers only
. Blindfold your partner when you receive the bandana.”