Page 57 of Awakened by Sin

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“Alice,the event is going to be perfect,” Carmen said as Alice scribbled in a notebook.

“I just want to make sure everything is perfect,” Alice said absently as her unicorn pencil scratched along the page. “If it’s not perfect, I have to answer to Mr. Pyre, and I don’t want to answer to Mr. Pyre.”

“You’ve been to his house and threw his wife a baby gender party and baby shower. I’m pretty sure you can call him Gavin.”

“I do,” Janice said as she settled in the booth. “The meeting went well. I think this animal adoption is going to be fantastic. It’s just what we need after what happened at the hospital last week.”

“Yes.” Alice pursed her lips and ran her finger down a two-column list. “After that incident, I need to make sure my events run perfectly. What if Mr. Pyre decided to fire me?”

Carmen nudged her. “Stop, Alice. What happened at the hospital wasn’t your fault, and it was phenomenal. I can’t believe you were able to pull this event together so quickly. You have more than enough volunteers, and everyone’s on the same page.”

“I know,” Alice said but still looked troubled.

They made quite a trio, Carmen thought, as several men paused to study them on their way to the bar. She was overdressed, but that was who she was. Two waiters already dropped trays after she winked at them. Janice was the epitome of a career woman with her power suit and cell phone in hand. She was a savvy shark with glittery pointy-toe Jimmy Choos. Although Alice could more than hold her own in the looks department, she stood out like a sore thumb in her deep purple velvet jeans and a button-up blouse. Carmen’s fingers itched to undo the buttons around her throat. How could she breathe?

A server delivered a round of martinis. Janice and Carmen took theirs gratefully, but Alice scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What?” Janice asked when Carmen snickered.

“Alice is afraid I’ll get her drunk again.”

“You got her drunk?”

“I had to call in for two days,” Alice said irritably.

“Two days?”

“One day to recover and another to clean up my apartment.”

They laughed while Alice gave them a withering glare.

“I gave you two drinks, and you did the rest,” Carmen said and turned to Janice. “I had to cut her off for fear of alcohol poisoning.”

“I didn’t think alcohol would taste so good,” Alice muttered.

“Why were you drinking anyway?” Janice asked.

Alice opened her mouth, but Carmen beat her to it.

“I was trying to get her laid.”

Janice looked intrigued. “Did you hook up?”

Alice’s eyes darted back and forth between them and then away. “No.”

“Did you try?”

Alice played with her utensils. “Yes.”

“And?” Janice pushed.

“He said no.”

“How many did you ask?”

“One.”

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