26. He said, “I need to go back to work.”
26
He said, “I need to go back to work.”
Zach
Something was wrong.
The mattress bobbed. Cotton sheets rustled. Eden rolled over to face me, her hair tangled on the pillow. I’d convinced her to switch off the lights, but she hadn’t tugged the drapes closed, and enough of the urban glow wedged through the gap to show the worry creased between her eyebrows.
“Denny Dee, is everything okay? You haven’t said much since we left the party.”
An understatement. Eden hadn’t spoken a word in the taxi back to her place. No brutal commentary about the dull outfits. No scorecards for the food. She was an anxious cloud suspended in murky silence.
“I want you to be happy,” she whispered.
“I am.” The truth. “Talk to me about this.” I gently pressed my finger into the line knitted between her brows. “What can I do?”
“Will you hold me?”
Grinning, I rolled on my back. “I’ve got just the spot for you.” I thumped my chest. “Right here.”
Eden scooted along the sheets, quiet as a mouse, tucking against me with her head on my heart and an arm slung over my waist. Her hair tickled my nose. She smelled like tropical cocktails, coconut and lime—a reminder for me to book a romantic vacation once the partnership announcement was behind us.
“Feel better?” I kissed the top of her head.
Eden answered with a light touch to my jaw and a kiss on my chin. “Can I show you how I feel?” she whispered.
I nodded, but the logical side of my brain tracked each movement, none of the puzzle pieces clicking neatly into place yet.
She was trying to distract me…but…from what?
Eden’s kisses started on my neck, and she propped herself up, her hair hanging in a dark curtain, shielding the truth on her face. A soft kiss dropped on my mouth. Another. Harder. Longer. I only dared to cup her cheek to keep her sweet mouth on me. I’d always loved kissing Eden. Time slowed down. Worries—work—disappeared. The world revolved around her, the only noises my accelerating heartbeat and the needy rumbles in my chest that made her hum happily in reply.
Her fingers curled around my hand and dragged it down…down…until my palm swallowed her breast.
Again?
“Denny Dee?” I searched through the dark for her gaze, but I didn’t understand the eyes that blinked back at me. “Please, talk to me. What do you need?”
She bit her lip, silent as she continued to explore my chest, my abdomen, following the trail of hair from my belly button with the tip of her index finger until she wrapped a firm grip around my cock. I choked back a grunt of surprise.
“Yeah.” She moaned long and low as she stroked the hard length from base to tip. “That’s what I need.”
Eden was an expert at distracting me.
Logic switched off. My questions went unasked, unanswered, when she straddled me, her fingernails sharp in my chest, her dark eyes drilling into mine, some hidden message behind the intensity as she rode me hard, unrelenting, demanding pleasure to erase whatever was bothering her. When I was still catching my breath from the first orgasm, she nudged my hand between her thighs to sweetly ask for her second.
I knew Eden. Sex was a Band-Aid. She was craving validation. Feeling vulnerable. But… Why? Dread swirled in my gut. I’d screwed up again. I must have. But every path my mind wandered down led nowhere. Nothing made sense.
And sleep never won over.
When the birds chirped their morning greeting outside, I was exhausted but awake, boneless from all the sex, but my muscles taut with nerves. Groaning, I rolled over and tried to untangle myself from Eden’s death grip. Cold air hit my backside as I edged out of the sheets.
Eden’s eyes snapped open.
“Where are you going?” she demanded, her arms latching around my waist.
“Sorry, Denny Dee. I have to head back to my apartment to get ready for work.”
“No.” She pouted.
“Eden.” My best grouchy dad’s voice was a lost cause. Her grip only tightened. I chuckled as I pried her arms from my waist. “I’ll make it up to you.”
She dipped her gaze, smiling sweetly. “Now?” Her fingertips danced along my bare chest.
“Later.” I kissed her. “Promise.”
And my promises meant something these days. Eden knew. Still, her gaze locked on me as I stumbled blind through the clutter to pick up my discarded clothes. I threw them on, found my glasses on the nightstand, and sat on the edge of the bed.
Seemingly defeated, her head bowed.
“Eden, is something wrong? I know I haven’t always listened as much as I should, but I’m listening now.” I brushed the strands of her ruffled bed hair behind her ear. Coaxed her chin up with gentle fingers. “You can talk to me.”
“It’s your big day,” she whispered. “Is the promotion still what you want?”
“More than anything.”
Her smile seemed forced. “Almost there.”
“Almost.”
My body left Eden’s apartment, but my mind stayed stuck there all morning. She occupied every thought. I thought about her when I drove back to my apartment. When I showered and dressed for work. When I stopped for a coffee, and she wasn’t with me.
Zach
Love you. Can’t wait to see you tonight. xo
Little dots flashed. Eden typed a message…that never arrived.
Something was very wrong.
Robotic, I plodded through every mouse click, every signature, every email.
I’d screwed up again. I knew it. What did I do wrong? Was she leaving me? Like last time?
When another text message went unanswered, I dialled the salon.
“Sweetie, Eden’s not here,” Yvette said. “She called in sick this morning. I’m literally trying to reschedule all her—”
Panic shot me out of the chair. Away from my desk. Out of my office.
Sue’s heels clicked after me down the corridor, and her shout for me to come back echoed as the elevator doors closed.
Eden’s front door cracked open.
