It was like she was acknowledging her uncontrollable need to touch him. To run her hands over his beautiful body. To taste his mouth, rip open his shirt, and lick a slow line down to his…
Damn.
At the moment, she was glad that he couldn’t read her mind.
“Please, Vicky, have a seat,” she said.
Jacob groaned with obvious frustration.
Goddammit, he thought. She’s afraid to be alone with me now. How am I supposed to tell her I think I’m falling in love with her?
Amanda’s mouth went dry and her gaze shot to his. His green eyes widened. Obviously he hadn’t meant her to hear that last thought.
“Amanda…I…” he began and then closed his mouth.
Vicky watched curiously. “Am I missing something here?”
“No,” Amanda said quietly, looking down at her desk.
Jacob swore softly under his breath. “I’ll see you around.”
Then he turned and left her office.
Amanda’s heart thudded hard in her chest. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t. Jacob couldn’t be falling in love with her. That didn’t make any sense at all. It was part of the curse. He only thought he was falling in love with her.
“Wow,” Vicky said. “That was intense.”
“That was nothing.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Yeah, right.” Vicky grinned. “Is there something between you two that I don’t know about? I thought you hated the guy.”
“I do.” But, of course, she didn’t. More lies he’d be able to see through with a well-placed question.
“Well, there is a thin line between love and hate, isn’t there? All it takes is a little push to stumble over to the other side.”
“It’s not like that.”
Vicky shrugged. “All I can say is that if I could get some guy to look at me that intensely, I’d be a happy girl.”
“You’re seeing things,” Amanda said firmly. “Now, let’s start going over my cases. Tomorrow’s my last day, after all.”
Vicky moved toward her and gave Amanda a big hug. “I’m going to miss you so much!”
Amanda hugged her back and felt her throat tighten. “I’ll miss you, too.”
“Are you absolutely sure you’re not going to change your mind and stay?”
“I’m sure. Everything’s in place. David will be back tomorrow before the party to help me move my stuff.”
Vicky made a face. “That David. He’s nice enough, I guess, but he’s just so boring.”
“That’s your opinion. I really like him.”
“Like him?” Vicky repeated. “I’d hope that you’d feel more than ‘like’ for the guy you’re planning on changing your entire life for. But that’s just my opinion again. All I can say is he’s no Jacob Caine.”
No, he wasn’t.
How am I supposed to tell her I think I’m falling in love with her? Jacob’s thought still echoed in her mind.
It wasn’t true.
It couldn’t be.
FOR THE REST of the day and night she stayed as busy as she could and found that it was possible to push thoughts of Jacob to the back of her mind. She could function.
But when she did think of him, it wasn’t only about how much she was attracted to him and how he’d made her feel when they’d had sex. No, she was thinking about him beyond the physical. The fact that she liked talking to him, liked how he challenged her and made her think about things from a different point of view. She felt a strange companionship when they were alone together.
Also, this was a man who knew what it was like to be a psychic, and he didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, he thought her abilities were, how did he put it? Amazing?
She wasn’t mad at him for grilling her mother yesterday about the past. He’d made her all but admit that Amanda’s father hadn’t left only because he didn’t want to deal with Amanda’s psychic abilities.
Could it be possible? she wondered.
The thought didn’t make her feel that much better about being abandoned by her dad at such a young age, but it did make her feel…different.
After all, his shunning of her had led to a lot of self-image issues. Maybe if she’d had two supportive parents who’d loved her unconditionally no matter how strange she was, it might have made the cruel taunts from the kids at school a little more bearable—and the nickname of Amanda the Strange wouldn’t get that immediate knee-jerk reaction from her that had turned her off Jacob in the first place.
SIX YEARS at PARA. She looked around the office after she’d cleaned out her desk on Tuesday afternoon. Hard to believe so much time had passed. Everyone else had left to get ready for her party that night at O’Grady’s. She felt a strange twinge in her chest then. A sense of loss. She’d miss here more than she’d realized.
You don’t have to go, a little voice in her head reminded her. You can stay here with the people who accept you exactly as you are.
No, she’d go to the city with David. She’d make it work.
As far as she was concerned, the choice had already been made.
Besides, she hadn’t even seen Jacob since he’d mentally admitted to possibly falling in love with her in her office yesterday morning. He’d kept a low profile ever since.
It was better that way. It made things a lot easier.
And this magical pull she felt toward him that had reached near-painful proportions due to his very noticeable absence would fade over time.
She sure as hell hoped it would.
So, she’d go to the party. She’d try to have a good time with her coworkers and friends. And tomorrow her new life would begin. She clutched her heavy cardboard box filled with her personal belongings against her chest and tried to ignore the lump in her throat.
“Have to say, I’m sorry to see you go,” Patrick said.