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“Trenton, I don’t think you understand what you’ve done for me. Today, with you…” Celia’s partial smile turned into a full one. “It was amazing. I wouldn’t undo it for the world.”
The guilt he’d been feeling since he woke up slipped away at the joy in her expression. “It was amazing for me, too.”
She patted his hand before pulling back. “I won’t lie and say I wouldn’t want to do it again. Often.”
His mouth went dry as his fantasy about the kitchen counter rose again.
Her hand moved to caress his face. “But I don’t want to be the one to put that look on your face.” Her hand fell away, leaving tingles behind. “So, friends?” she asked.
Trenton wanted nothing more than to pick her up and carry her back to the guest room to have sex with her. The urge would go away, he promised himself as he nodded. “Yes, friends.”
She slid off the stool, pausing as she glanced at her plate.
He waved his hand at the food. “I’ll clean up everything.”
“Thanks,” she said with a nod, turning from him. “Good night.” She didn’t look back as she walked away, closing the guest room’s door with a soft click.
Trenton buried his head in his hands. He’d clean up a little later. As soon as his chest stopped feeling like a vise was squeezing it.
Chapter 21
Celiastaredupatthe ceiling even after the sounds of Trenton getting ready for work faded. She hadn’t been able to sleep since she’d hidden away the night before. She hadn’t lied to him. Despite the way her body hummed every time she thought about his hands, she was fine being friends. It was safest that way.
She pictured his soft, green eyes, gentle but also shrewd in the way they studied her. He was used to taking care of people, just as she had been as a child. And with that came the ability to see more than was safe.
She’d always known something was missing in her sex life and her relationships. It had built up to a frustration and a resentment that had become familiar. If she was honest with herself, it had also kept things comfortable. No one had come too close, and that was the way she liked it.
The cloud that had become her mind wouldn’t let her turn off her thoughts. She knew what that meant. Just as she knew the urge to lie there was a bad sign. But still, she stared up, scenes from her childhood etching themselves in the popcorn ceiling.
Her ears rang with Daniel’s words from the day before. She had the genes of a lunatic running through her.
There had been no self-recrimination at the sudden end of their relationship. He had been sleeping with other women. But now, remembering how she’d told him a piece of her story, she couldn’t help but marvel at the self-destruction that decision had sowed.
And she hadn’t even told him the worst memory.
Her hand curled around her rubber band.
She wasn’t certain how much time had passed when her cell phone began to ring. She had an app that kept it silent unless Malcolm called. He tended to worry, so she’d set up a rule just for him.
That worry had helped to motivate her more than once.
Still, it was never immediate. She didn’t move during the first call. Her heartbeat sped up when the second call began. She should answer it. If she picked up on the second ring, he would know everything was okay, even though she wasn’t feeling up to snuff.
Celia managed to reach over and press the talk button on the fourth ring. She didn’t say anything, knowing that Malcolm would see any lie for what it was.
“I’m coming over,” he said, and hung up.
The abruptness of it let her sit up in bed. She frowned at the phone. He hadn’t done that since they were kids. Of course, she hadn’t lived close enough for him to do it before now.
She dragged herself out of bed, changing into the jeans and shirt from the night before. The memory of dinner with Trenton wasn’t a bad one, despite him saying he couldn’t be in a relationship with her. Trenton was a sweetheart, and it was right for him not to be with her.
A quick brush through her hair was all she could handle. No teeth brushing that day.
On the counter where they had sat the night before, a green smoothie waited for her, a ring of condensation around it. Celia sat, taking a sip.
Malcolm didn’t knock, but walked into the condo when he arrived, pocketing his own set of keys. “Celia?”
“I’m here,” she said, taking another sip of the smoothie.
