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I yelped aloud, the shock of his presence scaring the shit out of me. He caught me doing exactly what I had been trying to keep from him,
“O-Orson!” I choked, blood draining out of my face. He peered at me skeptically, the smile still on his face but a distinct wariness in his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Y-yes!” I sputtered, shutting off my phone and sticking it into my bag. “You startled me.”
He maintained his suspicious expression, but his grin stayed on his face as his eyes raked over me in the usual fashion.
“Are you looking to move?” he asked again.
I shook my head, fighting to regain my composure. “No. I got on that site by accident.”
Really? That’s the best excuse I could come up with?
I couldn’t help it. Lying wasn’t something I was forced to do often, and suddenly, I found myself fabricating at every turn. I felt as if Orson could see right through me.
“You look good today, Abby,” Orson drawled, his gaze fixing on my face. “Are you wearing makeup? Your cheeks are rosier than usual.”
His comment turned me pinker, and I turned my head slightly, trying to move my cheeks from his view.
“No,” I said curtly, not liking the way he was looking at me, a fusion of guilt and discomfort overcoming me. If he was just checking me out like usual, it wouldn’t be so bad, but if he could see right through me, sensing that I was withholding the fact that his entire world was about to be shaken…
Don’t I owe it to him to tell him? He has been good to me. Maybe he and Elijah can come to some kind of agreement…
It was naïve thinking, but I couldn’t think of a solution where everyone came out on top.
“Hello?” Orson was talking to me, and I jumped again, my nerves shot.
I bounced out of my chair and reached for my backpack.
“I’ve got to get going,” I mumbled.
“Did you hear what I said?” he demanded, his smile fully fading now.
Swallowing thickly, I shook my head. “No, sorry.”
“I invited you over for dinner again tonight. You left so suddenly the last time, you barely had time to eat. I’m making ribs.”
“I can’t,” I answered automatically. “I have plans.”
Orson’s face shadowed. “Etta said you were seeing someone,” he growled, and a shiver shot through me. “Anyone I know?”
I balked. “Etta’s mistaken,” I growled, turning away.
“So you’re not seeing anyone?” Orson called out, forcing me to pause. I gulped back the stone in my throat, closing my eyes briefly before turning to face him.
“I just need a bit of time to myself. Maisie and Etta misunderstood.”
Orson appeared content with my explanation for the moment, saving me from having to lie directly to his face again. But this was getting tiresome. I was moving Elijah that night. I wasn’t going to be able to do this dance any longer.
Chapter18
Elijah
Ididn’t rush out of Abby’s house, despite my promise to hole myself up in the shed again. No one would come to the house without her there, and I wanted to fix the broken window before she returned. The likelihood of anyone discovering me there was slim.
But before I crawled out of her bed, I lay there, reminiscing about her naked body, not only the previous night, but all the time we’d spent together over the years.
