Strike by Sheryl Zaines Page B

around in her night clothes even though she technically was. She vowed never to buy pajamas.
    As the car pulled away from the curb, she settled into the backseat and started running over everything in her head. She had everything she needed at work to get through the day. When that was over she would be able to walk home, because she would have tennis shoes on. By then, it would be late enough to get the key from the landlord.
    Why couldn’t she have been this rational about things the night before? She still didn’t want to think about her door or what had caused the damage, but she wasn’t going to have a panic attack over it. When she found out what had happened, she would figure out what she needed to do to feel safe again.
    She hugged herself as she thought about how out of control she had been the night before. It wasn’t like her to need to be with someone like that. It had to have been a reaction from the adrenaline rush. Now she was going to have to explain to Collin that she really wasn’t a sex addict. Of course, if she just ignored him, she wouldn’t have to say anything…unless he came over. Then it would be simple. She would just tell him that the two times they had been together had been flukes and she really wasn’t that interested in him.

Chapter Three
     
    “I’m not just sitting around the house since you moved out,” Tori said into the phone. “I got into some nutrition classes in the evening three nights a week. It’s really convenient, because I don’t have to cook.”
    “Why are you taking classes when you know enough to be teaching them?” Anne asked.
    Tori got up and started pacing the room, glad they were on the phone and her friend couldn’t see her reaction. She knew that anyone who knew her for any amount of time could read her like a book.
    “It is a job, isn’t it?” Anne said. “I tell you to go out and get a life and you get another job.”
    “Well, I am meeting new people. I really like some of the students in the class. The income is coming in handy too, since I haven’t found anyone to move in to your old bedroom.”
    Tori had known this conversation was coming. Ever since she had told her best friend about the having to run from the apartment, the once-a-day phone call was now three times a day. She felt as if every aspect of her life was getting picked over. Oh well, she’d known Anne would eventually find out about her second job and have an opinion about it. At least she’d quit asking about Collin, for the moment at least.
    There was a knock at the door.
    “Hear that?” Tori asked. “There’s someone here to see me. I gotta go.”
    “If it’s the guy from across the street, then you’d better call me back with the details,” Anne said, and hung up.
    Tori crossed the room, shaking her head at the comment. There was no way it was Collin. It was probably the building manager making sure there wasn’t anything else she needed or one of the neighbors she was suddenly talking to. A quick glance through the peephole revealed that she was wrong. It was Collin.
    She jumped back from the door. Maybe she could pretend she wasn’t home? Crap, he had probably heard her talking on the phone. She was going to have to face him sometime. She just needed to figure out a way to tell him that she needed more than a physical attraction to someone. Maybe she could use that old standby line that she really wasn’t that interested in him and just wanted to be friends.
    As she opened the door, he was examining it instead of looking at her. She just stood there smiling, waiting for him to redirect his attention. Finally his gray eyes turned to her. She wasn’t close enough to see them picking up light, but they looked warm. She had that same feeling she’d had at the bar—utterly content and with no need to rush into a conversation.
    “So you did make it home okay,” Collin said.
    ”Yeah,” she responded. “Why wouldn’t I have?”
    “I came over yesterday to make