Club Wonderland (4 page)

Chapter Four

The evening air was humid. She’d found the sexiest sundress she had in her closet, making sure that it hugged her curves in all the right spots. With the temperature the way it was, doing her hair would be next to impossible. Instead of fighting with it, Alice pulled it up into a loose bun, letting several tendrils drop to kiss the tops of her shoulders and the back of her neck. It was a look that had always worked for her in the past.

Getting ready had taken her mind off of Petra and the strange phone call she’d received that morning. Alice hated that Petra had brushed off her offer to help. Typical Petra, wanting to handle everything on her own. Though Alice appreciated the need to be an independent woman, sometimes it was important to ask for help. And Petra would laugh her fool head off if Alice ever said that to her.
Pot
,
kettle and all that jazz.

Her friend used her PC identity online to ensure a certain measure of privacy. Sex blogs didn’t always attract people who were supportive. Or sometimes the fans were a little
too
supportive. If someone had gotten hold of Petra’s phone number and matched it up with her real identity, she might need help. If Petra were home tonight, Alice would have abandoned her preparations and gone to her friend’s instead. But Petra had other events to see to with the Toronto Web Awards, leaving Alice free to continue on with her plan of a wild night.

She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know she looked good. The way the taxi driver kept staring at her in the rearview at every stoplight was the first indication that the effect she was hoping to pull off had been successful. Stepping out onto the street in front of Frequency was the second. A group of men, standing in the line waiting to get in, all stopped to look at her as she shut the taxi door. At least two of them smiled and nodded her way, a silent invitation to join them. Tempting, given her goal tonight.

No, it was early and Alice wanted to give herself time to enjoy the evening. It wasn’t cockiness, but the benefit of her personal experience that gave her the confidence to pick up the average man with little difficulty. Her mother had taught her how to work a crowd at the age of four. She’d learned the tricks to win over another person—well-placed smiles, giggles, when to let her gaze drop—and used them on instinct, efficiently.

The heavy bass came from the club in front of her and mingled with the laughter and conversation from the groups both inside and out. This was the first time she’d been clubbing alone in quite some time. Hell, it had been over a year since she’d been to a club, period. Petra wasn’t into the partying scene, and Alice found herself wanting to be the club girl less and less as she got older. The group of women she’d once gone out with had all gotten married in the past few years. Some of them even had babies now. Time had marched on, leaving Alice behind.

Everyone standing in line looked to be between nineteen and twenty-two, a much younger crowd than she was hoping for. If she was going to do this, then she wanted to at least find a man who appealed to her. Someone her age or older for a start. Instead of looking for a way in, Alice started to walk down Richmond Street to check out some of the other spots.

Multiple groups of young people were out walking from club to club. The night air was filled with the
woohoos
and giggles of the university students, catcalls and whistles. The longer Alice walked, the more she realized her heart wasn’t exactly into to this. Stopping in front of yet another warehouse, neon lights and music humming within, her throat tightened around a sudden rush of unshed tears. This wasn’t what she needed.

“Shit.” She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.

Why couldn’t she do this? She wasn’t old or a prude. It should be easy as pie to walk into one of these places, order a drink, and start up a conversation. So far she hadn’t even bothered to wait in the lines, let alone make any serious attempt to find a date.

She wanted to have some fun, right? Have sex?

Find a man who made her smile and laugh. Someone who made her shiver with a casual caress, who made her wet with his soft whispered words. Someone who wanted to seduce her at night, but still want to watch TV with her in the day.

This was ridiculous. If she wasn’t going to at least go into the clubs, then what was the point of her being here?

There wasn’t.

In the end it wouldn’t be enough for her, no matter how much she wanted to have a fling, throw caution to the wind in exactly the same way she’d told Petra to do the night before.

