Read Online Mad Hatter's Alice by Kelliea Ashley - Free Book Online Page B

close, she could smell a tempting blend of Axe body spray and sweat. He bent down to retrieve the pole in a fluid motion just as Alice reached for it. Crack!
    “Yikes! That had to hurt.” Kitty commented behind her.
    “Holy cow, are you all right?” He held his forehead as he reached out to steady her.
    “I think I’m seeing stars. How about you?” She rubbed at the sore on her own forehead, blinking rapidly to fight the tears that stung her eyes.
    “For a minute there.” He chuckled. “I’m going down after my hat and the pole. Don’t move,” he warned her as he bent down once more. Through blurry eyes, she noticed that his hair appeared dark brown and curled up where it brushed the back of his collar. Thick, shiny, and clean, his hair beckoned for a woman to thrust her fingers through it. She curled the fingers of her free hand tightly to keep from doing so. “Got them!” He squashed the hat back on the top of his head and handed her the pole.
    “Thank you. I’m really sorry. I’m not usually such a klutz.”
    “Yeah, right.” Kitty laughed. Alice turned to shoot her an ‘I’ll get you’ look, over her shoulder.
    “It’s all right. I have a younger sister who gets nervous and breaks things. Usually her own body parts, but I still love her.”
    Sincere and hot, he’s not real.
    “Hey, Hatter. What’re you doing? The girls want to go check out the lake. Mr. Hopps said we could go swimming.” Andrew waved at them as he stopped beside Wayne. “Wow, Grace you don’t even have the poles put together. What have you been doing?”
    “Oh, you know, we didn’t want to say anything, but we’re studying for the tent assembling Olympics. This is the...tenth time we’ve put it together.” She turned to Kitty, who grinned back at her. “This is the tenth time, isn’t it, Kitty?”
    “I thought it was the eleventh, Alice.” Kitty blinked innocently at her.
    “You’re right. Twenty more seconds shaved off and we’re ready for the bronze.” Alice placed her hands on her hips and watched the confusion cross Andrew’s face . Sexy, studly, but not all that bright. Too bad.
    Beside him, Wayne covered his mouth with a hand to hide his grin. She couldn’t help enjoy the way those eyes danced merrily in the fading sunlight. Andrew opened his mouth, but whatever he planned to say got lost in the noise from Priscilla and Sue as they came over. “What’s the hold-up, boys? I thought you wanted to skinny dip.” Emerald green eyes narrowed as they slowly slid over toward Alice. She actually felt the antagonism emoting from the redhead’s glare.
    “I’m just grabbing Hatter.” Andrew turned to give Sue a wide smile. His eyes did a slow perusal of her body in the barely there bikini. Alice looked at Kitty and they immediately set about putting poles together. Not that they had any clue which ones went where.
    “Actually, I’m going to help these ladies get their tent up. I’ll be along in a bit.” Wayne shrugged and bent to grab a pole from the ground as the two girls made noises of protest.
    “Hatter has declared his intentions and when he decides to do something, there is no reasoning with him. I’ve learned this from experience. Let’s go, girls.” Andrew cast a still puzzled look at Alice. “Good luck in your Olympic endeavors, Grace. Why don’t you come along with Hatter when you’re done? You look like you could use a good swim.”
    Alice stood up to watch the trio leave the clearing where tents surrounded a make-shift fire pit. “Did he just infer that I needed the exercise or the bath?” Kitty shrugged in answer as she knelt down to lay out the poles.
    “Who cares? I know you like him, but he’s kind of an ass.” Kitty commented. Alice saw Wayne look over at her and cringed.
    “Of course I like him. He’s my boss.” She widened her eyes at her friend who gave her a clueless look. Rolling her eyes, she turned toward Wayne. “You don’t have to help us, Mr. Quinton. I’m sure