“You sure?” Her gaze anxious.
Looking around, I noted the lengthened shadows. I had been out for several hours. Chiara must have sat by me the entire time, watching over me. The thought caused my non-existent heart to tremble.
“What happened with thepaparazzo?” I asked.
She gave a decidedly Italian shrug of her shoulders. “He ran off. I didn’t see him after you—” She cleared her throat. “I mean, after we—” She huffed, eyes squinting. “Are yousureyou’re okay?”
Her concern was starting to concern me.
Sarcasm? Pithy rejoinders? Snide comments? Yes.
But this uncharacteristic worry . . .
Was I in that bad of shape? Did I look different?
I surveyed myself. I appeared the same, though my shirt was now effectively unbuttoned to the top of my waistcoat. The memory of her small hands—fisting my clothing, clutching my hair, touching my skin—momentarily swamped my brain.
Anguished loss crashed in behind.
I wanted to hold her again, to kiss her, to cuddle her in my arms and promise to never let her go.
Being given just a taste of the life I had lost . . . it was too cruel.
Odd how the sensation of panic—tight chest, constricted throat—was the same even without a physical body.
Keep yourself together.
Chiara continued to run her eyes over me.
“You changed.” Her non sequitur not quite clear.
I raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Your clothes, your hair.” She waved a hand indicating my entire body. “They’re different now. You’ve looked exactly the same since I first met you.”
I tried to pat my hair, but of course could not. “How bad is it?”
Chiara shrugged. “I’ve seen worse.”
“Well, if someone hadn’t decided to rearrange it for me—”
“Don’t you dare, Jack!” Her entire body exploded into motion, hands flying, expression outraged.Ah.That was better. “Youkissedme.”
I had. And thoroughly enjoyed it.
“There are better ways to get attention,” she continued. “Has daytime TV taught you nothing?” She drew her hand across her mouth. “Whydid you kiss me?”
“You didn’t seem to mind.”
“What? It was awful.” She snorted. “Like kissing my brother.”
Our eyes locked. We both knew that was an absolute lie.
I couldn’t help it. I grinned.
She rolled her eyes, throwing her hands in the air. “You’re going to be impossibly smug now, aren’t you?”
“I have it on good authority that you find me sexy.”