Alice stepped to the side of the street and started to look for a taxi. She’d go home, open her last bottle of wine, and drink it. Tomorrow, she’d see if Petra could go out for breakfast and maybe a movie. If not, she’d hit Chapters and buy a few books for both herself and her mom. And if that didn’t fill her day...well, distractions were easy enough to find in Toronto.

A limo stopped across the street and down from where Alice stood. Expecting to see yet another group of drunk university students tumble out, she was shocked to see the one person she wasn’t expecting in this part of town.

Gael.

No way. What the hell was he doing here?

Two other men got out of the back of the limo with him. All three were dressed in black, though one looked to be head to toe in leather. Alice blinked twice to ensure she was actually seeing who she thought she was. It could simply be a hallucination brought on by her loneliness. Closing her eyes for the count of two, she opened them once more, only to see Gael still standing there.

She had no idea that he was into the club scene at all, let alone coming out on the town in a limo with a bunch of men. But the way he looked at a group of young women who passed them on the street clearly told her all she needed to know. He was out on the prowl.

He’d assumed she was the type of girl who was interested only in getting into a relationship with a man. Okay, so maybe she projected the
pure as the driven snow
image a bit too well. He was being a gentleman by warning her off because he’d read her wrong. Maybe the idea of having a little fling wouldn’t be quite so repellant to him?

Ignoring the taxi that slowly drove past her, Alice watched as the three men, led by Gael, walked down the street and the limo pulled away. They weren’t heading in the direction of any of the larger clubs, which was a good thing as far as she was concerned. Taking a chance and ignoring her pounding heart, Alice crossed the street and trailed behind them.

Was this stalking? It was pretty damn close. Creepy close? Maybe, though she wasn’t quite up to movie-of-the-week stalking yet.

She hoped.

Shit.

Stopping, she watched as the trio turned the corner and went down an alley. So many of the warehouses had been changed into clubs over the years, she wasn’t as familiar with what was housed in the area as she should have been. Not knowing where he was headed, or how he would react if he saw her there, was nearly enough of a deterrent to make her rethink what she was doing. If she went in there, found him, and he rejected her once more, how was she supposed to face him at work? God, he might complain to Mr. Murphy...

Someone banged into her from behind. “Fuck! I’m sorry,” a man said, sounding more than a little out of breath.

Alice spun around, coming face to face with a man who might be in his mid-twenties. His hair was dyed pink and he had colored contact lenses, making his eyes look like a cat’s. The guy was incredibly skinny, dressed in leather pants and a tight white tank top. He checked his watch, then cringed. “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m so frigging late I’m going to get my ass handed to me.”

“That’s okay.” Alice barely got the words out when the young man pushed past her and bolted for the same alley where Gael had disappeared. “Hey, where are you going? Is there a good club down there?”

“No time to chat!” And he ran around the corner.

Staring at the spot where he’d been seconds before, Alice gave her head a shake. “You’re kidding me?”

Well, now she
had
to know what the hell was down there. If nothing else, she had a perfectly logical reason, one that had nothing to do with Gael, for wanting to check out what exactly was down that alley. Perfectly logical and totally non-stalkerish.

You keep telling yourself that
,
Alice.

Squeezing her clutch, she strode a bit faster toward where the man had gone. The noise from the surrounding clubs faded into the background as soon as she turned the corner. With each step farther into the dimly lit alley, Alice’s heart rate increased. A single woman wandering an unpopulated section of Toronto’s club district. Not the wisest thing she’d done recently. Or ever.

There was no immediate indication where either the man or Gael had gone. The only thing visible was a neon sign at the far end of the alley. Beyond was another wall of the warehouse, creating a dead end. Stopping before she got too close, Alice heard a cacophony of noise—voices and sounds that didn’t quite register with her. Turning her head to try and catch the bead of the conversation, she was relieved to hear the voice of the man who’d run into her.

“Come on, man. I’m late as hell. She’s going to whip my ass if I don’t get in there.”

“You should have thought of that earlier.”

“Don’t be a dick, Chess.”

