The Man In The Mirror (3 page)

“Tori, no. Listen to me. You are not insane.

I am real. You’ve got to believe me.”

Her frightened eyes lifted and pierced him to his very soul. “You can’t be real,” she choked out.

“You’re too nice, too caring, too handsome, and too…perfect to be real. You’re an illusion, my fantasy man come to life.”

A flash of warmth shot through his soul at her words, yet it was followed by such pain and grief, he thought he might split in two. He could never have her as his own.

She rose from the bed and slipped on her shoes, her movements awkward and unsteady.

“I have to make you go away somehow. I—I can’t live a fantasy. I have to face reality. Tom didn’t want me, but he’s not the only man on the planet. There are others. Like the man tonight.

I have to give him a chance. I have to let go of my past and my fantasies.” She returned to the dresser and shakily put on the earbob and then its mate.

His hands slammed against the glass. “No!

Please, Tori, you have to believe me. I—am—

real!”

She refused to look at him, concentrating on her task. “No. I have to face my life, the real world as it is. It isn’t perfect, but it’s all I have.”

She turned, lifted her bag from the bed, and left the room. He hurried after her to appear in the small mirror by the door. “Please, love!”

Her tear-filled eyes met his. “Goodbye, Connor. I wish you
were
real. Because I could love you so easily,” she said with a strangled voice and fled out the door.

“No!” He fell to his knees, his hands sliding down the glass with an ominous screech. “No,”

he whispered hoarsely.

A warm breeze, a sensation he’d not felt in centuries dried the lone tear sliding down his cheek. He lifted his head and turned into it, noting its sweet scent. Blindly, he let the breeze pull and guide him through his shadowy world, for this was the only world he would ever know.

One without the woman who held his heart, for he knew she would destroy the mirror when she returned.

****

Whatever the reason, it didn’t help her blind date any. Jim was, for lack of a better word, a jerk. What had her grandmother seen in him, anyway?

For the umpteenth time, his eyes were pinned on her boobs instead of her face while she talked about her work.

“Then I did a strip tease on top of my boss’s desk while wearing a clown nose and paper hat made out of hundred dollar bills,” she deadpanned.

“Sounds like you really like your work,” he muttered.

What a moron?
“Look, Jim, it’s been really—

interesting meeting you, but I have to be going.”

Back to my imaginary man, because I’d rather be
crazy and with him than go through another date
from hell again
.

He jumped up from his chair as she stood.

“Right, I’ll see you home.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. It’s so out of your way, and all.” They’d met at the coffee shop, a safe public place. At least her grandmother had some sense left. The last thing she needed was for this bozo to know where she lived.

“No it’s not out of the way. Your grandmother gave me your number and address in case you failed to show.” He grinned down at her, his gaze dropping lower yet again.

“Wonderful. She’s such a
dear
,” she spoke through clenched teeth, as he walked her to her car. When she talked to Nana in the morning, boy was she going to get an earful.

She watched the headlights in her rearview all the way home, thinking up a dozen different deterrents, and wondering if she’d left her bat by the door. She didn’t think she’d actually need it, but a backup plan was always a good thing.

Jim walked along side her to the door and waited as she unlocked it. She almost creamed him with the door as she stepped in and tried to close it before he could get inside.

“Well, thank you for the coffee,” she said.

“You’re welcome, but I thought maybe we could share something a little stronger.” He tilted his head to the side as he looked over her shoulder. “Or maybe watch a movie together or something. It’s still early.” He lifted his hand 19

Jo Barrett

and stroked her shoulder. She cursed herself for wearing the sleeveless sundress.

“It may be early,” she edged out from beneath his touch, “but I had a rough day and I’m beat.” She faked a yawn, and he moved closer, so much so, she stepped back, then cursed herself for giving him room to move inside.

“I’ll rub your back,” he said lowly. “And anything else you want.” His head dipped low for a kiss as she fumbled for her bat, but it wasn’t where she’d left it.

