Page 68 of Abyss

Guess who’s here! Eight-and-a-half pounds of sweetness.

A smile stretches across my face as I take in the cherub cheeks and golden curls of a very sleepy baby in the arms of her mom, Belinda’s soft gaze smiling down at her in awe.

Me

She is really sweet. You sure she’s yours?

Belinda

I’ve often wondered the same aboutMadison.

I quickly type out a congratulatory response to her, getting out of bed, not bothering to put my sweatpants on over my boxers.

It’s past eleven—Kavi is likely already asleep—but I can’t help wanting to give her the news, in case Belinda hasn’t texted her already. I could tell her in the morning, of course, but given that I’ve barely gotten a few minutes alone with her since our rendezvous in my office last Friday, I’m antsy to see her.

I hadn’t spoken more than a few words to her this morning when she walked into the kitchen as I was drinking my first cup of coffee. I thought about going back to my room for a T-shirt to wear over my sweatpants, but then she practically tripped over herself and ran into the countertop while she gawked at my chest. That’s when I decided I liked her reaction too much to cover up.

Perhaps I’d just walk around the house bare-chested from now on.

Avoiding my eyes, she asked me how my trip was while buzzing around the kitchen, packing cheese scones for the office. I leaned against one of the counters watching her. I’d just gotten back last night after a three-day business trip, and we hadn’t spoken much aside from work-related topics. Though I won’t deny I was keeping tabs on her.

Per my instruction, Aaron had urged her to let him drive her to work every morning, and my shopper, Tina, had asked for Kavi’s shopping list—given nothing was noted on the list I kept in the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, the stubborn mule I was living with refused, saying she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

I’d also sent her a message a couple of days ago to check in.

Me

Are we okay?

Now, I’m not generally one to read in-between the lines, but I got this strange sense she was trying to wave over any personal conversations.

Kav

Yes. Why wouldn’t we be? Also, Aaron’s mom is in the hospital. I’ve sent flowers on your behalf.

And when I asked her to drive back home with me today after work, she told me she needed to go to the grocery store. I countered, letting her know I was happy to drive her there, but she refused. I can’t help thinking it was her way of avoiding being in a confined space with me. And that thought annoyed me as much as it relieved me.

I open my bedroom door just as my mind warns me to let things lie.Maybe her creating distance is for the best. Except, when it comes to the woman sleeping down the hall from me, it seems my mind has little control over my actions.

Throughout my time away from her, I found myself looking off into space more times than I care to count.Me.A man so consumed with work, I barely had time to breathe, found myself consumed with something—someone—else entirely.

Ever since she left my office that night, giving me the best sex of my life, I’ve felt depleted somehow—altered and redesigned in a way. As if a toxin had settled into my bloodstream, slowly siphoning out who I used to be, leaving traces of itself in every molecule.

And while the sex was phenomenal, that wasn’t the only reason she was on my mind day and night since.

It was that fucking last kiss.

The one where she cradled my face and looked into my eyes as if she was trying to find her way into my damn soul. The way her fingers brushed my skin and her lips touched mine.

I run a frustrated hand down my face, filling my cheeks with air and letting it out. I get laid all the ways to Sunday, and what’s the thing that has me spinning out into space? A damn kiss.

Am I becoming a complete sap in my old age? Who the hell else thinks about a kiss when the scent, the feel of a woman, is lingering in their system?

Keeping my feet quiet, I trek down the hall toward the other side of the condo, where an array of nightlights illuminates the area every few feet. There’s a little glow dissipating from the bottom of her door as well, and it definitely seems like she’s asleep.

Deciding not to wake her, I’ve just turned to head back to my room when I hear the unmistakable sounds of sobbing.

My body stiffens like a soldier at attention, my ears attuned to the sound, as I listen for another few moments.

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