Page 234 of The Tempted

“Still wondering if you’re really here,” she said hoarsely.

“No place else I’d rather be, Sunshine,” I admitted. Loosening my hold on her hip, I took her hand and walked inside of her apartment.

I stared at her as she closed the door, drinking her in from head to toe. Her hair fell halfway down her back in waves and she was only wearing a t-shirt that hung off one of her shoulders, revealing her pale skin. Her long legs exposed except for the leg warmers that were scrunched around her calves.

“You do know that your building is on lockdown, don’t you?” I asked, lifting my eyes to hers.

“The cops knocked on the door earlier. They’re looking for the guy who shot the woman in apartment 6L,” she said, pointing up at the ceiling. “Two floors up, poor lady,” she frowned then she hiccupped.

I took a step closer, peering at her.

“You answered the door dressed like that?” I accused.

She glanced down at her lack of clothing before she hiccupped again and covered her mouth with her hand.

“No, I didn’t get undressed until after they told me to stay put,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Wasn’t expecting any visitors, as it’s been…I don’t know…a week since the only visitor I have dropped by last.”

“Five days,” I corrected.

“What?”

“You said it’s been a week since I saw you last. Seven days are in a week. I’ve been gone five,” I explained, my patience running thin as I stepped closer to her.

“Oh. Well, thank you for clearing that up,” she mumbled, stepping around me to grab the half-empty wine glass sitting on the table next to her couch.

She took her glass and flopped down on the couch.

“Any particular reason you been drinking?” I questioned, finding it peculiar that the cops were hunting for a murderer and she was sitting calmly in her living room unwinding with a bottle of wine.

“Don’t need a reason to drink,” she commented, tipping her head back and emptying the glass.

I walked around the couch and sat down on the coffee table, leaned over and took the empty glass from her hand, setting it down beside me.

“What’s going on, Reina?”

She stared at me blankly for a moment before leaning forward and grazing my whiskers with her fingertips. I reached up, closed my hand around her wrist, turning my face slightly to press my lips to where her pulse point was.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I probed against her skin.

Her phone vibrated, dancing across the table I was sitting upon. I dropped her hand and lifted the phone, staring at the caller ID and extended the phone to her.

She took the phone, denied the call and threw it beside her on the couch.

“Who’s Dr. Spiegel?” I asked, reaching for her, pulling her closer toward the edge of the couch so her knees brushed mine.

“My shrink,” she admitted, and I remained silent. The only noise surrounding us was the muffled sounds from outside the apartment. She moved to stand, her hands moving to my knees pushing them aside so she could move past me. I grabbed her hand and lifted my eyes to hers.

“You should leave, Jack,” her voice sounding broken as it pleaded with me.

I studied her for a moment, took in her sad eyes and the empty bottle of wine she was using to wash away her pain and shook my head.

“Don’t think that’s what you really want,” I said simply. “So why don’t you do us both a favor and tell me what youdowant.”

“What do you want with me?” she questioned. “I know why I’m drawn to you but for the life of me I can’t figure out what a man like you is doing hanging around with a woman like me,” she said, pulling her hand away from mine. “Do you know what it’s like to not feel anything? To go through life feeling numb all the time?” she shook her head. “Forget it, that’s not even the issue.”

“Reina, then for the love of God, what the fuck is the issue?” I growled, my patience gone.

“I can deal with numb I know numb. What I don’t know is how to feel, it’s a foreign thing to me but something I like. I like it too much, way too much, that I missed it when you disappeared,” she continued.

---