Page 45 of Power of the Mind

“I’m not… No.”

“Are you saying it because you’re upset Kelly didn’t have the answers you hoped for?”

“No,” I said, quieter than before.

“Are you saying it because—”

“Tallus, shut up. I said we can talk to the neighbor.”

“Okay.”

We drove the rest of the way in silence, arriving at the office shortly after seven. Exiting the Jeep, our actions mirrored the previous night: Tallus leaned against the vehicle, showing no intention of joining me upstairs, while I was unsure where to put myself and shuffled between feet, baking in a wool suit.

“Any plans for your Tuesday night, D?” Tallus asked.

It was on the tip of my tongue to grouch that I was hot and wanted nothing more than to strip out of the godforsaken suit, but I choked on the words before they escaped, hearing how they sounded, knowing Tallus would take it as an insinuation for something else and run with it.

“No.”

“Me neither.” He pinned me with a look I couldn’t read. He seemed to be trying to relay a message with his eyes, but I couldn’t figure it out. I was too hot to think. Plus, Tallus had a knack for turning me inside out. When he looked at me the way he was now, I became hyper-aware of all my flaws, both physical and psychological.

I scanned the parking structure instead of meeting his gaze, shifting uncomfortably under his prolonged scrutiny.

“I want to take my clothes off.” I cringed and pinched the bridge of my nose when Tallus chuckled. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean, Guns. You’re hot because I made you wear a suit in the middle of summer.”

“It’s fine.”

More chuckling. “You’ve done nothing but bitch about it since we left earlier. Go get changed. I’m heading home.”

“But I thought…” I bit my tongue. Of course his insinuation about getting me naked wasn’t real. “Okay.”

He didn’t move, and the scorching heat of his gaze was as hot as the sun’s.

I shifted again. It was technically cooler in the parking structure but felt a thousand degrees worse than out in the street. My lungs burned, and I fought the urge to fan my shirt or wipe the sweat from my brow. The heat was making me dizzy.

“D?”

“What?”

“Did you think I was coming upstairs?”

“No.”

“I did tease about getting you out of the suit. Is that something you wanted?”

I scrambled for an answer but didn’t find one.

“Do you want company?”

“What?”

“Upstairs. Do you want company? Do you want me to come inside?”

“Oh. Yes… No. I mean, no.”

A disarming smile appeared, and I didn’t know what I wanted. Courage? Instructions? A push in the right direction? Confidence?

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