Page 66 of Girl Between
Her eyes met him as the elevator lurched to a halt, doors yawning open. For a beat, they stared at each other, a world between them.
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Desperate words crashedagainst Dana’s lips.
She let them die there.
She knew what Jake wanted, and she wasn’t ready to offer it. To him, anything less wouldn’t be enough. So she did what she always did.
She knew it made her childish and predictable, especially when it seemed Jake Shepard was not a problem she could outrun. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t try.
Dana rushed off the elevator, the busy carpet pattern a blur of blue and beige beneath her feet as she marched down the hall. Jake’s footsteps fell heavy behind her, but she kept going, following the narrow hallway until she reached the door to her room.
Knowing what she had to do next, Dana steeled herself before turning to face Jake. The cheerful pale pink walls looked almost comical flanking the rage simmering from his hulking frame.
“Dana—”
She cut him off. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
He crossed his arms. “That’s all you have to say to me?”
“What do you want me to say, Jake? It’s good to see you? Fine, it is, but …” Her words trailed off.
He laughed, shaking his head as bitterness hardened his face. “Good to see me? Yeah, just not good enough, I guess.”
“I think you wasted a trip.”
He grinned but there was no humor in his voice. “Looks like we finally agree on something.” Then he turned and stormed back down the hall the way he’d come, leaving a yawning silence in his wake.
Dana stood there for a moment, the quiet pressing against her. She closed her eyes, exhaling a deep breath of frustration. This was not how she had imagined things would go. She hadn’t imagined them at all, really. She’d never managed to get that far.
How could she when every time she closed her eyes she was locked in the nightmare of her last case?
The night already felt long. Dana knew restless tossing and turning awaited as she tried to make sense of her emotions. Jake's unexpected arrival had thrown her off balance, and now she had to figure out how to regain her footing.
Shaking her head, she tried to dispel the lingering thoughts and the ache in her chest.
As she turned and entered her room, the door clicked softly behind her. She walked slowly to the window, pulling aside the curtain. The night sky was a muted black, reflecting the turmoil swirling inside her.
Her room, once a sanctuary, now felt like a cage. Dana paced the length of it, her mind racing with unresolved questions and the remnants of their heated exchange. Her fingers traced her lips, the passionate kiss refusing to let her think of anything else.
She needed clarity, a way to move forward without the tumult of emotions clouding her judgment.
Finally, she stopped and stared at the door, the one Jake had stormed past moments ago. She knew she had to face him again, but not now. She needed time to think, to breathe, and to find her strength before confronting the man who had become an impossible puzzle in her life.
With a sigh, Dana reached for her phone. She set her alarm andbegan counting down the moments she had left before facing the fears that brought her here.
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The watery sunlightpeeking in washed the pink halls a sad shade as Jake walked the short distance from his room to Dana’s. It was just after dawn. Go-bag in hand, he was freshly shaven, and in his usual uniform—suit, shirt, tie: all in varying shades of blue.
Jake felt more himself. Or at least the version he’d been before Dana.
He hadn’t wanted to go back to that version, but it was safe and right now, he needed two feet on solid ground.
He hadn’t bothered unpacking after their conversation last night.
More like lack there of,he thought bitterly.
