For All the Evers Read online

  Fallen held her chest, her heart hurting.

  He put his hand over hers now, smiling when she met his eyes. “Ma has been strong for us from that day forward. I have no idea where she finds the resolve, but she’s raised three rowdy boys on her own. It explains why two out of the three of us still lived at home when we last had this dinner.”

  The kitchen had begun to smell like the delicious meal in his memory.

  “Who doesn’t live at home anymore?” she asked.

  Thomas ran his hand up and down her leg. “Well, Edward moved into an apartment down the street. Ma kept her chin in the air the entire time he packed. She only cries alone, in her room at night. I’ve heard her. Needless to say, I put off my own moving plans, as did Johnny.”

  “You’re kind.” She couldn’t keep her hands off of him.

  He seemed to have the same impulse, always finding new places to caress her or rest his hand.

  “I think it’s ready.” Thomas lifted her from his lap and held out her chair.

  She thanked him and sat, watching him as he pulled the plates out with an oven mitt.

  “Can I help?” She felt awkward letting him prepare the meal for her.

  “It’s all done. Just be careful of the plate. It’s hot.” He set it down in front of her.

  He filled two water glasses from the tap and set them next to the plates.

  She held up hers and toasted, “To dreams that keep coming true.”

  “Here. Here.” His blue eyes sparkled. They each took a sip before digging into their plates of food.

  The roast beef was tender, the mashed potatoes like little clouds, and the carrots sweet like candy. As she ate, Fallen discovered her meal was actually still lukewarm to coldish in the center, but she wasn’t about to stop. It was delicious.

  Thomas made so much noise while eating, it was almost obscene.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve had home cooking,” he mused between bites. “This is fantastic. Thanks, Ma—wherever you are in this crazy dream world.”

  He came up for air for a moment and watched her watching him. He swallowed and graced her with a most tender gaze. She put her hand on his arm.

  “There’s no home cooking where you are?” She wondered where her imagination had the man stationed.

  He looked around, confused. “No... But I can’t think of why not. So strange. It’s all hazy, but right on the tip of my tongue.”

  “Don’t worry. Just enjoy. It’s fun to watch you.”

  Thomas rolled his eyes and groaned when he took his next bite. Fallen wanted to get up and look at all the pictures around the house, but she refused to take her hand from his skin, cherishing the chance to touch him.

  Once he’d finished his plate, she pushed over the rest of hers, which he didn’t refuse. Finally he rubbed his hard stomach as if it might be sticking out.

  “So much food. So good.” Thomas lifted her hand from his arm and kissed her knuckles before standing. “Come here, Fallen. You still look worried.”

  She stood and accepted his embrace. To be encompassed by him, with his magnificent, tall body arched around hers, was a lesson in faith. The energy that flowed through him to her was so vibrant, her eyes pricked with tears.

  His full lips brushed over hers. “What’s wrong?” he murmured.

  “You’re so right. How are you not real? I want you to be real.” Fallen let him lift her into his arms.

  He had to pull her closer to get through the doorway, his muscles contracting. The textures of the furniture, the colors of the room, the sound of his breathing—her imagination wasn’t this good. Though she had no other explanation, she refused to give it that much credit.

  She explored his face with her fingertips again, as if touching him might give her an imprint she could recreate when she was awake.

  With her index finger, she traced a line across his long, black lashes and down his strong nose. His jaw had stubble again, and she tried to count a few of the coarse hairs there. She quickly gave up, but given the time, she felt sure she could do just that. He was reality.

  “Your braid is fancy, pretty lady.”

  “The boss is coming today. I tried to look good. Professional.” She touched it, finding it plaited exactly as she’d had it in the waking world.

  He sat on the couch, keeping her on his lap. Fallen put her head on his shoulder, inhaling him.

  “What do you do?” His lips kept skimming her forehead.

  “I’m a housekeeper. In a hotel.” She couldn’t elaborate; her brain refused to form any more words for her.

  He picked up her left hand and stroked her ring finger. “No husband?”

  She shook her head, watching delight flare in his eyes.

  “No boyfriend?” He lifted up his eyebrow.

  She shook her head again, feeling a grin form on her lips.

  “Good. Because the things I want to do to you wouldn’t be fair to him at all. I want to be forward with you. Enjoy your body.”

  He gave her a sensual look.

  “I’m totally okay with that.”

  “You would be, dream girl. In this dream, you would be. You’d be dressed to the nines, and we’d be at home here, in our own place, ready to spend the night recovering from an evening on the town.”

  Fallen closed her eyes, lulled by the sound of his voice. When she opened her eyes he wore a tuxedo with the bow tie undone around his neck, the jacket open.

  She had on a long, black satin dress with an impossibly pinched waist.

  She gasped, running her hands over her voluminous skirt. She kicked up a foot to find an elegant pump beneath her hem.

  He chuckled. “Mighty fine, Mrs. Fallen.”

  She clapped her hands together, laughing as she found a wedding band on her finger. “We’re married?”

  “For what I want to do to you? We should be married.” He winked.

  He was too kissable to resist at this point, and she felt giddy.

