Alice winces, her lower lip drawn wide in a grimace.
“Well, I couldn’t exactly pop back up while you were both here,” she reasons. Plucking her book from its hidey-hole, she bends it back into shape. “How would that have looked?”
“Like you’re a crazy person,” I say with gentle affection.
She meets my eye with those huge, doe-like orbs of hers and, after a heartbeat’s pause, we both laugh. She glances toward the computer room.
“I caught a glance of your friend. He seems nice.” The stumble over that word is her giveaway.
“You mean hot, right?” I check, eyes no doubt sparkling.
Alice’s cheeks, which have only just recovered from their first blush, are immediately pink again.
“Handsome,” she corrects. “He’s very handsome.”
I sigh dramatically, flopping over the reception desk in exaggerated despair.
“I know, such a shame he plays for the wrong team.”
“I dunno… I’ve heard around town that you’re not exactly looking for other handsome men.”
I blink, then turn slowly toward Alice. Suddenly, she’s the one with the sparkle.
“Miss Lee! Are you teasing me?"
Her rare bubble of confidence pops and reduces her to giggles.
“I don’t know. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, no, I love it!” It’s wonderful to see the girl coming out of her shell. “Keep ‘em coming. I want full on slut-shaming by the time I’m done here.”
Alice looks positively horrified.
“I would never!”
I’m more than aware of this. In only a few hangouts with the girl, I’ve learned that Alice is a sweetheart through and through. When it comes to others, she doesn’t have a judgmental bone in her body.
It’s just a shame she doesn’t seem to extend herself the same courtesy.
“You thought it was Jace, right?”
“What?” She blinks at me.
“The male voice. The guy you heard me with. You thought it was Jace, and that’s why you hid?”
Alice’s shoulders draw in.
“I figured it was either him or Caleb. And I’ve not seen Caleb Walker in here since high school.”
“But you’ve seen Jace?” The idea of Mr. Playboy hanging out in a church—even one converted for public use—is an amusement for me.
Alice nods and a few locks of her hair, so thin and fine, fall around her face like lace.
“He comes in sometimes to pick up books. Mostly on whatever car he’s working on. Manuals and stuff.”
“And you hide every time?” I ask jokingly.
Alice rolls her eyes.