Page 165 of Sin City Lights

He usually preferred white.

“They were displayed in a window of a shop by my hotel. Every time I stepped out to go to breakfast, I looked and thought of you in them.”

She checked under the tissue, but the box was empty. She turnedand smoothed her hands over his chest.“Just panties?”

His grin was wicked. “What I imagined only featured those.”

She grasped his tie and pulled him down, bringing his mouth a breath away from hers.

“Care to describe what you imagined?”

“I’ll do even better. I’ll show you.”

He swept her up, kissing her the whole way as he carried her to the bedroom.

The sound of spraying water jerked her to the present. The panties slipped from her numb fingers, and she headed for the shower, covering her mouth to hold back sobs. If she cried now, she didn’t know when she would stop.

That she’d worn his sweet gift for another man’s viewing made her feel as if she’d defiled something precious. The old guy had commented and talked dirty incessantly as he’d ogled her, making it impossible to let her mind transport her somewhere else.

She stepped under the scalding stream, not caring that it nearly burned her skin. Grabbing the soap, she scrubbed and scrubbed.

She missed Adam. Missed his touch, his voice, his smile. She missed their conversations and their laughter and his solid body, holding her tight at night. She missed the feeling of being cherished and protected.

Eve longed for him.

And she had grown to hate her job, no matter that most elderly clients were polite and kind and paid a tidy sum just to see her model lingerie. Tonight, even that had made her feel unclean.

She stepped out of the shower, the cold air raising goose bumps, not knowing if the water still running down her face was mixed with tears. Not a moment had gone by without constant reminders of Adam. Everything she did or saw went back to him. The other day, she’d found one of his T-shirts that had slipped in with her laundry. It still held a faint trace of his scent. She’d pressed it to her face, inhaling deeply, then placed it on her pillow so she could smell him as she went to sleep.

What she wouldn’t give to have him beside her, to cuddle with at night, to see that beautiful face of his… To see him look at her as no one else ever had.

She grabbed a towel, wrapping herself in it, but still, she shivered. What she knew for sure was that she could no longer stand to be without him. She had to see him. Talk to him, at the very least.

Eve found her phone and lifted it to life, thumbing through her contacts quickly, wanting to do this before she lost her nerve.

Her heart kicked up in a wild rhythm. She found theA’s, and him. Gooseflesh raised on her nape as she tappedsend.

It rang only once.“The person you are calling is currently unavailable,” a nasal female voice said.“Please leave a message after the tone.”

Her heart sank. Maybe he’d blocked her? Why wouldn’t he, when she’d blocked him? She couldn’t bring herself to leave a voicemail, so she ended the call.

Her gaze circled her apartment, remembering the joy of having him here. Living in this space grew more excruciating every day, the silence and the loneliness so intense, it almost hurt to breathe.

I never even told you that I love you.

Perhaps there was a way to make things work, somehow. Married or not, she had to see him. Quickly, she found the number for LarsAir.

“Thank you for calling LarsAir, this is Robert speaking. How may I direct your call?” The voice on the other end was unfamiliar.

She cleared her throat.“Good afternoon. May I please speak with Mr. Larssen?”

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Larssen is unavailable right now.”

“When is a good time to call back and reach him?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say. I’m sorry. He’s out of state, and he’s unreachable. If you like, I could connect you to Conrad Hill. He’s running operations.”

She had no idea how she managed to end the call politely.

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