Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kira
“I need to hit the shower,” he said as he slid off the bed and stood.
Looking back at me, he offered an apologetic smile. “Don’t take it personally. It’s not you. It’s… well, I have this thing. Anytime there’s violence I have to…”
I sat up. The headboard thudded against the wall as I leaned against it, bringing my knees into my chest. Nodding, I said, “I think I understand. You have to wash it off.”
“That’s right. I know it’s silly. It’s all in my head. But I gotta do it.”
My eyes fell to a spot on his left shoulder where two unmistakable scars were. After my mind connected the dots, I said, “How long were you a cop?”
He smiled at me and the amount of affection I saw in his eyes took my breath away. It was as if he loved the fact that I was figuring him out, even before we’d talked about all this.
“Fifteen years.”
My eyes went back to those distinct scars. “Did you leave after you got shot?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It was time for a change.”
I hated the thought of him almost dying. A world without Rex seemed crushing. Maybe that was strange, I admitted to myself, given as how we’d just met.
But then again, there I was naked in his bed.
“They’re… so close to your heart.” I was talking to myself now more than him.
“Another couple of inches and…” Rex shrugged.
“How long were you in the hospital?"
“Couple of weeks. Had some rehab work after that. That shoulder still gives me some trouble.”
Hopefully I wasn’t prying. I just had an overwhelming feeling to know as much about him as I could.
I prayed it wasn’t all for nothing. He might never talk to me again once he found out the truth.
The truth I should have told him back at the Farmers Market.
“I’m sorry you went through that. But I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks. Me too. Would’ve hated to have missed you by a few years.”
His caress was sweet and tender, and I closed my eyes and sighed as his fingers gently grazed my cheek.
“I best go shower,” he said.
“Yeah. I need to call a friend back in New York.”
He was almost to the attached bathroom when he cast a smirk over his shoulder. “If it’s a boyfriend, tell him I’ve laid claim to you.”
“Ha! Hardly. It’s my friend Carrie from across the hall. Just need to check in with her.”
I took one more look at his naked ass as he disappeared into the bathroom, licked my lips, then watched as the door shut. Once I heard the water come on, I got in my purse and went for my phone but accidentally pulled out Lila’s.
Just seeing it made me feel sick. Gosh, I was in so deep now! What the hell was I doing?
Noticing how many missed calls and messages she had, I looked at them all for a moment.
Some were obviously spam. But there were quite a few from some guy named Barry. Man, he was really wanting to talk to her.
Had I broken things off with a Barry? I couldn’t remember. I’d messaged everyone who had active threads, so I must have. Maybe he was taking it hard.
I put Lila’s phone up, found mine, and called Carrie.
“Is now an okay time?” I asked after she answered on the second ring.
“Unfortunately. Meaning I didn’t get a call back after I waited in line for a gig all morning.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks. Hey, have you thought about coming out here? You could switch from modeling to acting!”
“Trust me, sunny L.A. sounds pretty good right about now. It’s already colder than balls here! We had a huge front move in last night. Windy, too.”
I walked into the living room where I’d have a little more privacy. It was doubtful Rex could have heard, but just to be on the safe side…
“So, how are things there?” she asked. Her tone was lighter as she asked, “Are you in love?”
She made kissing sounds before giggling, and I had the brief notion that she’d fit right in at Athena’s.
“That’s the thing,” I said. “I think I am!”
“What?”
I recounted the events of the last two days, leaving out the Little stuff. Carrie didn’t need to know everything. While I knew she was open-minded, there was still no reason to share the part about Athena’s nursery.
“What the hell was I doing, getting into bed with him?” I asked. “I just made things worse!”
There was a moment of silence before she said, “You feel a genuine connection, right?”
“Yes! A deep one. I’ve never felt this way about a man. And certainly not this fast.”
“Then tell him. Now. It’ll withstand?—”
“But trust is the foundation of any relationship. And I broke that before we even got this thing off the ground.”
“I get that,” Carrie told me. “But your only other option is to keep lying and that’s not sustainable.
Well, I guess there’s a third option—you just come home and never talk to him again.
But you don’t want that. You’d miss him and always wonder what could’ve been.
You can’t change what you’ve done. But you can try to repair this thing and move forward. ”
My friend was right. I had to try.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m going to do it.”
“You’ve got this. Call me later?”
“Of course.”
The call ended and I stayed in the living room a moment, gripping my cell hard as I drew a deep breath and held the air in my lungs.
The doorbell jarred me from the moment and I was then acutely aware that I was stark naked.
Running back to the entryway, I retrieved my dress from the floor and ran back to the bedroom, thankful there was no window set into the door where whoever was on the other side could see me.
I didn’t know who was out there, but whenever they left, I was going to have to tell Rex.
Finally.