Chapter 10
Sarah lives on the twenty-first floor of a high-rise condo next to the river. It’s posh and overpriced, but then again, it’s also part of her father’s multimillion-dollar real estate enterprise. The minute we walk in, she drags me to her room. I asked to borrow her phone so that I could call Harlin, but Sarah said I’d have to wait until after we played dress-up. She didn’t want my hormones interfering with my train of thought.
“Okay,” I say, lying across the red chaise at the end of her bed. “Let’s get this over with.” Sarah goes into her closet—which is as big as my entire bedroom—and pulls out an armful of dresses. I groan. “Can I call Harlin now?”
“No.” She puts little effort into sympathizing with me missing my boyfriend. “This?” She puts a short yellow dress against her.
“Not unless you’re trying to be Big Bird.”
“Hate you.” She throws the yellow dress back toward her closet and starts fingering through the other garments in her arms. When I see she’s properly distracted by her friends Chanel, Dior, and Dolce & Gabbana, I reach over and grab the phone off her dresser. It’s already ringing by the time she looks over.
Sorry,I mouth, and then smile as I hold the phone to my ear. She sighs loudly and tosses the pile of dresses on me before going back into her closet. I laugh and lay them out on her bed.
“So you’re alive?” Harlin’s voice is low and very controlled. It reminds me of the way he talks to his mother. I don’t like it.
“I meant to call, but—”
“I talked to Alex a hundred times this morning, but you couldn’t call me back? I was worried. I thought you’d slipped into a coma or something.”
“Comforting thought.”
“It’s not funny. You got hit by a car last night.”
“Is that what happened? I couldn’t remember. Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re lucky I’m not. I’d freaking spank you in front of your friends.”
“Mmm...”
Harlin laughs. “Knock it off, smartass. Now where are you?”
I relax back onto the chaise, happy to hear Harlin again, the way he is with me. Sweet. Tender. “I’m at Sarah’s. She’s shopping in her closet for a charity dress.”
“Ah. Doing her part for mankind wouldn’t mean nearly as much without a fancy dress.”
“Shut up, Harlin,” Sarah calls from inside her closet even though she can’t hear him.
“She’s such a sweet girl.” Harlin laughs. “Amazing manners!”
“No work today?” I ask.
“Called in. Thought I should be around to take care of you. Obviously you don’t need me, though.”
“Maybe I do,” I say, dropping my voice. I want to see him, be near him. I feel the craving for him grow inside me. “What are you doing right now?”
“You sound really curious, Charlotte,” he says, picking up on my tone. “You sure you don’t want to avoid me a little longer? They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
My lips pull into a pout. “Are you going to be mean?” I know that things must be tough for Harlin lately. I have yet to come up with a good excuse for my Needs, and I know it’s making him crazy, but what can I do? I don’t want to lose him. And after hearing about the Forgotten, I know I can’t tell him. Not until I figure out a way to deal with it.
He exhales. “No, baby. I’m sorry for being an idiot. Yes. I’dloveto see you. Can I come pick you up?” The familiar warmth in his voice sends tingles down my spine.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I hang up, and just then Sarah walks out of her closet with a delicious knee-length white dress. The kind of dress that turns heads. She presses it against her. “What do you think of this one?”
“Sinful.”
