“For the most part, I’m used to it. Anger and frustration are difficult because they make my skin crawl. Sadness is… It consumes me. Thankfully, I don’t encounter that much from tourists.” She took a sip of her juice, set the glass aside. “The worst is when someone has ill intentions. Especially if I touch them. It’s like an electrical shock.” She gave a soft smile. “Needless to say, I don’t touch many people.”
The admission pleased him. More so because she’d taken his hand relatively easily when he’d offered it.
“What emotions do you get from me?”
“I don’t.”
Canting his head to the side, Obsidian considered that. “None at all?”
“It’s like you’re blocked from me.” She laughed, clearly seeing his concern. “That’s not a bad thing. It’s quite nice, really. I’m free to feel what I want to feel.”
He extended his arm toward her. “And when you touch me?”
Her eyes remained on his face as her soft fingers brushed over his arm. His skin tingled where her fingertips settled, his entire being lighting up.
“A sense of peace,” she acknowledged. “I noticed it when you touched my cheek downstairs.”
She pulled her hand back, and instantly he missed her touch. Obsidian finished off his omelet, then pushed his plate away.
Penelope did the same. “Do you come to Vegas for business often?”
“Not usually, no. But I do travel a lot.”
“You said you were here looking for someone? Did you locate them?”
“Yes.”
When she didn’t say anything, Obsidian slipped into her mind, curious as to where her thoughts had gone. She was reliving the scene down in the casino. When he’d touched her. He hadn’t intended to do it, but he’d been unable to help himself. Even now, it took tremendous restraint not to reach for her.
Her thoughts instantly shifted to him leaving town, never to be heard from again. She thought that because he’d found who he was looking for, he had no reason to stick around. Of course, she wouldn’t know he’d come here to find her.
Before he could come up with a way to broach the subject without letting on he’d read her mind, Penelope shifted her chair back.
She finished her orange juice before tucking her book back in her purse. “I hate to eat and run, but I really should be heading home. I promised my neighbor I’d feed her cat.”
Since the sun would be rising shortly, Obsidian needed to do the same.
“How about breakfast tomorrow morning?” he offered, pushing to his feet.
“I’m not working tonight. I have Tuesdays off.”
“Then the next day.”
“Really?”
He took her hand after she put her purse on her arm. “Really.”
Obsidian loved the way her small hand settled in his so easily.
“Up here?”
He paused, glanced back at the strip when they stepped into the hotel room. “It offers a nice view, no? Plus, it’s private.”
“True.”
“So, that’s a yes?” He opened the door, escorted her out into the hallway.
“We’ll see.”
