Page 69 of Jep

When the door opened, it took her a moment to get up the courage to step off. Then, at her door to her apartment, she struggled to get the key into the lock.

Jep rested his hand over her shaking one. “Let me do it.” He slid her hand off the key and unlocked the door.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She stumbled down the short hallway into the main living area.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Your reaction is perfectly natural.”

“Oh yeah? Is this how you acted the first time you killed someone?”

“I grew up pretty rough,” he said, tossing the keys on a small round dining table with a bowl of fruit in the middle of it. “I saw someone die when I was eleven. I was in a bad part of town, and a guy got knifed in the street.”

“That’s horrible.”

“It shook me up bad. I didn’t leave the house for a few days.”

“No kid should—” The blood drain from her face, and her stomach turned. “I don’t feel good.”

“You don’t look—” He caught her before she fell to the ground. “—so good.”

The words were an echo as the blackness swallowed her.

As awareness returned, relief washed over her. She’d had a bad dream. A very bad dream. Maybe Carla was right. Maybe she hadn’t fully forgiven her sister. Why else would she dream that her sister was a terrorist?

“Em?”

The male voice startled her. Where was she? At work?

“Em. You back with me?”

She blinked awake as pieces of the world slipped back into place, and an icy chill threatened to pull her back into the darkness. “It wasn’t a dream,” she whispered.

“You fainted.”

“How long?”

“Long enough for me to lay you on the couch, but not more than that. I’ll get you a drink of water.”

He pushed himself up off his knees, but panic tightened in her chest.

“No.” She shot up and grabbed hold of the sleeve of his shirt, her fingernails stabbing into her palm through the soft fabric. The room spun again, and she laid back, pulling him with her.

“Hey, shh.” Jep leaned closer, whispering into her hair. “It’s going to be okay.” The weight of his presence so close held her together as tears pricked at her eyes. His scent of mint and pine took her back to the first time they’d met. Before everything had capsized.

“I thought it was a dream,” she said. “I was relieved. I wish I could have stayed asleep.”

“I’m so sorry.” The resonance of his voice purred through her body, easing the pins and needles.

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t have brought you to the park.” He leaned back so he could look at her, but he was still close enough that she could see the stubble beginning to show on his jaw. The fear slid away, but what took its place was alarming as well. The moment carried too much intensity, adding weight to an unspoken attraction between them. She needed to stop it. This couldn’t happen.Theycouldn’t happen.

“You need a shave,” she said.

He let out a light, breathy laugh and rubbed his jaw as he leaned away to give her more distance.

“Yeah. Another reason for you to give me up as a partner. I’m too grubby.”

“Maybe. But you’re still the only one who believes in me.”

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