Pale Stranger, New Adult Romance (PALE Series) Read online

CHAPTER 7

  I drove back to my apartment with my thoughts so filled with that kiss that I nearly had a jaywalker plastered against my windshield, which would have been bad because I didn't have any wiper fluid in my car. I shuffled into my home, greeted the cockroaches, and unpacked my books. That's when I found my phone, and realized I'd left it in the car the entire time I was at Benson's house.

  I flipped it open and found five voice-mails in my inbox, all from my mother. I listened to them, each one more frantic than the next until she was threatening to murder me herself unless I called back. With those warnings I hesitantly called back. It barely got through the first ring before Mom picked it up. "Where the hell have you been!" she screeched in my ear.

  I winced. "Working," I blandly replied.

  Hell hath no fury like a mother worried. "That's no excuse for not answering my calls! Where the hell was your phone?"

  "Um, in the car," I weakly explained to her.

  There was an exasperated sigh so large I felt it through the phone receiver. "I thought you told me you always kept it with you."

  "Well, it was with me in spirit," I joked.

  She didn't laugh. "You keep that phone with you for as long as you're working for this strange man. You hear me?"

  My hand that gripped the phone tightened. "I'm just fine, Mom. It's not like he's going to rape me." A little voice in my head hoped for ravishing, but I taped duct tape over its mouth to silence it.

  "Don't even joke about that!" she yelled. "How much do you even know about this employer? What is he making you do?"

  Her accusatory tone riled me, especially after how Benson stood up for me in dealing with Carlyle. "I'll have you know he's been a perfect gentleman, and he's agreed to pay me the entire time I'm working for him," I shot back.

  That dampened her flames, but hot coals still lingered. "You just keep your eyes on him. These rich men think they can do anything they like because they have a fleet of lawyers to cover their asses."

  I hoped a fleet of lawyers wouldn't cover his nice ass. "Mom, I'll be just fine. Besides, it's only for a week, remember? Then everything will go back to the way it was." Including me having to worry about college books and rent payment.

  "We can only hope for as much." Mom sighed, and I could just imagine her rubbing the bridge of her nose. "But now that I know you're all right, I'm going to go lie down. Talk to you later, sweety."

  "Bye, Mom." I was relieved when the call ended.

  I tossed the phone into my dingy chair and collapsed on the dingy couch. The ugly, water-stained ceiling greeted me, but I couldn't make pictures out of it today. The only image in my mind was of those bright blue eyes staring at me intensely. I reached up and lightly touched my lips; I could still feel the heat of his mouth against mine. Just thinking about that passionate kiss made me hot and needy. I could just imagine all those solid muscles on his chest pushing against me as he pinned me to his bed. Our grunts and groans would fill the air, and our hands would be all over each other, touching and caressing in our most sensitive spots. He'd take me and pound his thick, stiff manhood into me. I'd feel that stirring inside me; that moment of fulfillment when my whole body shook with the rapture only he could give me.

  I groaned and rolled onto my side; I had to stop thinking about that stuff. He was my boss, I was the hired help, and even that was only going to last a week; correction, six days. Day one was already over, and I'd learned that his family and old acquaintances were a few coins short of a full piggy bank, and that he was very much attracted to me.

  "Come on, Trix, you know this isn't going to work," I muttered to myself. "He's a rich man and you're not any of those, so stop thinking about him."

  My mind betrayed me by conjuring up images of him completely naked. My face flushed, and I grabbed a nearby pillow and stuffed it over my head. Damn my mind to hell in a hand basket. I had to get over this infatuation by tomorrow or things were going to be worse for me.