Page 76 of Solar Shadows

“What did you give me?” I asked again, eyeing the door.

“You don’t have to worry about anything. You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He spoke as if his voice was made of hot caramel poured fresh from the pan.

Okay. Time for me to ask the question of all questions. “Do you know about me?”

He bared his teeth in a million-dollar smile that used to charm a litany of adoring fans across America. The gold tooth sparkled in the lamplight.

“That you’re The Sun?” he replied. “I know. I saw. And I’m not surprised.”

Butterflies sputtered in my belly, not quite at a flutter yet. “What…what do you mean?”

He sat on the bed, twisting sideways to face me, his knee bumping my leg. “I mean you’ve always been like the sun to me. My big ball of fire, the one I orbit.”

Eh?

“I haven’t been able to shake you off,” he continued. “Trapped in the endless shadow of what I’d lost. So many shadows of regret haunted me. Make that solar shadows.” He chortled.

I gulped more water, totally discombobulated.

What was he talking about? Since when had I been his sun?

“You left me,” I rebutted gently. “You didn’t want me anymore.”

“I called you stifling,” he said.

I nodded, finishing the water.

He ran a hand through his hair. “What an idiot.”

“Who? Me?” I asked defensively.

He laughed. “Me, babe. Me. I let go of the best thing I ever had. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Hedipped his head, releasing a sigh. “I didn’t realize how much I loved you until you were gone.”

Why did it feel so hot in here? “You…you…” He’d never told me he loved me. Called me babe, said he cared about me, but never uttered the L-word.

Tony lifted his head. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

Should I be angry? Should I light up this room right now and find a phone? Although someone would be here soon. Drake would be scrying for me as we spoke.

Anger would be easy. A swiftly delivered “fuck you” and a quick burst of my power would make for a great exit. Only, I didn’t want to leave. Not yet.

“I waited our whole relationship for you to say that,” I responded, the pain in my throat finally dulling thanks to the pills.

I’d always wanted a man to declare his love for me. To want me, to hold me, to see me as something real, not the supermodel, not some prize he’d managed to get into bed. Boy, I’d experienced my fair share of those horny fuckers over the years. Rode them like a space hopper only to have them dismiss me like a spoiled piece of meat.

Pricks.

Tony shuffled closer, gaze boring into me, undoing the zipper on my reason. “You’re so beautiful.”

I licked my lips, the butterflies back to flutter properly this time. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

His chuckle made my veins throb.

“But I can’t stay here,” I whispered. “I have to get back to the mansion.”

“Why?”