And she wasn’t sure she liked it.
What was going on with her? She watched as he left and she felt like crying.
You cannot cry.
This isn’t who you are.
Tamsyn took a few deep breaths.
Keep calm.
God. She wasn’t sure she liked being like this.
Turning, she stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, then she glanced away. She hated looking at herself in the mirror. It was something she tried to avoid.
There was a knock on the door and it made her jump. “Yes?”
“It’s just me. I was checking that you were in the bath. Are you all right?”
“Don’t come in,” she said in a high-pitched voice.
Crap.
“Tamsyn? Are you all right?”
“I’m . . . I’m on the toilet.” She closed her eyes.
Great. She was doing so well at this not lying thing. Also at communication. That had all flown out the window.
To make certain that she wasn’t lying, she rushed over the toilet and sat on it. Then she realized she had to pee and quickly took off her pants and panties.
“All right. I’ll give you a couple more minutes.”
Oh. God.
Could he hear her pee?
Most likely. Mortification filled her. She had to do better than this. Jumping up, she flushed the toilet and drew up her pants and panties before washing her hands.
Wait. She was meant to be stripping.
She took off her clothes quickly and then stepped up to the bath. This felt strange.
It didn’t feel right.
Was it because she wanted the picture he painted and knew it wasn’t in the cards for her?
Sliding into the bath, she sat with her arms around her raised legs.
What now?
“Little one? Can I come in?”
“Sure,” she called out, trying to keep her voice steady.
Salem walked in and studied her for a moment. But she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. There was no change on his face, just a subtle hesitation.
Then he grabbed a stool and dragged it over to sit next to her.