Wicked Magic (3 page)

“Sure, no problem.”

After Chandler gathered up the other bag, she followed Alex to the front door of her home. She tended to get quieter when she became nervous, but Chandler found herself unable to stop talking as she stood next to Alex. Never before had anyone affected her like this. It was very confusing, to say the least. “I understand you’re from New York.”

“That’s correct.” Alex reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. She selected one and put it inside the door lock. “Until recently, I was living in Brooklyn, but I was born and raised in Manhattan. This is the first time I’ve lived away from New York, at least when it didn’t have anything to do with a shoot.”

“Castleton is a bit different from New York.”

When Alex got the door unlocked and opened, she said, “I’m counting on that.”

Chandler waited until Alex went inside. She tried not to gawk at her surroundings as she followed Alex through the remodeled house. She didn’t know what she expected the inside of the house to look like, but her imagination didn’t compare to how it appeared. Hardwood floors, modern furnishings and fresh painted walls. This house looked like Alex had managed to transport a hunk of New York City. It was all style and sophistication, very much befitting its owner.

Once they were inside the kitchen, Alex showed Chandler where to put the sacks.

“Would you like something to drink?” Alex offered as she set the satchel and case next to each other on the counter. “I have soda, some fancy bottled water, imported beer, or wine if you’d prefer.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“You sure?” Alex looked back at Chandler as she reached up into the cabinet for a wine glass. “I’m going to have a glass of wine, and I do hate to drink alone.”

“Sure.” Chandler gave in. “I’ll have a glass with you.”

Alex smiled and reached for another glass, and set it next to the other one on the counter. Then she walked over and pulled a chilled bottle of white wine from her wine fridge. Once she’d uncorked the bottle, she poured a glass for Chandler and one for herself. “This is one of my favorites. It’s French.”

As Alex handed the wine glass to Chandler, their fingertips touched. Chandler’s attention shot up to Alex’s face when she noticed the surge of energy pass between them. Alex smirked at Chandler, seeming somewhat amused by her reaction. Chandler focused on her glass, confused by what had just happened. Why had she responded to her like that? Sure, Alex was drop-dead gorgeous, but she was a woman after all.

Chandler quickly took a sip of her wine, wanting to ease her nerves, but ended up distracted by the flavor as it washed over her taste buds.

“Do you like it?” There was a flirty edge to Alex’s question.

“Um, yes,” she answered with a nervous smile. Somehow, she managed to look Alex in the eye. “It’s very nice.”

Alex cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Good, I’m glad you like it.”

“I could help if you like.” Chandler tried to draw the attention away from herself. “You know, to put your groceries away.”

“No, it’ll be faster if I do it. Go ahead and have a seat.” Alex directed her to one of the kitchen island chairs. After she took a quick sip of her wine, she went to work putting her food away. “So, I understand you design video games.”

“Yes. How did you know?” Chandler began to relax now that Alex was dividing her attention between talking to her and putting groceries away.

“When I met Kara, she told me all about you, as well as the area.”

“Well, if you want to find anything out about Castleton and its people, she’s the one to talk to.”

“I learned that pretty quickly.”

“Comes with living in a small town. Took me a little bit to get used to it when I first moved here.”

“Where are you from originally?”

“I was born in Connecticut, but I was raised in Boston when I wasn’t away at boarding school. My mother died when I was five years old, and my father remarried less than a year later. My stepmother’s family lived in Boston, so we ended up moving there. I have two older stepsisters that are both snobby bitches, but I guess they can’t help it if they take after their mother.”

Alex laughed at that. “I take it you’re not very close to your family.”

“No, not really. What about you?”

“I was lucky. Happy childhood, close family. I have an older brother. He’s happily married with a couple of kids. That’s the only sore spot with me and my parents. Always pushing for me to settle down and have a family. I would if I found the right person, but so far, I haven’t been that lucky. Plus, my career keeps me hopping. This is the first time I’ve ever taken much of a break.” The last of the sacks empty, Alex folded them up together and put them in the pantry. Then she turned and focused on Chandler. “So you must be super smart to be able to design video games.”

