جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 140

How did I find myself here again? Fully clothed and lying on top of the tightly made duvet of Graham's bed in his hotel room?Not that I'm complaining. When he asked if I wanted to watch an episode of TV in his bedroom, I gladly accepted. I mean who in their right mind would turn down time to lie in bed with a ridiculously hot guy and watch TV? Even a nun would be tempted.Graham flips the channels, our hands precariously close to one another as they set on top of the bedspread, but yet we haven't touched."Want to watch Jurassic Park again?" he asks with a laugh."Can we make it through?"He grabs my hand, holding it in the space between us. "I'd be okay if we missed it again." The big smile catches me off guard when I look. The way his eyes twinkle and happiness, the dark stubble on his cheek rough, I know that he's been absolutely serious.Nerves take up in my stomach. We've been here before, but there's still a newness to it all. So much of our future is up for grabs. D

I swear I can smell him. My body tingles as he gets close and the air around the check-in desk thickens. There's an excitement that wasn't there seconds before and then, as expected, Graham turns the corner of the long hallway from his room and smiles in my direction.Something about his happy look brings it out for me as well. I swear, I try to contain my expression. I tell my body to lock it down. That hussy doesn't care. I'm smiling like a crazy person by the time he stops in front of me."Tara," he says before leaning over and kissing me slowly smack dab on the lips right in front of the lobby.I laugh and pull back, overwhelmed with emotion. Has a man ever kissed me in public like that? It's a little sinful. And I love every minute of it.He's the same he's been in our most recent nights together—tight-fitted jeans and a long sleeve thermal shirt—but tonight he has a thick jacket unzipped. There's only twenty minutes until my shift ends, and if we're following the same rou

The room is bright and hot and stuffy. The lights blaze down on the growing plants as the walls close in on me. The shadows from the corners get closer with every fleeting millisecond it takes to scroll through my contacts and find his name.Time stands still and then rushes forward each time the phone rings and no one picks up on the other end. What is he doing tonight?"Please. Please. Please," I whisper even though I'm alone in the room.The call switches to voicemail and I hang up staring at my screen as if somehow, it's his electronic device's fault and not his.I hit recall and tip the top of one of the paper boxes stacked low enough for me to see. Inside green flakes of what looks like petals are wrapped together in clear cellophane. Dwight — or whoever is working down here — has quite the operation going. It looks like something you'd find in a movie. One of those cop comedies where somehow the dumber-than-a-box-of-rocks recruits catch the bad guys and $1 billion in dru

The cold outside matches the temperature of the blood running through my veins even though I'm still wearing Graham's coat and we've been inside the Pelican Bay police station for over an hour. Detective Anderson from last night asked every question under the sun involving Dwight and working at the bed-and-breakfast. My whole life was laid before everyone.I've been less than helpful. Not because I'm still in shock — which I am — or because I have any loyalties, but I had no idea. Sure, Dwight was a bit strange, but I never thought he could be a drug kingpin of Pelican Bay. I never saw that coming. Who would?A shiver racks my body and Graham pulls me in close, rubbing his hand up and down my arm."I promise we're almost done here," the detective says, scratching a few of my last words on a piece of paper in front of him. "Is there anything else you can think of before we finish?"I shake my head with a double shrug. "I'm sorry.""Cammie never said anything to you or gave you

One year later*Graham*A breeze picks up on the street and blows Tara's hair behind her. Jasper, our Labrador puppy — who isn't so much a puppy anymore — tugs at the leash headed home."He would not make it in Maine," I say watching the sixty-pound dog tug at Tara's hand. Any time the temperature falls below forty we cut our walks shorts, but living in the city is hard and he needs exercise. Across the bay the lights of San Francisco twinkle.How much has changed in one simple year? Tara and I moved to California so I could work at the new branch in San Francisco, but rather than live in the overpriced city, we decided to stay in another overpriced city, Sausalito. Jasper came a few months later. At this time of night most people have cleared the streets as the temperature falls, but a few of the art galleries that drew Tara to this piece of land over the bridge are still open.Going back to work at a hotel was something Tara wasn't ready to do yet, but after we settled in a