Grateful that the long night was finally over, that she could go back to work where she’d at least be close to him, she got up, turned off her alarm and crept up her curving stairs to the kitchen. Wallace was sleeping in the guest room, which she had to pass, and she didn’t want to wake him. She preferred to have this time alone.
Thinking of the conversation they’d had last night, she smothered a groan. Was she really going to cut a deal with Weston Jager? She couldn’t. But if she refused, Wallace would go to the warden and they’d proceed without her. He wouldn’t let her opinion override his.
Her cell phone buzzed as she was reaching for the coffee grounds. Surprised to be getting a call so early, she grabbed it, didn’t recognize the number, but walked out onto the deck. When she heard the voice of her caller, she hurried down the steps and into the forest. No way did she want Wallace to know she was talking to Virgil.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.”
“Good. Now that I can breathe… Everyone’s in their cells this time of the morning. How are you calling me?”
“I promised Buzz fifty bucks if he let me borrow his cell.”
Buzz had a cell? As a prison administrator, she wasn’t too happy to learn that. But hard as they worked to stop the smuggling, it went on. And personally, she couldn’t be happier that Virgil had found a means to contact her. “Where’d you get fifty dollars?”
“Where do you think?”
His gate money. They gave parolees two hundred dollars when they released them.
“I told him I needed to call my girlfriend,” he added with a chuckle.
She smiled at the admission. “So…am I your girlfriend?”
There was a slight pause, as if he wasn’t sure how to respond. Then he said, “You’re the only one I dream about.”
Remembering his kiss, reliving it in her mind, she moistened her lips. “That would probably be more flattering if you had access to other women.”
“All I care about is getting access to you.”
This was a far different Virgil, one who was showing his tender side. His injuries must be getting the better of him, or he was feeling fatalistic or depressed. “Is that the pain meds talking?” she asked. “Because the last time we chatted, you were pushing me away.”
“The meds can’t change how I feel, but…maybe they’re changing what I’m willing to say. I shouldn’t be telling you that you matter to me. I’m a fool for even wanting you.”
Spinning in a tight circle, she savored the smell of the forest around her and knew she’d never forget this moment. “Then we’re both fools because I want you, too.”
“You can’t be serious.”
She couldn’t deny it. “I am.”
“See? Now that’s going to make me even crazier. Because I can’t be with you. And how long can I expect a woman like you to wait?”
The solidity of his medallion, which she’d put on before bed last night, reassured her as it hung between her br**sts. She wrapped her fingers around it, glad that she had something tangible, something that belonged to him. “I can’t imagine I’ll be going anywhere. I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel the way you do.”
The tone of his voice suddenly became wary. “Someone’s coming. I gotta go.”
But she hadn’t broached the subject of the note from Weston yet…. “No, wait! I need to talk to you.”
“I can’t. I just…I wanted you to know—in case something happens to me—you’ve already been the best part of my life.” Those words came in a rush; then he was gone.
Tears rolled down Peyton’s cheeks as she stared at her phone. He’d risked his life to tell her that. If Buzz called back to see who he’d been talking to and got her voice mail—or she answered and he recognized her voice—Virgil would be exposed.
But the fact that she meant that much to him made her care about him all the more.
She caught herself. Care about him? Her feelings were stronger than that. She s pretty sure she was falling in love.
Taking a few minutes to change her voice mail to a computerized response instead of a personal message, just in case, she hurried back to the house.
“You seem to be in a much better mood,” Rick said as he walked into the kitchen and found Peyton smiling over a bagel and her second cup of coffee.
Clearing her throat, she made an effort to rid herself of the goofy expression. “Yes, I’m, um, feeling better,” she managed to say.
He watched her curiously. “You must’ve slept well.”
“Well enough. You?”
“Like a rock.”
“Glad to hear it.” She added cream to her coffee. “What are your plans for the day?”
“I’m heading home. I didn’t pack enough clothes.”
“Things at work are probably piling up, too, huh?” She feigned interest in the paper, as if she was absorbed in an article. But she’d been trying to read it since she sat down for breakfast and couldn’t seem to comprehend a single word.
“I’m actually dealing with my workload. I handled quite a bit via the internet yesterday. Computers are great, aren’t they?”
Not if you preferred that he get back to the office…. “Mmm-hmm.”
“Where’d you get that?”
Peyton had been toying with Virgil’s medallion. When Rick asked about it, she slipped it under her blouse. “Oh, I picked it up at a flea market in San Francisco a long time ago. Why?”
He shrugged. “It’s sort of masculine, isn’t it?”
“Maybe a little.” She got up and turned away. “What would you like for breakfast?”
“A cup of coffee will do. I’ve got a lot of driving ahead of me. I’ll pick up a breakfast sandwich on the road.”
“Okay.”
She was handing it to him when he said, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
The cup rattled in its saucer, but she covered her reaction by pretending to cough as he rescued his drink. “You’re coming right back?”
“Yeah. It’ll be more convenient to work here for a few days.”
“At my place?”
“If you don’t mind.”
She did mind. That was asking way too much. But she figured they could go over that when he returned. Right now, she didn’t want to give him any excuse to stay. “Mercedes doesn’t want you to…you know, get your things and move out?”