Page 12 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

But he was still worried for her. She took about four steps and then had to rest. He was beginning to see Dash’s side of things. Rory seemed to not want to acknowledge her limitations. But when they finally got to the top and she smiled at him, he realized it was worth it.

She hugged him, pulling him close and pressing her body against his. He held her in his arms, desperately wanting to claim a kiss, but knowing that he needed to figure out a few more things before he did that.

Four

That almost kiss lingered in her mind for the next few days. She wasn’t able to forget about it or how it had made her feel. What she felt around Kit was a sharp contrast to the feelings she could recall from that night ten years ago. She remembered flashes of moments from the night of the crash. When Declan—the man she’d been dancing with all night—had pushed for more than a few kisses in the upstairs hallway. She’d ripped her gown and he was in the process of clawing at her panties and trying to tear them off when she screamed.

Luckily for Rory, both Dash and Conrad had heard her. Conrad had gotten to them first. Rory wasn’t sure of all the details of that moment. She’d heard Conrad yelling and punching her date. She’d sort of cowered there against the wall, trying to hold the bodice of her dress together over her breasts.

Dash had arrived and offered her his jacket and then things got fuzzy. The next thing she remembered was her grandfather admonishing her, Dash and Conrad to conduct themselves with more decorum and Conrad telling Grandfather to fuck off. Then they’d gotten in the car and...nothing.

Those memories were still so vague. She wished she couldn’t remember her date’s name or his face but she remembered it all. And as she stood in the kitchen waiting for her blackberry pie to bake, she wondered if the details she forgot, the details about why her date did what he did, were important. If unlocking that information would bring her closer to healing.

She knew there must be more to the story than she remembered, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she knew that she didn’t want to linger in that memory. In a way she wished the events of that night had never come back to her.

It was sort of annoying to think that she had to relearn so many things but that one thing she wanted to forget wouldn’t go away.

Her phone pinged. She still wasn’t used to her cell phone. Everything was on there. Adjusting to technology was an entirely different challenge. She picked it up and saw she had a text from Dash asking for more details of her “friend.” She sent him the angry face emoji as a response. Though she wasn’t really angry.

She could appreciate that he loved her and worried about her. But her therapist had pointed out that unless she put some boundaries in place where Dash was concerned, Rory might never be able to stand on her own.

He texted back a thumbs-up.

She looked around the kitchen. Conrad had been over to look at it and recommended the appliances that Rory had purchased and installed before moving in. But the rest of it was in okay shape—dated and in need of work, but okay. The linoleum on the floors was faded and torn in a few places. The cabinets had been white originally but had faded to a dusty, dirty version of it.

The mansion she’d grown up in had been perfect. Everything was kept pristine by the housekeeping staff and the kitchens had been renovated every three years so they were always current and modern. But it had been the sort of perfection found in showrooms or magazines rather than a home, which was what she wanted her place to feel like.

Every room that she made over in her house was deliberate and she made choices that appealed to her, not because it was a room worthy of the Gilbert name.

Indy had helped Rory set up an inspiration board for the kitchen, and between Indy and Lulu they had indicated the projects that they thought someone with Rory’s nonexistent DIY skills could master. Lulu and Indy were best friends and had a TV show they did together.

She decided to bake the pie before she started on the first project. Her legs still ached from the climb up the embankment after they’d picked blackberries. It had been raining for the last day and a half, so Rory had been inside.

Partially because of the weather and partially because there were times when the outside world felt too big and too much for her. Her phone pinged again and she glanced down, ready with the girl-with-her-hands-up emoji for Dash, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw the message was from Kit.

Sorry I had to run the other day. I’m back in town. What’s next on your adventure agenda?

Glad you’re back. I’m about to take the blackberry pie out of the oven. Next up is removing the doors from my kitchen cabinets. So adventurous...

For a slice of pie I’ll be your helper.

She grinned as she typed,Done.

On my way, came his reply.

She couldn’t help that giddy feeling in her stomach as she went to the hall mirror and checked to make sure her hair wasn’t too messy. Rory sighed. She looked...well, like her. She hadn’t been out in the sun, not that that would have made a difference since she’d always been extremely pale. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail when she’d been baking, because as Conrad had succinctly told her, no one liked hair in their food.

She wore a pair of skinny jeans and a Hello Kitty T-shirt as she went to open the door. All the design pictures she’d seen of these long, wooden-floored hallways had area rugs on them, but Rory wasn’t ready for that yet. She had a hard time walking on surfaces as they changed so she’d kept the hardwood.

Her doorbell rang. She felt another swell of excitement in her stomach as she undid the dead bolt and stepped back to open the door.

Kit stood there, his dark hair damp from the rain. He had on a leather jacket, black jeans and a tentative smile.

“I’m all wet. Sorry I should have grabbed an umbrella.”

“That’s okay,” she said, gesturing for him to come inside.

“I don’t want to ruin the wood,” he protested.

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