You Belong to Me (Stevens Book 6)

Chapter 17

Alice fell into a nice routine.  Girl's night went from two to all of the Stevens ladies, if they were in town. It seemed that Alice's apartment had become a clubhouse of sort's, the one place where no Stevens man could infiltrate.

But that didn't keep Mason and Davis from trying one night.

Alice, Grace, Laura, Cassie, and Lizzy had all gathered to watch the traditional movie, do their nails, and generally unload about their husbands.  About an hour into the evening Mason and Davis had shown up wearing wigs pretending to be long lost cousins, so the ladies invited them inside, sat them on the couch, proceeded to do their nails, and make them watch two of the chickiest chick flicks that existed.

They had looked dazed when they had left, and Cassie had told Alice later that Mason had liked the color on his toenails so much that he had worn it all week.

Alice got regular emails from Rainer, and they had even had dinner a few times sometimes on their own and sometimes with the others. Every time Rainer left she cried a little, but it was still better than when she had had no contact with him the previous fall.

He had sent her an email the previous week saying that he would be in town this week and that if he had time he would stop by for a visit.  She had told him he was welcome but advised him not to come on Friday night because that was girl's night.

Grace had set Alice up on a few blind dates and one of them had stuck, he was history professor named Gabe Lehman. He wasn't Rainer, but he was decent looking, amusing, and considerate, and they had enjoyed dating for a few months and had even exchanged a few heated kisses.

Kisses, that in the end, she had compared with Rainer's and found lacking. Rainer was still all that she thought about, and his family did their best not to talk about him overly much. It was either that, or they didn't have a whole lot to say one the matter.

Alice had promised to meet Gabe for a lecture on international politics.  It sounded like a very boring way to spend a Saturday morning, but he had promised to buy her lunch afterwards so it wouldn't be a total loss.

It was proving to be a warm spring so Alice had chosen a pretty spaghetti strap baby blue sundress that had a high banded waist and an uneven hemmed skirt.  It made her look a little Bo-ho, and she had fallen in love with it on first sight.  Her hair had grown enough for her to pile it on top of her head in a loose bun.

When she entered the auditorium it was almost filled to capacity with an unusually large amount of female students. Political science did not, traditionally, have a large female student population, so she was a little shocked until she saw why; down on the stage standing head and shoulders above the other grey haired gentlemen was Rainer. He was wearing a very expensive and well-tailored suit, and Alice's eyes were riveted.

She felt a pull on her arm and looked over to see Gabe pulling at her. "I have us some seats here."  He cleared the way for her to follow. "I'm glad I got here early. I knew when I saw Rainer Stevens's name on the line-up that it would be a full house."

Alice slowly sunk into her seat, making a non-committal noise, never taking her eyes from Rainer. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry, and her hands were trembling, but she guessed so were half of the other women in the room.

Alice felt her phone vibrate and took it out of her purse. She saw that she had a text, and looking up to see that they were not beginning yet she looked at it.

"Just friends huh? Behind you top left". She didn't recognize the number.

Alice put her phone away and slowly turned around to see Bryce, Grace, Mason, and Cassie. Mason and Cassie looked ridiculous in baseball caps and glasses. Mason lifted up his glasses and shot her a wink.