FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel by R.J. Belle Page B

on the floor. Then he pulled his shorts up and left the room.
    I walked over and picked up the smaller of the two boxes. Inside I found a white lace thong, a matching strapless bra and a tube of pink lipstick. I then opened the larger box and found a pair of clear silver Stuart Weitzman heels. I quickly dressed as Nate had instructed.
    I was in the lobby waiting and watched as he strolled confidently down the circular staircase towards the lobby area. He was a magnificent sight. He looked incredibly handsome in his black suit. His eyes had a sparkle in them and the little green specs in his eyes seemed to dance around playfully, urging me to get lost within his gaze. I think I fell in love with him all over again in that moment and I hadn’t thought that possible.
    As we sat through a magnificent dinner together talking and laughing, my thoughts drifted back to the dressing room. I was so confused and nervous about what plans he had for us, what plans he had for me. During dinner, he seemed like he had earlier that day on the beach, relaxed and open. The logical part of my brain was telling me to run away, but the other part was telling me that everything was fine. Honestly, it didn't matter what either part of my brain told me, I was in love with the man sitting across the table from me, I was in love with all of him, including the parts that I don’t understand. I realized that day, while he was showing me the pain he held behind that mysterious mask that he wore, that he loved me too. That was all I needed to know.
    When dinner was over, we headed up to our hotel suite. At the door Nate stopped and pulled a white satin blindfold from his suit pants pocket.
    "I am going to put this over your eyes, Kali," he said and lifted the blindfold up to my face tying it in back careful not to tangle my hair in the knot.
    He grabbed one of my hands in his and I could hear him opening the door to the suite...
    "Kali...Kali?" a familiar voice jarred her from her journal and away from her memories.
    She looked up from the rocking chair and saw Carmen smiling down at her.
    "Would you like another? We are going to close in twenty minutes."
    With a heavy sigh, Kali shook her head, no. Realizing where she was, she looked down at the clock display on her iPhone. 8:40 p.m. Feeling a deep sadness come over her at being pulled away from that night with Nate, she reluctantly returned the journal into her green tote bag and gathered up her things. As she stood the room tilted slightly and a wave of dizziness washed over her. That night with Nate was the turning point in their relationship. She had thought it was the beginning of experiences that would bind them together for the rest of their lives. She never saw what was coming. That night she had felt as if her world would forever include Nate, just not the way it did today. Being able to experience him only by reading old journal pages was not the way she had envisioned their future together.
    She shook her head trying to clear both the disorientation and thoughts from her mind and walked down the creaky wooden stairs to the bottom floor. She placed her coffee cup behind the back counter, almost dropping it to the floor.
    "Goodnight, Carmen," Kali said.
    "Goodnight, are you okay?" Carmen asked.
    "Yes, thanks," Kali said and walked out the door, without another word.
    She got on the I5 and headed home, still lost in memories of that July night. When she finally made it home, she washed her pale face, brushed her teeth and got into bed. She lay very still, listening to the faint sound of the waves crashing on the shore outside her condo and wondering if responding to Nate's text earlier in the week had been a mistake. She desperately wanted to go back to him but she was terrified that returning to him one more time might obliterate what was left of her soul.
     

CHAPTER 14
    Sutton pulled into the residential neighborhood where Nate lived, parked the Crown Vic and looked through the case notes