Page 55 of Death Trap

“We’re not in danger,” he settled with once he’d found his voice again. “But you had been in here a long time, and it was hard to hear anything over the sound of the water…” He looked away. “I just wanted to check on you.”

Right…

“And you had to come into the shower to do it?”

“You were just standing there with your eyes closed. And you weren’t answering me when I called your name. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said. “I’m sorry if I scared you. Or crossed some boundary. I just assumed since…”

When his eyes met mine again, there was something there he was holding back. And not because of the censor either.

“Since…” I prompted.

A bashful smile tugged at his lips. “I keep forgetting you don’t remember. But you and I… We had a relationship of sorts.”

I hesitated. I had an angel boyfriend when I was alive?

That was a lot better than the imaginary pasts I had given myself.

Even so, I had to be wary. “How can I believe you? You can be saying this, and I have no memories to go on. Maybe you’re just a creep who’s trying to get a little look and feel.”

He frowned, the faintest of lines appearing between his brows.

Either he was really good at acting, or we really had been together and I was just crushing his heart with my rejections and suspicion.

I was starting to believe it was the latter.

“I never want you to not trust me, Jade. Our bond relies on trust.” Eli gripped the shower door’s handle, ready to open it and step out. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed. I just thought that maybe…” He shook his head, defeated. “Until we can get your memories restored, I’ll leave you alone or knock next time. We can start over again.”

The way he spoke—like we had been together for years, possibly even more than just a dating couple—scared me. But it sounded so genuine, and his pain seemed real. He was respecting my boundaries, even though it hurt him to have to begin our so-called relationship from scratch. Who else would do that for a person?

Did Eli’s fierce protectiveness extend beyond his Guardian duties? Was he determined to keep me safe because he…lovedme?

Whoa, Jade. Reel it back in. Don’t go throwing the “L” word around like that.

My stomach churned with a toxic mixture of guilt, uncertainty, and nerves. This was all too much.

“Wait,” I found myself calling out to him.

He paused mid step out of the shower.

“As you know, this is a little overwhelming for me. Finding out I’m somehow linked to the apocalypse, that there’s some kind of plot with my old boss to keep me in the dark, that you and I…” I cleared my throat.

“I understand,” he whispered.

“But I may be open to starting over.” I just didn’t know what that entailed exactly.

When he looked up at me again, hope sparked in his eyes. He stepped back into the shower.

I glanced down at my nakedness and then at Eli’s pants, which were somehow untouched by the water.

He caught me staring. “An illusion, remember?”

That was right.

Suddenly, the material faded away, revealing everything that was hiding underneath. And I meaneverything.

And that certain something was large and in charge at the moment, making it hard for me to peel my gaze away.

I swallowed hard, my libido rocketing to the moon, and my heart pounded so hard that if I were alive, I would go into cardiac arrest.

---