Dangerous Lies(5)

“Do you want me to meet you in Sydney and fly here with you?”

I snorted. “I wouldn’t be able to recognize you.”

Silence broke between us. It was painful, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter. His appearance wouldn’t keep me flying there and spending time with him, but it constantly nagged at me for not even knowing the color of his eyes, or if his smile matched the warmth in his voice.

“If I sent you a picture of myself, would you book the flight?”

“No,” I said quickly, nearly cutting him off. “I’m not shallow, Jake. I couldn’t care less what you look like, but…” I closed my mouth, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

“It’s unnerving,” he finished for me.

My hand found my head. “If I told anyone that I was flying across the world to meet someone I had never seen before, they’d call me crazy.”

“Does it matter what everyone else thinks?”

I sighed, clicking back to the tab with the itinerary. “No, it most definitely doesn’t.”

Especially not now. Martin didn’t have a hold on me anymore. He couldn’t hurt me again. Who cares if I did something that was completely reckless and stupid?

I had nothing left to lose.

I hovered over the confirm button with the mouse. “You promise your bike is big enough to pick me and my month’s worth of luggage?”

Jake coughed. “A month? Really?”

My hand twitched on the mouse. “I can change the dates.”

“No,” he said quickly. “No, a month would be spectacular. I’ve told you, you’re welcome to come for any amount of time to stay with me. You’ll be stuck with this mug shot. I could just walk around backwards so you’ll feel more comfortable, you know, it’ll be like my photos online.”

Covering my face, I muffled into the phone, “I never should have said anything.”

Jake chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Love. It would be a shame, though…”

“What would be?”

“If I had walked around backwards the whole time.”

“I’d imagine you’d be running into things left and right,” I laughed.

“Most likely, but the real shame would be not seeing your lovely face whenever I wanted.”

My breath caught in my throat. His voice deepened, the fun loving humor that shifted my frown into smiles evened. It held more, a yearning I’d never allowed myself to feel toward him.

“It’s not that lovely when I wake up,” I joked, wanting the new flutters in my stomach to go away.

He laughed, his happy-go-lucky personality returning. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Planting the pointer of the mouse on the confirm button, I clicked it. “Guess so. I’ll forward you my flight information.”

“Did you confirm?”

“Just did, I’m forwarding you information now.”

“Woo hoo! Cora Kart is coming to see me!” He cheered.

I shook my head, a smile so wide spreading across my face that it hurt my cheeks. “Oh my gosh! Stop!”

He laughed, and I closed my eyes at the sound. Soon I’d be able to see him laugh. I imagined what he would look like in my head, mixing different shades of eye colors, nose styles, and cheekbones. Were his eyebrows thick? Barely there thin? Did he have creases on his forehead? Was there a mop of hair underneath the hats and helmets he always wore? Or only a buzz cut? I knew his body type. The broad shoulders and strong legs looked great from behind, and the low ache in my stomach that had disappeared for years was beginning to simmer.

“I’ll make up the guest room, then. Shepley will be confused for a bit, might even try to jump into bed with you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Your cat would have its own room.”

“He’s weird about sleeping with me. I snore,” he joked. “Might be obsessed with you, he has a thing for long hair.”

“Guess I’ll keep it in a bun.”

“Ah, something for him to paw at in the middle of the night. Actually, I’m beginning to get jealous of the cat.”

I flushed. Was he expecting more than a writing partner from this visit?

I changed the subject. “I should get going. I’ve got a lot of packing to do.”

“That you do. I’ll talk to you later, Love.”

Butterflies were in my stomach when I hung up, the excitement of meeting him becoming a reality. Jumping out of the chair, I ran to the basement to get my luggage cases. I had a plethora of things to do before Thursday strolled around.





Chapter Five





“Cora, I’m so glad you called me today,” Stephanie, my neighbor from across the street squealed. We were sitting in the food court of the local mall, shopping bags spewed around us while we ate Pad Thai.

“I needed to get out,” I sighed, twirling a noodle with my fork. Turns out, when I went to pack clothes for New Zealand, my closet was slim to none. Not much fit, and the remaining outfits weren’t appealing. The few decent outfits sagged on my body. I had been too stressed to eat the last few months. It shouldn’t have mattered to me, but the fire that was close to being blown out inside of me was beginning to flicker, and I wanted some new outfits to accentuate the flames. Maybe it would help a story to emerge from my brain.