by R. J. Lewis
“I’m not.” This time I looked directly into his eyes with false certainty.
He was still a safe distance away from me, but it was near enough I could understand the rumours. Girls fell to their feet for this guy. He wasn’t all that beautiful to look at, but you were drawn to him, nonetheless. He possessed a rugged charm, and goddamn if I didn’t feel it.
But why, why did I feel it at all?
I wondered if I hid my attraction well. I must have because Thames’ eyes narrowed as he studied me.
“Why don’t I remember you?” he asked, thoughtfully.
“Well, you wouldn’t,” I answered, trying to give him a short smile. “I moved here after you were…” What was the word to use? Imprisoned? Incarcerated? Caught doing illegal shit? Being a habitual criminal?
He responded with a lopsided smile. “Not a Blackwater baby, are you?”
“No.”
“City girl. I can tell.”
I swallowed as he looked me over again, this time slowly, inch by inch. I licked my lips. “Yeah.”
“I like city girls,” he remarked. “They’re a lot more…voyeuristic.”
I gave him a firm look. “Not all of them.”
I saw a glimmer in his gaze just then. Fuck, did he take me as a challenge? Was that response what further sealed my fate? I would analyse my first encounter for months to come, trying to pick apart the exact moment that made him commit to me.
With a soft smile, he asked, “Why are you in this shithole? Who died in your family to warrant you being sent here?”
Thames was unabashedly nosey. And extremely correct. I couldn’t hold his probing gaze. I looked away, images of the car crash still fresh in my mind. Sometimes I closed my eyes and felt like I was standing on the side of the road again, watching it happen. I wasn’t going to respond. I couldn’t physically find the words. I found his face again after I’d cooled off, glaring at him because he was giving me an expectant look.
“Do you usually ask strangers for their life story two seconds after you meet them?” There was an edge in my voice.
“Do you usually talk to very bad men with that sharp tongue of yours?” he replied, smiling at me wickedly.
My heart quickened. “Yes.”
That smile lessened. “Oh, dove,” he muttered, curiously. “Now I really want to know more about you. You’ve got the sexiest cat eyes I’ve ever seen. Keep glaring, pup. I like it.”
I was completely taken aback by his response. My cheeks burned. I wasn’t emotionally advanced enough for this. I couldn’t shut down my body’s response. I was…elated by his compliment. My fucking heart was blooming. You have the sexiest eyes I’ve ever seen. Goddammit, Reid, you really needed to step up your game.
Conor noticed my reaction. I was breathing quicker; my cheeks were probably redder than the Satan costume the idiot behind us was wearing, and I couldn’t look away from his goddamn eyes. His smile deepened.
Where the hell was Reid?
As if reading my mind, Thames stood up. “That little boy is taking forever. We should go look for him, dove.”
I studied my surroundings, hesitant to budge. Maybe he would return now, but…as the seconds ticked by, it was apparent Reid was AWOL. Thames appeared amused.
“Pup,” he said, “Let’s go.”
I swallowed my nerves and stood up. I had to be resolute and appear unperturbed. I wasn’t going to let this bully rattle me. I wasn’t going to be like these girls dribbling in the room, staring at him like he was their messiah. The charm Thames oozed was unlike anything I had ever witnessed, and if I stared at him too long, I might fall prey to it.
Keeping my gaze firmly away from him, I simply nodded. When his back was facing me, I let out a long breath. In an effort to release the tension coiled within me, my fingers gripped the sides of my quilted skirt and squeezed. I followed Thames through the thick throng of people. At one point, he shoved several men aside when he saw I was struggling to squeeze past.
“Watch your fucking step,” he hissed at them.
I caught the way his hands fisted and the dark look in his gaze as he stared them down. This man is trouble.
Mindful of me now, he waited until I was next to him to continue. He was careful not to touch me, not even allowing his clothing to brush against me. I felt strangely hollow by that. Hadn’t he invited me into his lap moments ago?
We trudged up a long staircase, and the crowd thinned out halfway up. There was a child gate at the very top, and Thames unlocked it. I paused mid-step, staring questioningly at it before I met his gaze.
“I don’t have people up here,” he explained, smirking at my hesitation. “Don’t worry, dove. Noise carries in this house.”
“Why does that matter?” I asked.
“In case you scream.”
I frowned at the laughter in his expression. Yeah, he was having fun with me. Fuming, I took the final staircase up and this time I pushed past him, making sure our bodies made contact. I wasn’t going to let him think I feared him. I felt his hard abdomen on my arm, and I couldn’t help but visualize how solid he must be under his clothing.
I had just made it past him, moving down the hall, when his hand took my arm in a gentle grip. I sucked in a breath and turned to him, shocked at his touch.
There was nothing funny in his expression now as he looked down at me.
“Wrong way, dove,” he let out softly.
He let go of me, but I still felt his grip there. I tried to brush off the after effect of his touch, but my pulse was thumping in my ears. I didn’t want to continue past this point. I stood, rooted in that spot, staring warily at him.
What was happening to me? Why was I feeling like my skin was on fire?
