Free Wicked Magic by K. T. Black Page A

doesn’t know.”
    “I don’t blame him there. Most people freak me out as well.”
    “It’s all how you allow them to treat you.”
    “Well, it’s easy when you’re someone like you.”
    “I wasn’t born with confidence, my dear. I’ve had to work at it.”
    “Nope, I don’t believe that. I bet even as a kid you didn’t take shit from anyone.”
    “Too much competition in my family. So you’re right. I learned early.”
    Alex felt her smart phone buzzing again. With the shoot tomorrow, she couldn’t assume that every call or text message was only from Millie Winters.
    Allowing Chandler to walk ahead of her, Alex stopped and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She woke it up and scrolled through the latest messages. One was from Roger. Six were from Millie. Morbid curiosity compelled her to open the last message from Millie. Sucked into the world of her phone, Alex forgot where she was for a moment until she heard Chandler’s voice. Looking up, she found that she was once again at her side.
    “Something wrong?”
    Alex closed the screen and dropped her phone back into her pocket. “No, nothing.”
    “Are you sure?” Chandler looked like she didn’t believe her.
    “Yes.” It was a lie of course, but she didn’t want to worry Chandler about Millie. “Let’s get you a glass of champagne and introduce you to Tore.”
    “Okay.”
    It surprised Alex when Chandler reached over and took hold of her hand. It was the first time, in public, that Chandler had visibly acknowledged that they were more than just friends. To anyone else, it was a simple gesture, but Alex knew for Chandler it was a huge step forward.
    Alex smiled and risked placing a chaste kiss on Chandler’s cheek. Her mood shifted when she noticed how Chandler’s face pinked in response to her kiss. Alex expected Chandler to release her hand afterward, but grinned when she felt Chandler interlace their fingers.

Chapter 11
    Alex woke up early the next morning, well before Chandler. All the voicemails and text messages Millie had sent were weighing heavy on her mind. They’d started before she and Chandler flew out of Boston. At one point, Alex was forced to change her phone setting to the silent/vibrate mode when the number of incoming messages began to border on the ridiculous. If she ever found out who gave Millie her new phone number, she was going to hurt them.
    New York was a sizeable city, but Alex had anticipated that she would end up running into Millie at some point. Millie was an in-demand model and picked to participate in most of the local shoots. She’d be surprised if she wasn’t working the one this afternoon. The obsessive behavior was what was unexpected.
    When Roger called for her help, Alex felt this would be a good opportunity to allow Chandler to not only meet her friends, but to get to know her better. A day of work, and the rest of the weekend was supposed to be spent having fun. It all became complicated because of Millie.
    Watching Chandler as she slept next to her, Alex knew she needed to handle the Millie issue before things became out of hand. She didn’t want to involve Chandler unless there wasn’t any other choice.
    She thought about calling Millie. She didn’t want to. What she wanted was a large coffee and a bagel, and a neutral place to sort through some things.
    As quietly as she could, Alex slipped out of bed. She selected something to wear and headed into the bathroom so she could dress without disturbing Chandler. She had a few favorite places in the city to get coffee. Since she was only here a short time, she wanted to visit at least a couple of them before she headed back to Castleton. It would be a few more hours before Chandler woke up anyway. If she was quick, she could be back before she was missed.
    With her smart phone in her hand, Alex left the suite and made her way to the closest elevator. Once she was in the lobby, she had the doorman flag down a cab for her.
    After she instructed the