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“Yes. Yes, you can. Come on.”
Jos’ pace felt punishing, but that was only because Eden couldn’t quite distinguish between the ground and the sky. She was glad she’d worn her sensible canvas shoes and not heels. She’d left all of those at her parents’ house when she’d moved out. She didn’t need them with the work she was doing, where she was living. She’d been glad to leave that part of her life—charity events, fancy dresses, empty parties, designer everything, fake smiles, fake everything—behind her.
How far away had Jos parked? She’d clearly gone to great lengths to disguise herself, for what, Eden had no idea. She’d also hidden her fancy, flashy red import approximately eight million light years from the pub.
By the time they made it all those blocks, Eden was panting. She was
breathing shallowly because everything was swaying so furiously.
“Are you going to puke?” Jos’ tone was anything but kind.
“No.”
“If you are, please do it outside of my car.”
“I’m not going to throw up.”
“Your eyes are crossed. Fuck. I should have cut you off. I don’t know what you were thinking.”
Well, that made two of them.
“Sorry,” Eden whispered, hating herself for it. When she forced her eyes to focus and look at Jos, she was surprised to see something move across her face. A flicker of emotion? It was probably just her drunk vision and a combination of passing headlights sweeping down the street.
“Okay.” Was Jos’ voice softer, or was she just imagining it? “Get in, then.”
Eden fumbled with the passenger door. It was a puzzle that she didn’t have the answer to. With a sigh, Jos rounded the car and wrenched the door open. She helped Eden in, mostly by putting her palm on the top of her head and shoving her down so she didn’t take herself out with the low as hell roofline. Eden’s bottom hit the seat, which was about as soft and plush as a boulder. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. Something slid over her shoulders, and she panicked for a second, until she realized it was just the seatbelt. Jos had put it on her. Clicked it into place.
“Okay,” Jos said when she was behind the wheel. “Give me your address.”
“Umm, it’s…it’s, uh…”
Jos drummed her fingernails against the steering wheel, waiting. The sloshing in Eden’s stomach was awful. The sloshing in her head was worse. She felt like her brain was emptied out, and in its place was only water. Water which would not hold a thought or a memory or precious information like her own address.
“You do know where you live, don’t you?”
“I do.” Eden pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to push the numbers in her watery skull together. “I don’t know,” she finally said, and to her utter horror, tears stung at her eyes. She might be entirely made of liquid, but she wasn’t going to let them fall. She wouldn’t humiliate herself further.
“For the love of… Fine.” Jos huffed. “I’ll take you to my place, then. You can sleep it off in the guestroom. But, Eden? You’re taking that job. I don’t care if it’s just a trial or whatever you have to do. You’re taking it.”
“Or what?” Eden huffed. “You’re going to leave me on the side of the road right here in a bad neighborhood, completely trashed out of my tree?”
Jos punched the button in the dash and the car roared to life, the rumble of the engine probably waking half the neighborhood. “No,” she grunted, an admission that she didn’t want to make.
She said nothing else after she peeled away from the curb. That was fine with Eden. She didn’t want to talk. She was too busy trying to calm the angry sloshing in her stomach as Jos sped through the dark streets. The scenery was a blur outside the windows, so Eden shut her eyes. That only made everything spin inside herself, which made her feel sicker than ever, so she opened them a fraction and studied her hands in her lap. All seven of them.
She stared at them until Jos pulled into her driveway, then into one bay of a three-car garage. Before she did, Eden got a fleeting glimpse of a huge square house, white with wooden and dark trim, all terribly modern. She hated modern architecture. It was cold and so square and just so not homey.
She was proved correct on her assumption of the inside of the house as soon as Jos hauled her out of the car and helped her inside, one arm around her waist, the other under her shoulders. Her strength was shocking, since she was basically half-dragging, half carrying her ass, and her touch burned through Eden like a wildfire raging in her blood.
She was so shocked that as soon as Jos released her, she collapsed against the nearest wall. She blinked several times, until her vision focused enough to make out the details of a living room where everything was as square and white as the exterior of the house. Only a few dark lines bisected it all.
“Show mooch whoosh,” she said, attempting to voice her thoughts.
“Dear lord,” Jos sighed. She grasped Eden’s arm again, but when she swayed, she tucked her shoulder under her side and wrapped an arm that was far too strong and warm around her waist. She steered her down a hall, flicking on lights as they went to reveal, yep, more white. “Here.” Jos let Eden slide down the wall as soon as they entered the spacious room.
It was way too big to be a bathroom, but that’s what it was. The area boasted a free-standing tub, a glass shower, marble floors and walls, a vanity with three sinks, and a toilet cloistered off by itself behind a partition in the wall. That was where Jos let go.
“I’ll get you some water. This is probably the best place for you at the moment.”
