Intimate Strangers Read Online Free Page B

look at him anymore. Too many emotions tore through her and she had to think of alternate living arrangements now. If Tiaan, as he finally announced, was staying with Mac and Hannah for an undisclosed amount of time, no way in hell could Chelsea continue living there too.
    “This way.” She didn’t check to see if he followed as she crossed the street and entered the parking structure.
    When they reached her car, Chelsea’s stomach turned over, realizing there was a car seat in the back. Surely he’d notice it and wonder? No , she scolded herself, he doesn’t even remember, so stop worrying . Besides, Mac and Hannah had Erik, so he would probably think the car seat belonged to them. She popped the trunk and he stowed his luggage away, then they both climbed into her small and old, yet reliable vehicle.
    “Why do I get this strange sense of déjà vu that you and I have met before?”
    Because you and I spent the most incredible two hours in an elevator, and then the night in your hotel room , her mind screamed to announce. Those precious hours meant everything to her and Chelsea drew on her memories of that magical night during the past year. Now they were ruined, a beautiful painting on a canvas that someone vandalized with splattered random blobs of colour. She decided then and there never to dwell on that night ever again, no matter how much her heart wished it.
    “I uh, I guess I have one of those faces,” Chelsea replied with a shrug, pulling onto the highway.
    “Hmm…” His eyes burned the side of her face as he studied her. “I could swear we’ve met.”
    “…Need to concentrate,” she muttered, using her hair as a curtain to shield herself from his view.
    The drive back to Mac and Hannah’s felt like it took days instead of just half an hour. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, Chelsea popped the trunk and ran inside, leaving Tiaan to his own devices. She fled past a stunned Mac holding Erik, rushing up the stairs of the newer part of the house to her bedroom. It was dark and silent when she entered, save for the gentle hum of her two month old son’s breathing.
    How many times had she dreamed of finding the man from the elevator and telling him about his child? Their child. If only he had called her…
    No dwelling on it!
    Thanks to Hannah, she had a lot of stuff to pack. The suitcase from her closet would carry most of her own stuff which she started shoving into it, but all of Ruan’s things, that meant another trip or two. At least. Then there was the crib, and she had to find a place to go.
    A deluge of hot, stinging tears dripped down her face. Everything had been going so well for her here. She had an amazing job where she could bring Ruan every day, a place to live and a great support system. With the arrival of one man, everything came crashing down around her.
    “Chelsea, is everything okay? Hey, what’s up with the suitcase?”
    She froze at the sound of Mac’s voice, a deep and soft growl from the doorway. Ruan woke, sending a piercing cry through the room and she welcomed the distraction so as not to have to answer his question.
    “Jesus, man! Did you and Hannah have a second child already?” the South African man chuckled as he stepped through the doorway. “Come to Uncle Tiaan then.”
    Chelsea held Ruan to her chest, backing up to the wall behind her.
    “He’s not ours,” Mac offered with a laugh. “Ruan belongs to Chelsea.”
    “Chelsea…Chelsea…” Tiaan spoke her name as if testing it on his tongue. “Chelsea?” The third time he said it, he sounded confused and she watched his eyes furiously snap from her, to Ruan and back again. “Son of a bitch!”
    At least they were on the same page now.

Four

    Mind reeling, Tiaan stumbled backwards while the memory and this rather unexpected news assaulted him. That same memory was the one he called on during each interrogation to deliver him from the agony of torture. Now it was tainted. Bloody well ruined.
    “Uh…