Emma Holly by Strange Attractions

Author:Strange Attractions [Attractions, Strange]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2012-05-30T05:51:48+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Charity was hardly the poster girl for Eddie Bauer. The plants she felt most comfortable with came in pots. All the same, she felt a sudden need to get outdoors. Everything had happened so quickly. Leaving Future-Tech. Coming here. Sleeping with Eric. Charity might be "adventurous," but any girl would need to clear her head after all that.

Eric's shirt and trousers were still in her room from the night before. Resisting the temptation to borrow, she dressed in her comfiest jeans and T-shirt. She was glad she'd had the foresight to pack them. No one could be a sex kitten all the time.

Happily, she had no trouble leaving the house. Security, it seemed, was most concerned with Mosswood's perimeter. The weather outside was a mist verging on a drizzle, cool enough to warrant shrugging on her blue hoodie. She followed a smoothly beaten path past the conservatory pool, across a short stretch of grass, and into the woods. The presence of planted beds and wooden benches told her she wasn't likely to get lost. People were supposed to walk here. The trail probably made a loop through the trees.

This assumption and the quiet had a welcome effect on her nerves. So what if she was too attracted to Eric? For the first time in she couldn't think how long, she felt tranquil.

I'm all right, she thought. I can handle this game.

A break in the trees up ahead revealed a long, pine-blanketed valley. The mist was thicker at its bottom, a cloud condensing near the earth. Sheltered until now by forest, she'd forgotten a whole big world stretched outside. The reminder encouraged her to keep her head on straight. Her problems were small in the greater scheme of things. Electron-small, B.G. might have said.

When she spotted her host sitting on a stump in front of the view, it didn't even give her a start. Of course he was here. His presence was like what Eric said about thinking of someone moments before they called. However the coincidence happened, B.G. had his back to her and was wearing headphones.

He wasn't moving to the music as she would have been. Instead, he looked like he was analyzing whatever played, too focused to remember to enjoy. That, more than anything, prodded her to intrude.

She touched his shoulder lightly, then sat beside him when he twisted around. The stump was plenty big enough for them both.

"Charity!" he exclaimed, pulling the earphones down around his neck.

Because he seemed pleased to see her, she leaned close enough to hear the tune. Sheryl Crow was trying to tell him that every day was a winding road. Charity smiled to herself. Her recent life was certainly proving that.

"I don't know, B.G., I wouldn't have guessed you were down with the rocker girls."

"Eric gave me this CD," he said as if he didn't want her misled. "I appreciate a taste of what other people listen to, but I'm afraid the eighteenth century is more my speed."

"M-M-Mozart?"

He laughed at the way she said it.

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