I have never had this intense sexual reaction towards anybody before. When I’ve been with guys in the past, including Rodney, they always started off as basic dates that graduated to some kissing and handholding. I have always been very clear about not basing a relationship on sex and sex alone.
Right now, I don’t even know what I have with Reed.
We had one magical night together. Now I’m working for him, so I’m around him all the time. And there’s all this sexual energy between us.
He said he thought about me every day since that night in London. But isn’t that what he would say to anyone? How else was he supposed to respond to my nonsensical question?
I get up from the chair, walk over to the sprawling library in the room, and stand facing the books. I don’t know what I’m looking for, maybe just answers. My eyes flick through the titles—they are mostly finance and business-related books. There is some classical literature. Some legal ones too. Nothing to give me any clues.
I sit in one of the armchairs by the books. I could definitely do with some coffee right now but I’m too afraid to leave the room. I’m too embarrassed to face him again.
Then there’s a knock on the door and Missy pops her head around into the room.
“Would you like some coffee? Something to eat? Mr. Silvers asked me to check in on you,” she says with a smile.
I wonder if she can see that I’m totally losing it right now.
“Yes, please, yes, I think I would like that. I forgot about breakfast when I left the house.”
Missy nods and goes away.
I have to admit that is sweet of him. To send Missy over to ask me if I need something. Maybe it’s because he ate my peach. I can’t help but smile at that.
I’ve spent pretty much all day in the study. I’ve made phone calls, researched newspaper articles, made pages after pages of notes. It’s been at least six hours since I arrived at the house, and now, I feel like my fingers are cramping up.
Tom checked in on me around lunchtime, but other than him, nobody else has been here all day. I have been wondering if Reed was in the house all day too, or if he went back to work. Either way, I didn’t want to step out and find out. If I see him again, I am sure I’d melt into a puddle.
Now I’ve decided that it’s time for me to leave. Honestly, I’ve managed to get a lot of work done today. I’ve found out details about his parents’ car crash. The one that killed them. The newspaper reports talk about the severe conditions that his parents were in and about being rushed to the hospital. They were both in critical states but still alive at the scene of the accident.
There were no follow-up reports in the papers, so the only way for me to find out when they died was to find their death certificates or look through obituaries. If all else fails, I will have to make a trip to the public records department, which I know isn’t going to be an easy task.
But there is something niggling at me now, I guess because I don’t have conclusive proof yet that they died in the hospital. I believed it initially because Reed said they had, but where is the evidence? Did he attend their funerals? Did he say a final goodbye?
I don’t even know how to begin a conversation like that with him.
I switch off the computer and turn off the lights. It’s evening now and I’m actually looking forward to my own apartment. A long shower. Some ramen for dinner and then the comfort of my own bed. My mind is too tired to think of anything else. I feel like I’ve been working on over-drive.
I call out to Tom and Missy as I make my way to the front door.
“I’m leaving, guys! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
There’s no answer so I just pull open the door. Before I can take a step out, I bump into him. Reed is just on his way in. Our bodies thud together, and he grabs my arms to steady me. I feel like my breath has been knocked out of my lungs. My mind must have been knocked out too because I just stare up at him dumbly like I’ve forgotten how to speak.