Change of Heart (20 page)

“Sounds like you’ve got some experience with it,” Rich teases.

“I may have dressed up like a certain rock star one Halloween not very long ago,” I admit.

“Really?” Rich’s eyebrows go up in curiosity. “Which one?”

“Oh no,” I shake my head, “
that
is one secret I’m taking to the grave.”

Rich laughs. “Fair enough. Why didn’t you put on one of the blouses, though? They’re brighter.”

“In this weather?” I nod to the window. “There are so many clouds out there you can barely tell it’s day. Yuck.”

“Good point.” Rich steps up to me, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his body through our clothes. “And what about the lingerie?”

I blush and turn away. “It’s still in the bag,” I lie.

“Pity,” Rich says. “I’d imagine you’d make it look sexy as fuck.” His voice becomes a notch lower. “I was looking forward to seeing it.”

“You’re going to have to try a bit harder than that to get me undressed,” I say playfully, pushing him away. He gives a bashful grin.

“So!” I announce, changing the subject before things become awkward, “What did you do in town? Aside from undercover shopping and seeing a doc, that is.”

In an instant, his expression turns serious. “Come to the living room,” he says. “I’ll explain things there.”

More secrets?
I wonder as I follow Rich through the halls. We sit down across from each other on two couches separated by a coffee table.

“Well?” I prompt when he doesn’t speak right away.

He looks very thoughtful before speaking. “I got in touch with my sister,” he tells me finally.

“Did you?” I ask, surprised.

Rich nods. “She was worried because I haven’t talked to her for a few days. Originally, I was supposed to meet with her last night.”

“But you didn’t because of me. Right?”

“Yeah. Coming back for you kind of screwed up our plans.” Rich meets my eyes. “Not that I regret it.”

I smile a bit. “Thanks.”

“Anyway, Min said she was fine—which was a huge relief.” Rich’s expression becomes withdrawn. “Sometimes I think she’d be better off if she hadn’t come to me. That way, I wouldn’t have endangered her by my…” he gestures vaguely in my direction, “…
weakness
for you.”

My eyes widen at the comment, but he continues before I can speak.

“But she did, and we’ve all got to live with it now.” Rich sighs. “I’m thinking of leaving you here while I go meet up with her.”

“
What
?” I demand, caught flat-footed.

“It’s not an easy decision for me,” Rich defends quickly. “But it’s made easier by what you told me when I got back. That you and Amanda are getting along. Before, I’d have hesitated just to ask. But now, well, this is the safest place for you, Penny.” He spreads his hands and tries to look placating.

“Nuh-uh!!” I shake my head vigorously. “You have some nerve, Rich, you know that? Assuming you know what’s best just because you’re older.”

He frowns. “I never said—”

“Let me finish! I didn’t stay with you only to be left behind now. I didn’t stay with you so you could just dump me as soon as it became convenient for you.”

“Penny, it’s not like that at
all
,” Rich stresses. I can tell he’s trying hard to stay calm. But, some of his irritation seeps through anyway. “I’m not ‘dumping’ you here—whatever that means—because it’s convenient for me. You think it’s
convenient
for me to ask that of Amanda? No! I’m asking you to stay because I know that here, you’ll be away from danger. Tam and Victor don’t know who you are. They don’t know we’re here. I would stay if I could. But I have to help Min.”

“Let me come.”

“No!” he barks. His hostility is unmistakable. “I promised I would keep you safe, and this is how I intend to do it. You will stay here.”

I cross my arms, growing more and more furious by the second. “Oh, and you just presume you can tell me what to do,
Richard
?” I emphasize his full name. “You think you’re so damn smart, that you’ve got everything all figured out, just because you got into Princeton?”

His eyes narrow. “How do you know that?”

“Amanda told me,” I say recklessly.

“Great!” Rich snaps, shooting up from his seat. “Just fucking
great
!” Mel bursts into the room, spurred by our raised voices. “Is there anything else your new best friend told you behind my back?”

“Nothing that you need to know,” I fire back at him, catching Mel by the collar before she has a chance to get too excited.

Rich starts pacing behind the couch, his strides long and angry. “Dammit, Penny! Why does everything have to be such a struggle with you?” He glares at me with hardened eyes. “Why can’t you just accept that I have your best interest in mind?”

I laugh, my voice thick with contempt. “My best interest? You flatter yourself. What about when you left me with Tam and Victor?”

Rich grips the top of the couch. Veins pulse up and down his tattooed forearms. “That was different,” he growls. “That was a mistake. That was
before
.”

“Before?” I ask, not even trying to hide the scorn in my voice. “Before
what
?”

“Before I figured out,” Rich begins, “I have
FUCKING FEELINGS FOR YOU
!”

The words billow out of him like hot smoke from a chimney fire. The room goes quiet. Rich’s chest heaves with emotion.

The only sounds to break the silence are Rich’s heavy breathing and Mel’s low, warning growl.

I feel like I just stood up too fast. I’m stunned. I have to blink to clear my head. When I finally speak, my voice is quiet and shaky. “You… have feelings for me?”

Rich stares right at me. His nostrils flare with each breath. The muscles of his forearm flex as he tightens his grip on the couch. “I…
argh
!” He spins around and storms out the room.

A few seconds later, a door slams loudly from down the hall.

I’m left alone with Mel. A nervous tightness begins to form in my chest.

For a good long while, I don’t move. I don’t know how to properly react to this revelation. Rich has
feelings
for me? And he decides to tell me
now
, after trying to leave me behind?