The second floor was huge. The room we were in was open, like a second lounge, but there was no furniture. It was all hardwood floors and blank walls, like the house was never lived in. There was only one light on, a half-lit chandelier that dangled over us, and the hallways were dark. This was fitting for Halloween. All we needed next was an axe-wielding murderer to emerge from the shadows.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“To my office,” he said casually.
“For the key,” I clarified.
He smiled wickedly. “For the key.”
Not waiting for my approval, he plodded down the hallway – the same direction I had been going down anyway! What the honest fuck?
“I though this was the wrong way.” I couldn’t help but address it.
“Oops,” was his simple response.
Oops, my ass.
This time, I made sure not to touch him as we walked. I wouldn’t be so careless this time. Trying to prove a point would be the death of me at this rate.
Three rooms down, he opened the door to his right and stepped in. He left it open for me. I paused right before entering and glanced behind me. Downstairs there must have been at least a hundred people crammed like sardines. I could faintly hear their cheers and the instrumental bass that had owned the walls, vibrating them to the rhythm of the music.
Up here, it was dead.
I entered Thames’ room, immediately searching for Reid. It was indeed an office, filled with bookshelves, cabinets and an impressive mahogany desk. What it didn’t have was Reid.
Breathing a little uneasy, I watched Thames round his desk.
“Reid isn’t in here,” I stressed.
Thames smirked. “He’ll be in my other office, then.”
My brows came together, bewildered. “How many offices do you have?”
“Two.”
What in the fuck?
“Well, we should be in the other one, with Reid.”
He opened the desk drawer. “Key’s in this room, dove.” When I didn’t respond, he looked up at me. “He’s in the wrong office.”
I wanted to ask him why the fuck there was more than one office on the second floor of his gargantuan house, but I didn’t think it mattered. What mattered more was my safe e
scape out of the room and back in the arms of Reid.
“This might take a moment,” he said, sorting through his drawers. “The box isn’t where I thought it would be.”
“You need me to help?” I asked, trying to make this as normal as possible, though it felt anything but.
His eyes flickered down my body quickly. “Try the bookshelves.”
I tried not to squeeze at my skirt again as I ambled to one of the bookshelves. I sensed his gaze on me, but I wasn’t brave enough to confront it. Instead, I looked over the shelves, searching for a box, or a key. In the deep recesses of my mind, I knew this was a hopeless errand. There was something else happening under the surface. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe Reid’s car key was going to be laying around like this.
The assortment of books was impressive. It caught my attention quickly. Classic novels like The Odyssey and Wuthering Heights adorned the shelves. My fingers traced the ancient spines. Reading was my favourite pastime, when I had the time outside my social life, that was. Lately, my life was about pleasing my boyfriend and giggling to the gossip his friends shared. I missed the peace of a good book, of a window to thoughtfully look out of, and a comfortable chair to sink into.
The city library had been my second home. Here…the town library was a place to buy your next hit.
The door suddenly slammed shut. I jumped and spun around. Thames was at the door, his hand on the knob. My heart lurched in my chest and my vision went spotty.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, trembling as I realized he was between me and my way out.
Thames pulled what appeared to be a key out of the door, raising it up for me to see. “Looking for this.”
Now he moved across the room and to the locked cabinet. My focus was solely on the door. Scared of feeling trapped, I hurried to it, terrified it was locked. When I got it, I grabbed at the knob and twisted it.
It turned with ease.
I felt faint with relief. Looking back at him, I spotted his amused expression.
No, no, that was too much.
“Is this funny to you?” I spat, crossing my arms as I turned to him.
“You’re jittery,” he said, sliding the key into the cabinet. “Like you think I’d jump you this way.”
I took a moment, deliberating my next response. All I managed was a confused, “This way?”
Sliding the cabinet drawer open, he nodded, his voice growing lower. “You’re not prey, dove. You got a lot more power than you think right now.”
“What does that mean?”
He took a few moments, shuffling through papers and loud objects. I couldn’t see inside the cabinet from where I stood. My attention now was his concentrated expression. Finally, he grabbed out a small wooden box and shoved the drawer shut.
“You say the word and I’d drop to my knees for you,” he stated, turning to look at me. “That’s what I mean.”
It was impossible to brush those words off and appear like nothing was happening. I was extremely aware of how my body was responding. I felt powerful waves of warmth come over me. A man with his kind of confidence, of this kind of refined ability to sway a woman with a single line, had never been known to me.
I felt weak with desire.
I tried to straighten my posture, but my balance was off. I stepped back and let my back rest against the door. All the while his gaze was trapped on me, taking me in with a depth that was too challenging to ignore.
“His key is in here,” he finally said, looking away now.
I took a few breaths, basking in those rare seconds where his attention was averted. He set the box on the desk and opened it. Rifling through the contents with lithe fingers, he produced a key and settled it firmly on the desk.
“Did he at least cover your movie admission before putting you through all this bullshit?” he suddenly asked.
The question didn’t seem relevant. And no, he hadn’t.
“We pay our own way,” I said, quietly. “That’s how I prefer it.”
“I’d have paid the entire theatre out for a girl that looks like you,” he replied without hesitation.
