Page 12 of Beneath the Beauty (Beauty 2)
Then one day, he’d woken up amid pizza boxes and soda cans and realized that if he were going to keep on living—and since he hadn’t died yet, he supposed he was—then he could at least live cleanly. So he’d pulled up the local job board and posted a message. Erin had replied and… Ah, Erin.
She had been a shot of healing heat in a bleak winter. Slowly he had improved himself, each day becoming a little stronger, coming back into his old self when he hadn’t thought it was possible.
Melinda circled the desk, coming to stand beside him. Some unknown curiosity had him letting her. Was anything left, any of the love and devotion he’d once felt for her? It seemed hard to believe he could have spent the rest of his life with her…when now he felt nothing. Like looking at a stranger smile at him, like feeling the cool back of her palm touch the unmarred side of his face, the part that was normal.
He moved her hand from his face. “We’re done, Melinda. You made that clear once.”
“I was young,” she said softly. “I thought appearances mattered.”
He laughed bitterly. She was only a year younger than him, and if he wasn’t mistaken, her dress suit was still designer. Her shoes probably cost five hundred dollars. “And I suppose now you’re interested in what’s on the inside, right? Or is it just my bank account you want back?”
She jerked her head back as if slapped. “That was low, Blake.”
“Maybe.” He sighed. “Yeah, it was. I shouldn’t have said that. But this ends right here. I don’t want you to come to my office unless you have school business to discuss.”
A smile curved her lips. “You have yourself a deal.”
She left, seeming entirely too pleased with herself. Probably plotting, if he knew her well, but he could handle her if she tried anything. He sat back, trying to focus. He was glad things had been squared away with Melinda. Maybe some closure there was a good thing. And he would fix things with Erin tonight when she came over.
So he wondered why it felt as if the small amount of ground he’d covered was crumbling beneath his feet.
CHAPTER FOUR
On autopilot, Erin threw her backpack into the passenger seat and pulled out of the packed parking lot. She spent the drive to her apartment going over the outline for her research paper. She’d been sketching it out for months. Now she could finally get feedback and start writing it. The thought excited her—and terrified her. It was only her entire future. Maybe she could run her ideas by Blake tonight.
Tonight.
They had a standing date to see each other in the evenings she wasn’t working. Though it wasn’t a formal agreement or anything. She had taken up the habit of showing up at his door with a DVD in hand. He’d order Chinese delivery, and they would eat greasy noodles and crack open a fortune cookie to share between them for good luck.
They’d only watch the first half of the movie because by the middle he would be kissing her and she’d have her hands down his pants. It had seemed like bliss only a few days ago. Now it all paled, darkened under the shadow of a woman who could ruin it all.
But maybe Erin was being dramatic. Hopefully so. Old wounds causing pain in the winter. This could all mean nothing. Professor Jenkins meant nothing. Though still new and even fragile, her feelings for Blake felt breathtakingly real. That was all that mattered, wasn’t it?
God, she hoped so.
She pulled onto the dappled concrete beneath the large elm tree. The apartments farther away from campus were much cheaper. Unlike the manicured gardens near campus, the beautiful foliage here was allowed to grow and bloom—even if it was only to save on trimming costs.
Even the old building had a certain charm—she imagined the mottled brown shingles and faded yellow shutters had been very pretty when they were brand new. And if she had to put up with the old pipes breaking every month and backing up questionable water onto her bathroom floor…well, she didn’t really have a choice. This was all she could afford.
She unlocked the door and waved to Courtney.
Her friend and roommate didn’t glance up from the thick, spread-eagle textbook. Her sleek, straight black hair fell around her face. “How was lover boy’s first day?”
“Oh, swell.”
Now Courtney did look up, her eyebrows arching in question. “Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good. What happened?”
If only Erin knew the answer to that. Had she witnessed a meaningless encounter with an ex-lover? Or a long-anticipated reunion?
Erin grabbed an orange from the bowl and sat down. She peeled the fruit on the table, pausing to gesture while she talked. The sharp citrusy scent burst into the room, invigorating her after the deflating ride home. “Well, things started off pretty good. Scratch that, really good.”
“Sex?”
“Oh yeah. The best kind. Sort of frantic and breathless. And extra urgent because someone might have come in.”
Courtney moaned. “Stop. I haven’t been laid in like five years.”
“You broke up with Derek a month ago.”
