Page 72 of His Haunted Desire
AURORA
“Are you sure you’re okay to handle all this, sweetness?” Grandma asks as I help her up the stairs.
“You need your rest,” I tell her.
“You’re an angel. A savior. I know I sound unacceptably melodramatic, yet it is the unvarnished truth.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“Is something wrong?” She asks as I help her into bed.
“No, I promise. All you need to worry about is getting some rest.”
I return to the shop, looking out the front window. It’s become a habit over the past two weeks. Now and then, Raiden pulls up in his sports car, sending me brooding looks from across the street before pulling away.
Ellie thinks I miss him, and perhaps she’s right.
It was sweet to let go of responsibility, to be his plaything, to call himsirand let him take care of everything. Now, it’s like the weight of the world is on my shoulders again. With Raiden’smoney, I could pay our lawyers to get the Goliath guys to back off, but it’s still a struggle.
Plus, the shop needs tending to, I’ve got college work piling up, and of course, Grandma needs me to take care of her. Sometimes I dream about the day we spent together, watching movies, simply being in each other’s company.
It probably says more about my lack of romantic experience than anything else. I yearn to relive that day again, to forget about everything else, to watch scary movies and climb into his arms.
At night sometimes, the sheets will get all tangled around me and my thoughts will go to the steamier memories. His hands roaming over my body. The savage look in his eyes when I called himsir.
How can we be together though? Soon, Grandma will recover, and I’ll need to leave the State. I need to focus on college. Maybe after college, my work will take me abroad. A relationship wasn’t part of the plan.
The door to the shop opens, jolting me into the present.
It’s Simon Kerkenwall, the douche who works for Goliath and seems to get off on the fact I hate the very sight of his combover and wire-rimmed spectacles.
“You’re putting up quite the fight, Aurora,” he says, pacing up and down the store, touching items as he goes, acting as if he already owns the place.
“Get out of my store,” I tell him flatly, walking around the counter.
He doesn’t move, just grins at me. “A Goliath effort, you could say. How long can you sustain it? That’s the real question.Goliath has put aside a very nice chunk o’ change for this endeavor. When your lawyers miraculously fought back, you know what my boss said?”
“I just told you to leave,” I snap.
“You did.” He doesn’t budge. “Aren’t you curious?”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“He said,They’ve made this personal. That’s not something you want to hear from a man of his means. If you had any intelligence, you would take the cash you’ve scrounged and start a new life elsewhere. Wewillget this store.”
“If you don’t leave, I’ll call the cops.”
He laughs and shrugs. “Go ahead. I’ll explain I wanted to hire you for your expert work. They might give me a stern talking-to, might warn me to stay away, but do you imagine they’ll arrest me?” He laughs again, right in my face. “You’ve got no leverage, you silly, scared little girl.”
I march to the desk. “I mean it.” Pick up the phone. “Time to go.”
He yawns and drops into one of the waiting chairs.
I dial911, then quickly end the call. He’s right. The cops won’t arrest him.
Instead of calling the cops, I head into the back room and grab my cell. My heart thunders as I hover over his contact in my phone. I’ve got him saved assir.
He answers quickly, making me think of him waiting near his phone, smoldering at it, wanting me to call.
