It's not like He's in Love with her….
Then why was he acting that way?
He wanted to cook for her, to shower her with roses, make love to her all night and in the morning do it all again.
The idea of her hugging her soon-to-be ex husband didn't sit well with him. Was he jealous? It's not like he's in love with her? Was he?
Why did he find himself walking along The Miracle Mile smiling at the idea of Alicia in some very expensive Chanel suit or better yet some very expensive lingerie?
Somehow Victoria's Secret didn't seem good enough for her. She needed something more, more tasteful, classier, more elegant, something more like her.
He found himself in La Perla. His eyes widened at the idea of being in a lingerie store. He was almost giddy at the idea of seeing Alicia in something green, no wait, purple. Purple was just her color.
Just when he had enough courage to touch the silky garment, a voice, one he didn't recognize right away, called his name.
"Wow, the things you do for your clients. I would have thought Will Gardner would send an errand boy to fetch some high class undergarments not Will Gardner himself." The voice of Brian Kelley an old Bar Association friend of a friend snapped Will back to reality.
"Brian," he breathed trying to come up with some excuse as to why he was in the shop in the first place.
"Good to see you." Will extended his right hand shaking the other man's hand.
"I'm here for my wife. She likes this sort of thing." The other man smiled. "The more important question is what are you doing here?"
"I'm just looking," Will said, trying not to act as nervous as he was.
Deep down, he really couldn't explain why he was there. It's not like he and Alicia were married. Or even in a so called relationship. Nevertheless he was there wanting to get something for Alicia, unfortunately, he couldn't tell that to Brian. So he made something up on the fly…
"Yeah, it's something for my girlfriend."
"She must be very lucky," Brian smiled at Will.
He couldn't quite read Brian's facial expression so Will just said the first thing that came to mind,
"Well, it was good to see you Brian," Will gave in as he stuck out his hand again, grasping the other man's hand.
He was trying to make a quick escape. He didn't want to be there discussing lingerie with this man or anyone else. Now all will wanted to do was flee the store…
"We should get a beer sometime," Brian offered stalling their awkward conversation even longer.
"Yeah, we should," Will smiled with the first thing he could think of.
Will tapped the other man on the shoulder as he walked past Brian in the opposite direction of the exit.
He glanced quickly over his shoulder to see if his friend or friend of a friend was gone.
What exactly was he doing there? He lied to a colleague about why he was in a lingerie shop in Downtown. Miles from his office.
It's not like he's in love with her….
It's not like she's in love with him….
Her phone rang, it startled her some. She let it go to voicemail.
Alicia was still reeling from the heartfelt plea of her soon to be ex husband. He wanted her back. No surprise there. He had appearances to keep up being Illinois' new State's Attorney. But to Alicia, Peter seemed really sincere. He wanted her back in his life, back in the kid's life.
She wasn't sure she wanted the same thing though, regardless of what was going on with Will.
Peter not only slept with a hooker. Crude word she knew but it was the truth. He slept with Kalinda. Someone she once called a friend. It was almost worse than sleeping with the hooker. Because Alicia never thought she had that many friends. It hurt her deeply to be betrayed by her husband and her friend.
Is that why she turned to Will? He was there? He's attractive, the senior partner in her law firm, and her boss. Things that don't make an office romance, or any romance for that matter, plausible.
So why does her mind wander every time he walks by? Even if he's entranced with work she still envisions him with his body pressed against hers with his voice whispering 'sweet endearments' in her ear.
"Hey," his voice broke her train of thought. She smiled at the object of her thoughts standing in her doorway scrolling through his phone.
"Do you," he stopped and glanced over his shoulder, "want to, you know, grab some lunch later? Or better, a drink?"
Alicia couldn't help but giggle at the tone and eagerness of his question.
"You know I'd like that." She stopped without completing her sentence.
They both knew the reality of their situation. Going out in public was one thing, acting like lovers was another. No one could question their lunch dates, even two colleagues going out for drinks wouldn't raise any eyebrows. But if the two were sleeping together, that would be a different story. And that was exactly the case between them.
But he wanted more and she wasn't ready to give more. Or that's what she kept telling herself. That is, until he's standing in her doorway or naked, panting on top of her.
So she smiled her best smile and changed the subject. "The Henderson case is tomorrow. I need to prep." The smile remained on her face as she created a some-what lie. Or a reason not to raise any suspicion.
"Alicia, you can win that case in your sleep. You don't even need to be there." He stopped as her eyes fixed on him. Before she knew it, he was standing on the other side of her desk from her.
"Seriously, I mean it." Will flashed his 1,000 watt smile at her and her heart melted.
No, it's not like she's in love with him.
"Will, I …"
He put up his hand before she had a chance to finish…. "I understand," he conceded.
Her heart sank as she watched his face fall. His eyes went back to his phone.
"I have something for you." His eyes still glued to his phone in fake concentration.
"Meet me at my place and you'll find out." Will Gardner smiled as he turned on his heel and walked quietly out of her office.
As she made her way to close her office door to get some semblance of work done, a smile crept back on her face. She scanned the hallway for anyone within sight. She closed the door, went back to her desk and pulled out her phone.
Her heart began to race as butterflies filled her stomach. She could barely type out the words:Can't wait.
It's not like she's in love with him either.
