Free Escaping Eden by Yolanda Olson Page A

I was on my knees,” I said dryly.
    Simon laughed good-naturedly as he led me up the stairs and down the long hallway. We stopped outside the third door on the left and he pushed it open.
    I peeked in, “This room is bigger than my apartment.”
    “Like it?” he asked with a grin.
    I ran in and threw myself facedown on the bed. I inhaled deeply before I turned over onto my back.
    “It’s okay,” I said casually.
    “There’s a door, directly across from yours. Off limits,” he said, shaking a finger at me.
    “Is that where you keep your girlfriend?” I asked curiously.
    “No, it’s where I keep myself,” he replied with a grin.
    Well. Being on the receiving end of that rule sucks.
    “Got it!”
    “Good. I’m going to go take a shower and then go down and make some lunch. Meet me downstairs in about forty minutes,” he said, walking out of the room.
    Forty minutes? Yeah I can see that. It must take forever to properly clean that monster in his pants.
    I closed my eyes and relaxed. So much slow, that I wound up sleeping the rest of the day. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me lately. I spent most of my time sleeping or working.
    When I woke up that night, I found Simon sitting on the back porch, his legs up on the banister and crossed.
    I pushed open the back door and stepped outside, wrapping my arms around myself.
    “Hello there,” he said smiling up at me.
    “Hi. Sorry I slept for the day,” I replied sheepishly.
    “No, it’s okay. I think you should rest up honestly,” he said, turning his attention back to the night sky.
    “How come?” I asked sitting on the banister.
    “You won’t be sleeping much in Maui. Neither of us will be.”
    He crossed his hands behind his head and chuckled.
    “I can’t believe I had to come half way around the world for this.”
    “For what?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
    He leaned over and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto his lap.
    “A good girl.”
    I blushed and felt immediately shy.
    “I’m glad Liora forced you into this. I never told you this, but that picture that I told you I liked of the two of you that I saw in your apartment? I’ve seen it before. She has it in her office. We were having a meeting one day and I just sat there staring at it. To this day I have no idea what that meeting was about, but it turned into a cross examination once she saw me staring at her best friend so intensely. Did you know that I’ve been in America for about six months now? I had to beg and plead and promise her that I wouldn’t hurt you before she finally caved in and told me to meet her at your job,” he said with a laugh.
    “I would think that my appearance would’ve scared you away,” I replied quietly.
    “Why would it? You’re absolutely gorgeous. The picture told me that you had one hell of a sense of humor, which is something I always look for. Li and I are the same height so when I saw how small you were next to her, I went into instant protection mode,” he said, snapping his fingers. “There was something about you in the picture, Eden. Something besides everything I just said. I couldn’t place my finger on it and I wanted to meet you to see if I could figure out what it was.”
    “And did you?” I asked quietly.
    “Yes. It was a desperate need to be loved, wanted. Your immediate barrier and willingness to shove me at someone else was enough to tell me that you were the person that I needed in my life. I mean especially when I saw you and Finley practically having sex on the dance floor ... It made me laugh. Not because it was funny, but because I could tell by watching you that you were questioning yourself the entire time. Even if you didn’t feel it at that moment.”
    “Wow. So that’s what it feels like to go to a shrink,” I remarked, shaking my head.
    “Any of what I said untrue?” Simon asked, giving me a gentle squeeze.
    “No, I think your diagnosis is pretty accurate,” I said with a smile.
    “Let’s get some sleep, then.