Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 185785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Oh boy.
He passes me a bottle of water from the stocked and well-organized fridge before he pulls out a domed plate. He lifts the dome. It’s penne with roasted vegetables and a piece of breaded meat, looks like chicken. He puts the dome on the counter and pops the plate into the microwave. “Do you want to watch television? Or…” He looks around.
“I think I’d like to just maybe take a bath or shower and then go to sleep. If that’s okay.”
“Of course it is. Feel free to use the tub in my bathroom. Under the cabinet are extra things you might need. Feel free to use them. Lotions and potions more suited to a woman in there compared to what’s on the shelf. Don’t be afraid to open drawers and cupboards. You’re welcome to make yourself at home in there.”
“Thank you. I brought my own potions, but I appreciate it.”
“The wi-fi network name starts with KC. You’ll see it in a list. I’m the only KC. The password… ”
He spells out K$ll1aN~
I nod, while putting it into my phone and then I say, “Thank you. And, um, goodnight.”
I hurry to my duffle bag in the guest bathroom and grab a few of my things before heading down the hall to his bedroom and closing the door. I set the bottle of water down on the nightstand and head into the bathroom with my pjs.
After I lock the door, I stare at myself in the mirror.
What a day.
What a crazy day.
I peek under the vanity and find extra toothbrushes and feminine products. Female bodywash. High end stuff. He is stocked up for a female in his ensuite bathroom, so clearly, he has enough female guests who might need tampons, nail polish remover, or other similar things. Or, he has a girlfriend, and this is her stash. But the hers side of the closet is totally empty, so maybe it’s just for casual guests.
I have all my own stuff so that’s what I set down on the side of the tub – a tub big enough for two, maybe even four. It has jets, too, so I use them. I close my eyes as I let them pulse at my body, which feels battered. I haven’t had much sleep in the past couple of days. I haven’t had a truly restful sleep in much longer than that. And all the stress…
Yeah, it feels like I’ve been through a war. A long and agonizing one. And I don’t know when it’ll be over.
This new development is just – weird. I have no idea what to make of the events of the day. It all washes over me. Ray in the apartment - terrified but determined to take me with him, despite that his stuff was out of my room and the lock had been changed.
Ray, looking enraged. Looking devastated and shocked that I want to end things. Would he have dragged me to the car? Would he have hurt me if I outright refused to go?
I burst into tears.
I cry hard. I cry as if I haven’t cried in years and have held it all in to the point that it just blasts out of me.
Ugly crying.
Sobbing hard.
Crying into bubbles in a beautiful bathroom belonging to a stranger. A stranger who has me here as a marker for Ray’s debt. But, really, a stranger who has saved me from the insanity of life with Ray, which would’ve gotten even more insane if I hadn’t found a way out.
I have to get my head straight and figure out what all this means. Find a way to communicate with Killian, who I find insanely attractive but absolutely terrifying.
If Ray finds the money, I absolutely need him to just leave me alone anyway.
If Ray doesn’t, I have no idea what that means for him. Or me.
I don’t think Killian would do anything bad to me. He doesn’t seem by his actions so far like that’s in the plans, though maybe he wants Ray to think it is.
I have no idea. I just don’t know.
It’s now after midnight and I need to work tomorrow, so I decide I have to get myself together.
I let the water drain out, dry off with luscious towels, and put my pajamas on.
I then climb into Killian’s bed, which smells like I recall him smelling when he hugged me back at the apartment the night I met him.
And for some reason, as if I don’t have a care in the world, I fall asleep almost immediately.
***
I jolt awake gasping. The bedding is shifting.
Is Killian climbing into the bed beside me?
He is.
He crawls under the covers and I scoot away. His breathing immediately evens out. I don’t know what to do. Why is he in bed with me? I lay frozen, in the massive bed thinking he sleep-walked. He climbed in to where I was as if I wasn’t even there. Should I get up and go sleep on his couch? I bite the inside of my cheek. If I do, he’d know what he did in the morning and it’ll be a whole awkward … thing. Like things aren't awkward enough between us.