Page 7 of Erase Me
“Don’t lie to me.”The man bristled.
“You’ve got the wrong guy.”Reed’s tone was calm, attempting to defuse the situation.
Pulling me with him, he again attempted to sidestep the menacing figure.However, the man moved with us, blocking our path and glaring.
“You walked out of the water,” he said.“Like a demon rising from the ocean, you walked right out.”
An older woman was standing a few steps away, loading shopping bags into her car.“You want me to call the cops on him?”
The man showed no interest in her.
“No, that’s okay.He’s confused.”I pulled Reed away from the stranger, and the woman got in her car.
As we made a wide arc across the lot, the man’s voice followed us.
“I have your bag,” he shouted.“I have it.And you know what’s in there.Come and get it.You know where to find me.Come and get it.”
ChapterTwo
Avalie
Plantingboth palms on the edges of Reed’s bathroom sink, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.My short, pixie-cut dark hair was standing up on end, giving me a look that was more porcupine than pixie.My face was flushed.The brown pupils of my eyes were dilated.My palms were still sweating.I touched a tender spot on my right breast.
“Shit.Shit.Shit.”Having sex the first day in San Clemente wasn’t part of the plan.There were places I needed to be, things I had to do.
Closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths, I tried to line up my thoughts, make sense of what I had done and everything that lay ahead.Instead, I thought of Reed, lying naked in that bed.
He was hot and good at sex.No, great actually.He knew all the right buttons to push until I was putty in his hands.Not that I needed any encouragement or would have objected to anything he suggested.After all, I initiated the whole thing.
But why?
Was it his eyes?His confidence?Was it the immediate chemistry between us?The spontaneous eruption of heat that raced through me?
Maybe, but it was also something else.From the moment I arrived here, I’d been feeling the glow of a sensualsomething.My skin was tingling.I was eating more, drinking more.In some ways, my body still didn’t feel put together right.Still, everything had gone a little haywire from the moment Reed reached for that copy ofPride and Prejudice.
Seriously, how could I resist having sex with a six-foot hunk who appreciated classic literature?
I was not about to give him any slack about his comment about women and their ‘dog-eared’ copies of Austen’s book, but I’d often thought that I couldn’t be the only person whose mind conjured up images of sex with Darcy.
Reed’s apartment, nestled on the third floor, was accessible via stairs that clung to the exterior of the building.The open living area was sparsely furnished, and what was there was well-worn.An oversized TV on one wall, a sectional sofa.A table and chairs by an open kitchen door.A couple of large vases with tired-looking dried flower arrangements.Some cutesy folk art on the walls that had text on them like, ‘This way to the Beach’ and ‘Kowabunga, Dude!’A sliding glass door led to a balcony facing the street, which was large enough for a table and a couple of chairs.
As soon as I tossed my jacket and the bag on the sofa, the tour ended.With his lips on mine, Reed lifted me in his arms like I weighed nothing and carried me to his bed.
Splashing cold water on my face now, I urged myself to do no daydreaming about what happened.If I let myself do that, I’d probably be crawling back into bed with him for an encore performance.
Taking another look at my reflection in the mirror with an objective eye, I accepted that this was long overdue.I’d enjoyed the touch of a man who knew his way around a woman’s body.True, I’d been busy with work lately, but I’d forgotten the afterglow that went with spontaneous sex.
I touched my warm face with my palms.It had been way too long.Turning on the shower, I did a quick rinse and turned off the water.
Reed had still been in bed when I slipped into the bathroom.As I pushed back the shower curtain, there was a tap on the door, and the handle moved.
I’d locked the door.I wondered if he expected to be let in.
“Are you okay in there?”he asked.
“Yeah.Be right out.”
“Still hungry?”
