Page 91 of The Alice Equation (The Laws of Love 1)

Now it was nearly closing time and it felt like she had a pack of squawking parrots inside her head.

There were so many thoughts whirring around that a couple of times she’d been worried that she’d end up having another panic attack. The flippy tap-tap in quick succession of her heart had her hand flying to her chest. It should hardly surprise her. Her life had been turfed upside down and inside out.

Meanwhile, her own phone had pinged with messages all day.

Polly:Why didn’t you tell me you hate being called Munchkin?

Carts:r u ok?

Andrea:Hi Alice, either this Saturday or next Saturday suits me fineformaking the flowers for Gran’s cake. Let me know.

Carts:One word will do. Yes for ok. No for not ok.

Polly:I will never call you Munchkin again. Even if you begme.

Unable to bring herself to reply to any of them, Alice finally took the giant piece of wood that was attached to the staff loo key that was shared between their block of three shops and went and sat down on the toilet and made a list.

7 REASONS TO PANIC

1.I have a dad. Now what?

2.Mum has lied to me my whole life.

3.I have hurt Polly’s feelings.

4.Carts may have a crush on me.

5.Mum could be dead.

6.Aaron hasn’t contacted me. I hate him.

7.I think I have unresolved anger issues.

After this she was calmer, if only because she had identified several plausible reasons for feeling she’d been transported into a weird parallel universe.

The rest of the afternoon, in between customers, Alice tried to piece together a picture of one half of her genes and what that meant for… Well, everything.

She’d found out the Beacham-Browns were landowners in Herefordshire going back to King James I. Henry had gone to a top-notch boarding school, where he was bullied; was bad at sports due to knee injuries (oh, how she empathised); and excelled at the Arts (her heart sang). At Cambridge he had started a number of literary societies. At the age of twenty-three he had his first gay liaison while doing his post-grad. He came out to his parents a year later. His father never accepted the fact and was estranged from him. Henry went on to lecture at Bath university before being offered a position at Cambridge. Currently he was writing a biography on Oscar Wilde, relating it to Victorian prejudices towards homosexuality. He’d recently married his partner of fifteen years, actor Gabriel West, who had just landed the part of Phileas Fogg in an upcoming remake ofAround the World in Eighty Days.

Yes, she’d got some answers, lots of them, but they raised more questions. Including the most important one: how had she been conceived?

Finally Alice closed up shop and left for the day. She’d just pocketed the key when a shadow stepped out of the doorway ofQuirks and Perks,the uber-trendy gift shop next door.

Two flashes of intense blue, a broad chest almost skimming her breasts. A mouth she ached to kiss.

“God, Aaron, you scared me!” To hide her crazy heartbeat, she demanded, “Why didn’t you just come into the shop like a normal person?”

He smirked. “Maybe because I’m not normal.” When he saw she wasn’t smiling, his jaw tightened and a pulse ticked on his temple. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I need to talk to you without having to dodge customers.”

She couldn’t answer. Aaron hijacked her senses—just one step and she would be in his arms… and despite everything, her knees went weak with lust.

She jerked as reality kicked her in the ribs. Was her memory that bad she’d just wiped out yesterday like it never happened? Miss Scandinavia’s beautiful silky head had been resting on his chest. The same chest she’d lain on, blissed out after he’d made her come three times in a row and she’d returned the favour. Alice squared her shoulders and stomped away.

“Will you please listen, just for a minute?”

“One minute. Okay. Talk fast.”

“Al, please don’t do this! Are you trying to piss me off?”

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