“I had somewhere to be, but you were a damsel in distress. There’s no way I’m gonna’ leave you laid up in a hospital by yourself, especially if your manager has things to do. I want to stay,” I said lowering my voice a little. “If it’s not a problem, I mean.”
Eye-lock, followed by cock-jump.
“See?” Dinah chirped. “He wants to stay. And besides, I shouldn’t be long. Everything will be fine, and if anything changes, I’ll call and let you know.” She paused and eyed Simone. “You trust me, don’t you?”
Simone’s eyes softened. “I trust you with my life, girl,” she answered promptly. “You know I do.”
Dinah smiled back at her. “Good! And now there’s someone else you can trust with the very same thing. Literally.” She picked her designer purse up from the chair and slung it over her shoulder, as if the matter had been settled. “I’ll be back soon,” she reiterated. “If Mr. Hanson here gets too flirty with you, just let a sister know.” She dropped a wink and we laughed; then, she strutted out of the hospital room, leaving Simone and me in a pristine silence.
I turned to look at her, desperate to reconnect. That was all I had come for – to establish a connection with Simone Storm; to reintroduce myself to her. We spent a lot of time together, yet it was obvious that she didn’t recognize me, even though I was sitting in front of her, in warm flesh.
That would need to change.
The thought knotted my heart but also served to remind me of my mission.
Simone fidgeted a little in the bed and then she finally spoke. “I’m sorry about Dinah,” she was saying again. “She can be aggressive sometimes. I guess that’s why she’s my manager. She’s the one who makes the magic happen. I just write the books.”
“She’s definitely a very organized and forward-thinking woman,” I commented thoughtfully. “I’ve already said it a million times, but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. It’s not very often that I get the opportunity to save a beautiful woman.”
Or more accurately, the woman of my dreams…
“But if you really want me to leave, I will. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with my presence.”
Simone pressed her lips together. “No, I mean…” she paused, reigning in the eagerness that had my excitement shooting through the roof. “Dinah’s already gone, and you obviously have the time on your hands, so I guess it’s fine.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world,” I clarified. “There’s no one waiting for me at home.” I gave the comment a second to sink into her brain.
“Well,” she said tipping her chin up a little. “Since you’re so hell-bent on staying, I guess it makes no sense arguing about it. If anything, I should be grateful. I don’t know many guys who would do what you did.”
“Apparently, Evan Hanson would do something exactly like this,” I suggested easily through a chuckle. “And just so you know, I’m not a player or a flirt.”
She threw her head back and laughed and my eyes dropped to her throat.
“The lines you dropped earlier were pretty smooth. You were definitely in flirt mode,” she accused me, rightfully.
But, “Was I the only one in flirt mode?”
Simone moistened her lips and I leaned closer, hating the fact that I was halfway across the room.
“And for the record, those weren’t lines,” I continued. “I only flirt with women I find irresistible. And you…” The words faded in the thickening atmosphere. “You are exactly that, Simone Storm.”
Her neck pulled back a little and a sexy grin curved her lips. “Thank you.”
Unable to take the distance any longer, I rose from my seat. When I approached Simone, her breath hitched. It was taking everything in me not to touch my lips against hers and see how she tasted. The tease she’d given me on that sidewalk had blown my mind. I could only imagine what the full impact would have been like.
Not yet. She’s not ready. Shit, I may not even be ready.
We spent the remainder of the hour conversing, but it was mixed with subtle hints of intrigue and desire. My need to bond with the woman who had consumed my thoughts for two years straight was being satisfied, but it still wasn’t enough.
She had no idea who I was. She had no awareness of the fact that I was the protagonist of her epic stories, of her entire life. The many times the truth about my identity had almost tumbled off the tip of my tongue were becoming too many to count, but I held steady. A hospital room and Simone with a bandage on her knee wasn’t the ideal scenario.
She’d never write a scene like that.
We needed to be alone, in her hotel room or mine.
Or maybe we needed to be in a jazz club, where the music and the lights were low. It needed to be a place that could facilitate the mood I was craving to create; where I could look deep into her eyes and convey everything I felt. My mind was running rampant with all the things I wanted to say to her. She needed to understand that I already knew everything about her, not because she’d rattled off some delusional bullshit in the back of an ambulance, but because I had been there from the very beginning. I wanted to tell Simone the truth about who I was, but how the hell would I explain it? And would she believe me if I did?
I had no idea in that moment, but it wouldn’t take me long to figure it out. And when I did, there’d be no room for doubt in her mind about who I was.
Forever Yours
Natasha
~Chapter Three~
English Lit flew by. Under normal circumstances, the hour and a half lecture would drag on and take forever to end, but today was different. I was a self-professed nerd. I was the one who sat at the front of the class and asked the most questions; but today, my mind was consumed with thoughts of Evan Hanson and the way he’d ordered me to meet him after class.
The nerve of him, I said to myself. Clearly, he was cocky, and entitled, and totally accustomed to having whatever and whoever he set his eyes on. Now, it seemed as if he’d set his eyes on me.
Seemed…
I’d rolled my eyes and tried to act as if I wasn’t interested, but I don’t think I’d fooled him. Hell, I had barely fooled myself. The slow spread of warmth extending over my cheeks and into my crotch when he looked at me – and when he rubbed his finger over my palm, had me about to evaporate into a puddle of steaming lust.
I tried to tune in to the lecturer.
We were on a new topic in English Lit, but after fifteen minutes of trying with minimal success, I’d given up and willingly fallen into thoughts of where we’d meet and what he’d say if we did.
When we did.
The lecture finally ended, and students started clearing out of the hall. I tried to stall by talking to my working group members about an upcoming project, but there was only so far I could push it before they started to disperse. The minute I exited the classroom, my eyes landed on Evan standing across the hall. He was posted against a wall, peering into his cell phone.
Damn, he was finer than wine. The way his blond hair fell over his hanging head had me wondering what it would be like to run my fingers through it.