Mind Games (Games Thriller Series) (23 page)

Chapter 65

“Chris?”

Chris rolled over in his bed. He didn’t want to talk with her, the events from last night too fresh in his mind and she would know the moment she saw him. He closed his eyes again and rolled onto his stomach, ignoring her.

“Come on, I know you’re awake.”

He looked back toward the bathroom and sighed. “I’m coming,” he mumbled and rolled out of bed. “What?” He looked sleepily at her reflection.

She blinked and stepped back, her eyes scanning his bare chest and then jumping back to meet his face. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.” He looked away from her swirling calico eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just had a rough night,” he replied without looking at her, his mind going back to the gun.

Her eyes widened. “Please don’t!”

“Don’t what?” he asked meeting her gaze, not knowing whether she was referring to the thoughts of suicide that went through his mind or the fact that he had killed again.

She stepped forward and transcended into his bathroom, taking his hands. “Don’t even think about it. I would miss you.”

He pulled her close. “I don’t know if I can live without you in my life,” he whispered, letting her into his mind, into his tortured soul. He wrapped his arms around her and put his head down on her shoulder in submission.

Jessica held onto him and closed her eyes
, broadcasting thoughts of her own.
I’m not sure I can either, but that’s what has to happen when this is done.
When she opened her eyes, she was back in her own bathroom.

Chris stared at her in the mirror and clenched his jaw. Her thoughts resounded in his head and it hurt more than he ever thought it would, like someone had reached inside and ripped his beating heart from his chest. He turned back toward his bedroom.

“Don’t go.”

Chris stopped, but didn’t look at her. He took a deep breath.
What did you expect?
The answer was simple. He expected the original dream; he expected to be with her.

* * * *

“Chris,” she whispered and when he looked at her this time, she saw Ty. The intense need she remembered was in his eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and walked out of the range of vision.

The image faded, but not before she heard the music turned up loud to tune her out. The look on his face rattled her. The entire encounter rattled her and she looked back at Tom sleeping peacefully in their bed. Guilt ravaged her and she nearly let the sob locked in her chest free, instead she took a deep breath, gaining control over her roller coaster emotions.

She decided a run was in order and changed into her jogging outfit. Running always cleared her mind ever since the days in the complex
; it was her escape, her salvation. With her iPod’s buds in her ears and the music blaring loud enough to drown reasonable thought, she jogged down to the beach and let loose, running hard and fast, attempting to outrun the swirl of emotions building in her stomach. But when she passed the spot on the beach where they had screwed around, she slowed down, staring at the sand.

The way he made her feel was unparalleled to anything else she had ever encountered. It even left the sensuous heat that Tom created yesterday in the dust. When Chris touched her, her entire body ignited. Physically, he ruled her and she couldn’t resist him, couldn’t say no to him. Even a lifetime ago when he was Ty Aris, holding her captive and she didn’t want to, he still melted her resolve with one touch. Chris owned her body and soul and until today, she believed Tom had her heart
, but seeing the depth of hurt in Chris’s eyes had torn the fabric of her beliefs and shot straight through her, leaving her feeling hollow and empty and wondering if it was indeed Chris who owned her heart.

A fragment of a vision she had in the complex crossed her mind and she stumbled, catching herself and resuming her stride. That dream of him kneeling on the snow with an engagement ring proposing was in the back yard of his house in York.

Jesus, no wonder it looked so familiar.

Chapter 66

She stood at the entrance to her closet scanning the dresses. “What should I bring?”

Tom stepped away from his suitcase and crossed to the closet. “You brought those dresses back with you, right?”

“Yeah, but which ones do you want me to bring?”

He scanned the rack and pulled the little red number out, handing it to her. The next dress he picked was an elegant black evening gown. He bit his lip scanning the rest and picked a pretty white floral gown as well, studying the rest of her dresses. His eyes lit up and he replaced the white dress and chose a midnight blue number, smiling. “You always knock me out when you wear this and I have a feeling I’m going to need it tomorrow night.”

Jessica took the dresses and laid them out in the garment bag. He avoided her eyes and picked out three suits, shirts and ties. He finally turned and looked at her and what she saw made her heart leap into her throat. A dread bordering on fear laced his blue eyes and she couldn’t help but wonder why he was going through with this. Going back to the hellhole they endured, the place they should have died. She couldn’t do that, not for love or money.

“I’m so going to need you tomorrow night,” he said and passed by her.

“Why are you doing this if it’s going to be that hard?”