I swallowed and averted my gaze. I looked around the office, half-wondering why I wasn’t hurrying out of there with the key.
“Are these your books?” I wondered, motioning to the bookshelves.
He didn’t look at them. “My father’s.”
“You don’t read?”
“No, but you do, I can tell.”
I shrugged weakly. “Sometimes.”
“You can come around any time you’d like and have a flick through.”
I chuckled dryly. “I don’t think Reid would like that.”
“Fuck that guy.”
Straightening his body, he swiped the key off the desk, along with the key from the cabinet, and walked toward me. I should have moved so we could leave, but I dared myself to stay. I wanted…I wanted to see what he would do. That was the hard truth of the matter.
He had a ghost of a smile on his lips, coming to a stop a few feet from me. He wasn’t going to get nearer, I realized. There would be no arms on either side of me, trapping me to the wall like I’d seen in movies.
Thames was giving me the power.
I looked down at his hand, at both keys he was playing around with now between his fingers. “Your door has the same lock as the cabinet? What the hell is that about?”
“No,” he corrected. “I keep it in the doorknob so I don’t forget where it is. People don’t look twice at it, either.”
“Hiding it in plain sight.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you hiding in there?” I gestured to the cabinet.
Again, he wouldn’t look away from me. Not for a beat. “I respect your freedom, dove. You wouldn’t have one if you knew.”
Okay, illegal shit.
Still, I desperately wanted to know.
Not ready yet to give up the door, I helplessly muttered, “Why did you just tell me about the key if no one is supposed to know?”
“Are you going to tell anybody?”
“Well, no.”
“Consider it our little secret.”
I couldn’t help it. I squeezed the hem of my skirt, releasing the tension. He noticed and that smirk reappeared.
“Is there a reason you’re blocking the exit, pup? Not finished with me yet?”
It took me a moment to formulate a response, and it was weak at best. “I don’t know.”
“You were cutting me down not too long ago.”
“You were being nosey.”
“Because you are so fucking beautiful.”
There it was again. The line I was sure women lost themselves to. I cocked my head to the side, studying him. I wouldn’t pay his remarks any attention. He wasn’t going to get a reaction out of me – not an outwardly one anyway. He didn’t have to know I was a hot mess on the inside.
“You know,” I said, inquisitively, “You’re not what I thought.”
That cocky glint in his eye shone. “No?”
“No.”
Conor Thames was more intriguing than I’d given him credit for. There was a lot happening under the surface in him. He didn’t strike me as one-dimensional.
I heard the knob twist and a heavy push against the door. I stumbled forward, immediately moving out of the way as it whipped open. Reid took a hasty step inside. Judging by the look of surprise, the last thing he expected to find was me.
Confusion marred his face. “What’s going on?”
I immediately felt like I’d done something wrong. My heart beat wildly in my chest.
“We went looking for you,” Thames said, all pleasantries dead. “You went to the wrong fucking office.”
Reid nodded. “I realized that after. Did you find the key?”
“I found your fucking key.” Thames tossed it to him to catch. “You’re lucky I didn’t throw it out when I had the chance. I can’t even believe that fucker is still running.”
“Har
dly is. I got my licence a few months ago. It was supposed to be a beat-up starter.”
Now they both looked at me simultaneously. I felt the tension rise. Saw Reid’s eyes narrow in dislike. I was a little closer to Thames than he had liked. As if proving my devotion, I hurried straight to his side. Yes, this was where I belonged.
“We’ll be going,” Reid told him, and I could hear in his voice that he was unhappy.
We left the room. He walked fast, like he was dying to get out of there. Meanwhile, Thames trudged behind us at a normal pace.
“You should say bye,” I whispered to Reid. “It would be rude not to.”
He flashed me an annoyed look and tossed over his shoulder, “I’ll see you around, Thames.”
When we didn’t hear a response, he stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked up.
While I breathed a sigh of relief that we were going to leave – because I really needed to be out of there – Thames’ stare hadn’t left me. He made it to us a few moments later, reaching the bottom of the stair. It took him a moment before responding, “I’ll come with you, cuz. I want to talk to you about some things.”
As if sensing something was amiss, Reid’s brows furrowed as he glanced between Conor and me. The tendon in his neck strained and his hand clenched around the key tightly. “Conor, can we wait until tomorrow, man? I need to take Char home.”
I never went home. Home was any bed that wasn’t my own, but maybe Reid was expressing his discontent with me. Telling me in a roundabout way that I wouldn’t be crashing his place tonight. I felt a little sick in the stomach. What the hell had I done?
Thames didn’t answer him, much less acknowledge him. He was busy exchanging a few words with a guy nearby wearing a ninja costume.
“What did you say to him?” Reid whispered to me, his eyes cutting into my profile.
I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off Thames, but my brows came together. “What do you mean?”
“Well, why does he suddenly want to come along?”
His accusatory tone made me look at him with annoyance. “I didn’t say anything, Reid.”
“Why were you in the office with him?”
“We were looking for you.”
“You should have waited, Charlotte. Next time, don’t fucking move.”
Was he seriously scolding me?