Page 58 of Pretend
One moment, I was in my own world with him. All the pain and emptiness were filled and voided. I hold onto my towel tighter, wanting to go back in time.
I glance over at him, in a discreet manner, through the window that’s built into the back door, and the moonlight is enough to illuminate his frame. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice my gawking.
I’m still on a high.
I touch my lips as I watch him, and I reminisce about his tongue. It felt nice to forget about my problems, even if it was for only a few minutes.
Daegan lights his cigarette while he’s on the phone with someone. He inhales as the tip of the cigarette sparkles with fire, and something about the way he lights it has me swooning. He blows the smoke into the air, pacing around his patio. He stands still for a moment, then nods as the call continues.
If he’s getting a call in the middle of the night, it can only mean one thing.
There’s a mission. A task that needs to be done. Or maybe something happened at work, and they need him to know. Maybe it’s Ravenmore canceling his assignment to watch over me.
Wishful thinking.
After all, this is the life of a Special Operator. A life I don’t want to be around. This is why I only asked for one night. It’ll be easier that way. No strings are attached, no one gets hurt, and no one has expectations. But the way he resisted me has me questioning if he truly is interested in me. I almost had no self-control while he had it all. I just want to continue to pretend until the sun comes up.
I tear my eyes away from him and start chewing the inside of my lip. I get up from the couch and head towards the bedroom again.
Stupid, stupid, stupid girl.
He’s right, we can’t do this.
I’m about to run into his bedroom when my bladder demands my attention. I look to my right and see that there are two more doors deep into the hallway. Iremember him saying there was another restroom in the hallway. It must be in one of those.
I play a guessing game and turn one doorknob, but it doesn’t budge. It’s…locked.
Huh? Weird.
Why would he lock one of his doors inside his house? I’m sure there’s a valid reason, but that doesn’t stop an uncanny sensation to ripple through the dark parts of my mind, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.
“What are you doing, Valentine?”
I jump like a scared cat. I’m on my toes, palming the wall to stop myself from stumbling over. My other hand goes to my mouth, and a loud squeak disappears into the air, my towel almost dropping to the floor.
“Daegan! You scared me,” I pant, trying to recover from the jump scare. I can hear my heart eradicate through my ears as I try to calm myself down.
His eyes darken like he’s trying to figure me out. Like I was caught looking through his diary. It’s almost like I did something wrong.
“I’m sorry, I was looking for the restroom.”
He points to the other door, still as a statue.
I swallow nervously, brushing curls behind my ear. The hallway light is off, but the light from his kitchen barely makes a dent in the hallway. It’s dim enough to see him still.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” I ask innocently, dreading the answer.
Then, his shadow moves. He doesn’t say anything as he stalks forward. The darkness matches the silence, and I wait until he’s ready to talk.
Finally, he stops. His chest is one inch from mine.
“Grim is on paternity leave, and I have to go in. I guess they want to go over something with me before my assignment and the deployment that starts tomorrow.” He bites out with no emotion.
“Right this second? You have to leave right now?”
“Yes,” he sighs.
“Oh,” I look down at our feet.