“Shove off, you bilge rat!”

Jim’s head snapped up. “What did you say?”

Tori shook her head, unable to find a single coherent word. Had he actually heard Connor, or had she said that? Maybe she was playing out her fantasy man’s role.

“I said shove off!”

That did
not
come from her. She couldn’t fake a voice that deep if her life depended on it.

Jim looked over her shoulder, his eyes wide.

“Hey, man. She told me she was single.”

The room tilted and her heart raced. Who was standing behind her?

“You mean Tori’s grandmother said she was single. She doesn’t approve of me—yet,” the familiar voice said from behind her.

Jim looked at Tori still standing frozen in place, too terrified to turn around, not sure what or whom she would see.

“Tori, it was fun,” Jim said. “You’ve got my number in case you change your mind. But you should’ve said something.”

“She was respecting her grandmother’s wishes to meet you. And as to your number, she most definitely will not be calling.” A large, tan hand gripped the edge of the door.

Tori squeaked.

Jim lifted his hands in surrender and backed off. “Okay, okay. I’m gone.” He stepped back and the hand flicked the door closed.

“I’ll have to have a long talk with your Nana,” the voice said. “That scoundrel tried to seduce you. A blind man could see you weren’t interested in his advances.”

She swallowed hard, and forced herself to turn around. There he was, six foot plus, broad shouldered with dark wavy hair, and a dimple in his cheek. The man who’d
stood
behind her in the mirror, the one she’d had intimate thoughts about all day and all through her evening with Jim. Her fantasy man was standing in her foyer.

“Connor,” she whispered, then fell over in a dead faint.

“I’m happy to see you too, love,” he said, as he scooped her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom.

The feel of her warm body nestled in his arms nearly undid him. It had been so very long since he’d touched another human being—a woman, his woman. The one he would love until he took his last breath. It was all so clear to him now. He had been a hard man, one who lived for the day’s pleasures and nothing more. He’d used women, hoarded gold, and scoffed at all the lovesick fools he’d ever met. Now he knew what he’d been meant to learn, what the sea witch wanted to teach him. That the giving of one’s heart to another while expecting nothing in return was more important, more precious than any metal or easily satisfied lust.

Tori stirred in his arms. He hushed her as he laid her down upon the bed and pressed a chaste kiss to her brow. There would be time for physical pleasures later, he hoped. She’d said she
could
love him, she did not say she did. The 21

Jo Barrett

sea witch’s whispered words in his ear as he’d materialized in Tori’s apartment in front of the small mirror said he had but till the new moon to win her heart, or he would be forced back into the mirror.

He slipped her shoes from her feet and pulled the covers to her chin. “Sleep, love. We will begin tomorrow.” He would woo her and win her—he had no choice. For not only did his existence hang in the balance, he would never be able to continue without her.

****

She peeked beneath the covers and saw her dress still intact. But someone had carried her to bed last night. Her brow furrowed as her head began to ache. If it had been Jim, she wouldn’t still be in her dress, and the other side of the bed looked like no one had slept in it.

And yet someone had carried her, and that someone was still in the apartment. She could hear them banging around in the kitchen.

“I still say he slipped her one of those date-rape drugs,” a woman said.

“Lynne,” she whispered, her hand pressed to her chest in relief. She was probably on her cell talking to Susie, Lynne’s sister.

She took a deep breath and crawled out from beneath the covers.

“No, she seemed quite fine when that arse brought her home.” The man’s voice stopped Tori in her tracks before she could step out of the room. She gulped and ran straight to the bathroom.

Gripping the edge of the sink, she looked at 22

The Man In The Mirror

herself in the mirror. “This can’t be happening.

He was nothing more than a figment of my imagination, that’s all. He can’t be real.”

“Hey, it’s about time you got up.” Lynne stepped into the doorway. “I was getting worried.”

“I’m fine. I’m absolutely, one hundred percent fine.”

