Page 18 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

“Sorry.” His brows lowered and he backed into the bedroom with a thoroughly disturbed look that she didn’t understand.

Forcing brightness to her face, she smiled. “This is beautiful.”

He arched a brow. “You look as shocked as you sound.”

“Well, of course I am. The rest of your house from the inside out is so bland, and neutral, and sterile, but this”—she swept her arm around the room—“is so different, so colorful and full of life.”

He snorted. “Tell me how you really feel.”

Whoops. Insulting her benevolent host was rude and thoughtless. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I guess we’re like yin and yang.”

“Like what?” His face screwed up in confusion.

“Yin and yang,” she repeated. “Seemingly contrary forces that are complimentary in the natural world.” He still looked confused. “Total opposites.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “That, I agree with.”

“So, why did you paint this room pink?”

“After I had this place built, my sister stayed with me for a while. She needed color, so I let her do whatever she wanted to this room.”

“But you left it this way after she moved out. Why?”

He shrugged. “I intended to paint the walls gray again and change out all the pink and purple back to white, but I never got around to it.”

“That’s why you keep this door closed.” She nodded in understanding. “It interferes with your chi, and for you, it’s not Feng Shui.”

His handsome face contorted. “I have no idea what you just said.”

“I can see that.” She couldn’t keep from giggling. “Chi is your life force, the invisible swirls of your essence. To me, color imbues life and energy, but it does the total opposite for you. Feng Shui is one of the five arts of Chinese metaphysics. The idea is for the forces of energy to harmonize a person with his or her environment. You crave simplicity. Black, white, gray. That’s why you keep this door closed.” He still looked skeptical. “I’ll put this in simplistic terms. Looking at this room messes with your head. Did I hit that on the mark?”

“Not really.” He crossed his arms and frowned.

Surprised, she planted her fists on her hips. She was sure she’d gotten her assessment of his psyche right. “Then why don’t you want any color in your life?”

“It’s not about color, chi, Feng Shui, or anything else in a Chinese fortune cookie. It’s about—” He stopped, as if he couldn’t find the words he was searching for.

“About what?” This conversation was definitely not going the way she’d expected. Not that she’d expected anything in particular.

He raked a hand through his hair. “I like peace and quiet. When I come home, I don’t want chaos.”

“That’s what Feng Shui is all about. Creating symbiosis.” She cocked her head. “How does color create chaos?”

“Hell, I don’t know.” He let out an exasperated breath. “It just does. Just like this conversation is getting chaotic and starting to drive me crazy because it’s turning into an argument, which is exactly what I don’t want when I get home.”

“We’re not arguing, we’re having a conversation. That’s what people do. Converse.” Tess didn’t know how, but they’d gotten off to an even rockier start than she could have anticipated. This didn’t bode well for her and Jesse staying there.

“This seems like an argument to me.”

“It’s not,” she insisted. “All I was trying to say was that you could use a little color in your life. You might surprise yourself and find that you actually like it.”

“Doubtful.” His expression went dark, and the air positively electrified with his annoyance.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be sure to keep the door closed.” At the sounds of laughter and barking, Tess went to the window and looked down into the backyard.

Jesse knelt on the grass, rubbing Tiger’s belly while the dog lay on his back with his legs pawing the air. The sight made her smile, but when she turned around, elation fled.

Eric gave her a pointed scowl. “I need a shower. Make yourself at home.” Uncrossing his arms, he turned abruptly and was gone.