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Chapter 9
Ember
Am I dreaming, or did he just kiss me? I swear I had to have dreamed it. No man had ever kissed me so tenderly and made my entire body tingle. How could he? Maybe it had something to do with the wine, maybe he spiked it. Although shortly after the kiss, he was ready to take me home. I was so confused.
Colt ushered me out of his house, and I was torn between wanting him to take me home and not wanting him to see where I lived. Yes, there was no doubt about it. I was mortified by my humble abode, especially after seeing his castle.
I should have been furious that he had followed me home, but as the anger began to build, another feeling overwhelmed it. He had cared enough to make sure I got there safely. How could I be angry with that?
Logically, I should kick him in the shins for stalking me, but, emotionally, the thick layer of crusted hurt around my heart chipped ever so slightly. When was the last time someone had worried about my safety?
I knew the answer to that, and as I walked into my apartment that night, I collapsed onto my sofa and stared at the ceiling. It had been six years since had I felt safe; six long years since I had allowed myself to be loved. I absently rubbed my hand over my tattoo, just like I did every time I thought about that night.
I clenched my eyes and gritted my teeth to hold back the overwhelming grief and anger that threatened to swallow me whole. I had kept that all buried for years; I was not going to let it come out now—no way in hell.
I fell asleep rubbing my finger over my lips, hoping that when morning came it would not all have been a dream.
The first thing I did when I woke up was to grab my phone. It was thirty minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. Well, that’s a first. Usually I slept through at least two cycles of snooze. I went into my contacts and searched under Colt, but there was nothing there. I went up to the Bs and looked for Barnes, but again found nothing. Damn, it had been a dream. Wait, I spun up my contacts and looked under the Ds for doctor, but the only listings there were my normal doctors. Well, shit.
I leaned back against my pillow and spun my finger back and forth over my contacts, checking each one to see if he had put it someplace else. On my way back to the top, I stopped when I got to the Bs again and burst out laughing. There in the listing was Boyfriend, and it was edited last night.
“Well, isn’t he cute,” I commented as I rolled out of bed. I felt more alive this morning than I had in years and, before I even went into the kitchen to make coffee, I jumped in the shower and got dressed.
I stood at the edge of my kitchen and scanned over the disgusting mess. My counters were packed with junk or dishes; my sink was overflowing with stuff; and even my floor had crap lying all over it. I shook with revulsion at the thought of Colt ever seeing this mess. How the hell had I allowed myself to live like this?
Obviously, it was because I wasn’t really living. I was going day to day, doing what I had to and no more.
That’s it! I’m going to tackle this. I turned to survey the living room. There were papers, books, and mail strewn everywhere. I also probably had half my dirty laundry draped on the small chair by the front door.
A quick glance at the clock told me I didn’t have nearly enough time to make a dent, but for the next thirty-five minutes, I was going to do my damnedest! I set the timer on my cellphone so I wouldn’t be late for work and dug in.
I started with one counter; throwing away trash and putting away any food that should have been in the cupboards. I cringed as I noticed how dirty the insides of the cupboards were, too. Okay, one thing at a time.
God, when had I turned into such a slob? Oh yeah, right around the time I gave up on life, that’s when.
When my cellphone announced that my thirty-five minutes were up, I had cleared off two sections of my counter, but then filled them both up again with the dirty dishes from the sink. My goal was to get all the dishes washed first thing after I got home.
I was walking to the subway when my phone vibrated, and I pulled it out of my pocket. I had a message from my boyfriend. I felt like skipping until I reminded myself that this wasn’t real. Okay, well it was kinda real, but it was only for a short time—kind of like a holiday romance, or a summer at the beach fling, only there was no sex involved.
That thought depressed me because I had no doubt that Colt would be an incredible lover.
My day flew by, and even Mr. Nickers’s snapping at me couldn’t dull my joy. I had just slipped into the bathroom to freshen up my face and put a bit of makeup around the fading bruise when Adam came back for me. “Hey, Ember, there is some guy out there that says he’s your boyfriend.”
“He’s here?” I checked my watch. Damn, the boy was a few minutes early. I threw my few items back into my purse and practically raced back to the storefront.
Colt was looking around the showroom, but as soon as I stepped through the door, he turned to me. I watched with pleasure as his eyes slid slowly down my body and then up again. I took a moment as I approached to do the same, and, damn, if he didn’t look good in slacks and a dress shirt. I absolutely loved the fact that his sleeves were rolled up off his wrists.
I had no clue what we were going to do tonight, but I would have been happy grabbing a hot dog from a stand and sitting on a curb, if it meant I was with him.
As we walked, Colt kept his hand on my back and asked me about my day. How could mundane things like that be interesting to him? I wondered if he really cared, or if he was doing it just to prove his point of what nice guys do when they date girls?
I noticed quite a few people turning for a second glimpse of us as we walked down the street. Men and women alike studied the two of us, and some would smile in our direction. I wondered what they thought and how we looked together side by side. I tried to catch our reflection in one of the shop windows, but with so many people on the sidewalks at that time of day, it was hard.
“So where are we going?” I asked for, like, the fourth time, and Colt grinned.
“Trust me, I promise you’ll love it. It’s not too far from here.”
We walked two more blocks before Colt took my hand, and we crossed the street toward the park. The closer we got to it, the louder the music became.
