“Sloane?” I place the cell down, giving her my entire focus.
“Hi,” She says quietly, wheeling in the stroller where Lily is peacefully sleeping. She’s changed since earlier and is now dressed in a tight pair of baby blue leggings, pair of sneakers, and an oversized sweater. A ball cap covers her eyes, her hair acting like a curtain on either side of her face.
“It’s late,” I scan what I can see of her face, noting the paleness of her complexion. I have no doubt dark circles would be shadowing her eyes if I could actually see them. “What are you doing here?”
“I rushed out earlier,” She pretends to fix the blanket covering my daughter, “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you properly.”
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Fine.”
“Liar,” I fire.
She snaps her head around to me, “Excuse me?”
“There’s no one here now, so tell the truth.”
A weighted silence falls between us, the only sound the steady rhythm of my heart monitor.
“I’m terrified,” She finally admits.
“You should be,” I agree, “If you weren’t, I’d wonder how human you were.”
“You don’t seem scared,” She finally turns her focus to me, but still, I can’t see her pretty eyes.
“I’ve seen an awful lot of shit in my life that fear no longer gets to me. Sit down, Sloane.” I direct her to the chair right beside me.
With a heavy sigh, she lowers herself into it and then leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she rubs her face with her hands, dislodging the cap.
“What do you need?” I ask her.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She replies.
“Not when you look like you’re a strong burst of wind away from falling apart.”
“How do you do that?” She sighs, adjusting her cap to cover her face again before she turns to me. Frustration has me moving to reach for the hat, my shoulder smarting and pulling with the movement, and when I knock the hat off, I collapse back onto the bed, letting out a harsh breath.
“Stop hiding,” I growl, “And because you think you hide it, and perhaps you do, but not from me.”
She goes to reach for the hat.
“Don’t,” I snap out the word, a harsh command.
“Can we just not,” She pauses, “I only came so you could see Lily and so I could tell you I’ll have her at my place until you’re out of here.”
“You’ll take her?”
“Of course I will,” She still doesn’t look at me.
“And once I’m out?”
“Then we go back to normal, right?”
“That depends, are you going to keep hiding from me?”
Finally, fucking finally she turns to me and lifts her ocean eyes, but they’re darker, more stormy seas than summer day, and I was right; shadows darken the space beneath them. She looks fucking haunted.
“We’re not friends, Dean,” She says before she stands up and picks up her hat. “You have plenty of them. We are boss and employee, please don’t try to make it something it isn’t. I will bring Lily to see you tomorrow.”
