Chapter 8

“I don’t think it’s dead,” Joshua determined after he stared at the prone body on Ms. Wong’s bed.

“How do you know?” Ms. Wong asked, chewing on her nails as if she were substituting fingernails for steak.

“Because it’s still breathing?”

He glanced down at the cyclops. A real, live, breathing cyclops.

A girl cyclops!

His eyes roved over the eight foot, some odd inch creature. He remembered it from the other day when he saw its shadow chasing after him. The spikes outlined were in fact thick tufts of black hair. Her deep olive tone skin looked smooth, which didn’t make any sense at all. In all the movies with cyclops their skin always looked bumpy and wrinkled.

This girly cyclops looked as if she put on lotion in the morning. Not a dusting of ashy skin or wrinkle in sight. Despite her height, she was well-proportioned. A long neck, round shoulders, and an ample chest. The pink tunic-like dress came down to her big feet.

If anything, she looked like a normal woman with short hair.

Except for the one eye closed in the center of her forehead.

“You know, for a cyclops, she ain’t bad looking.”

“Joshua, are kidding me?”

“What? It’s an observation, Ms. Wong. No one could look as good as—”

He stopped himself before he could finish it. Ms. Wong didn’t need to hear anything like that. It was enough that she called him when he hadn’t expected to ever hear her voice on the phone.

“Well, she’s a good lookin’ cyclops—, if one-eyed women is your thing.”

“What am I going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Bending down at the foot of the bed, he saw the dark red blood oozing down the cyclops’ leg. “She’s hurt. She needs some sort of medical attention.”

“I can’t call 911 about this!”

Hysteria had entered her voice. Joshua could see Ms. Wong was hanging on by a thread. In the past three days, he longed to see how she was doing. Longed to do more than just say hello and pretend he wasn’t eating out his heart.

She’d made her stance clear so he gave her what he thought she wanted. Distance. It about near killed him, but he’d rather her be in his life in some capacity than none.

“Ms. Wong, come here.”

Her eyes were moist. With a little cry, she fell into his arms and he held her tight. He breathed in the scent of her hair feeling as if he’d come home again.

“This has been the most horrible day,” she murmured into his chest.

“What happened, Minerva?” he spoke, half-cognizant that he used her first name.

“Oh Joshua, it’s horrible. I found out that my program protocols have been tampered with.”

He lifted her chin up. “What?”

Those dark eyes washed with tears gleamed like a pair of black marbles. He used his thumb to wipe them away. “Tell me about it.”

“Someone tampered and altered my protocols so that during the experiment I wasn’t able to gather certain readings. At first, I thought it was a horrible oversight on my part.”

“You wouldn’t make an oversight like that, Minerva. You’re too thorough.” He gave her small grin and then tweaked her nose. “You wouldn’t even let me put sugar in that green tea. So how are you going to make a mistake like that?”

She let out a watery laugh. “Oh Joshua, I missed you.”

He stopped. “You did?”

She pulled her chin from his grasp and then ducked her head. “Yeah I did.”

Joshua felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. “But you said—”

“I know what I said.” She sniffed. “Don’t remind me.”

Joshua lifted her chin again. “Ms. Wong—”

“You called me Minerva just now.”

He blinked. “I did.”

“Umm hmm. I kinda like it. You always call me Ms. Wong like I’m a teacher or something.”

“I was just tryin’ to be respectful.”

“I know,” she sniffed. “And I found it rather nice.”

“I missed you, too, Minerva. Like air. But why did you—”

“Because ... I don’t know. When we were here, everything seemed to make sense. But then, I just ... got scared.”

“Scared? Of what? Did you think I was going to hurt you or something like that?”

She patted his chest in a comforting gesture. “No, nothing like that. I just got scared. Although we hardly know each other, we really hit it off.”

“Then what was the problem?”

“It was just too fast, Joshua. For me anyway. Suddenly, you were in my home, eating my food, sharing a laugh, my shower, my bed.”

A rose color flushed her cheeks. “And it happened too quickly.”

“I wasn’t trying to rush you, Minerva. I just wanted you to know how I felt.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “It may have been fast for you, but I’ve been waiting forever for you to notice me. And I would have kept waiting, too.”

Ms. Wong, no—Minerva’s eyes widened. “Joshua.”

“I didn’t know it then, but I think I’ve been in love with you probably from the first day I saw you.”

She pulled a little away from him. “It’s not possible. No one can feel that deeply.”

“I can,” Joshua replied.

Minerva seemed to be holding her breath as she looked at him. Then her eyes drifted to his mouth. “Joshua,” her breath blew across his face.

That dewy look in her eyes came back and he groaned. “Minerva, you can’t be lookin’ at a guy like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to be kissed.”

He heard her quick intake of breath.

“You may have forgotten what I said the last time, but I didn’t. If I kiss you, I’m taking my time.”

He used his thumb to circle the edge of her mouth. “This time, nothing’s going to stop me. Not a fire alarm. And not that thing in there.”

They both looked back at the cyclops that laid, unconscious of anything. “I don’t see any problem in that corner,” he quipped as he turned back.

That dewy expression in Minerva’s eyes deepened, taking on a note of sexiness that had his heart banging around in his chest. If she kept looking at him like that, his clothes would go up in flames.

Minerva used a dainty finger and flicked the bottom of his chin. Then her arms reached up and slipped around his neck.

“Well, as long as you promise to take your time.”

Joshua’s head exploded at her words. Whispering her name, he lifted her into his arms as their lips met for the first time.

Nothing could have prepared him for how good she tasted. If someone had told him she’d be as sweet as apples and honey, he wouldn’t have believed them. But that was the only way to describe it. One sip, one taste, and he reverted to a little boy with an insatiable appetite.

Minerva’s kiss got better with each second. The longer it lasted, the more he craved. The more he craved, the more he wanted. Her mouth fitted perfectly with his and their lips moved together like movements to a dance only they knew the steps to. She let out a little moan that went straight to his head and her mouth opened wider. He delved into that well of sweetness.

She was heaven in his arms.

How long it lasted he had no idea but when he was in danger of not being able to breathe anymore, he ripped his mouth away and leaned his forehead against hers. Their breathing mingled in labored gasps.

“Joshua, you must be the best kisser I’ve ever met.”

He laughed. “Have you met many?”

Her lashes drifted down. “No, you’re the third.”

Joshua’s chest swelled with masculine pride. Cupping her face, he teased, “Third time’s the charm, ain’t it?”

“Oh Joshua,” she admonished in this little girl voice while her cheeks flooded with color.

They moved apart. Her lips looked puffy from his attentions and he couldn’t help wanting to take her back in his arms.

“Still too fast for you, Minerva.”