He inhaled and turned toward her. “Come here.” He put his hand out.

Jessica took it and walked in front of him. He took her other hand and kissed her. “I’m doing this because I have to. I need to face my demons,” he said. “I’ve never put that time behind me. I’ve tried, but it’s always been there and we never talked about it much until he came back.” Tom took a deep breath. “I knew when I married you that you loved him. I just didn’t know he was alive and I’m not sure we would be together if I had.” He looked into her eyes. “So I have to do this because if I don’t, we aren’t going to make it.”

Sadness descended and Jessica’s eyes welled with tears, blurring her vision until she blinked them back. She couldn’t envision life without Tom either, but the thought didn’t bring on the crushing sensation in her chest that never seeing Ty again did. “Okay,” she said.

* * * *

They landed in New York at three o’clock and by the time they got their bags and were driven to the hotel, it was close to four in the afternoon. They checked in and dropped their bags off in the hotel room.

“Dinner reservations aren’t until seven,” Tom said and stretched. “Feel like taking a walk?”

“Sure. Where to?”

“Central Park is just across the street.”

They strolled leisurely through the park and stopped at a concession stand near the carousel for ice cream before continuing. She let Tom take control of the conversation, listening to him drone on about the show and what he wanted to do past this movie but the electricity in the air distracted her. Chris was somewhere in the city and she knew it.

As she walked by the fountain, the uncanny feeling of being watched scratched at the skin at the base of her neck and she paused
, scanning the crowd.

“Pretty fountain,” she said and then their eyes met. His peering over the lens of a camera on the opposite side of the fountain and hers widening before she spun her head in the direction they were walking, pretending she hadn’t seen anything unusual and adding another nod to what Tom was saying.

Jessica’s breath caught in her throat and heat prickled over her skin making her shiver. The effect of being within a hundred feet of him was like an electric jolt, intense and unexpected. Before she walked around the bend and out of sight, she cast another glance in his direction but she couldn’t locate him in the crowd and disappointment snuck under her skin.

Jessica ate her ice cream cone, her mind drifting.

Tom stopped short, causing her to come back to the here and now with him.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Jessica blushed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’ve got more of a case of jet lag from our trip back east than I thought.”

He shook his head and looked at her sideways, inhaling deeply,
and he continued walking. “I’m going to need to run my lines for the show. Think you can get your head here long enough to help me out?”

“No need to get pissy with me,” she snapped back and plopped the last piece of the ice cream cone in her mouth.

He snorted and let go of her hand. “You haven’t been with me all day.”

She took a deep breath and pushed the aggravation back because he was right. “Ok
ay, you will have my attention from now on. I’m just wiped from yesterday.” She eyed him.

Tom laughed. “I thought you were the
Energizer Bunny?

She shrugged. “Yeah, well...”
she trailed off and smiled at him. “I’ve never had that many in a single day, sweetheart.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

His mind painted a vivid picture of Frank’s sadistic orgasm machine and the smile on her face disappeared. Anger singed and she turned and walked away without another word.

He caught up to her. “I’m sorry.”

She said nothing until they were in the hotel room and then she turned on him. “I can’t believe you said that.” She flopped on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. “That was just so wrong.” She turned her head and looked at him.

“I’m sorry.” He stood with his hands deep in his pockets.

She saw the sincerity in his eyes but it did nothing to diffuse her anger. “I can’t believe you would even put
that
remotely in the same space as yesterday. You compared a killing machine to, to, to us making love.” She turned her head before he could see the tears spill out.

He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through her hair.

“Don’t.” She didn’t want him touching her, not after that comment.

He ignored her, continuing, knowing it calmed her when she was upset. “I’m sorry,” he said again very softly.

Jessica cried silently in the pillow. That memory haunted her and she kept it locked up inside as best she could because whenever it got loose, she broke down. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep under the soft combing of her hair.

Chapter 67

Chris looked through his camera lens again in surprise and snapped her picture. She was here, now, less than a football field length away from him. He smiled as he zoomed in on her licking the ice cream cone and snapped another picture. He lowered the camera, noting that they were holding hands and heading his way. He moved to the opposite side of the fountain so their paths would not cross. He sighed and watched her and when she paused and looked over her shoulder toward the fountain, he held his breath.

He had the camera to his eye and he caught her expression on film as she looked back. He slowly lowered the camera, feeling the same intensity of emotions raging through her blood.

“Christ,” he whispered. It took every ounce of strength he had not to go after her and sweep her away. He was on his home turf now, and wondered if he would be able to persuade her to stay with him this time. Instead of following her, he headed back to his apartment.

