Mad Hatter's Alice (3 page)

“This should be fun.” Sue exclaimed beside him. He looked down and noticed that Alice wasn’t wearing her climbing boots. Barefooted, her pink-painted toenails intrigued him. He never considered himself a foot man, but she had the daintiest feet.

“Well, at least we won’t need to move around for this exercise. Safer for you that way.” Alice’s comment made him laugh.

“No doubt.” Andrew spoke as if she’d been talking to him. “She’s a brain at marketing, but also a walking disaster waiting to strike,” Andrew told him over Alice’s head.

“Thanks, boss.” Her dry tone amused him.

“I don’t know. Not knowing what will happen next keeps things interesting.” Her head snapped up and her blue eyes twinkled at him in the reflection of the firelight. He’d never wanted to kiss a woman more. He knew Alice also felt something between them by the way her cheeks blushed prettily. Maybe he could get her to forget their boss? Then Donna stuffed a board in his hands and his vision of Alice’s lovely face disappeared behind the bandana.

The next twenty minutes consisted of Sue’s fetid breath hissing annoyed commands in his ear. The more he did as she asked, the more annoyed she became. All the time, he thought about Alice whispering sweet nothings in Andrew’s ear and it frankly pissed him off. “Finally,” Sue hissed. “You’re not good at taking orders, Hatter.” She placed a hand on his knee and he jumped. “You are quite sexy, though. I’m planning to go back to the lake after this. Why don’t you join me?”

“Uh...” He was saved from commenting when Hopps congratulated everyone on a job well done. Obviously he and Sue were the last to finish.

“Now, the WC’s, weakest communicators, will move one spot to their right and begin the puzzle with a new partner.” It was music to his ears.

“Good luck dealing with her.” Sue patted his leg and got up to move. He still couldn’t see, but he felt the sensation of heat when Alice took her place by his right side. He angled the puzzle closer to her and heard her sharp intake of air as his arm brushed against her. He couldn’t stop grinning as she whispered the first move he needed to make.

“I can’t hear you, Alice. Move closer to my ear.” He damn sure could hear her, but he wanted her closer.

“Okay, hat off.” He felt her remove his hat and brush his hair back behind his ear. He nearly moaned at the sensation, but clenched the board in his hands as if to keep from grabbing her soft body. She leaned so close that her lips brushed his earlobe as she whispered.

“Slide the top piece to the left. Good. Now the second piece in the second row moves up. Nice.” She calmly followed every command with a reward. He loved it. Disappointment mixed with pride as she whispered that they were finished. “Excellent work Wayne. We’re the first ones done. And Mr. Hopps looks...perplexed. You’re right. I just can’t win with that man.”

“Great job Alice. I’d happily work with you any day.”
Or night, given the opportunity.
She remained quiet beside him. “Are you all right?” He leaned in her direction to whisper.

“Yes.” He heard a hesitation in her tone.

“Yes, but?”

“You’re too good to be true. Are you a spy sent here to get me fired?”

“No, why would you get fired?”

“Because all I want to do right now is jump in your lap.” He barely heard her, but he didn’t miss the soft brush of her lips against his earlobe. A shiver of sharp heat stole his breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” He felt her pull away, but before he could give her carte-blanche to any part of his anatomy she slid over to her next partner and he found himself stuck with Harrison.

♦♦♦

Alice could not believe what an idiot she’d been to come on to the Asset Manager. Her home, her car, even her poodle, Princess’ future depended on her paycheck. She should have known better than to kiss his ear. But good heavens the man smelled eatable! She tripped on a root sticking up and barely caught herself from falling into Kitty. As usual, she was at the back of the pack. She did notice that Wayne had slowed his pace. Though he hadn’t approached her, she sensed his gaze on her more than once that morning as they prepared for the hike. Of course, the man couldn’t move without Susan right at his elbow. She seemed particularly aggressive with him; even going so far as to ask him to check her over for ticks.
The slut!

She heaved a sigh and tried to concentrate on her footing, and breathing. The climb showed her that she needed to start exercising more. Her body was out of shape and protesting every step. Maybe walking Princess on the dog trail every Saturday morning would help the painful stitch in her side? Then they could finish the morning with a hot caramel latte and a chocolate croissant. A giggle bubbled up in her throat. Kitty turned to give her a concerned look.