Chandler looked away and modestly replied, “I don’t know. I guess.”

“Well, my nephew is a big fan of your work. Went on and on about some
Dark Raiders
game series. He wanted to know when the next version was coming out.”

“I’m working on it right now. It will be sometime next year before it’s ready for the public.”

Alex grabbed the bottle of wine and topped off her glass. She walked over to Chandler. “Some more?” Before Chandler could accept or decline, Alex filled up her glass as well.

“Thanks.” Chandler eyed the glass. She rarely went past one glass of alcohol, but tonight she was making an exception. It didn’t hurt that this particular white wine was one of the best she’d ever tasted.

“Why don’t we move this into the other room?” Alex suggested. In one hand she carried her glass of wine, while the other held the wine bottle.

Chandler picked up her glass and followed Alex into the entertainment/living room. It was a sizeable room with a large overstuffed couch and two matching chairs. On one wall was a fireplace with a huge flat screen television in close proximity. Another wall, near the television, contained an enormous cabinet filled with DVDs.

Chandler took a seat on the couch, and Alex sat down next to her. A few seconds later, a large Russian Blue cat with brilliant green eyes appeared in the room. Chandler watched as the cat took a seat in the chair across from where she sat on the couch. The cat took a few minutes to scrutinize her before it curled up on top of the blanket that covered the seat cushion. Its large eyes followed every move Chandler made.

“Should I be worried?” Chandler joked, looking at the cat.

“No, I think she likes you. She has a tendency to growl at people she doesn’t know or like.”

“What’s her name? She’s beautiful.”

“Zelda.”

“Nice to meet you, Zelda,” Chandler told the cat. Zelda stared at her a few minutes longer before she lowered her head and settled into her chair.

“So, Chandler.” Alex pulled her attention away from the cat. “Will you answer me honestly if I ask you something?”

“It depends what you intend on asking me.”
Oh God. What did she want to know?

“Touché. Why do you underplay your beauty?”

“Um…I—I never considered—”

“How pretty you are? Come on, Chandler. Don’t tell me no one’s ever told you.”

“No. Not really.”

“I don’t know if I believe that.”

“My father and stepmother passed out criticism, not compliments.” Chandler raised her glass and took a healthy swallow as she thought about them.

“So, you had a true wicked stepmother.”

“Yes, and two wicked stepsisters.”

“Did you get stuck with all the nasty chores while they were out having fun?” Alex teased.

“More times than I care to think about.”

“Really? I was actually kidding.”

“My family isn’t something I can count on. I learned at a young age to do for myself.” Chandler looked her in the eye. “I’ve worked hard for everything I have.”

“I’ll bet you did. You seem like a determined person.” Alex paused a moment as she regarded Chandler. “Never managed to find that special someone, though.”

“Nope. Never had much luck there.”

Alex poured Chandler some more wine and then topped off her own glass. Chandler knew she probably should have stopped her from filling her glass again. She was a lightweight when it came to drinking, especially on an empty stomach. She already felt the buzzy, warm effects of the alcohol.

“You’re probably sorry you came inside my house now, aren’t you? Asking personal questions you’d rather not discuss. I do apologize.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve never talked much about my family to anybody.”

“We don’t need to if you don’t wish to. I mean, we’ve only just met.”

“It depresses me to talk about them.”

“Then we can talk about something else. Ever been married, engaged, have a boyfriend or significant other?”

“No, no, and no I don’t currently have a boyfriend. What about you? Have you ever been married?” Chandler eyed her, eager to know the answer.

Alex smiled, almost as if she knew why Chandler was asking. “Smart. Turning it back around on me. Well, yes, I did try that once, a while ago. Lasted about two years. And no, we did not part as friends. He was a pompous, self-righteous ass, and his daughter was a spoiled brat. That was the last time I ever let myself be pressured into a marriage.” She paused as she appeared to consider something. “But that’s in the past. To properly answer your question, I broke up with someone about month or so ago. Somewhat part of the reason I relocated here. We knew too many of the same people in New York. Made it difficult to move on. I wanted to after I found out she’d cheated on me.”

