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She finished eating before he did, and she stood up and began tidying up the mess. When he was finished eating, he followed her into the small galley kitchen and crowded her back against the counter. Caging her in with his arms, he leaned down to her ear and whispered, "I loved seeing you come. Loved making you come. Understand me when I tell you I'm going to have more of that, okay?"
Both enthralled and floored at his words, she could only nod her head in agreement.
He lifted his head from her ear and slowly, touched one finger to the tip of her nose. "Tomorrow."
And then he was gone.
****
It was raining the next day. The four walls were closing in on Jessica and she thought she was going to pull her hair out. At about two-thirty, she couldn't stand it anymore and put on a hoodie that she knew was going to get soaked, and she left her apartment and ran all the way to the clubhouse.
It was empty, as she had fully expected. She took off her drenched sweatshirt and went over to the bookshelf. She chose a couple more books and tossed them on the coffee table in the sitting area that contained a couch and four armchairs, in addition to the flat-screen television.
Picking up the remote, she flipped through the channels and almost had a heart attack when she saw the move, Titanic, just beginning on one of the older movie channels. It was absolutely one of her favorite films of all times, and she hadn't seen it in years. Knowing good and well it was about four hours long, she quickly calculated the time and knew she'd have plenty of time before Connor got to her apartment that evening.
She slipped her shoes off, pulled her cell phone from her pocket and put it on her small stack of books, and sank into the couch, thankful as hell she'd found a more than decent way to pass the dreary, lonely afternoon.
****
Jessica heard her cell phone ringing as if through a long tunnel. She was groggy, and she sat up too quickly. As her head swam, she realized she'd fallen asleep. She cleared her throat and tried to shake the fog from her mind. "Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?" Connor's voice thundered across the line.
"I'm in the clubhouse. I fell asleep. Give me a minute and I'll be there." She didn't wait for his answer, just cut the call and rose to her feet. Pocketing her phone, she grabbed her hoodie and the books she'd chosen, and left the room, closing the door behind her.
The rain was gone, but it was still dark and dreary. Night hadn't fallen yet, but the rays of the sun had difficulty penetrating through the thick density of the clouds. She picked her way back to her apartment, large water puddles everywhere. It looked like they must have received several inches of rain, and she had somehow managed to sleep through it all.
She let herself into the apartment, and found Connor standing in front of the French doors, holding himself rigidly as he stared out. She bolted the door and he turned to face her.
"You fell asleep in the clubhouse?" Anger and something else colored his tone and put Jessica's back up.
"Yes, I'm sorry." She didn't want this to escalate into a fight, especially not after the night before that they'd shared.
"How?"
"How, what?" she asked.
"How and why would you fall asleep in the clubhouse?"
"Um, I was watching a movie and the couch was comfortable--"
He cut off her explanation. "You were there because it has a television?"
"Yes."
"Was anyone with you?" His eyes pierced into hers, refusing to allow her to look away, even if she'd wanted to.
"No, I was alone the entire time."
Her answer didn't seem to soothe him. "You fell asleep in a room where any number of people could have just walked in on you?"
"I--I guess. But nobody ever goes there. It's always empty."
"You've watched television there before?"
"No, but I go there and borrow paperback books. It's kind of like the honor system. You read one and then return it."
"It's not safe. I don't want you in there anymore. Any fucking nut job could corner you there and hurt you." He motioned to the front door. "There's a goddamn reason I'm so meticulous about the deadbolt. You need to wake up from whatever fucking dream world you've been living in and start taking better care."
Her spine stiffened. She had to be able to go there. She had nothing to do in her apartment, nothing. "But--"
He cut her off. "Let's go."
She swallowed and her head began to spin at the sudden change of subject. "Go where?"
He didn't give her the answer she'd asked for, only demanded, "Get your bag. Hurry up."
Jessica sucked in a sustaining breath and went to retrieve her bag from the bedroom. She followed him out of the apartment and stood next to him while he locked up. "Where are we going?"
"It should be obvious. You need a fucking TV."
"Oh, no, it's okay. I don't want to spend any . . . " she lowered her voice an octave, " . . . of the money on a television. I can make do."
The look he gave her was glaring. He didn't answer her, only grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the passenger door of his Escalade and put her into the vehicle.
She busied herself buckling up as he pulled away. She was quiet as he drove about fifteen minutes away to a large, upscale strip center that contained a huge electronics store.
She followed him in without a word.
He picked out a flat screen television and all the peripherals that went with it in under five minutes. Then he led her over to the e-readers. "Pick one."
She felt her eyes get big as she looked at the expensive electronics. She was speechless, and began shaking her head. "Jessica. Choose one. You like to read. You're stuck at the apartment all day. You need books. This stuff is my treat. My gift to you."
"No, I--"
"Fine. Have it your way." Impatient, he walked over to the top row where the highest dollar components were displayed and chose the most expensive one. He reached below it, and snagged a cover and an extra power cord.
He began leading her away but stopped short and turned to look down at her as if something had suddenly occurred to him. "You don't have a laptop, do you?"
Jessica was too floored to answer. If she told him the truth, he'd buy one of those as well. He must have read her silence to mean she didn't, because he turned and briskly walked to the computer section. Within minutes, he had someone helping them and he'd picked out everything she needed.
Jessica had never seen anyone spend so much money in so little time. She was completely stunned as within minutes, he'd paid for the purchases and a young man was loading them into his vehicle.
They were back at the apartment within an hour of when they'd left and he began unloading the car.
He set up the television while she opened her laptop. The apartment rent included Wi-Fi and cable, so she was virtually good to go. After the television was set up, she flicked through the channels as he opened the box that contained the e-reader. "Give me your e-mail address."
She did and he pulled out his wallet and removed a credit card.
"What are you doing?"
