With Every Heartbeat(8)

The moment Zoey finally wrapped her hand around the key, she slid her gaze to mine and froze. Her eyes were so big and green and innocent, I couldn’t look away.

It was only for a second that we stared at each other, but it felt like an eternity. It was certainly long enough for my penis to go from merely perking one eye open with interest to springing to full attention and ready for duty.

I was so glad I was holding Cora and hiding everything that was going on down there, because this had to be the worst first impression I was ever having on anyone. And to make matters worse, her smell wafted up between us, making me curious all over again what that scent was.

I closed my eyes, trying to block all the senses in my body that were unwillingly going crazy, and then I held my breath.

Zoey gasped. I don’t know if she realized how much she was affecting me, or how much she was dawdling, but she jerked the keys from my pocket, nearly taking a chunk of denim with her in her haste, and then spun away fiddling with key after key until she found the right one.

“The, uh, the light switch is to the right,” I said as the door swung open.

Zoey nodded and disappeared inside. A moment of silence followed before Cora’s front room flooded with light.

“Oh!” Zoey turned from the switch she’d just flipped on. “That feels...strange there.”

“Yeah.” I offered her a stiff smile. “That’s what I always thought, too.” Since the door opened to the left, it would’ve been much more convenient to have the switch on the left side.

Zoey stayed standing by the closed front door as I headed for the hallway. I glanced back at her to find her looking around uneasily like a stranger in a strange place. Heart going out to her because she seemed so uncertain, I cleared my throat.

“So, this is the front room. The kitchen is down the hallway here.” When I turned back and started walking, I heard her hurry after me. “There’s a bathroom here, and then another one at the other end of the hall. And Cora has a personal bath.” I kept walking, tipping my head toward various doorways. “That one is your room. The next is the office and storage, and across from it is Cora’s.”

At Cora’s room, I backed in, using my shoulder to nudge her door open. Then I dipped to flip on the light switch with my elbow. Cora didn’t even stir as I tucked her into bed. I usually put her on top of the bedding first, then made her comfortable before I pulled the sheets out from under her and covered her up. Thinking nothing of it, I slid off her high heels, unbuckling the delicate tiny straps first. Then I worked my way up and began to unbutton the top clasp to her skirt’s zipper when a gasp came from the doorway.

I looked up to find a wide-eyed Zoey in the doorway, gaping at me as if I was trying to take advantage of the passed-out drunk chick on the bed.

My face heated as I jerked my hands away from Cora’s skirt. “I was just...” I cleared my throat and jammed my fingers into my pockets. “I-I’ll let you see to her comfort from there.” I glanced one last time at Cora, restraining myself from the need to strip her down to her panties. She hated to sleep in clothes, and I hated knowing she was going to wake up feeling suffocated.

But a pair of appalled, wide green eyes compelled me to step away from her. Zoey scurried out of the doorway as I approached. In the hallway, I paused and ripped a hand out of my pocket to rub it uneasily across the back of my head. “Do you, uh, do you have everything you need for the night?”

I have no idea what I was really asking, but it felt wrong to leave her here like this in a place that was foreign to her without making sure she was okay.

She nodded and glanced into Cora’s room. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Oh. Yeah.” I grinned sheepishly as I turned back to study Cora. “Sure. She’ll sleep for the rest of the night, and probably late into the morning. Usually water, ibuprofen, and a little breakfast makes her feel best after she wakes up.”

Instead of looking reassured, Zoey shook her head and frowned. “But she shouldn’t be drinking that much. It’s not—”

When she broke off directly and squinted at me as if picking apart my brain and seeing what I was thinking, I tipped my head to the side, wondering what she would’ve said if she’d finished that sentence.

“It’s not what?”

Zoey straightened her back and drew in a breath. “Nothing.” Her eyes were filled with concern as she glanced in at Cora, though.

I felt as if I was being left out of a secret, but I was usually paranoid about people thinking the worst of me and keeping things from me, so I pushed my qualms aside.