“Nathaniel—”
“No.” He pulled away from her and pushed up into a sitting position, his back against the post at the end of the bed to stare down at her with fiery eyes. “You need to leave now.”
Even though she was still fully dressed, she felt suddenly naked. Her lips tingled. Her body ached. She pushed herself up, too. Nathaniel was staring at her from the end of the bed as if he feared her.
“What’s wrong?” She reached for him but he flinched.
“Nothing’s wrong. We need to focus on getting your key back. There’s no time for distractions. Just leave.”
“But—”
“But nothing. Listen to me. I want you out of here right now.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.” When he didn’t answer, she frowned at him. “Nathaniel, I command you—”
He was off the bed and on his feet in one motion. “You command me? I’ve had it with that bullshit. Open your ears, damn it. I said I want you out of here now.” He picked up the nightstand and threw it against the far wall like it weighed nothing. It splintered into a thousand pieces.
Val’s throat was dry as she stood on shaky legs. She didn’t say another word or even look at him again as she left the room.
“He seems to be feeling better,” Val announced as she returned to the living room. She’d spent a couple of minutes in Lloyd’s lovely violet-colored powder room commanding herself not to cry. It had mostly worked, but her eyes were a bit red.
Reggie turned to look at her. “This guy is a great writer.”
Lloyd closed the book he held. “Oh, come on. You’re just saying that.”
“Am not. You’re fantastic. I can see it in my mind like a movie. Amazing.”
Lloyd nodded. “The movie rights have been optioned. I’m thinking a young Brigitte Bardot for the lead.”
“Naw. More like Jenna Jameson.”
“Anyhow,” Val interjected, “like I was saying. He’s recovering.”
Lloyd nodded. “That’s good to hear. How is he?”
“He’s a total jerk.”
He continued to nod. “Am I missing something here?”
She crossed her arms, feeling all tense and in need of more hot chocolate. Extra marshmallows. “No. Just that he’s a jerk. That’s all. Oh, and as soon as this dark-time is over, we’re out of here, Reggie. Just you and me. We don’t need him around. He’ll just cause more problems.”
Reggie opened his furry mouth, but she held up a finger.
“By ourselves,” she snapped. “You got a problem with that?”
He shut his mouth. “Nope. No problem, boss.”
“Now,” Val turned to Lloyd, “how much longer is this stupid dark-time going to last?”
He raised his one thin eyebrow. “Um. Several more hours. At least. Uh, sorry.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“I have plenty of room here if you want to get some shut-eye. If you want to freshen up, you’re more than welcome to make use of my en suite bathroom. I have a Jacuzzi tub.”
“Sounds tempting.” There was that word again. “Thanks Lloyd.”
Val sat on the sofa while Lloyd continued to read aloud to a captivated Reggie. She crossed her arms and listened to the tale of love and loss and redemption. It had a happy ending.
What a load of crap.
Her eyes burned when she thought about what had happened. What did she do wrong? Was she that repulsive? Maybe she was a lousy kisser. She thought he wanted her. No, she knew he wanted her. But just as she was all ready to . . . well, plunge right in, he’d pushed her away like she was a disgusting insect.
Women didn’t like to feel like disgusting insects. It was now a proven fact.
She held her arms tightly against herself.
What’s wrong with me? she thought.
Come to think of it, what was wrong with her to want him to touch her in the first place? He was a demon. It went against everything she believed in. What kind of an angel was she, anyhow? It had turned out for the best.
Nothing happened.
Good.
She decided not to give it another thought. The key was all that mattered. Time was running out for Barlow, for herself, for the world at large. She had to focus. First thing in the morning she would find this Mayor Vaille’s mansion, march right in and take back what was rightfully hers. Well, Barlow’s. And it would all work out. Just had to keep with the positive thinking.
Yeah, right.
Being that she was exhausted, mentally and physically, she must have fallen asleep on
Lloyd’s couch after a while, with the sound of the romance novel reading in the background.
When she opened her eyes it was light outside Lloyd’s bay window.
She made quick use of Lloyd’s bathroom to freshen up and marched back down the stairs.
She poked Reggie, still curled up on his velour pillow. “Let’s get going.”
He blinked his eyes open, yawned, and got onto his feet. Then stretched out each leg before he looked at her.
“I dreamed about Claire,” he said.
“And how did that go for you?”
“She was a rat, too. Seemed right, somehow. But we were together and we were happy.