Page 44 of Tangled Like Us
“Sounds perfect.” She smooths her lips together.
We linger.
She motions to me. “I should let you return to your brother.”
I nod.
We stay still.
“Jane.” I hear deep, solid longing in my voice.
“Yes?” Her chest elevates in a bigger breath.
Goddammit. I grind my teeth. Hoping to saw-down this attraction.She’s my client.It takes me a long second, but I get out, “Call me if you need me.”
“I will.” She nods, her collarbones tight.
One of us needs to move.
She’s just twenty-three.
“I’ll see you later,” I say another goodbye.
“À la prochaine.”Until next time.
And finally, I lift my cemented feet and move to the staircase.
9
JANE COBALT
Oh my…oh …my …oh my God.
We just shared an intimate moment in his kitchen, didn’t we? Heat still ascends my breastbone to my neck to my cheeks, and my breath comes out like I’ve jogged five-miles around the block. In practicality, that’s five-miles more than I would ever jog.
Or perhaps I’m just drawing conclusions and filling in blanks that I shouldn’t.
I gently shut the adjoining door behind me, half-gallon of milk tucked to my chest.
If I remove some bias, then I’m left with facts, and those facts are that I don’t need more from anyone. Not love, not sex, not anything in between, and Thatcher and I simply had anormal, polite conversation.
About his personal life, which he very rarely shares.
While he was in a towel—but towels are just ordinary fabrics a person uses after bathing. Towels don’t have to be sensual. Not even when they’re fastened to six-feet seven-inches of heaven and man.
He talked about his family traditions, then he washed my sunglasses without second thought, and did we both struggle to depart?
I touch my lips, my smile absolutely uncontrollable.
“Janie?”
“Hmm.” I wake out of a Thatcher Moretti stupor much too slowly. Just barely noticing Maximoff, who stands rigid beside the pink Victorian loveseat.
“Are you panting?”
“She’s definitely breathing hard,” Farrow states.
“What?” My mind snaps into clearer focus, and my face burns as I notice my audience of two men. Right where I left them.
