Page 36 of Atlas
Don’t!My mind warned me.The last thing you need on top of a psychopath chasing you is to suffer in silence from unrequited love. Don’t confuse his kindness with sexual attraction. You would be fooling yourself.
“You’re going to be all right,” Atlas whispered and pushed a tissue into my hand. “Here.”
I sat up, dried my eyes, and blew my nose.
“You all right?”
“Yes. I’m sorry that I smeared face paint all over your jacket.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll wash off.”
“Maybe if you rub an alcohol-based cleaner on it and rinse it with cold water.” I stopped talking and looked at him. “Wait, what am I saying? You probably have a team of little elves to do your laundry, don’t you?”
“Not a whole team. Just one called Fiona, but she does work some magic now and then.”
We smiled at each other and sank back in our seats as the car took us to an upscale part of Chicago where people on my salary could never afford to live.
CHAPTER 9
Warning
Atlas
My mouth felt dry, as if I’d swallowed a handful of sand before going to bed. Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I stretched my body and let yesterday come back to me. The Super Bowl, eating waffles with Jolene, the text-message that warned her she was in danger, and her crying in my arms.
I couldn’t stand that someone was trying to hurt Jolene. Just thinking about her reaction in the car, when she’d been scared and pressed her face to my chest, made me hate the loser who caused her to cry.
Last night when we’d arrived back here, I had been tempted to invite her into my bed so that I could wrap my arms around her all night and keep her safe. I’d given her a fresh toothbrush, one of my t-shirts to sleep in, and showed her to the guest bedroom with the comment that my door was open if she needed a hug.
She hadn’t come.
After a quick shower, I walked out to my kitchen to find Jolene sitting wearing my t-shirt.
“Good morning.”
She looked up. “Morning. I wanted to make you coffee, but that machine looks intimidating.” She nodded at the chrome barista machine in the corner.
“It’s fine. Do you want coffee?”
“No, thank you. I’m more of a tea person, which is funny when you think about it because most Americans love coffee, and most British people love tea, but we’re the opposite.” She pulled her hair behind her ears and gave a nervous laugh.
“Hmm… I’m afraid I don’t have any tea. Did you sleep all right?”
“Yes. Your guest bed is very comfortable. It’s pretty fancy how your guests have a whole suite. Do you have many guests?”
“When I bought this place, I figured that I wanted extra room for when my family is visiting from Europe.”
“And do they? Visit, I mean.”
“Not as often as I’d like. Charles flies over more than the others, but that’s because of work, and he has a nice apartment here in Chicago.” I shrugged. “I think he enjoys the alone time. He has a condition and can be a little socially overwhelmed at times.”
“What kind of condition?”
“Asperger’s and Tourette’s. He has these tics, and sometimes his timing is a bit off in social settings. He tends to take things literally and has trouble reading other people.”
“I see.”
After firing up the coffee machine, I found my favorite blend and turned back to Jolene. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of him. Despite his quirkiness, Charles is one of the coolest people I know. Not just because he and Liv adopted my siblings and me, but because of the way he conducts himself. You should see him in a board-room. He’s so quiet and sits there while the others discuss back and forth. And then when he has heard enough, he gives the most well-thought-out and concise summation of the problem and his solution to it. I was lucky enough to be present a few times, and I get goosebumps from his humble attitude in a roomful of sharks. It’s so different than most in his position.”
