The Taking (Seven Deadly Sins #3)(44)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to disturb you. There was a nice breeze coming from outside.”

So he’d just sat there half the night? If only she could figure out how to be so zen. She suffered from nervous energy most of the time and found it hard to be still, to quiet her body and her mind.

“Oh. Good. A breeze is good.” Regan climbed out of bed, wanting to avoid feeling like she was waiting for him to kiss her. Or worse, waiting for him to make future plans with her. “I hate to rush you, but I really have to get to work. I slept later than I should have and I’m going to have to fly to get there on time. You’re welcome to stay and take a shower if you’d like, and there’s coffee in the kitchen.”

That sounded casual, calm, collected. She hoped. Like a woman who had one-night stands and didn’t think twice about it.

“I’ll head out with you,” he said, already pulling on his jeans. “But thank you.”

“Okay, great.” Feeling more than a little awkward, Regan grabbed some clothes from her closet and went into the bathroom. She didn’t have time to wash and dry her hair, but she couldn’t skip the shower. Not when she could smell Felix on her skin as she pulled off her nightgown. His scent was all over her body, and she still felt the remnants of him between her thighs.

So much for safe sex. That more than anything proved the state of mind she’d been in the night before, because she’d never even had sex with her ex-husband without a condom. Blame it on the sleepwalking and the snake, because it was totally out of character for her to be so irresponsible.

Jumping into the shower, she removed Felix from her body with cucumber-melon shower gel. Maybe by the time she was done, he would be gone. Then she could avoid the whole question of whether they would see each other again or not.

No such luck. When she came out of the bathroom ready for work, he was sitting fully dressed on her bed, which he had made. Wow. She had never actually seen a man make a bed before, which probably said something about the company she’d been keeping.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yes.” Regan glanced around the room for her purse and didn’t see it. She must have dropped it on the kitchen counter when she’d gotten the wine the night before.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asked as they headed for the door.

Regan stumbled a little in her peep-toes. “Oh, I have dinner plans with my friend Jen.” Damn it. But at least he had asked. That was something.

“Good. You won’t be alone.”

Or not.

“Remember to push a chair in front of your balcony door when you go to bed.”

“Isn’t that a fire hazard?” she asked, feeling a little cranky as she went down the stairs, him behind her.

“No. You have smoke detectors. If one goes off, you get up and move the chair and go outside. It’s better to have a chair there and have to move it on the very slim chance of a fire than to find yourself dangling from the railing again.”

She hit the wood steps a little harder with her shoes. Did he have to be right at the same time he was blowing her off? “Okay, you’re right. Chair it is.”

“Did I do something to make you angry?” Felix asked as they hit the landing of the foyer.

“No, of course not.” Regan realized she’d forgotten to stop in the kitchen. “Shit. My purse. I’ll be right back.”

Furious with herself for wanting more, Regan went left into the kitchen. She had gotten to have sex with Felix, that should be enough. He had been there emotionally, too, when she had needed him. It was ridiculous to expect or crave more.

She’d never been a discontent person. Even being married to Beau hadn’t been about feeling discontent, but about being belittled on a regular basis. She was generally easily pleased and happy.

So why was she so worked up about Felix?

Because it had felt good to be with him. Both in bed and out.

Her purse was on the counter as predicted and she grabbed it and spun around on her heels. Felix was in front of her.

“Oh! Geez, I didn’t realize you followed me.” She grabbed her neck. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” Felix pointed to the kitchen door. “But I realized it makes more sense for me to leave from the side of the house since I’m going that way.”

“Right. Sure.” Regan mentally rolled her eyes. She was just full of inane comments this morning. “Thanks. For last night.”

Yikes, that didn’t sound right. She cleared her throat. “For saving me, I mean. From falling off the balcony. And for the … other stuff. The snake, I mean.”

“Regan.” Felix moved closer to her, his arms reaching out and resting on her shoulders.

“Yes?” She fought the urge to back up. It was really difficult to think straight when he was so close to her.

“I’ll call you.”

He kissed her, a nice long kiss, his tongue making its way into her mouth and teasing hers. Then he pulled back. “Bye. Be safe.”

She watched him open her kitchen door and exit without a glance back. Be safe? I’ll call you?

What the hell did either of those mean?

“It means you’ve been dumped,” Chris told her in no uncertain terms as he sipped his gin and tonic.

“No, you haven’t!” Jen protested. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a man.”“Which is why she should listen to me,” Chris said. “I understand the male psyche.”

Regan sipped her glass of wine and frowned at her friends. They were in the courtyard at Pat O’Brien’s playing tourist. Chris had wanted to go out, but Regan hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of a club or bar with loud music, so they had compromised. Now she almost wished she had stayed at home because this was not what she wanted to hear.

“What makes you think I’ve been dumped?”

“He didn’t make plans to see you again. He said he’d call you. Lame.” Chris waved his hand. “Look, I don’t mean to be a bitch—”

“Yes, you do,” Jen interrupted, smirk on her face.

“Shut up,” he told her. “I have the floor right now. You can give your opinion after I tell you all the truth you don’t want to hear.”

Regan smacked at the plant frond that kept invading her space and tickling her shoulder. “Wow, I can’t wait.”

“So, anyway,” he said with a pointed look in Jen’s direction. “If he wanted to see you again, he would have made plans. Plain and simple. And come on, what are the odds he would be walking past your house when you’re about to plunge to your death? He was totally coming over to see you.”