No. It doesn’t make any sense. He must have misspoke. He hasn’t made a single move on me since pulling me from the bar, and we’ve had plenty of time alone for him to do it.

But… somewhere deep inside, a voice whispers to me that this was the real reason I’d stayed with him instead of ratting him out to the cops. Because somewhere along our twisted journey, I developed feelings for him, too. Because my heart knew what my mind did not.

I do not know whether I should be excited or afraid. Rich is the worst thing for me right now. Yet despite knowing that—despite logically understanding that my self-preservation instincts should be driving me far, far away from him—I feel… a pull. To him. A magnetism that is undeniable. It had always been there, but I’d never had enough time to consider it before. Now, with Rich’s proclamation…

I stand up. My hesitation lasts only a second before I start down the hall. I need to talk to him.

I stride to the only closed door I see and rap my knuckles against it. “Rich?”

There’s no answer. After a moment, I pick up a faint, rhythmic sound on the other side.
Thump, thump, THUD! Thump, thump, THUD!

I knock again. “Rich, what are you doing?” I try the doorknob, find that it’s unlocked. “Rich, I’m coming in,” I warn before I open the door.

The door leads to a large garage with a concrete floor. It has been retrofitted into a weight room. There’s a treadmill near me, a bench with some dumbbells beside it, and, at the far end of the garage… an old, brown punching bag.

That’s where I see Rich. He’d torn off his shirt and thrown it to the side. His back glistens with sweat as he attacks the bag with unrelenting determination.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, THUD! Thump, thump, THUD! THUD! THUD!

I don’t think he’s noticed me. His jabs continue, growing more fierce by the second.
THUD! THUD!
The bag swings away from him and he catches it with a brutal left hook on its way back. I can see the faded scar on the outside of his shoulder
.
Every fiber of muscle in his body is showing. Each of his jabs releases energy like a coiled spring. He has the destructive energy of a hurricane.

I don’t know if it’s best for me to talk to him like this. I’d seen how he can get angry.

I start toward him anyway.

He glances my way for a split-second. Then he grunts, turns his back, and continues attacking the punching bag.

“Rich?”

No response. His jabs become more forceful.

“Rich.”

Still he ignores me, focusing all his attention on what he’s doing. Each punch seems to rebound more loudly off the leather.

“Rich! Rich, look at me!”

He freezes mid-strike. He steps to the side, allowing the bag to swing past him. He keeps his head lowered and his back to me. His shoulders rise and fall with every breath.

“Penny,” he says quietly. “What do you want?”

“I want to
talk
,” I begin, stepping around so I can see his face. Suddenly, I notice the red staining his knuckles. “Rich!” I exclaim. “Your hands!”

“It’s nothing,” he says curtly. He wipes them against his jeans, then picks up a roll of white tape and starts wrapping them. He leans against one cement wall and focuses completely on his hands. “Well?” he asks without looking up. “What do you want to talk about?”

I forget myself for a second. There’s something very raw about the way he looks just now. Shirtless. Leaning against the cold wall. Focusing on his knuckles. I feel a primal urge to throw myself at him.

I push it down.

“What do I want to talk about?” I repeat. “What do you
think
I want to talk about?” I gesture around me. “Everything! This place, what we’re doing,
us
!”

Rich looks up. His face is so hard it could be carved from stone. “There is no ‘us,’” he says gravely.

“I heard you say—”

“I know what I said!” he interrupts. “It was stupid. I should never have spoken.”

I almost grind my teeth in frustration. “Why do you need to be so stubborn?” I demand.

“Why?” Rich retorts. “Because I am not who you think I am, Penny! Because my whole life, I’ve always prided myself on being in control. But when I’m around you, all that falters. Everything fails. And I find that I can’t… keep anything… in check.”

I roll my eyes and plant my fists on my hips. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about—
this
.”

Without seeming to move, he closes the space between us. Before I know what’s happening, his mouth crashes into mine. My lips part, and he kisses me with a fiery passion. His tongue finds its way past my defenses, and I’m left helpless, absorbed by the power of his kiss.

He pulls me into him, his hands tugging on my waist, forcing my body to adapt to his. I love the feeling. Some part of my mind is screaming at me to resist, but I mute it ruthlessly. My insides boil with the passion Rich’s kiss evokes.

It doesn’t take long for me to return his kiss just as hard, just as hungrily. This is the release. This is the outlet for all our pent-up emotions. The sexual tension between us has been growing since he’d rescued me. I’d just been blind to it before. Right now, it is nuclear. Overpowering. Overwhelming. All-encompassing.

When Rich finally lets me go, I feel like an avalanche has just swept me off my feet. I’m dizzy. Lightheaded. My cheeks are flushed and my entire body is trembling from the rush of adrenaline.

“You don’t know,” Rich says softly, “how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

I take too long to respond. My thoughts are mushy. I just stare at him like an idiot. There is not enough blood left in my brain to think.

All I know is the crushing desire I feel for him at that moment. I want his hard body against mine. I want his hot flesh against my skin. I open my mouth to say something… and end up giggling like a schoolgirl.

Rich smirks, and kisses me again. My hands run over his back. I love the tightness of his muscles beneath my fingers. I love the clean scent of his sweat. I reach up to curl my fingers in his hair. His hands rush to lift the sweater over my head, and I break from his kiss for the split-second it takes to do so.

The next thing I know, he’s pressing me backward. I try not to stumble as I will my legs to move. He pushes me against the cold, rough wall. His tongue continues to dance with mine. I want him to never let me go. I’m filled with a giddy, nervous sort of excitement as I feel his growing erection through the thick fabric of his jeans. All I know is the intense passion of the moment.