I bend over, koala still attached, and grab the lizard. Then I walk out onto her balcony and give it a toss. “Gone. Now get off me.”
“What if there’s more?”
“Then toss them over the balcony.”
Her head jerks up, eyes ready to pop out of her head. She smells like all the girly crap I hate. Her skin is too soft. Her lips are too full. Her breath is too warm against my face.
Why is she looking at me? Why isn’t she climbing down? One of her hands releases my neck as her gaze moves along my face, following her hand that brushes along my cheek, her fingers ghosting over my eyebrows, down my nose and over my lips. My eyes close and my dick hardens. I don’t care if she can feel it.
Damn chips. I could fucking eat her up in more ways than one right now.
“Tell me…” I whisper, “…tell me a lie.” I need her to talk, anything to keep from stripping her and taking what I want. I thought once would scare her. I thought it would satiate me. It didn’t and I’m not sure it ever will. So, this can’t happen.
She swallows hard. “When I leave here, I’m going back to London to get married. I’ve picked out a lovely forty-five piece handmade tableware set with cobalt blue trim. The guest list is two-hundred and seventy-three.”
My hands go from limp at my sides to wrap around her, but I don’t open my eyes. “What’s your fiancé’s name?” If she hesitates, then it’s made up.
“Daniel.” She doesn’t hesitate.
He’s real. Where the fuck is this guy and why is he allowing this woman to have her body wrapped around mine?
“What does he do?”
“He’s a highly-sought-after wildlife photographer and videographer.”
“Did he give you that necklace.”
I don’t have to open my eyes to know that her hand moves to the ruby pendant dangling from the gold chain around her neck. I’ve never seen her not wearing it, but when she gets nervous, her hand moves to it, like a talisman.
“No.”
“What’s the most valuable thing you’ve ever stolen?”
I can’t remember the last time I felt someone’s heartbeat against mine. Why is she here? I get it, God. You know what I’m planning and you think she’s going to distract me. It’s too late.
She releases her grip on me, and I let her slide to her feet. Letting her go isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. That single, most unexpected thought gives me pause. Leaving behind an unsettling pain that I fucking hate.
I open my eyes to the many flecks of brown and gold in hers.
After several blinks, she whispers, “A life.”
*
Days and weekspass in more silence. Scarlet seems to disappear emotionally. After days of nonstop jabbering, she closes off from the world. She spends more time with the crazy Asian guy, takes longer walks, and devours more books that have cluttered the house, only outnumbered by the fucking plants. I don’t say anything about the mess, it’s a fair trade for her silence.
She’s all skin and bones. I haven’t seen her eat solid food in weeks. She drinks juice, lots of juice, and really potent teas that she makes from some weird weed-looking crap brewing in a ceramic pot. Clearly, she has an eating disorder, but it’s none of my business. If she wants to starve to death, who am I to change the course ofherlife. I sure as hell don’t want anyone trying to change the course of mine.
However, the most disturbing part is how much she watches me. When I work around the house, I feel her eyes on me. She thinks I don’t see her, but I do. I see her peeking over the top of a book, giving me quick glances at the kitchen table, and I feel her footsteps in the sand a safe distance back every morning when I return home after my swim. She’s everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
In my head.
On my nerves.
Gnawing at my conscience.
I hope she’s not waiting for me to save her. I’m no one’s savior.
“Where are you going?” Her voice halts my forward motion.