Rumpled chocolate hair poked through the gap. Pink blotches coloured her cheeks, matching the tip of her nose. My heart cracked. She’d been crying long before my frenzied knocks scared the wits out of her.
“Let me in, Denny Dee.”
And not just through the door. I needed her to unlock the spot where she kept all her secrets from me.
The door inched open enough for me to squeeze inside.
“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?” I hugged Eden’s stiff body against my chest. “I would’ve stayed if I knew you were sick. I can take care of you. Can I get you something? Should I call a doctor?”
She waved off the concern and shuffled through the living room, heading for the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?” she asked, her voice empty without her usual sparkle. “I can make you a coffee. I have some of those fancy pods you like.”
I frowned. I didn’t want a bloody coffee. “I want to talk about what’s going on.”
Eden kept her distance on the other side of the kitchen, an arm hugged tight around her middle, her tank top riding up to show her fingers pinching into the skin of her belly. Her wary glance pinned me as she fussed with a jar on the kitchen counter. I pressed my palm over the lid. I didn’t care about the stupid coffee pods.
“Stop.” My command was soft. I wanted her attention on me, not avoiding me.
She froze.
“We’re getting better at talking.” My throat bobbed painfully on a dry swallow. “But, Eden, please don’t make me jump through the hoops of some bonus round trying to figure out what I did wrong. Just tell me.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“So, you’re sick?” I touched her forehead with the back of my hand. She wasn’t hot. “Really sick?” I tipped up her chin with my finger. She closed her eyes to avoid my gaze. “Eden?”
Nothing.
Locking a sigh of frustration behind flattened lips, I dropped my hand from her chin, running a soothing touch down her shoulder to her arm. Her face screwed up. A wince. She fought to shutter her expression, but I’d seen it. My heart plunged to my feet when I saw the bruises—deep crimson spots tinged with indigo—dotted on her arm.
I ghosted a hand over the violent marks. Perfectly spaced…just like my fingers. “What happened to your arm, Eden?”
“N-Nothing.”
“Why are you lying?”
“It’s nothing to worry about.”
Like hell it was nothing. “Tell me the truth!”
“Zach—”
“Who did that?”
Her lower lip wobbled. “I ruined everything, didn’t I?” A fat tear trickled down her cheek.
Shit. Shit! “No… No… I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath and buried the fear deep in my chest. It wasn’t helping. “I’m sorry I raised my voice. I’m just freaking the hell out because—” Helplessly, I pointed at her arm, my own resolve crumbling. “Please, tell me what happened.”
Eden shook her head. “I—I can’t. Not yet. Not until after…” She hugged herself into a tighter shell.
“No. There’s nothing more important than this. Tell me right now.”
“You’ll hate me. I should’ve walked away, but I couldn’t.” She hiccupped through every strained breath, and wet lines trickled down her cheeks. “I couldn’t.”
“Tell me,” I insisted.
Eden didn’t speak. For the longest time, I thought this was another secret she’d lock away and toss the key. “I saw…Chris…at the party.” She refused to meet my eyes. “He hits her, Zach. I saw him.”
A freight train barrelled into my chest and forced me a step back. “What? I don’t—Lola—but—” My fingers speared into my hair, tugging at the roots, my eyes frantic on all the clutter. Nowhere was safe to look. I had too many questions and no answers. Wait. My fingers hovered over Eden’s arm. Those bruises were an answer. “Not just Lola.”
“Zach—I—”
“Chris touched you?”
Eden still refused to meet my gaze, but her chin jerked down in a nod.
“Grabbed you?”
Another nod.
“Hurt you?”
Another nod.
“Did he threaten you?”
She didn’t speak, but the way her big eyes lifted and stared at me, not blinking, I knew the answer was yes.
Rage boiled inside me until it scorched so hot, so deep, it ate away every other emotion. Nothing was left but a dark void in the hollow of my chest. Chris had hurt Eden, and where the hell had I been? Protecting her? No. I’d been sipping a drink while some moron from marketing yammered on about the stock market.
Eden didn’t protest when I scooped her in my arms and carried her to the bedroom. She was a mess of tears and snot and hiccups. I slipped her safely in bed, folding the floral sheets snugly around her chest, and blotting her tears with a tissue I snagged from the nightstand.
This time, when I rang the salon, Andie’s gruff voice answered. Only a few words passed between us before she declared she was coming.
Eden turned her head into the pillow, clutching it tighter to her chest. “Do you still…love…?”
I smoothed back her hair and tucked the loose strands behind her ear, but I couldn’t reassure her. My mind had flipped an off switch. Time passed. Maybe a minute. Maybe an hour. I wasn’t sure of anything except the circles I patted on Eden’s back to coax her to sleep. It was like I’d shut down.
Just like two years ago…
The front door creaked open.
“Andie’s here,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to Eden’s forehead. “She’s a good friend. Watches out for you. Everything’s going to be okay.” A rusty smile creaked onto my face. Eden really was worth burning the entire world to ashes.
Her sleepy hand slipped off my knee when I stood up.
Andie stalled in the doorway. “How’s Ed?” she asked, her voice low and eyes glassy with worry.
“Not good.”
I edged past. Andie’s angry scoff stopped me. I turned. Her nostrils flared, and she clenched her fist by her side. She was debating whether to take a shot at me.
“Where the fuck are you going?” she spat.
“I need to go back to work.”
“You son of a bitch. Are you abandoning her again? She needs you!”
I ignored Andie and headed for the door.
I needed to go back to work.