The Light Between Us Read Online Free Page B
Author: Beth Morey
“I have to go. My friends – they – sorry . . .” Ruth wheeled away, not caring to finish making her thin excuses.
When her friends noticed her approach, their faces lit, then quickly fell when they noticed her expression.
“ Ruth, are you okay?” Padme asked, sitting bolt upright.
“ You look like you're going to puke,” said Maddie. “What the hell happened? Do you need me to go kick that sleazebag in the nuts for you?”
Ruth shook her head. “No, nothing happened.” He's just probably a slime ball. Like every other guy in ever , she added mentally. She grabbed her coat and her purse.
“ But . . . at least let us walk you to the T,” Cecelia said, moving to follow her.
She drew a deep breath, feeling a pressing need to get out of the bar's stuffy clamor, alone. “No, I'm fine. Really, you should stay. I'll get a cab.” She paused. “I just need some fresh air and then my bed.”
“ Well, if you're sure,” Padme said, face twisted with concern. “Text me when you get home, so I know you're safe?”
Ruth nodded and ducked through the crowd, keeping her eyes away from the table where Derek still sat. Probably thinking I'm the biggest ass of all time, she thought, rolling her eyes. But as she shoved out the door into the pleasantly cool autumn night, she couldn't help but throw one more glance his way. She started – he was staring right back with a hurt expression on his face.
She'd hurt him ? Could she really possess this power? She couldn't fathom it.
Ruth shook off the shock and kept moving. Outside, she stood on the sidewalk, breathing deep, feeling her lungs expand more fully out in the fresh air, gulping the crisp scent of fall down to her depths.
What the hell was wrong with her? Could she have misread his gesture? A perfectly fine – no, a perfectly fine – man had showed an interest in her, and she'd gone running for the hills at the tiniest trigger?
It didn't matter. Even if the kiss had not been what she thought it was, he was probably still another disappointment in the relationship department. Aside from her novel characters, she'd had yet to meet a man who was anything else. Ruth shook her head at herself, sure that she should have known better, and stepped forward to flag down a cab.
Chapter 3
Derek's eyes shot open, awakening a shock. He choked on a gasp, feeling like he was shooting up out of unfathomable deeps at even more impossible speed, the morning light harsh against his eyes. He squinted up at the white ceiling of his bedroom, taking stock of his body as he lay strewn across the king sized bed dressed in the finest gray Egyptian cottons, skin crawling at the unsettling sensation of not being sure he was quite whole.
Something, there was something off. Or maybe just different. Something he needed to remember. He frowned, trying to place what was amiss but finding no purchase on his bleary brain, all attempts at recollection like fingers sliding across a dome of wet glass.
A figure groaned and stirred next to him. “Hey, baby,” came the sleepy voice of a woman.
His pulse quickened. This felt so wrong – the truth of that stood stark and clear in his mind, for all other lack of certainty. This woman shouldn't be in his bed. He had no doubt that he'd invited her into it, but he was sure that this wasn't the woman that belonged there. That he wanted there.
He dragged his fingers through his hair. Damn it, why couldn't he remember? What was going on with his brain? With him ? He handled his liquor well, so he felt confident that this fog wasn't born of overindulgence.
The woman at his side rolled over, snuggling up next to Derek. Blonde, he saw. Another blonde. It was all that he could do not to shudder, to shove her away, to flee from between the bed covers. This woman had opened up
When her friends noticed her approach, their faces lit, then quickly fell when they noticed her expression.
“ Ruth, are you okay?” Padme asked, sitting bolt upright.
“ You look like you're going to puke,” said Maddie. “What the hell happened? Do you need me to go kick that sleazebag in the nuts for you?”
Ruth shook her head. “No, nothing happened.” He's just probably a slime ball. Like every other guy in ever , she added mentally. She grabbed her coat and her purse.
“ But . . . at least let us walk you to the T,” Cecelia said, moving to follow her.
She drew a deep breath, feeling a pressing need to get out of the bar's stuffy clamor, alone. “No, I'm fine. Really, you should stay. I'll get a cab.” She paused. “I just need some fresh air and then my bed.”
“ Well, if you're sure,” Padme said, face twisted with concern. “Text me when you get home, so I know you're safe?”
Ruth nodded and ducked through the crowd, keeping her eyes away from the table where Derek still sat. Probably thinking I'm the biggest ass of all time, she thought, rolling her eyes. But as she shoved out the door into the pleasantly cool autumn night, she couldn't help but throw one more glance his way. She started – he was staring right back with a hurt expression on his face.
She'd hurt him ? Could she really possess this power? She couldn't fathom it.
Ruth shook off the shock and kept moving. Outside, she stood on the sidewalk, breathing deep, feeling her lungs expand more fully out in the fresh air, gulping the crisp scent of fall down to her depths.
What the hell was wrong with her? Could she have misread his gesture? A perfectly fine – no, a perfectly fine – man had showed an interest in her, and she'd gone running for the hills at the tiniest trigger?
It didn't matter. Even if the kiss had not been what she thought it was, he was probably still another disappointment in the relationship department. Aside from her novel characters, she'd had yet to meet a man who was anything else. Ruth shook her head at herself, sure that she should have known better, and stepped forward to flag down a cab.
Chapter 3
Derek's eyes shot open, awakening a shock. He choked on a gasp, feeling like he was shooting up out of unfathomable deeps at even more impossible speed, the morning light harsh against his eyes. He squinted up at the white ceiling of his bedroom, taking stock of his body as he lay strewn across the king sized bed dressed in the finest gray Egyptian cottons, skin crawling at the unsettling sensation of not being sure he was quite whole.
Something, there was something off. Or maybe just different. Something he needed to remember. He frowned, trying to place what was amiss but finding no purchase on his bleary brain, all attempts at recollection like fingers sliding across a dome of wet glass.
A figure groaned and stirred next to him. “Hey, baby,” came the sleepy voice of a woman.
His pulse quickened. This felt so wrong – the truth of that stood stark and clear in his mind, for all other lack of certainty. This woman shouldn't be in his bed. He had no doubt that he'd invited her into it, but he was sure that this wasn't the woman that belonged there. That he wanted there.
He dragged his fingers through his hair. Damn it, why couldn't he remember? What was going on with his brain? With him ? He handled his liquor well, so he felt confident that this fog wasn't born of overindulgence.
The woman at his side rolled over, snuggling up next to Derek. Blonde, he saw. Another blonde. It was all that he could do not to shudder, to shove her away, to flee from between the bed covers. This woman had opened up
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