  He mumbled about her beauty, her perfection, and said it was truly the best dream yet, continuing to pretend they had a whole night to spend together.

  He shifted her to the cushions and kissed her until she lay on her back. All of a sudden she had to struggle to stay present, conscious. Her mind was flashing, tired. In the blurry glimpses she now had of Thomas, his infatuated gaze looked sleepy too.

  “Fallen…Thursday…I think it happens on Thursdays. Stay safe. Thursday…”

  He was slurring, and it took all she had to nod and acknowledge that she’d heard him. Her lips were on his, and she tried to burn the feeling he gave her into her bloodstream.

  Then suddenly she was awake, back in her world. She was once again in room 514, but instead of finding it a safe, empty place, she looked up to see a man hovering over her in the semi-darkness—a man who wasn’t Thomas.

  Chapter 6

  The Owner

  Fallen found her lips in a terrified pucker, her hands on this shadow man’s shoulders. Terror forced her the rest of the way awake.

  “Oh my God,” she managed.

  “Are you okay?”

  His voice was vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t place it.

  “I’m fine. Did I just kiss you?” Fallen took her hands from his shoulders and covered her mouth.

  “You did. I was checking your pulse, and you pulled me in and kissed me.”

  The well-dressed man stood from the bed before offering her his hand. She took it and yanked at the hem of her uniform as she less-than-gracefully got to her feet.

  Fallen was nose to nametag with him as she righted herself.

  “Mr. Orbit, owner,” she read. Her eyes grew wide as the reality of what she’d done in her not-quite-awake state set in.

  She’d just kissed her boss. Well, her boss’s boss’s boss.

  “I’m sorry.” She was fired. There were no two ways about it.

  She hazarded a look at his face, trying to gauge how much trouble she was in, and a realization hit her like a ton of br
icks. It was him! The dancing man from the first dream. The one who’d known her name.

  “Lad?” she asked.

  He started. “Uh, yes. Though to my employees, I’m Mr. Orbit.”

  “Of course you are. Sorry again.” Her mortification was all encompassing. “Oh my God. I just kissed you, and now I’ve called you by your first name. I’m so sorry. This is awful. Please let me get out of here before I make it worse.” She tried to scoot around him.

  All of this was wrong. She was so disoriented. Seeing Lad from the dream world here was mind melting. What did it mean?

  “Fallen, it’s okay. I’m more concerned that you were unconscious,” Mr. Orbit said. “Did you hit your head? Don’t you remember? Do you feel okay?”

  He’d asked her the same things in the woods in her dream. Had that been some sort of premonition?

  She looked back at his deep brown eyes. There seemed to be none of the underlying unease there that she remembered from her dream.

  “Maybe I hit my head?” she whispered.

  He leaned down to hear her better before nodding. “If you don’t mind, let me take a look.”

  Mr. Orbit put his hands gently on her head. He inspected her scalp carefully, using her shoulders to turn her and pushing aside her braid in places.

  “I don’t see any blood. Is there a spot that hurts? Maybe you should sit.” He gestured to the bed. After she sat, he squatted in front of her, putting his hands on either side of her.

  Her heart hurt; missing Thomas quickly and viciously seemed to be its only job of late. Her mind struggled to make sense of Lad in front of her in the waking world.

  When it hit her, her jaw dropped: If Lad was here, while she was awake, perhaps Thomas was too. Somewhere.

  Her heart picked itself up from where it had already started mourning the loss of him and jumped into her throat. In her haste to go find Thomas, she stood and put her crotch in her boss’s face.

  “I’m sorry. Again.” She sat back down.

  Mr. Orbit gave her a look that clearly stated that he was unsure what the hell was going on.

  “You’re Fallen Billow, right? Fifth floor housekeeping? New employee?”

  “Yes. I’m all those things. And I kissed you, and all this...” She waved in the direction of her vagina and his face before hanging her head.

  He was going to fire the crap out of her.

  When he started laughing, she looked up at him cautiously.

  “You’re certainly an interesting lady. I just wanted to say your floor looks great, and keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re feeling okay, I’ll be happy to escort you to your vehicle.

  “I’m not…fired?” She waited until he stood this time before joining him.

  “No, you’re not fired. Lucky for you, I’m single, so I don’t have to explain your lipstick to a lady at home. I’m concerned for you, though, and I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  She smoothed hair that had escaped her braid away from her forehead. “That’s super kind of you, but I actually walk to work, so that’s not necessary.”

  His brow furrowed. “Hmm… I’m really uncomfortable with you walking a distance by yourself after you’ve been unconscious. Can I trouble you to allow me to give you a lift home? Do you have someone there who can watch you?”

  He touched her shoulder. His hand felt heavy, and she wanted to shrug it off. He was a nice-looking man, but there was something off-putting about his demeanor.

  “My brother will be home. It’ll be fine.” She brushed at her skirt. “Thank you for being understanding. I promise I’ll work really hard for your company.”

  He finally removed his hand and put it in his pocket, jiggling keys there. “I’m driving you home; I won’t take no for an answer.”

  She couldn’t protest again; it would seem ungrateful. And she certainly didn’t want to tell him she’d been asleep, not injured, when he’d found her on the bed.

