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I sat up too quickly when I heard the key in the door. I took a deep breath to let the dizziness pass before I pushed to my feet and stood to greet Jamie with a kiss, the way I had every day this week. It was a nice little ritual that was a little too sitcom-perfect for real life, but I was gonna go with it until it stopped working for us.
“Did you have a good day today?”
I loved how his lips pulled into that slow simmering grin when I asked about his day, but I loved it even more when he wrapped me in a hug that wasn’t meant to arouse, but it did. He was so big and so hard, and fuck me, he smelled like leather and sandalwood, which made me want to jump him again.
“Pretty good. Productive, anyway. How was yours?”
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “It was all right, I guess. Nothing to write home about if I had someone at home to write to.” I tried for a smile, but it fell flat, and Jamie gave me another squeeze.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh yeah? Is it a naked surprise or an edible surprise?”
“Neither.”
My shoulders fell. “Bummer.” I flashed a saucy grin up Jamie and held my hand out. “I still want it, though.”
“It won’t fit in your hand.” He was being vague on purpose, but I was on board with this game, so I decided to wait him out.
“My mouth?” I licked my lips slowly, smiling as heat flared in his eyes.
“No.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then maybe you want to tell me what it is, or better yet, show me?”
“Good idea.” Jamie stepped to the side, his smile shifting from heated to hesitant. He took another step and looked toward the door, pretending not to notice my curious stare.
“Is it a puppy or a kitten?”
“Not quite.”
“The suspense is killing me,” I whispered as my legs moved nervously.
“You always were one for dramatics.”
The female voice was familiar as hell, the only one I knew better than my own, but I couldn’t believe it. I blinked at the sight of Molly standing in Jamie’s doorway. Her jeans were a little too big and she wore a t-shirt that highlighted her bony shoulders and sharp collarbone.
“Molly?” I said, not believing the vision in front of me. The woman was tall and lanky like my sister. She had the same honey-brown eyes that I did, but her crowning glory, her long blond hair had become a deep, dark mahogany color. “Is it really you?”
She nodded slowly, a crooked, unsure smile on her face. “It’s me, in the flesh. Good to see you, Madds.”
My feet were on the move at the sound of her voice, and I pulled her rail-thin body against mine, squeezing tight.
“Holy shit, Mols, it’s you. You’re here,” I whispered as tears stung my eyes and fell down my cheeks. “I’ve missed you.”
I almost felt like my old self at that moment, like the six-year-old girl who was always happy to see her big sister. Except this woman just looked like my big sister, a shell of the woman she was when she left for Nevada.
She let out a watery laugh. “I’ve missed you, too.” Her words were soft and quiet as she pulled out of my grasp, and I tried not to take it too personally.
I took a few steps back out of the way and waved her inside. “Come on in and tell me everything!”
Finally, Jameson spoke up. “I knew it was killing you, not being able to talk to her, so I reached out to Molly for you. She met me at the station, and now, here she is.”
I couldn’t stop my tears—stupid hormones—but I smiled anyway. I stared at Molly for a long time, still unable to believe this dark-haired waif was my sister.
“Did you come because you wanted to see me?”
She dropped down on the sofa, and I braced myself for her answer. Whatever it might be.
“Yes. Of course, Maddie. Sorry for not taking your calls, but I couldn’t risk it.” She held up her hand to stop the defense that was on the tip of my tongue. “Jameson explained things to me, and I’m sorry to make you worry for so long about me, but I had to be sure that no one found out where you were. That’s what they threatened before Rich got me out of there, Maddie. He may be dead, but the others aren’t.”
Rich. She called him Rich like they were friends, like they had some kind of intimate relationship. “He treated you all right? Rich?”
Molly nodded with a sad smile. “Yeah, he did.” She slammed her eyes shut as if reliving a moment. “He woke me up in the middle of the night, a hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream, and I thought, this is it, this is the night I die. But he got me out of that motel with another two girls, and we drove all night until we were up near Reno.”
