Free Chasing Luck by Brinda Berry Page B

case."
    "Don't be silly. There are beds upstairs. You don't have to sleep down here. I won't think you have plans to rape and pillage if you happen to sleep in the next room."
    "I figured, but I'd like to be on this floor near the entrances."
    "Oh." I gaze at the front door. "Have you done this sort of thing before?"
    One corner of his mouth lifts. "Sleep over with a girl?"
    I roll my eyes. "The whole security thing."
    "Not like this. I mean, I install systems and Billy saw on my employment history that I had worked as a security guard, but this? No."
    I suddenly feel more qualified than he is. At least JT gave me taekwondo lessons. "And this is supposed to make me feel better how?"
    "You ever play softball?"
    I stare at him. "Um … no."
    "I could use a baseball bat or something. Just for tonight. I don't have my weapon."
    "You own a gun?"
    He ignores my question and looks around the room in a searching way. His mouth is set in a line that tells me he's not planning to answer.
    "What about a samurai sword?" I raise one eyebrow.
    He laughs and the sound volleys around in the pit of my stomach, a pleasant feeling I wish could last and make me forget about all the darkness I see in myself.
    "That'll do. Works better than a kitchen knife. A lot scarier." He nods. "Where is it?"
    "Second door down the hall. JT's study. Anything else you need?"
    "A pillow would be great."
    "You grab the sword and I'll get a pillow." I turn and leave in search of the bedding.
    When I return, he's closed the front drapery, something I never do. He's lifted a panel aside and peers through the opening. Then he walks over and sinks down into the middle of the sofa.
    “You’re not turning all the lights out, are you?”
    “Well, I’d planned on it.” He smiles. “You afraid of the dark?”
    I don’t answer and motion that he should move off the sofa for a moment as I grab pillows and toss them to a chair.
    What to tell him? What to keep hidden away? Who to trust? So many decisions press down on my shoulders.
    Ace grabs one end of the sheet and flings it out to cover the sofa. It parachutes for a second, suspends in midair, and our gazes meet. The sheet drops to the surface and I look away from his eyes. He takes the pillow and blanket from me and I avoid touching his fingers. I'm suddenly aware that we are alone in the house.
    "There’s something else I’m afraid to tell you. You thought the other things I said were hard to believe. There's not a chance you will believe this." My voice comes out in barely more than a hesitant whisper.
    "It sounds like you don't believe it."
    I bolster up some courage. On the one hand, I feel like it takes courage for me to walk outside of the house every time I'm forced to go. I know that's not the case with everyone.
    On the other hand, I'm afraid I'll discover my entire life might be some theatrical production that others are watching and I'm the reluctant actor.
    I sit in the club chair beside the sofa, tuck my feet underneath my legs, and place my forehead on my knees. My hair curtains my face and eyes and fears.
    He waits like he has nothing else to do in the world but hear my answer. The sound of a mantel clock ticking counts the moments it takes for me to sum up my courage. I peek up at him.
    Ace thumbs though a magazine from the coffee table.
    I stand, stride forward and tug the magazine from his hands and pitch it to the coffee table. “Say what you’re thinking.”
    "I'm trying to give you time. Listen, you don't really have to tell me. It's been a long night and I'm sure we're both too tired to make sense of what is going on."
    I squirm nervously under his sudden and probing full gaze. "I don’t trust you.”
    "Who are you going to trust if you don’t trust me?" He bends his head and catches my eye.
    "I don't know what to do.”
    “You should trust me.” His voice reaches across to me, so low and sincere. His eyes are so clear blue, calming as a summer sky.
    My throat tightens. I have no one and