Chapter 68

She walked in the front door of his house, stepping inside. She crossed through the kitchen glancing at the discarded cast on the floor before heading out the back door. A trail of clothes led to the side of the pool and his powerful strokes drove him through the water.

He pulled himself out of the water and went into the cabana to grab a towel.

God, I want him, she thought and he turned, their eyes meeting.

“You shouldn’t be here
, Jess.” He stormed past her into the house, shaking from the cold.

She followed him up to his bedroom and he turned, his eyes pleading with her. “You don’t understand,” he said and his eyes shimmered with tears.

“Enlighten me.”

Hands shook her awake and Jessica blinked, staring at Tom in confusion.

“We need to get ready for dinner.”

She nodded, still in the fog of the dream and wandered into the bathroom, starting the shower, stripping off her clothing.

Tom slipped into the shower behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, startling her. “I’m sorry,” he said again as he kissed her wet neck. “I didn’t mean to make the comparison. It’s just that I’m going to be there tomorrow and...”

“I know, I forgive you,” she said and he ran the soap gently over her body.

She let him wash her, closing her eyes and enjoying the sensual way his fingers ran through her hair, combing the strands with conditioner and rinsing. Showering with him was always on par with having a day at the spa, relaxing and rejuvenating.

He turned off the water and grabbed two towels, handing one to her and wrapping the other around his waist. “I reserve the right to a rain check.”

“We’ll see.” Jessica smiled smugly and slipped past him.

He reached out and grabbed her around the waist. “We’ll see?” He laughed and looked at their reflection. “We are going to have a beautiful child.”

She looked at the reflection and laughed. “That’s quite vain.”

“Seriously. Look at us.”

Jessica did. “Pretty plastic people.” She smiled and looked up at him. His hair was a dripping mess, like he just shook it as he stepped out of the shower, his well defined chest glistened with moisture and his eyes were the blue that made women swoon. He really was beautiful to look at and yes, they would have exceptionally good-looking children if that’s what the fates had in mind. She slid out of his grip and walked into the room and put on a black lacy bra with matching panties before slipping the black dress over her head.

Tom whistled. “How did I get so lucky?

Jessica shrugged and looked up at him. “You’re not the lucky one. I am.” She ran her hands down his chest. “Now get dressed or we’ll be late.”

He pulled on his black suit with a mauve colored shirt and a gr
ay, black and mauve tie to complete the ensemble.

“You should have gotten the top spot last year,” she said, referring to the
‘Sexiest Man Alive’ poll.

He blushed and gave her his shy smile. “Let’s go,” he said and put his hand out for her.

She took his hand and they left for an evening of dinner and dancing at the Rainbow Room. The dinner was fantastic and after, Tom led her onto the dance floor and moved her around expertly.

He held her close, slowly twirling her around the floor. “I love you
, Jess.”

“I love you
, too.” She looked up and he planted a kiss on her lips.

They left around eleven
but instead of taking a taxi, Tom suggested they walk. It was only a few blocks between Rockefeller Center and the Plaza Hotel. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders when she shivered from the chill in the air. With his hand around her waist, smiling, he sighed. “Thank you.”

“For what?” she asked looking over at him.

“For a wonderful night that will help me get through the day tomorrow.” He didn’t look at her right away. “I wish you were gonna be there with me.”

“I can’t.”

“I know,” he answered and held the door to the hotel open for her. “But I can still wish,” he said as they stepped on the elevator.

* * * *

The lock to the hotel room flipped and he approached her, reaching out and pulling the clip from her hair. Soft curls cascaded over her shoulders and he had to stifle the plea that wanted to be heard. Desperation gripped him and he crushed her lips under his, exploring her mouth with his tongue, teasing, tasting, relishing the skillful dance. Despite what he told her on the beach, if it came down to it, he couldn’t leave her, not for long anyway and in that moment, he understood Ty, understood the need she drove in him because he couldn’t fathom life without her.

He reached behind her and unzipped her dress, pulling away to watch it drift down her body and crumple elegantly around her ankles. “I need you tonight.”

Tom made love to his wife, taking her every move, every touch into his memory as if this was the last time they would be together. He held her tightly in his arms afterwards while she drifted to sleep with a small smile of satisfaction on her lips. He smelled her hair and squeezed her a little tighter thinking about the day ahead of him. Closing his eyes, he hoped sleep would come and eventually it did, and so did the nightmares.