Chandler choked on her wine and came close to spitting it out.

“I guess I should have told you that I was bisexual. Although, lately, I’ve been leaning more toward lesbian. I’ve always hated labels. It’s the person you’re with that matters. Don’t you agree?” Alex leaned closer, appearing interested to learn Chandler’s opinion.

“Y-yes, I suppose,” she answered between coughs.

“Are you okay?”

Chandler sipped some of her wine, trying to ease her coughing. It didn’t help as well as water would have. “Yes,” Chandler managed to get out. “You just, well, surprised me is all. I never would have guessed.”

“I hope it doesn’t bother you.”

“No, of course not.”

“Good, because I’d like for us to become friends.”

“Me too.”

Chandler didn’t remember falling asleep. It wasn’t until she rolled over onto her back that she started to become aware that something wasn’t quite right. This bed was too soft and way too small. As she sat up and opened her eyes, she groaned in pain. The room was way too bright. It made her head hurt. Even through squinty eyes, she could tell she wasn’t in her bedroom. Once she managed to fully open her eyes, she recognized the room. She was still at Alex’s house, having slept on her couch.

Pushing the blanket away, she swung her legs off the couch and planted her feet on the floor. Holding her head in her hands, she made a feeble attempt to ease the pain pounding away inside her brain. This sort of thing had only happened to her one other time. She’d gotten drunk at a college party during her freshman year. She swore she’d never do that again after being horribly sick and hung over the next day. Since then, she never drank more than one glass of anything, at least not until last night.

As she rubbed her temples, she noticed that not only had Alex given her a pillow and a blanket last night, she’d left a bottle of water and some aspirin on the coffee table beside the couch. Grateful, she swallowed two pills and drank half the water. It wasn’t until she stopped to take a breath that she noticed Zelda was in her chair observing her. It was a little bit creepy how that cat stared at her. It was as if she was spying on her.

Ignoring the cat, Chandler began to look around the room. She was alone and the house was quiet except for a ticking clock. Any other time the sound wouldn’t have bothered her, but it might as well have been fingernails on a chalkboard with how she felt.

As she sat on the couch and finished her water, Chandler tried to remember last night. After she and Alex had drunk the first bottle of wine, she had a vague recollection of Alex opening another one. Things started to get fuzzy after that. Then one memory flashed and she froze. There was a kiss. A kiss that she’d initiated.

“Oh God!” Chandler slowly lowered the water bottle onto the table. Panicked, she stood, having to stop and brace herself when she swayed on her feet. She looked down and noticed her shoes were missing. When she located them, she gathered them up and put them on. She needed to leave before Alex woke up and she was forced to face her. Every little noise put her on edge. It was bad enough that her head felt like it wanted to explode, but she feared if she didn’t leave soon, she was going to have a major anxiety attack.

After she folded the blanket and placed the pillow on top of it, she hurried as fast as she could out of Alex’s house. She knew she should have at least left a note, and felt guilty about it, but all she could think about was the kiss she’d shared with Alex, and how much she needed to escape. By the time she was safely inside her own house again, the details of the kiss became more and more vivid as bigger chunks of her memory returned.

Alex had been surprised by the kiss at first, but took control once it was initiated. Chandler had willingly allowed it, melting into full, soft lips, much softer than any man she’d ever kissed. Oh God, and the way the kiss made her feel. No one had ever made her feel like that. Her face heated up at the memory as a twinge of arousal stirred between her legs. This wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to find herself attracted to her new neighbor, who also happened to be a woman. She was so in trouble.

Once Chandler was inside her bedroom, she stripped out of her clothes and headed into her bathroom, hoping a hot shower would put things into perspective. Standing under the warm spray of water, Chandler’s mind raced with several random thoughts.

Did it really happen? It could have just been a dream. As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew it had happened, and she’d enjoyed it. But how could she enjoy kissing a woman? She wasn’t gay. What the hell was happening to her? She didn’t want to think about Alex sexually, but her body was betraying her.