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apartment. It was impossible to pretend she didn’t want to
know what Emily had done all day. She had class, yes, but had
she painted? Had she made dinner again? It shouldn’t have
been easy for Dani, someone who was more than used to
going home to an empty house, to enjoy having someone
there. In the past, she hadn’t even wanted to go back to
wherever she was staying. She’d hardly called those places
home. She shouldn’t have craved companionship, but ever
since meeting Emily, she realized how lonely she’d been, and
how she’d done that as a way to keep herself safe.
It seemed so strange to her that she’d ever thought that not
forming attachments was preferable to not getting hurt. Why
had she ever thought that way? And how could she have
changed her mind so drastically in just a few days?
It shouldn’t feel this right. The fact that it did scared her
more than anything because nothing had fundamentally
changed.
Dani looked up, her hand on the bolt, as a large shadow
caught her attention. The shadow belonged to a tall, broad
man. Middle aged, but still fit. He was wearing a black suit,
complete with the white dress shirt and black tie. Overly
formal, and since it was brutally hot out, he must be sweltering
in the full dress. Dani recognized him instantly. She wasn’t
fast enough to slip the bolt into place before he tried the door.
She stepped back quickly, leaping away from it as if he was a
great big spider dressed in a suit, coming to invade her store
with his spidery creepiness.
Dani hated spiders. She’d never made her peace with them,
and NOLA had some big ones.
“Can I help you find anything?” Dani forced out. Her voice
