Page 150 of Meet Me In The Dark
I glance left, then right. No black SUV.No Julian.
Frowning, I check my watch. I’m on time, and he’s usually early.
I stretch and scan the street again.
A minute passes. Then another.
My phone buzzes.
Julian:Can’t make it this morning. I know there’s no point telling you not to go, so be careful and let me know when you’re home safe.
A small knot forms in my chest.
Me:Is everything okay?
Julian:Business emergency.
Yeah, he told me that already.
I swallow the uneasy feeling rising in my throat and push my phone into my armband. It’s fine. He has a meeting. A call. Something urgent. Still, the run feels different. My footsteps sound too loud without his matching stride beside me.
By the time I get to work, I’ve convinced myself I’ll see him at our eleven o’clock meeting.
“Your eleven with Mr. Blackwood has been cancelled. His office just called,” Louise tells me, peering her head into my office.
The knot tightens.
“Thanks, Louise,” I say, forcing a smile even when everything inside me is sinking.
By evening, the knot has dulled into something manageable—mild worry, but nothing sharp enough to panic over.
Julian is a busy man.
We can’t spend every night wrapped up in each other like we have been.
I tell myself that as I curl up on my couch with a book that I’m hardly reading.
I’ll see him tomorrow.
We’ll fall back into our rhythm.
I’m almost persuaded when someone pounds on my door.
The book slides from my hands as I stand, my pulse climbing.
I cross the room and pull the door open.
Julian is on the other side, and he looks… destroyed.
Like someone swung a wrecking ball at him and left the rubble barely standing. His jaw is clenched, his shoulders tense, but his eyes—God, his eyes—are raw.
“Julian? What’s wrong?”
He doesn’t answer.
His gaze drops to my sleep shorts and tank top, and when it lifts, there’s a different kind of darkness there.
Before I can ask again, his mouth is on mine in a kiss so fierce I have to hold onto his arms. I stumble backward, but he pulls me close like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go.