  She nodded her acceptance.

  “That’s a good girl.”

  His affirmation made her shiver. And feel a little like a dog.

  He helped her gather her cleaning supplies and watched as she fussed with a few more details before holding the door open for her. Normally, she kept the doors propped open a bit while she worked. But in room 514, she let the door shut behind her so she could be alone with her hope of seeing Thomas.

  The thrill of hoping she could find him while she was awake shot through her again.

  As they walked to the elevator, she tried once more to get Mr. Orbit to abandon the idea of driving her home, but he was adamant. Fallen took her cart down to storage and emptied the dirty linens. After going through her end-of-day procedures and signing out, she turned to him. He’d made himself busy going through things in the maintenance office and checking for dust.

  “Ready, Fallen?” He held open the door for her just as two other housekeepers entered. They were polite to Mr. Orbit, but Fallen saw the judgment in their eyes when they turned to her. She wondered if they knew he’d been alone with her in room 514.

  He walked her through the lobby and out the back door, inspiring terror in every employee he encountered, each of whom then gave Fallen a questioning look. She hugged her jacket around her because the zipper was broken as they hit the cold.

  “My ride is over here.” He stepped up to the fanciest sports car Fallen had ever seen and held the passenger door open for her. She slid into opulence. Leather upholstery and cherry red highlighted the interior.

  “Wow. This is some car.” She touched the door as the engine began to purr.

  “It’s a Jaguar F-Type R. I love her a lot.” He said this while looking into Fallen’s eyes.

  She nodded and hummed a bit. She noticed as he backed up that he’d been taking up two spots.

  She found the seatbelt and clipped it into place.

  “So how’s your head now?” He touched the crown of her hair.

  “Fine. Great. I’m just glad no one seems to book 514. It would have been horrible for a guest to find me.” Then she bit her lip, wondering if pointing out her gaffe was poor form. She didn’t want to give him any ideas.

  “True. No one will ever be in 514, so you know.”

  He put on his blinker and turned toward the road to her house.

  “Why is that? It’s a nice room.” She liked the little antique touches in the vacant space.

  “Well, this hotel has been in my family for years.” He came to a stop sign and made a left. “And my parents had an affinity for that particular room. After they passed, I asked that it be left guest free. In my heart it’s always available for them. That’s why I appreciate your efforts. Really, you’re taking care of a space that’s a memorial to my mother and father.”

  He made a right on Branch Road. It occurred to Fallen that she hadn’t told Mr. Orbit where she lived. Uneasiness found a home with her again.

  “You know the way to my house?”

  He touched two fingers to his forehead. “Got it all up here. I checked the employee records from my phone.”

  “How…prepared you are.” She wished she could crack the window. The thick smell of leather had started to overwhelm her.

  “I wanted to know if you had any medical issues after finding you in distress.” He shrugged, and with the next turn he drove up in front of her house. “So who lives here with you, just your brother?”

  “Yeah. He’s in high school.” She tried to open the door, but it was hard to figure out the handle.

  “Oh. Your parents?”

  She stopped trying to escape and gave him her attention. “My dad is not around, and my mother’s unavailable at the moment. Yes, we live here together.” She finally thought she’d solved the handle and yanked on it just as Mr. Orbit hit the lock button.

  “You’re his legal guardian?” He tented his fingertips.

  The way he said the word legal made her leery. Such a specific question. And she really wasn’t. She had no money to take Nora to court for someth
ing like that, and anyway her brother was less than two years from being his own adult. Instead of answering, she changed the subject.

  “Listen, I better get inside. People will wonder why there’s such a fancy car here. Don’t want them to think I won the lotto and come looking for handouts.” She pointed at the door’s lock.

  “No lotto winning here. Just hard work. And staying loyal. Do you think loyalty is important, Fallen?” He lifted his hips and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet as she tried to think of a good answer—the correct answer to give her boss’s boss’s boss after he’d found her sleeping and she’d kissed him and shoved her crotch in his face, and now sat in his car. Then she thought of Nora, and her abuse of her kids’ loyalty to further her own selfish gain.

  “I think you have to be kind in the world. And try to be a true person.” She shrugged. That was the best she had. She was so goddamn exhausted, she honestly just wanted to get inside and shower. There was a ton left on her to-do list for tonight. And a huge chunk of that included developing a plan to stalk Thomas.

  Mr. Orbit ruffled through an impressive stack of bills and pulled out a hundred dollars. He leaned forward, boxing her in the small car and held the money out between his index and middle fingers. “For you.”

  Fallen put her back against the passenger window, grateful for the console that kept Mr. Orbit’s body away from hers. “No, sir. Thank you, but I’m good.”

  His lips were close to hers. Inappropriately close. “That was a real passionate kiss earlier,” he said.

  “Are you trying to pay me for accidently kissing you?” She looked around the car for other ways to escape. There were none.

  “No.” He shifted his position and scoffed like he hadn’t just been so close to her. Like he hadn’t complimented her kissing. “This is the tip—for room 514. It’s not fair that you miss out on that. You have a room to clean that offers no hope of getting extra money from it. I want to put this in your tip jar, so to speak.