Page 55 of Midnight Kiss
I sat up in bed, the sheets falling to my waist, and stretched out. Man, I felt amazing. The best I’d felt all week. It seemed like whatever flu I’d been suffering from was finally over.
Morgan had texted me last night, so I sent her a message quickly then showered, dressed for work, and went to the kitchen.
“Hallelujah,” Morgan said, smiling at me from the coffee pot. She poured two mugs and handed me one. “I thought I was never going to see you again, girl. How are you feeling?”
“Way better,” I said. “I think it’s finally passed.”
“Thank God for that. I was worried you were going to infect me with something,” Morgan said, and crossed herself. “It was like the black friggin’ plague up in this bitch.”
“I know,” I said, grimacing. “Pretty gross. So, how have you been?”
“Just carrying on with life as usual. What about you?”
I pursed my lips then broke into a smile.
“Ooooh. Girl, you’d better tell me what happened right this second.”
And I did. I left out the sordid details, even when Morgan begged me for them. “That is amazing,” she said. “You guys are a total match.”
“That’s how it seems, but he’s so … He’s still mysterious. He’s told me a bit about his past and how rough his childhood was, but he’s still holding back. I’m so into him it’s crazy, but I can’t help thinking he’s hiding something.”
“You should tell him that,” Morgan said, taking a sip of her coffee. “See what he says. Where is he, anyway?”
“Oh, right.” I glanced over my shoulder. That was weird. Why had it not occurred to me to even think about where Alex had gone? “He must have left early this morning. He’s a busy guy, you know. Business and stuff.”
“Did he text you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Wow. I would have expected you to be tense about the whole thing,” Morgan said. “It’s not like you bring guys over to the apartment every other day.”
“Yeah.” I frowned. “Let me check.” I grabbed my phone from where I’d stashed it in my purse and checked. “Nope. No messages.”
“Then you should text him and ask him what’s up. I mean, what does this mean for your relationship with him?”
“Whoa, relationship? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.” I laughed. “I’m not even sure what we are. We had fun, and he’s, well, he’s gorgeous, honestly, but I don’t know how far this will go.”
“To me, it looks like you’re being swept up by this dark, handsome stranger. And there is so nothing wrong with that. Unless he turns out to be a serial killer.”
“I think I’m past worrying about that. I should get to work.” I grabbed a protein bar from the cupboard and snacked on it as I headed out the door, sparing a wave for Morgan.
The protein bar didn’t sate my appetite, and my stomach grumbled. I’d kill for a steak right about now. Rare and bloody and?—
I blinked at the random thoughts.
Weird, but whatever. “Hey. Thanks for last night. Thinking of you.” I sent the text off to Alex, smiling to myself, and then caught a ride to work in a taxi.
Forty minutes later, I was happily seated at my desk, a pile of books to my left and a day of work ahead of me.
“Hey! You’re back again. Finally.” Jen smiled at me, leaning against my desk like she loved to do. “I thought you were gone for good. Like you came back and then just left again. I guess it’s a miracle we all didn’t get sick.”
It was the second time someone had said something like that to me this morning, and it felt strange. As if I’d missed a step coming down the stairs. This past week was a blur of feeling ill and hoping to get better.
“It’s good to be back,” I said, belatedly. “I just want to get right back into the swing of things and—” Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck, and I shivered, glanced back then smiled at Jen. “So how have things been with you guys? Good, I hope.”
“They’ve been good,” she said. “Everybody’s healthy, which is more than I can say for what you’ve been going through. By the way, you look gorgeous.”
“What? Thanks, Jen!”