Page 12 of Scandal


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My dating history wasn’t extensive, but I always contributed that to the fact that my life was so busy. Plus, so much of my time was spent with my father that there just wasn’t much room left for dating. The way Colt was treating me though, now made me wonder if I just wasn’t all that appealing to men. While I had been blaming my busy schedule for my lack of a love-life, I now worried that it was really because I couldn’t hold anyone’s interest for a significant amount of time.

I found myself growing more and more nervous each time Colt was around—my heart breaking a little more each time he seemed to consciously avoid getting too close to me.

I wanted to ask him flat out if there was a problem, but I just couldn’t work up the nerve. So I stayed quiet in my agony, growing more and more depressed along the way.

I tried to tell myself that maybe it was a good thing that Colt no longer wanted me, because it gave me more time to study and keep my mind on-track. But it was useless. I was falling for Colt more and more each time I saw him—attracted to more than just his looks. It was his mannerisms, his quiet-strength, the respect and admiration he showed toward my father…

All the while, he just continued to look past me, as if I was merely a job he had landed but didn’t honestly want any more.

I was just the means of keeping food on his table.

* * *

There was a tentative knock on my bedroom door and I didn’t need to be psychic to know it was Colt.

Dad had gone out for the day to a meeting which he insisted would be brief and therefore he wouldn’t need me to accompany him.

“You can stay here, darling,” he had said. “I know I’ve been asking so much from you lately, but you have your own stuff going on. Stay in and study, and then get some rest. I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll tell Colt to stick around the house just in case you need to go somewhere.”

I knew Colt wasn’t there just to escort me though. He practically camped out at our house every day, especially on days when I was home alone. He had become the eternal look-out, making sure there was no suspicious activity happening anywhere near our home.

“Yeah?” I said glancing to my closed bedroom door.

“Just letting you know I’m ready whenever you are,” Colt’s voice sounded through the door.

I sighed, pulling on my sports bra and then reaching for my yoga shorts. Although I should have been studying, I had decided to go out to a yoga class instead, figuring it would refresh my mind so that when I got back home, I would have better focus for studying.

“Be there in a second,” I said, my tone lackluster. I already felt annoyed, thinking about the expressionless gaze Colt always kept on his face whenever he was with me.

I supposed yoga would help distract me from him as well.

I stood in the mirror and reached for a comb, detangling my hair before pulling it up into a high ponytail.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I no longer wanted to go out to a yoga class.

I looked toward my door, practically sensing Colt’s presence on the other side. Visions of that night in Turkey began to replay in my head, making me quiver at the memory of his skin on mine.

My imagination spinning into overdrive, I began envisioning recreating the night, right here and right now, in my bed while we had the entire house to ourselves…

Indecent thoughts prancing through my mind, I slowly approached the door. There was a certain level of shame underlying what I was about to do, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to know once and for all whether Colt still felt the slightest bit of attraction toward me, or if it had all been a meaningless drunken fling that he wished to forget.

When I opened the door, just as I expected, he stood outside. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. “You ready?” he asked, turning his back already and heading down the hall. When he realized I wasn’t following behind him, he stopped and turned around.

God, he looked good today. He wore a black sleeveless tank, showing off his muscular forearms and tattoos, with a pair of jeans and combat boots. No suit when my Dad wasn’t around. Interesting.

I was so busy looking at him that it took me a moment to realize his eyes had widened upon seeing me. I stood perfectly still as his eyes left my face and traveled down to my chest, my exposed abdomen, and the tiny yoga shorts I wore. Seeing that my feet were still bare, he raised an eyebrow and then let his eyes travel back up to my face. “Uhm…don’t you need some shoes or something? I thought you were going out to your, uhh…” His voice trailed off, as he got distracted by my body again.

My heart hammered in my chest, an uncontrollable pleasure coming over me at the fact that finally—I had caught his attention.

“I think I’m going to stay in,” I said, opening my bedroom door wider. “I’m not sure I feel like being bothered with going out today. I can do my yoga right here, and then head downstairs to get some studying done.”

Colt nodded. “All right. Well, I’ll be downstairs. Call me if you need anything.”

My breath hitched in my throat. His leaving me hadn’t been part of the plan. I wanted him to stay. “Wait!” I said, thinking fast.

He turned back around, his eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”

“I, uhm…need my yoga mat.”

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