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“That’s the spirit. Just remember—he’s earned this.” I grab my phone.
“Don’t do it just yet. I want a little more time to think about it.”
I nod and set it back on the coffee table in front of her couch. Her place is much cuter than I’d expected from her, considering she appears utilitarian. But her apartment has all sorts of homey touches. The coffee table has flowers carved into the edges. Her bedspread has a sort of lacy trim on it. The place is girly, but not over the top. I like it. It’s very June.
“Take all the time you need to think about it. That said, the sooner it’s done, the sooner this is over.”
She smirks. “You know, for someone who resents his father’s underhanded business dealings, you’re not exactly an angel, either.”
I laugh hard. “Never claimed to be an angel, June. And if I remember, you’re a bit of a little devil yourself.”
“I am a fine, upstanding woman who has never done anything sinful in her life,” she says with far too much seriousness to be serious. Then, she giggles a storm, and I want to kiss her so badly for the silliness of the moment. But I don’t. Can’t impose myself on her right now. Can’t …
Damn, I want her.
It’s funny. Every other woman I’ve been with made a big deal about everything. Their hair, their makeup. That’s the sort of woman I am expected to date. Someone to whom appearances were everything, because that’s how things are in my world.
But it’s never been that way with June, though. She doesn’t care that I have no product in my hair, or that I’m casually dressed in the same tee shirt and jeans I’ve been wearing. Or, if she does, she doesn’t bring it up. Maybe because we grew up together? I don’t know. But now, sitting across the couch from me in her pajamas with her curly hair loose and no makeup, she’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Someone screams, and I jolt.
Which sends her into another giggle fit. “It’s the movie, Anderson. It’s fine?—"
More deep breathing. “Sorry. I … I’ll clean up.” I grab the spent Chinese boxes and head for the kitchen. Explaining my reaction is not on the list of top twenty things I want to do, so staying in the kitchen is a valid choice. Once I toss the empties, I take a minute to lean on the counter and breathe.
“What’s wrong?”
I almost jump at her right then, but I’m okay. She’s here. She’s okay. Breathe.
When she places her hand on my back, it almost startles me. But then it feels nice. I’ve missed her touch. She quietly says, “You can tell me. If you want, I mean.”
“It’s the movie. I?—"
“If you don’t like horror, then why did you put it on?”
I explain, “Because everything in your watchlist is horror, so I figured that’s what you like. And it’s not that I don’t like it. The genre doesn’t bug me.”
“Then what is it?”
I turn to face her, because I need to see her face right now. “When you were taken, I couldn’t stop playing out scenarios in my mind of what was happening to you.” I pause, because I am not about to tell her what I am worried about. No point in putting those thoughts in her head. It’s bad enough that they are still in mine. Without getting into specifics, I go on. “Some of those scenarios involved screaming, and I just can’t deal with that right now.”
“Oh.” Then she darts out of the kitchen.
Not exactly the reaction I’d expected. I follow her out and find her digging through the couch cushions. “Where is that damned remote?”
It’s sitting on my side’s armrest, but I’m enjoying the sight of her bent over the couch too much to tell her. “You don’t have to turn it off. I just freaked out.”
“Yes, I do.” She keeps looking.
“It’s fine?—"
“It’s not,” she says firmly. “It’s?—"
I grab the remote and hand it to her. “Really, June. It’s okay. Just had a bad moment.”
She turns the TV to some music channel and looks up at me. “I don’t want to be the reason you have a bad moment, Anderson. And what you said … I understand what it’s like to have something bring you back to a bad moment. I prefer being the reason you have good ones.”
I swallow, hoping we’re on the same page about that. “You are.”
