Well, shit, she thought, drifting into sleep. Her palm rested over his heart, which beat once or twice every minute. Maybe there’s hope for us after all.

Chapter 9

Richard woke, as he had for the last several decades, just as the sun slipped past the horizon line. He felt Jane’s head resting on his shoulder and smiled. A wonderful way to start the evening. And he was warm, so delightfully warm. She was better than a hot tub. He’d have to do something really nice for her for not killing him. Like…let her go?

He couldn’t. He knew it was the right thing to do, knew he had no business keeping her as a sort of mid-sized boy toy, but every time he thought of his condo emptied of her refreshing presence, he wanted to shiver. Hell, he wanted to go for a walk in the sunshine.

He couldn’t even pretend it was about revenge anymore. Even if she had lied, they were square after that first night. No, he was keeping her because he was a selfish monster and he couldn’t bear to let her go. To be brutally honest, he was thrilled she was sticking to her story, because it gave him the perfect excuse to keep her.

The fact that he wasn’t pinned to the bed via a table leg through his rib cage spoke well of her feelings for him. He was as hopeful as he’d been in—what year was it? She had her chance for vengeance and hadn’t taken it. And he doubted his lovely Jane was in the habit of passing up a chance to avenge herself. Was it possible she’d forgiven him? That was too unrealistic to believe, but perhaps there was hope. Perhaps—

“No! No, God, no…aw, jeez, Bobby!”

She was screaming. Screaming in her sleep. He was so startled he nearly jumped off the bed. Never had he heard his Janet so terrified, and so young. She sounded like a teenager.

“I didn’t—Bobby, don’t move, I’ll get an ambulance, oh, God, don’t die, please don’t die!”

She was clawing at him in her sleep. He caught her hands and squeezed. “Jane, love. It’s a dream. It’s not real.” Anymore, he added silently. His chest and throat felt tight. Whatever had happened, it had been horrible. Awful enough to scare her away from lovemaking for years and years.

Her eyes flew open. He was shocked to see them filling and then her tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to,” she sobbed.

“Of course you didn’t.”