“I’m all right. Keep going.” She stopped for a second to catch her breath.

“I can wait for you.” Kitty offered.

“No, keep moving. I’m fine.”

“Okay, don’t fall too far behind though.” She nodded and leaned against a big tree. Turning, she looked back down the trail. It wasn’t a steep grade, but her calves and thighs were aching.

“Maybe a bear will come eat me. I could just stay here and wait for one. Wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“I wouldn’t worry so much about bears.” She squeaked in surprise and turned to see Wayne standing next to her. “I’d be more worried about Hopps having a conniption when you didn’t show up.” His saucy grin set her heart to pounding even harder. He appeared calm and refreshed even though he carried a bundle of heavy-looking ropes and a backpack. She searched for sweat and didn’t see one bead anywhere on his handsome face.

“I’m tempted to head back down the mountain just to see him foam at the mouth.”

“That would be a sight.” His grin faded into a look of concern as he studied her face. “Are you all right, Alice?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing a long soak in a hot tub and a fistful of painkillers won’t cure. I need to lose some pounds. This body isn’t built for climbing like a mountain goat.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with your body.” She studied his face, but couldn’t find any sign of subterfuge.

“Um...about what I said last night...” She stopped as he lifted his hand with a cheeky grin that lit up the gold ring in his dark eyes.

“Alice, the last thing I want to hear is your apology for acknowledging this heat between us. Just be glad there were twenty people sitting around the fire or I might have ravished you right there on that log.” The hungry look in his eyes and the way his voice dropped seductively had more than her toes curling. She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry at the thought of his hands on her ass as they kissed.

“Oh, my.” She whispered and he laughed.

“Yeah, let’s get going before I get us both fired before my first day on the job.” He reached out a hand and she slowly placed hers in it. They both jumped at the contact. Then he smiled and tugged her away from the tree. “Watch your footing, Alice. We wouldn’t want to go falling down any rabbit holes.”

“I would if I got to land on top of you,” she whispered under her breath, but his happy laughter told her he’d heard. To change the subject she stared at his floppy hat. “Hey, why does Andrew call you the Mad Hatter?”

“We went to basic training together. I wore this hat a lot. He dubbed me the Hatter and it stuck.”

“You really love it then.”

“I do. It belonged to my grandfather. He served in World War II and then participated in Vietnam. I wear it to remind me of him. Plus it’s given me a lot of luck.”

“I see.”

“What do you see?” He angled a questioning look her way.

“A sweet guy who’s too good to be true.” He laughed, but the grin stayed on his face as they hiked through the trees.

Wayne held her hand the rest of the way up, and released it just before they met up with the rest of the group. Following him out of the trees, she immediately stopped to enjoy the scene before her. Sunshine from a cloudless sky lovingly kissed the trees and lake below and all around them. The Adirondack Mountains of New York were known for their rugged beauty, and she couldn’t deny the majesty of the land before her. Wayne’s indrawn breath next to her had her glancing his way. She realized with a start that he wasn’t looking at the scenery, but at her.

“Beautiful.” He whispered softly.

“There you two are! Miss Grace, why am I not surprised that you would be the last one to the party?” Hopps shook his head. “Late as usual. Well, the last two shall be the first two over the side. Come get your gear on.”

“Heaven help me.” She gasped, as she realized this was the part where they were expected to scale down the mountain before following the lake’s edge back to camp. She didn’t want to go anywhere near the sharp drop, much less flop her body over the side and depend on the ropes to keep her from falling. Fear clogged her throat and stole her breath until a warm hand grasped her cold fingers and squeezed. Turning her head, she found Wayne watching her closely.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be next to you the entire way.” His words infused her with enough courage to nod.

Fifteen minutes later her courage disappeared as Hopps appointed Susan to be the one to hold her emergency rope. If she lost her footing, then she would be depending on ninety pound Susan to stop her fall.
The man had to be stark raving mad!

“Relax, Alice. She’s just a back-up. These ropes are connected to trees and can hold substantial weight.” Andrew’s grin seemed too wide and his tone a tad bit too domineering. She fought the impulse to slap the patronizing smile right off his handsome face.

