AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You just woke up, but do you have an idea of what you’re going to do now?” he asked.
“I’m going to have a chat with her, then pack Lou and me up, and leave.”
His arm tightened in what felt like an unconscious spasm.
Except not quite a spasm, because it stayed tight.
“Will you trust me?” he queried.
After another sip, I took my head from his shoulder and tilted it back to look at him. “Pardon?”
“Will you trust me?” he repeated.
What a peculiar thing to ask.
“I already do. Shouldn’t I?”
“I mean, don’t leave.” He shook his head but went on, “I have a gut feeling about something, I just don’t know what it is. And if you leave, I don’t think I’ll be able to figure it out. Because, if you and Lou are gone, there’s no reason for me to stay and there’s no reason for Portia and/or Danny to pull their shit. But I sense whatever is behind what’s happening needs to be outed. Now.”
“It was just a prank. A mean one, but just a prank. What shit are you talking about?”
“That’s what I’m not sure about. But I think they’re up to something. That wasn’t just a mean prank, Daphne. It was cruel. You were out of your mind terrified last night. But I don’t think that’s the end of it. When I woke them, they knew immediately something was up. They both looked guilty. But a lot guiltier than just setting some flowers on someone’s bed would make them feel.”
“Portia knows how badly I’d react to that.”
“I still sense it’s more.”
Fabulous.
“I saw Daniel walking into the fog the first night I was here,” I blurted. “It was three in the morning.”
His brows drew together. “Where was he going?”
I shook my head. “No clue. I walked that way, far that way yesterday, and there’s nothing at all on the trajectory where I saw him disappear into the fog. Does he have trouble sleeping?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Is he prone to take walks?”
“Not at three in the morning. Also not at other times. He used to run. But now I think he plays tennis and squash to keep fit.”
I nodded, vaguely wondering what Ian did to keep fit, having now seen and felt just how fit he was.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Ian declared.
My mind flew from his muscles as my belly fluttered.
“I think it’s important for me to say that,” he continued. “I’m enjoying getting to know you. I like to spend time with you. I don’t want it to be over. Not how it is for us here, in this house, where we have time. We live in the same city, but life intrudes. I like this for us. I like it a great deal, Daphne.”
I liked that he did.
I liked that a lot.
Because I liked what was happening between us too.
Perhaps too much?
“Ditto,” I whispered.