“Go then. I look forward to seeing your red ass.”

She couldn’t see either man. Alice started moving forward once more, realizing that there was an inset door, hiding them from view. This was it—she’d soon be in full view of whoever was standing there, and she’d have to either look the part to get inside or end up having her night cut short and sent on her way.

After taking half a beat to check her hair and smooth her hands down the length of her dress, she bit the bullet and went to check out the club. The red neon sign above the door wasn’t as flashy as some of the other clubs in the district. There wasn’t the same blare of dance music coming to her from inside, which held the promise of a slightly more upscale experience.

“Wonderland.” She licked her lips as she stared at the harsh red letters.

“Well, hello, little rabbit.”

Alice gasped at the sight of the large black man standing at the door entrance. He was easily over six and a half feet tall and looked like he’d be at home standing inside of a UFC cage during the main event. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen him immediately.

“Umm, hi.” She waved and gave him a little smile. “How are you?”

“I’m just peachy. It’s a warm night with a cool breeze.”

Unsure what she should do next, Alice took a few steps closer. The bouncer made no move to stop her one way or the other, but she got the impression no one set foot inside the club without his approval. Lying or flirting with him wasn’t going to work either. One look at his amused expression told her that much. She was somehow going to have to convince him to let her go in and see if she could try and find Gael.

Alice held her clutch in front of her, tapping it against her thighs. “What kind of club is this?”

Chess chuckled. “If you have to ask, you shouldn’t be here.”

“I was out on the street when a guy ran into me and then came down this way. I got curious and followed him. I didn’t think there were any clubs this far down Richmond Street.”

“Oh, there are one or two, little rabbit. One or two.”

“Why are you calling me that?”

He chuckled again, sounding like a parent placating a child. “You have that wild terrified look to you. I expect to see you bolting off any second now.”

“I saw a friend of mine come down this way. I thought I might say hello.”

“A friend? Who might that be?”

“Gael Hernandez.”

Chess cocked his head to the side, narrowing his gaze. “You don’t say.”

“I didn’t want to bug him, but I got—”

“Curious.” His grin appeared to fill his face. “You know what they say about curiosity. You should run away before something bad happens.”

Disappointment clawed at her, twisting her stomach into something painful. Alice stepped back, knowing that he was probably right—she shouldn’t be here. Gael was clearly entertaining someone, maybe potential clients, and wouldn’t likely appreciate her showing up.

She managed another step away before Chess cleared his throat. “Though you did ask me a question. It would be awfully rude of me not to answer you before you went on your way.”

She smiled. “You strike me as the type of man who hates rudeness.”

“I do indeed. There are few enough good manners out in the world today.” He beckoned her closer.

Stepping into the cubby, she did her best to ignore her pounding heart and the fact that this was a terrible idea.

“I have a question for you first.” He bent down so his face was in line with hers. “What would you do for your friend, Mr. Hernandez?”

“Anything.” The word was gone from her before she gave it thought. That impulsiveness didn’t make the response any less true. “Anything at all.”

“Even if he doesn’t give you anything in return?”

Some of the other girls in the office said the only thing that ruined Gael’s good looks was his cold attitude. They didn’t seem to pick up on his small smiles, or the little things he did for others. The cups of coffee that would show up on people’s desks when they were having a bad day. Or the food that would arrive when people were working late on a case. Those things never happened before Gael’s arrival, and Alice had no doubt they’d stop if he left the firm. He never let anyone see that it was him doing these random acts of kindness, and she was certain he’d deny it if ever asked, but she knew it was him.

There was more to him that met the eye. Maybe that was the reason for her attraction to him in the face of his obvious refusal.

Realizing she’d slipped away in her thoughts, Alice smiled at Chess. “Yes, even if he doesn’t give me anything in return. He’s a good man and I’d like to get to know him better.”

The bouncer still hadn’t answered her questions, but she got the impression that her response opened the door for her. Chess reached out and put his hand on the handle.