Free Unsuitable by Doreen Owens Malek Page B

silence.
    Outside the breeze was crisp and invigorating, redolent of autumn, but the ground was a mess. As he had said, the grassy areas were ankle deep in mud. She’d ventured only one step when Jason took her arm.
    “Wait, you’ll ruin your shoes. Let me put this stuff in the car and I’ll come back for you.”
    He was off before she could protest. He quickly dropped her things on the passenger seat of the car and returned for her. Without a word he swung her up into his arms and proceeded to carry her across the lawn.
    The feel of his arms about her was disturbing, calling up memories of the last time she had experienced his embrace. Jason looked straight ahead, and if he were uncomfortable he gave no sign. But then just as he was about to set her down, he glanced at her face. His eyes blazed into hers until she turned her head, and she knew that he was remembering every moment, just as she was.
    Her feet touched hard macadam, and she knew they had reached the driveway. When she fished in her pocket for her keys he handed them to her.
    “I took them to move the car earlier,” he explained.
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Drive carefully,” he said, as he opened her door and she got in. “There will probably be tree limbs and other debris in the streets.”
    “I will,” she answered.
    She started the motor, and as she reached for the shift he tapped on her window. She lowered it.
    He leaned in through the opening, folding his arms on the jamb. “About last night,” he began, his voice controlled. “I know my behavior was inexcusable but I hope you will excuse it, for Johnny’s sake if not for mine.”
    Carrie’s heart went out to him. This was clearly the last subject in the universe that he wanted to discuss. But he was too much of a gentleman to let her go without apologizing again for something which must be a source of humiliation for him. His body language was expressive: fists clenched on the windowsill, his broad shoulders straight and stiff, his mouth hard and unsmiling. She wanted to open his hands, press a kiss into the palm of each one, and tell him that she would forgive him anything.
    “It’s all right,” she said evenly, meeting his haunted gaze and then looking away. “No harm done. Goodbye, Mr. McClain.”
    As soon as she said it she realized how ridiculous the formal address must have sounded.
    “I think,” he said dryly, “in light of recent events, you might as well call me Jason.”
    “Goodbye, Jason,” she amended, feeling the heat come up under her skin. She put the car in gear and drove away.
    * * * *
    The trip back to her apartment was slow. While the roads were fairly clear they were still muddy and partially flooded. She spent a lot of time steering around marshy patches and large puddles until she reached the highway. Then it was a straight shot through to her house, where she arrived at about eight. She didn’t have to be at work until nine and she was deciding what to change into as she unlocked her door. Then she halted, her heart jumping. There was an opened suitcase on the hall floor and a figure wrapped in a blanket on the living room couch.
    “Well,” it said, sitting up at her entrance, “where the hell were you?”

 
    Chapter 5
     
    Gloria,” Carrie said, expelling her breath in relief. “What are you doing here?”
    Gloria stood up, shrouding herself in the blanket like a Roman senator and walking toward Carrie. “I asked first,” she answered, peering through her curtain of lush blonde hair at the wrinkled clothes Carrie revealed when she took off her coat.
    “Not now,” Carrie said, sighing. “I have to be at work in one hour. I’ll tell you about it later, okay?”
    “Looks like our Juliet has not been to bed this night,” Gloria chirped wisely.
    “And the sweeter rest was not mine,” Carrie replied wearily. “How long are you staying? And by the way, how did you get in?”
    “I’m staying long enough to worm the truth out of you, that’s for