“Uh-huh. So if you’re so fine, then why do you look like you just had the biggest shock of your life?” She folded her arms with a wide grin.

“I mean, if I had mister hunk-of-the-month in my kitchen, I’d be making sure he wasn’t going anywhere.”

She fumbled with her toothbrush and toothpaste, barely getting the goop on the brush, her hands were shaking so bad. “You mean, Jim?”
Please say yes, please say yes, otherwise
I’m bonkers.

“Jim? Uh-oh. What exactly
did
happen last night?”

“What-da-ya-mean?” she mumbled around the brush.

“Girl, you came home with one man while you had another waiting in the wings. That is so not like you.”

She spat out the paste and stared at Lynne in the mirror. “Another?” she squeaked.

“Hey, what is with you this morning?” She put her hands on Tori’s shoulders. “Did Jim slip you something in your coffee last night?”

“No. I just—I don’t—he wasn’t—” She wiped her face off and shook her head. It wasn’t possible, he couldn’t be real.

“Okay, take it easy. Tell you what,” Lynne said, leading her from the bathroom. “Let’s get you into some fresh clothes, then we’ll both go into the kitchen and see what Connor has 23

Jo Barrett

whipped up for brunch. Okay?”

“Connor, oh God.”

“Yes, you remember him.” She sat Tori down on the edge of the bed. “The big handsome man who scared off that nasty Jim.”

“This is insane,” she muttered.

“Well, I’d agree with you if I thought we were talking about the same thing.” She snorted and glanced at Tori’s dress and the half-made-up bed.

“Sex obviously didn’t happen last night.”

Tori groaned, and held her head in her hands.

Lynne got up from the bed and pulled out a pair of her jeans and a tank top. “Yeah, I’d regret that opportunity myself.” She tossed them at Tori. “Get dressed and face the music, girl.

It’s one hell of a sight to see,” she said with a laugh.

With a determined nod, she got dressed, tidied her hair and face, and walked out of her bedroom. Then lost her momentum the minute she laid eyes on the man standing in her kitchen.

He was beautiful, an exact copy of—a replica of—

he
was
the man in the mirror.

His dark eyes glittered when he looked at her, and his smile, devilishly crooked, warmed her to her bare toes. As her gaze traveled over his sculpted body, she noted he wore an off-white cambric shirt, open wide at the neck. Brown breeches hugged his muscular thighs, and a pair of black boots, shined to perfection, stopped just below his knees.

“Good morning, love,” he said.

His deep soothing voice sent a sliver of heat down her spine. “G—” she cleared her clogged throat. “Good morning.”

“What would you like to eat? I’ve coffee ready.” He reached for the steaming carafe and 24

The Man In The Mirror

poured her a cup. He set it on the table then pulled out her chair.

Lynne nudged her in the back, which meant she was probably standing there like an idiot drooling or something. She took a seat at the table.

“Lynne, would you like another cup?” he asked.

“No thanks, Connor. I’ve got to run.” She stepped to the front door, still visible by Tori, but not by Connor deep in the kitchen, and mouthed something.

Tori squinted, trying to figure out what she was mouthing, but the general idea came through as Lynne rolled her eyes.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Tori. See you later, Connor,” she called.

“Goodbye, and thank you for our talk this morning,” he said, coming around the partition wall. He took Lynne’s hand and kissed the back.

“It was an absolute pleasure.”

Lynne nearly fell over, while Tori felt like growling.
Geez, aren’t we possessive this
morning. What next? Are you going to fall at his
feet?

Oh, wait. I already did that.

“Oh, the pleasure was mine,” Lynne said on a sigh.

Connor helped her out the door, then came back to the kitchen. “She’s a good friend, you’re lucky to have her.”

“Yeah. Lucky.” She tried to cool her heated cheeks, but knew she wasted her time and energy.

He poured another cup of coffee then moved to the table. Her breath locked in her throat when he set the cup down and knelt before her.

“Tori,” he said, taking her hands in his. “I 25