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“Rest well,” he said after studying me for long enough that it made me want to ask him to stay. He walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving me wishing I’d been brave enough to ask him not to go.
3
Rile
“Do you want to explain?”
I’d anticipated this. “Kensington has been through a tremendous ordeal. There’s nothing more to be done tonight.”
“Nothing more to be done? What about Konstantine?”
“Why would you assume that isn’t already being taken care of?” Not in the way I would’ve preferred. However, I did not intend to share the specifics with Grinder. He would be as displeased as I, but far more likely to act on it. Doing so would not help matters. It was up to Konstantine’s father to see to it his son was properly dealt with.
He walked over to the bar area. “Brandy?”
“Please.”
“Who is she to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve never seen you act this way around anyone.” Grinder handed me the glass. “She makes you nervous.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Not in the least. You are typically the quintessential gentleman. You charm women in a way I may have once envied, but with her, you’re tongue-tied.”
“I’m nothing of the sort.” I would admit, only to myself, that there was something about Kensington that rankled. It was almost as though she could read me in a way few could. No one, really. There had been someone capable once, but she was gone, never to be replaced.
I drained the brandy in the glass and set it on the bar. “I believe I’ll retire as well.” I went into the room next to the one where Kensington slept, and closed the door. I pulled a book from my bag and settled on the bed without removing my clothes. If the woman on the other side of the wall needed something in the night, I wouldn’t want her to be made uncomfortable, given I typically slept in the nude.
I’d drifted to sleep with the light on when I woke to whimpering sounds. I raced into the next room; Kensington was in the midst of a nightmare. I sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair until she came awake.
“You had a bad dream,” I explained when she opened her eyes and looked into mine. She scooted over, not seemingly to get away from me, though. “Would you like me to stay until you are able to fall back asleep?”
“Would you mind terribly?”
“Not at all.” I rested my back against the headboard, stunned when Kensington burrowed under my arm and rested her head on my chest.
“You seem so familiar,” she murmured, half asleep.
“We met once. It’s been years now. Perhaps that’s what you’re remembering.”
“No. That isn’t it.”
It seemed only a matter of minutes before her breathing evened out, and I knew she was asleep. Rather than easing out from under her, I closed my eyes.
When I woke and checked the time, it was close to eight in the morning. In her sleep, Kensington had rolled away from me, so I gently rose from the bed and quietly opened and closed the door behind me. I looked up and saw Grinder seated at the same table where we’d had a late dinner the night before.
“Tea?” he asked with a smirk.
“In a moment.” I went into the bedroom and to the lavatory. I needed a shower and a shave but would see to it once I’d had my morning tea.
“She had a bad dream,” I explained when I came back out to join him.
“You owe me no explanation.”
“I feel as though I do. Your judgment is stifling.”
