The Mad Alpha's Substitute Bride

(ALICE)

A sly look enters his eyes, and he edges even closer to me. "Should you really be admitting that to me? I thought women were supposed to hide things like that and play coy."

I glare at him. "I’m not flirting with you."

"You just said I’m good-looking," he argues. "How am I supposed to take that?"

"Take it as a compliment, and then move a couple of feet away from me," I suggest.

He makes a face. "I’ve been told I’m handsome before, but never like this. Do you think I have cooties or something? Why can’t I sit with you?"

"Because I’m just about to get my freedom," I tell him severely. "I don’t want to have a heart attack and die before I’ve even enjoyed one minute of it. You’re making my heart beat funny. So, either you slide over, or I get up and leave."

"You’re not going to die of a heart attack just because you think I’m hot," Darian scoffs, looking a little smug.

"I never said you were hot," I point out. "What I said is that you’re good-looking. You’re pretty."

An outraged expression crosses the face. "Pretty?!" He gets to his feet, indignant. "I am not pretty. I’m handsome. I’ll have you know that women are always admiring my looks. They’re not as blunt about it as you are, of course. Women are pretty. I’m dashing or handsome. Take your pick."

A wicked smile forms on my lips. "I bet the flower you’re about to pluck from the bottom of the lake is as pretty as you are."

This time, the flush of color on his face makes me want to laugh. "You take that back. I am not pretty."

"Pretty as a flower," I muse, chewing on the chocolate cupcake. "Take it back."

"No," I sneer at him. "What are you going to do about it?"

His eyes tighten around the corners, and the worst I expect him to do is shove me in the lake. What I don’t anticipate is Darian grabbing me by the front of my shirt and pulling me to my feet, toward him. His mouth slams down on mine, and the uneaten cupcake tumbles to the ground as my hand falls limply to my side.

His mouth tastes of coffee. As his lips move against mine, I find it hard to breathe. My entire body is tingling. My nipples are turning hard. I can feel them ache.

Before I can stop myself, my hands dig into his shirt for support. I have never been kissed before.

This is... Is this how it feels? I think to myself dimly, feeling his tongue move against mine. White-hot heat is building up inside me with nowhere to go. I want his hands on the most private parts of my body. I want him to touch me.

I want more.

My knees feel weak. I want to sink into his chest. Darian’s hand releases my shirt and comes to settle in my hair, gripping it tightly as he maneuvers my head for a better angle. I should be pushing him away.

I should be...

Finally, he releases me and takes a staggering step back, his eyes filled with shock. My face feels hot, and his is a bright red. My hand instantly goes to my lips. They feel swollen and tender.

"You—" My voice is raspy. "You kissed me. You weren’t supposed to kiss me!"

He looks equally taken aback as he scrambles to defend himself. "I was just trying to prove a point."

I don’t know how to handle myself. I don’t know how to handle the situation. I quickly turn around to leave, but he grabs my hand to stop me. When he does, he loses his balance and pulls me along with him as we both go down into the cold, dark depths of the lake.

I don’t like water. Spluttering for air, I struggle in the lake. I’m not a good swimmer.

The lake is incredibly deep, and Darian has pulled us both far down into it. I try to swim toward the surface, but in my panic, I can’t get my arms and legs to move the way they should. Darian takes hold of my wrist and pulls me up with him. My head breaks the water’s surface, and I gulp in mouthfuls of air.

After making my way to the bank, I climb out on the wet, sliding mud, shivering and seething at the same time. "You absolute jerk! You threw me in dead witch water."

Darian is right behind me. "It was an accident!"

I glare at him over my shoulder. "Three words. Dead. Witch. Water." My clothes are soaked. Shuddering, I rub my hands over my arms. "Now I’m going to have to go home and shower."

"Those witches have been dead for centuries!" Darian argues. "And I didn’t mean to pull you in with me."

"You shouldn’t have kissed me, either!" If I weren’t so cold, I would probably be red in the face. The mere memory of the kiss is still doing a number on me. I don’t want to think about it.

"I was trying to prove a point. And you liked it."

I open my mouth and snap it shut. Looking down at my ruined pastry on the ground, I grind my teeth. "I was just here to celebrate my birthday. Then you came and ruined everything!"

Darian looks guilt-ridden, but he tries to brush it off. "It was only a cupcake."

I make a strangled sound. "It was the first time I’ve ever had a cake for my birthday! The first time, and you just couldn’t let me have it, could you?!

Jerk! I take everything back. You’re not good looking. But you are a jerk. A big, fat jerk!"

I storm away from him, and he calls out after me, sounding angry. "Is that the only word you know?!"

"No!" I shout back at him. "But I’m not going to waste my vocabulary on you!"

It’s late, fortunately, and there are not many people on the street as I make my way back home, dripping wet.

After entering my apartment building, I climb the steps to my floor, leaving a trail of damp carpet behind me. I’ve just inserted the key in my lock, still shaking from the cold, when Mary’s door opens; her apartment is right across from mine.

She stares at me. "What happened to you?" "I went for a swim," I snap.

She leans against the door frame, crossing her arms over her chest quizzically. "Now, why don’t I buy that? Did somebody push in the lake?"

"Yes," I mutter, annoyed. "I don’t want to talk about it."

"Too late." She closes her door behind her just as I open my own door. Following me inside, she says, "I want to hear this. I was waiting for you to come home so we could order pizza."

"I really don’t want company right now, Mary," I complain, but my friend just picks up my drenched bag and studies it.

"I’ll set this out to dry while you take a hot shower. What do you want on your pizza?"

I’m clearly not going to win here. Plus, pizza is starting to sound really nice. "Pepperoni and sausage."

And now that I think about it, a hot shower also sounds heavenly.