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CHAPTER TWO
It’s funny how what you find attractive about someone can be the very things you eventually come to despise them for.
Alaric was always put together. He had the art of masking his thoughts and feelings with an inscrutable mask well beyond mastered. Today was no exception. Pretty brown locks perfectly tampered, stubble freshly shaven, and golden skin practically glowing, I both loved and loathed how gorgeous he was.
His exterior was the cruelest kind of bait and switch. Alaric was like a precious, shiny cursed jewel. You desperately wanted to possess it but the moment you held it within the palm of your hand you’d be damned. The only viable solution would be tossing it inside a deep dark tomb where it could be buried and forgotten. For me, it was too late. I not only held this minacious gem close to my heart, but the effects of its curse were slowly taking root.
With his hands resting loosely in the pockets of his black slacks, he regarded me without comment. I’d been so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t heard him come out. How much of my conversation did he hear?
I reached down and tugged my robe’s sash to draw it even tighter. It was an unnecessary action warranted by me needing to do something other than simply stand here.
Arms crossing over my chest, I gathered my wits and held his eye.
“We need to talk.”
“We do, but you need to eat something first.” He turned and stepped into the great room. When he looked back, his eyes beckoned me with a silent command.
“Come.”
I didn’t want to follow him, but I needed to get back inside his house. I had every intention of leaving this place. I couldn’t do that practically naked with no cash or identification. I followed my previous path and re-entered the house, sidling by Alaric’s solid form.
I kept walking until I got to the kitchen. He stayed right on my heels. His overwhelming proximity caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand at attention. I walked a bit faster trying not to make it obvious I was doing so.
A soft burst of laughter told me that I failed in being discreet. I claimed one of the stools by the island to put some immediate space between us.
He made his way to the fridge and began pulling out a variety of fresh fruit and a carton of low-fat yogurt. I watched him closely, closer than I should’ve. The muscles in his back contracted when he reached for one of the round glasses he kept stored in an upper cabinet. The movement caused his deep grey button-down to draw flush with his back.
“You don’t think I’m a real doctor?” he asked, setting the glass aside and retrieving a knife and spoon from a drawer. His tone came across as genuinely curious, but I didn’t trust that for one second. I put my phone down and sat up taller.
“Did you know that it’s considered rude to eavesdrop?”
“You were having a discussion on our back patio where anyone within reasonable distance could hear. I was simply stepping out for some fresh air. That doesn’t constitute as eavesdropping.”
He glanced over his shoulder just long enough to flash a smile that made his dimple pop. I wanted to argue but he made a valid point, aside from one thing.
“Our?”
“Yes,” he replied matter-of-factly.
I slowly shook my head from side to side as if it would reset my thought process and keep me focused on the real problem at hand. Before he could succeed in leading me astray with his words, I dredged up the courage to ask what I needed to know. Well, one of the many things. The ‘cocktail’ was at the forefront of my mind, but I wasn’t sure how to bring that up yet.
“Why is Chloe’s number missing from my phone? And why can’t I get hold of her?”
He finished with what he was piecing together and finally turned around. In the glass, he’d retrieved was a delicious mixture of citrus fruits in the form of a parfait. It was sat before me with a new spoon and a napkin for me to wipe my mouth.
“You didn’t have to--.”
“If you don’t believe that I’m a real doctor, a simple internet search would suffice. If that isn’t good enough, I can show you, my certificates. Although, by now, you should be aware of who I am.”
The last part of his statement gave me pause. It could be taken as nothing or the reminder I was assuming it to be. I’d already done a search on him before I arrived at his doorstep, and it had confirmed he was who he claimed to be. What I’d meant was, he wasn’t the kind of doctor I needed. Alaric was not a shrink or psychologist.
