Page 46 of Time Stops With You

Better yet, I want to move them out of there. The entire apartment needs to be gutted and rebuilt with better materials.

I turn on my side. Would Nardi allow me to move her and Josiah to a house near mine?

Something tells me she wouldn’t.

You’re not that bad.

Nardi’s words return to me.

The warm feeling in my chest is back.

Why can’t I stop thinking about her? Why do I feel a rush of excitement—the kind I’d get before a coding competition—at the thought of seeing her again?

I turn on my other side and I’m stunned to see a vision of Nardi lying beside me.

“You’re not that bad,” the vision purrs.

I shoot upright. Rub my eyes. Whip around to face the left side of my bed again.

It’s empty.

I massage my forehead. What was that?

Another pair of hands appear over mine and I look up to find Nardi, straddling me on the bed. Her soft fingers draw slow, soothing circles over my temple. Her lips curl up in a seductive smile.

“Does that feel better?”

“Wah!” I flail backward on the bed and the vision of her disappears.

Are the cells in my brain failing me now? Am I having a psychotic break?

I lunge for my phone, heaving thick breaths, fingers trembling as I dial Darrel Hastings’ number to request an immediate brain scan.

Then I see the time.

Three a.m.

Not exactly the right hour to book a consultation. And what exactly am I going to tell Hastings?

‘I asked a woman I barely know to marry me and now I’m having visions of her in my bed.’Hastings will have me in a strait jacket.

I hang up quickly, glad that he didn’t pick up.

Deep breaths, Cullen. Deep breaths.

I remove my warm beanie, run my fingers over the prickly hair on my scalp and exhale. No more inhaling strongdisinfectants before bed. I think I might have accidentally drugged myself.

Rolling over to the dresser, I open the drawer and find a host of sleeping pills. Picking the one with the strongest dose, I empty two into my palm and chase it back with water.

Nervously, I lie back down, close my eyes and wait for the medication to work its magic.

When I open my eyes again, it’s morning.

My head feels groggy and I sit up straight, taking stock of the left side of the bed.

Empty.

No Nardis to be found.

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