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She backed me slowly against the desk, her eyes a dark and swirling sandstorm. The intensity behind them captivated and confused me. She kissed me hard, stealing my breath. She clawed at my jeans. I kissed her back and helped her take what she needed. But as we stripped each other bare, as she straddled me on the desktop and claimed me body and soul, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was trying to prove something. To herself, to me, I didn’t know. I only wished I understood what that something was.
FORTY
MORGAN
I woke up tangled in lush sheets. No, not lush. They were nice, but totally normal and not at all overly-indulgent-rich-guy sheets. When I thought Oscar had bought a whole candy factory to live in, I thought I was going to be stepping into trouble, but a condo was a reasonable place for a reasonable person to live.
I rolled slowly out from under Oscar’s arm and toward the edge of the totally normal bed.
The news story had to be wrong. Oscar wasn’t an anything-ionaire. He was just Oscar, the charming grump I’d hit with a hammer and spent every day and night with since.
I knew him.
Nothing had changed.
I popped out of bed and hurried to the kitchen, once again taking in my surroundings. This was a nice condo. A single-business-guy-who-did-well-for-himself condo. Plus, after what he’d told me about his family, it sounded like Oscar didn’treallyhave anything to do with whatever money his family had. He’d inherited shares. That was it. And lots of people had stocks.
Oscar wasn’t Brent.
Oscar wasnothing likeBrent.
Money hadn’t corrupted him. He’d been generous both in bed and with what little money he’d had. He’d been nothing but good to me.
And nothing had changed.
I took a long, deep breath and opened the fridge to find some nice, normal breakfast. Inside was an expired jug of cold brew coffee, bottles of water, a mix of wrinkled berries, and a small pizza box from our dinner last night. It really was the best pizza in Epiphany, and the best pizza I’d ever had.
I smiled at the rest of the fridge’s contents. “This is all very normal, expired food.”
I threw on the clothes I’d left scattered all over the office last night, snatched Oscar’s keycard from the counter, and hurried out of the condo and the building.
After some breakfast, we would clean out the fridge. Then we could really discuss what he’d casually mentioned last night—me staying. If he was totally serious, that was, which was hard to know because in the throes of passion people said things they didn’t mean.
Stay with me, he’d said.
And he’d said it before we’d had sex on his desk….
Was he asking me to stay for two nights? Was he asking me to live here until I got back on my feet?
How would me staying in his apartment be any different than him staying in my hotel room? It was totally the same, no big deal. Just two people helping each other out. This time it’d be short anyway, because I was going to hear back from the Resplendent Theatre and I’d have my own way to make my own money. And while I waited, I’d get a job waiting tables or something to cover the gap and cover my own living expenses.
My chest felt tight. I walked faster, practically sprinting away from the ticklish tower. A few blocks down, I found a nice cafe where I was able to order two muffins, two cold brew coffees, and tossed in some creamers and sugars into the bag for Oscar to add as he liked.
The sun grew heavier and more oppressive in the sky as I walked back.
This was a nice place to live. Safe, walkable.
Nice nice nice.
When I turned the last corner, I noticed the little parking lot that had been mostly empty both last night and this morning was now packed with vans.
That was weird. Maybe someone was having a party or something.
My phone rang in my pocket.
I wrangled the coffees and bag to one arm so I could see who was calling.
It was Layana.
