hand was warm and engulfed my much smaller one as he shook it slowly. I looked down at our entwined hands and shivered at the way he didn't relinquish mine and instead placed his other hand on top of our clasped ones. His thumb slowly rubbed my palm and the touch was too personal in a way I couldn't define.
“My pleasure,” he gave me a rakish smile and leaned forward staring at my lips. With a start of surprise I realized he was going to kiss me. Even more surprising, I wanted him to.
I saw his head approaching and I stood still, my eyes wide as he got closer and closer.
His mouth curved into a self satisfied grin and his eyes were locked onto mine as he got ready to touch my lips. In a last minute move, I turned my face aside so that his kiss landed on my cheek instead of my mouth as he intended.
His smile had turned grim, while mine was wide as I said, “Well goodnight then,” and walked into my bedroom and shut the door in his surprised face.
WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 26
Chapter Five
My sleep was fractured and restless. I had another dream of Gage, this time of him reading a book in the library while nursing a large mug of coffee. Unlike my other dreams, this time there was a realism to it that I hadn't realized was missing from all the others. Now, I could smell his spicy aftershave and feel the warmth of the coffee through the crockery mug he was cradling. I could hear the crisp crinkle of pages turning as he read a mind numbing book on maritime law.
After a few minutes of reading over his shoulder about the exciting world of liens and salvage rights I felt terrible, like I was spying on him. Not to mention that I was bored to tears, so I tried something I had never done before. I decided to will myself back into my body. I imagined my body lying in bed upstairs. I pictured the orange silk bedding, the way the sheets felt against my skin and thought about the softness of the pillows my head was resting on. When that didn't work I concentrated on one hand. I imagined moving that hand, then just the fingers on one hand and waking myself up.
This was a lot harder than it sounds, but finally I managed it and with a twitch of my fingers, I woke up suddenly. I was in bed, with the sheets and blankets tangled around me. I was shaking from the effort of returning to wakefulness so soon and there was a slight ache in my head from trying so hard to get back from, what I now believed, was an out of body experience.
After pulling the sheets and blankets back around me I tried to get comfortable again and go back to sleep. After about ten minutes of pillow plumping and rolling from one side of the bed to the other, I realized that my mind was running a mile a minute with all the questions I had for my mother, brother, Gage and even Celia. There was no way I could get back to sleep with this much chaos in my head.
I felt a frown tugging at me as I tried to remember something important, something, that I had, for some strange reason forgotten. I rolled onto my right side, punched my pillow into shape and closed my eyes determined to get a few hours rest before meeting my mother and brother for the first time tomorrow.
Maybe if I just closed my eyes and relaxed that would be enough to fool my body into thinking it had had a full nights rest. I didn't want to look like a baggy eyed monster tomorrow morning. I wanted them to like me. I was sure I would like them, they were probably really nice. They wouldn't be awful and rude, like … Lillian.
Shit!
My job!
Oh holy hell!
If Gage was right and I had been here two days that meant I'd missed work on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was supposed to assist Lillian in court on Tuesday. Missing court was beyond inexcusable. Two days without a call or email, I moaned in dismay. Even if I had called in sick on a court day, Lillian would have gone nuclear.
Lillian liked me to be in court with her. I never could figure out why, except that she WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER
“My pleasure,” he gave me a rakish smile and leaned forward staring at my lips. With a start of surprise I realized he was going to kiss me. Even more surprising, I wanted him to.
I saw his head approaching and I stood still, my eyes wide as he got closer and closer.
His mouth curved into a self satisfied grin and his eyes were locked onto mine as he got ready to touch my lips. In a last minute move, I turned my face aside so that his kiss landed on my cheek instead of my mouth as he intended.
His smile had turned grim, while mine was wide as I said, “Well goodnight then,” and walked into my bedroom and shut the door in his surprised face.
WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 26
Chapter Five
My sleep was fractured and restless. I had another dream of Gage, this time of him reading a book in the library while nursing a large mug of coffee. Unlike my other dreams, this time there was a realism to it that I hadn't realized was missing from all the others. Now, I could smell his spicy aftershave and feel the warmth of the coffee through the crockery mug he was cradling. I could hear the crisp crinkle of pages turning as he read a mind numbing book on maritime law.
After a few minutes of reading over his shoulder about the exciting world of liens and salvage rights I felt terrible, like I was spying on him. Not to mention that I was bored to tears, so I tried something I had never done before. I decided to will myself back into my body. I imagined my body lying in bed upstairs. I pictured the orange silk bedding, the way the sheets felt against my skin and thought about the softness of the pillows my head was resting on. When that didn't work I concentrated on one hand. I imagined moving that hand, then just the fingers on one hand and waking myself up.
This was a lot harder than it sounds, but finally I managed it and with a twitch of my fingers, I woke up suddenly. I was in bed, with the sheets and blankets tangled around me. I was shaking from the effort of returning to wakefulness so soon and there was a slight ache in my head from trying so hard to get back from, what I now believed, was an out of body experience.
After pulling the sheets and blankets back around me I tried to get comfortable again and go back to sleep. After about ten minutes of pillow plumping and rolling from one side of the bed to the other, I realized that my mind was running a mile a minute with all the questions I had for my mother, brother, Gage and even Celia. There was no way I could get back to sleep with this much chaos in my head.
I felt a frown tugging at me as I tried to remember something important, something, that I had, for some strange reason forgotten. I rolled onto my right side, punched my pillow into shape and closed my eyes determined to get a few hours rest before meeting my mother and brother for the first time tomorrow.
Maybe if I just closed my eyes and relaxed that would be enough to fool my body into thinking it had had a full nights rest. I didn't want to look like a baggy eyed monster tomorrow morning. I wanted them to like me. I was sure I would like them, they were probably really nice. They wouldn't be awful and rude, like … Lillian.
Shit!
My job!
Oh holy hell!
If Gage was right and I had been here two days that meant I'd missed work on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was supposed to assist Lillian in court on Tuesday. Missing court was beyond inexcusable. Two days without a call or email, I moaned in dismay. Even if I had called in sick on a court day, Lillian would have gone nuclear.
Lillian liked me to be in court with her. I never could figure out why, except that she WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER
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