Page 28 of Chasing Dreams
“Where’s the fish tank?”
That stopped him cold. “What?”
She gestured to the empty space by the window. “Where’s the fish tank? A great big one with a blue background and an oak cabinet.”
Austin’s mind reeled with the implication of what she’d just revealed. He stared at her. She returned his look, her eyes red from crying, her vulnerable mouth in a questioning line. An odd feeling crept in around the edges of his protective insulation. “How do you know about that?” he asked.
“I dreamed it.”
He moved to sit in his form-molded office chair and let the information wash over him. He’d lived with his extra sense his entire life. He’d foreseen things about his own life, and in so many other people’s lives that it ceased to amaze him. But he’d never before had anyone see things in his future. It was...weird.
“So where is it?” she asked.
He met her eyes. “It’s in the garage.”
“You took it down?”
He shook his head.
“What then?”
He stared at her, realizing the complexity and enormity of the sixth sense she had no idea how to control.
“What?”
“I haven’t set it up yet. It’s still in the cartons. And—” he pointed to the spot beside the window “—that’s where it goes.”
Expectant silence stretched between them. Finally she moved forward and leaned her knuckles on his desk, all her desperation and urgency written plainly on her features. She met his gaze and wouldn’t let it go. A voice deep inside screamed for Austin to beware.
“You believe me now, don’t you?” she asked.
Chapter 6
Did he believe her? Hell, yes. But was that even the right question? Deliberately, Austin rethought his initial reaction. So, she’d seen something he’d been planning. That wasn’t all that surprising. It was possible to pick up on people’s thoughts. Nothing was ever out of the question in his experience.
He’d convinced her to return to her bed an hour ago, but he’d been unable to force himself to follow suit. Idly, he’d been watching his Call of Duty screen saver blast cyberholes in the computer screen for the last twenty minutes. Okay. He’d finished with his last job. He’d devote every minute to working with Shaine now. The sooner he showed her how to block out the dreams, the sooner he’d have her gone, and his life would be back to normal.
Normal. If living way up here away from everyone and everything and avoiding people was normal. But this was his life. It was how he lived with himself and the things that he’d seen and learned and been through. And he didn’t know any other way.
Austin glanced over at the pillow and rumpled blanket on his too-short leather sofa, thought about the long-legged woman in his bed upstairs and shook his head. He’d already let his libido get ahead of his thinking where she was concerned. She was right: they didn’t have much time. He needed to teach her and get rid of her before she gave him any more reasons why she should stay.
* *
“So, what did the doctor say?” Shaine asked Maya over the phone the next morning.
“He said I’m starting to dilate.”
“Oh, my gosh.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said. But he told me it could still be a couple of weeks.”
“And I’m sticking you with all the work, Maya. I feel terrible.”
“He said to do what I normally do. Just not to overdo.”
“And overdo is your norm. Did the Andersen woman work out?” she asked, mentioning the neighbor woman she’d hired to help Maya with the work.
“Oh, yes. She’s a big help. She can’t come until she gets her kids off for school, so I still have to do the early breakfasts, but I have her all the rest of the day, so she cleans up and cleans rooms. Then she leaves to go pick the kids up at three-thirty. Can we really afford her, hon?”
