“Would you believe I’ve never been on a carousel before?” she asked.
His hand rested on the peacock’s fiberglass beak. “How is that even possible?”
She tried to play it off as something totally normal. “I’ve never really been anywhere like this. To a theme park, I mean.”
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Here,” she said. “Westville. I’ve lived here my whole life. I just—” How could she tell him she didn’t get out much, and that it was by choice? She might as well proclaim she opted to live the most boring life possible because it meant less risk.
“If I knew how it worked, I’d start it for you,” he said, still standing close to her.
Adelie swallowed. She’d never had attention like this before, not from boys at school or men in her college classes—the ones that were in person or online, like she was taking right now. She’d never even been kissed, either. The prospect had been non-existent. But here, in the rain, on a carousel that for all the world was singing its own melody and spinning right off with her imagination, a kiss suddenly became an option.
He was so handsome. And he was looking at her, resting his hand close to hers, her knee brushing his side.
The rain slowed. Her mind cleared in the subsequent quiet. What was she doing thinking of kissing him?
“Looks like things are clearing up out there,” he said.
“Yeah. I should probably get going.”
But she didn’t move, and for a long moment, neither did he. He lingered there, capturing her with his pale green eyes.
Finally, he cleared his throat and stepped back, glancing around as if only just remembering where he was. “Right,” he said, offering her a hand as she slid down.
She didn’t take it. She wasn’t sure she could handle feeling his fingers touch hers.
Clearing his throat, Maddox stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I think you get the idea of what we’ll be doing here. Was two days enough time? Have you made a decision about my offer?”
Adelie tucked her wet hair behind her ear. “When would I get the money?”
“Half up front,” Maddox said. “And half will be deposited once the images are in place, in the bank account of your choice.”
Half. Oh, sweet goodness.
She attempted to remain unperturbed, though inside her organs were rotating. “When would the photo shoot be?”
“One week,” Maddox said. He stepped off from the carousel’s platform and again turned to offer her a hand, but she’d already leaped off as well. “And then you’ll be in every corner of Wonderland.”
Every corner. She was really doing this. “Will I need any kind of… I don’t know, training?”
Maddox stood back. He rested a hand in his chin and narrowed his eyes, shrewdly examining her.
Adelie gripped the soaked strap of her messenger bag. “What are you doing?”
His eyes narrowed. He still hadn’t taken them from her. “If you’re asking me whether you can stand there, looking bewildered, lost, and beautiful all at once, I think you’ve got it mastered.”
Adelie’s lips parted. She didn’t know what to say.
“The whole premise of Alice in Wonderland is this fantastic dream for Alice,” Maddox said. “Let me make this a dream for you.”
Whew. A dream, sure. A dream Alice had wanted to wake from the entire time. A dream where everyone she encountered was borderline psychotic. Still, Adelie felt as though she’d drunk from that bottle. She was soaring, feet higher than her normal height so her head wafted in the clouds.
She must be crazy to agree to this, but her lips formed the words all on their own.
“Yes. Okay. I’ll do it.”
Maddox’s smile was a flash of lightning across a bleary sky. Vibrant, colorful, and so intense it stole every ounce of her attention and made her heart hiccup. Now that was a smile.
Lifting the flap on her messenger bag, she removed the contract and signed it there on the puddled Wonderland street. Maddox accepted it when she was finished, tucking into his jacket to retrieve what looked like a business card.
“Come to this location next Monday,” he said, offering her the card with an address on it.
Somehow, her fingers closed around it. “What should I wear?”
“Everything will be set up for you,” he said, walking her to the exit. Their return trip was quiet, filled with anticipation and uncertainty. They passed the rides and kiosks she’d noticed before, and the men who’d been cleaning the streets had vanished, probably taking shelter during the brief storm.
The park’s elegant entrance came into view, and soon Maddox opened the side door for her with a set of keys from his pocket.
“Okay,” she breathed, nervous.
“Okay,” he replied, the corner of his lips quirking and adding an extra glint in his eyes.
Dipping her chin, Adelie thanked him for the tour and bade him goodbye.
She ambled in a daze to her car’s space in the mostly empty parking lot. So much had happened and in so short a time. She couldn’t believe the afternoon they’d shared. The rain, the carousel, the contract. She’d signed it and handed it to Maddox. That meant this was official. That meant in one more week, it would be time to become Alice.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Adelie approached the security booth, which was located at the end of the street address Maddox had given her—and rolled her car window down. A man in a blue suit with patches on the shoulders and a stern forehead scowled at her. A silver nametag secured over his breast pocket read, Juan Ramirez.
“Miss Carroll?”
“Y-yes. That’s me.”
He examined something on his screen, possibly comparing her face to a picture, though where he would have gotten one, she couldn’t say. Then again, she had been on the news after her completely unexpected victory.
“They’re expecting you,” he said with a nod. Giving her what she assumed was a smile, he added, “Welcome to Mr. Hatter’s estate.”
Adelie inclined her head and the gate swung open. She wished it would open quicker. The guard was so stern, he might as well be made from steel. Then again, if she had security of any kind, she’d want its director to be no-nonsense and threatening at first glance too.
She passed through and rolled down the remainder of the long drive. The extensive grounds were green and lush and spread for what seemed like miles along the distance between the guard’s station and the massively huge mansion.
It was like a miniature castle, set off by pointed dormers above an arched courtyard that led to what must be the front door. Balconies, turrets along the rooftop, and multiple stone stairways connected by a path that passed dozens of windows in every size speckling the exterior added variety to the bronze stones.
Adelie took a moment—or a thousand—to stop and just stare. She wanted to soak in every detail and appreciate each stunning aspect, from the windows to the intricate shapes in the stones, for what each individual aspect added to the whole. She couldn’t imagine living in a place like this. Visiting it was one thing, but having it for a home? It was breathtaking.
A few other cars were already parked in the drive. Adelie pulled between the smaller black Lexus and the large white, windowless van. She cut the ignition and stared at her hands’ ten- and two o’clock position on the steering wheel. She needed to go inside. To let go of the wheel, exit the vehicle and move.