Page 89 of The Spider & the Storm

I furrowed my brow. “I’m pretty sure you don’t know me well enough to make that assessment.”

The words held a playful quality as my fingers roamed from her ass to her thighs, still stretched and spread over my lap, but I meant it. She didn’t know me. And for her to pretend that she did pushed me dangerously close to shutting down again, even if I didn't want to, and I was already starting to wish I had gotten onto that elevator.

Stormy smirked, clearly amused, but her eyes gave her away. “Here’s the thing though, Charlie. Misery doesn’t just love company; it knows it when it sees it. And like I said, I see you, and no amount of broody grumpiness is going to make you magically disappear now.”

I had known this woman for the equivalent of a few days, if that. I knew little about her, outside of what she’d already told me, and she knew even less about me. Yet here she was, making declarations like shedidknow me, and it was getting beneath my skin.

“You seem a little too confident for someone who doesn’t know a damn thing about me,” I countered.

Her lips quirked into a smug smile as she slid from my lap.

I guessed the moment was over with little thanks to my brain and apparently sad eyes.

“I don’t need to know your favorite food or the name of your mom’s dog to feel like I know you,” she said.

“Sorry to break it to you,” I replied, sitting up and folding my arms across my knees, “but my mom’s dead.”

I didn’t know why I had said it. Not even Ivan—my only friend in the entire world—knew about my parents. It had never come up—I’d never had a reason to divulge the information. Yet I had said something to Stormy with little reason at all. In fact, it was almost as if I’dwantedher to know, to invite her to weather the torrential downpour with me, and that was terrifying the hell out of me.

The grin dropped from her face. “Oh shit. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged nonchalantly even though the familiar pain of a forever heartbreak was already searing through my chest. “It happened a long time ago.”

“How did she die?”

“Car accident.”

Stormy nodded somberly. “That sucks. What about your dad? Is he still—”

“He died with her,” I offered too easily.

Stormy watched me momentarily, chewing her bottom lip before replying, “Wow … I don’t even know what to say.”

“Most people don’t.”

“No wonder you’re sad.”

It was my turn to smirk as I waggled my brows. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

She opened her mouth to say something, and I could only imagine what inquisition she was about to throw at me. Because at that moment, I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, taking note of the time after being oblivious for too long.

“Shit.” I got off the bed and walked past Stormy to the door while patting my pockets down to make sure I still had my keys.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, panic and concern in her tone.

“The gate. I have to unlock the gate.”

My heart hammered in my chest. I reached out to grab the doorknob, bothered by how the cool metal felt against the coating of fresh sweat on my palm.

God, what an idiot I was. I had been going to bed every night at the same time to unlock the gate in the morning. But themoment I allowed a woman to catch even just a glimpse of my life, I forgot all about my responsibilities.

I never should’ve kissed her.

“The gate?”

She sounded clueless, and for a second, I was irritated by it. That she could have such a total disregard for my career and the things I was trusted—not to mentionpaid—to do. I was ready to put her in her place, to snap and ensure she’d never bother me or get in the way of my regimented life again. But I stopped myself, reminding myself that it wasn’t her fault.

She hadn’t been the one to kiss me first.

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