“He’s right. You’ll be safe.” Beside her, Wayne’s calm reassured her until Andrew moved away and she was left to gaze down the jagged face of the rocks below. The ledge they were to land on was only twenty feet down. It might as well have been a mile as far as her shaking knees were concerned.

“I can’t do this.” She heard the hysteria in her voice and cringed.

“I knew it. She’s freezing. You might as well get her out of the harness. She’s too much of a coward.” Susan’s taunt did it. Shooting the bloody big head a scathing look, she got down on her rear and quickly maneuvered herself over the ledge. The gloves on her hands protected her fingers as she held on for dear life.

“Alice, wait!”

“Hey, we aren’t ready yet.” Hobbs’ words scared the crap out of her and her fingers slipped. She felt the wind blow past her face and whistle in her ears as someone screamed above her. She stopped for all of a minute to grasp haphazardly at the rocks, but then she was falling again. Squeezing her eyes closed tightly, she prepared for the pain at the end of her fall.

♦♦♦

Her first thoughts when she opened her eyes and blinked were about the absence of the pain she expected and if she’d taken the bloody big head over the side with her. Surely if she’d landed on the skinny bitch, then those bones would have stabbed her, fatally killing her if the fall didn’t. A giggle exploded from her mouth as she focused on a wooden ceiling. Pushing herself to her knees, she realized her feet were lighter. Instead of the heavy boots, a pair of blue slippers covered her feet. She reached down to touch them and then blinked at the blue material on her thighs.
A dress?
Where had she found a dress in the Adirondack Mountains?

Moving her hands and legs, she decided she’d gotten off easy without breaking anything. “Okay, where am I?” Looking around, she found herself in a tiny room with black and white tile floors. A tiny table against the wall held a single plate with what appeared to be a bottle and a tiny key. It was doll sized, but when she reached up, she realized she had to be giant sized. Her head almost touched the ceiling and her body took up most of the room. “Wait a minute. Kitty! Nice joke! Let me in on it!” Beside her a popping sound made her jump. When she turned, she found herself staring eye to eye with Andrew’s face absent his body. Big blue eyes blinked closed as she screamed loudly.

“Ouch! That hurts my ears, you know.” Two pointed ears appeared and then a cat’s body materialized to surround Andrew’s hairy face. He grinned as she scooted as far away from him as the tiny room would allow. “That’s better.” He said flipping around in the air. “I’m Cheshire Cat and you are Alice. Welcome back.”

“I’m not that Alice.” She stuttered. “Man, I hit my head hard when I landed.”

“Oh, you’re Alice and I will take you to the Hare and the Hatter, but that’s the end of it. Now, be quick.” He angled his head toward the table.

“What?”

“Drink it.”

“No.”

“You must. This body is far too big to fit through the door and the tea party has already started without you. Drink it.” He sighed and rolled his eyes before completely disappearing in a puff of blue smoke.

“This is a dream.” She pinched herself hard on the arm and winced. The room didn’t disappear as she’d hoped. “This is Kitty’s fault for putting
Alice in Wonderland
in my mind. I’m probably a red, bloody pulp lying on the cold rocks back in the mountains. “I might as well enjoy this before I have to go back to the reality of pain or death.” She gasped in horror. Could she be dead already? Was she stuck in some sick notion of heaven? Trying to calm herself, she picked up the tiny glass bottle and uncorked it. Before she could talk herself out of it, she downed its contents. The taste of carrot juice stayed in her mouth as she waited for something to happen. When nothing did, she shrugged and set the bottle back on the table. Almost instantly a tingling sensation invaded her limbs. In a blur the room seemed to move while she stayed still and her dress bulged and loosened all around her. Dizzy from the experience, she leaned heavily on the table which suddenly seemed the perfect size for her.

“Holy cow!” Pushing a hand through her messy hair, she steadied herself. The cool chill of the room made her aware of her nakedness.

“There’s a dress for you on the chair, Alice.” Cheshire’s voice came from the room and she gasped.

“Peeping Tom much.” She found another blue dress on the chair and held it up. One look told her it would never fit. This dress had to be a size six. Looking down at herself, her eyes widened. The full-figured body she had become accustomed to seeing with the size thirty-six D boobs had slimmed down considerably. She didn’t feel like herself as she hurried to shrug into the dress.