Page 56 of Tempt

He chuckled. “Well then, the world may never know the answer.” He kissed me before the words sank in. I was never going to sleep with a doctor or psychiatrist—or anyone else—because Theo wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

We made out for a little while, fooled around some more, and snacked on the rest of our leftovers. I was lying on his chest and Theo was running his hands through my hair. The rain on the window was hypnotic and I couldn’t seem to look away. “How often do you talk to your mother?”

“Every Sunday night.”

“And your brother?”

“I call him, but he usually only answers or calls me back once every month or so.”

“I can barely make it through a day without talking to Liz and we chat online all day, but my parents I’ve managed to keep to once a week since I left for London.”

“I only speak to my father at board meetings.” Theo volunteered, all on his own. “We have a strictly business relationship.”

“It sounds like a logical way to have a relationship with your father.”

His hand faltered for a moment, but then returned to the rhythmic pattern that was guaranteed to put me to sleep. “Nicki is harder to talk about.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated. She’s Pandora’s Box. Being near her seems to unleash a thousand problems and they always start out simple. I keep telling Mum she got her name wrong. She’s Pandora through and through.”

It was time to stop looking at the rain. I rolled to my back and stared at the ceiling. “What do you mean?”

“It started the day the poor girl was born. Her whole life has been that way. She’s afraid to leave the house. She’s convinced she’s a curse.”

“That’s awful.”

“Our father wanted nothing to do with her after she refused to work. Called her a leech. She has her trust fund and I make sure she’s taken care of, but she’s given up. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

He wasn’t asking for advice, so I didn’t give any. Instead, I picked up his hand and wove my fingers between his. Connecting us. “And what about you?”

He tensed and I realized I’d just inadvertently drawn a line from Nicki to Theo. She won’t leave the house, he won’t leave the office. “I guess we’re both hiding. The situations are a bit different, though.”

Theo was partially a workaholic, partially a prisoner, thanks to Toni.

“Are we safe here?” I hadn’t brought up Toni because I was having too much fun enjoying myself, but if we were leaving the hotel later, I wanted to know what I was in for.

“Yes. They know me here and there are very few tourists at this time of year. Strangers will stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Still…” Was Theo seriously relying on good neighbors when he required ten bodyguards in London? The math didn’t compute.

He chuckled. “You think I’d put your life in danger? Mine, maybe. But yours? Never. They were here before we left London.”

Of course they were.“Can we go out for lunch? Even if it’s raining? I don’t mind getting wet.”

“What the lady wants, the lady gets. Where shall we go?”

“I’d like a sandwich.” I grinned knowing Theo wouldn’t argue with that. “And a steaming hot cup of coffee to keep my hand wrapped around.”

He grunted. “You and your coffee. You know what country you’re in, right?”

“Says the man with a coffee pot in his flat.”

“But I also drink tea. You do not.”

I shrugged. “You can take the girl out of America, but you can’t take America out of the girl.”

Chapter 20