Chapter 3

“I’m sorry, Ms. Wong, could you repeat that? Wax in my ears, ya know.”

Joshua had frozen to the spot. Minerva couldn’t fault his reaction. “I said you’re staying with me tonight, Joshua.”

“That’s what I thought you said.” His brows drew together in a deep V in the center of his forehead. “Now look here, Ms. Wong. I appreciate everything you did for me today. Particularly under the circumstances. But here’s the thing: there’s no way I can stay here.”

She leaned forward, her forefinger and thumb supporting the right side of her face. “Why is that?”

“Because—”

His voice dwindled away. Minerva waited for a response even as she went over why she’d extended the invitation.

Any other person would have recognized that taking Joshua Dennison to the emergency room was above the call of duty. But she couldn’t let the man fend for himself if she could help it. What if something had happened on his way home? The scans had revealed no trauma to his brain, but there was always the possibility that something could be fractured or broken.

No, it wouldn’t make sense to allow Joshua to go home on his own.

“I’m waiting, Joshua.”

He rubbed the smooth surface of his bald head. “Look, Ms. Wong. I can’t stay here and you know that. You’re a woman and I’m a man.”

Minerva gave a slow blink of her eyes. “Are you? I had no idea.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. He had nice lips. Thin but firm. And his beard! What would it feel like to have the rasp of it against her skin?

Minerva jumped out of the chair. Where in the world did that even come from?

“What’s wrong, Ms. Wong? You’re going to take me home after all?”

That was probably a good idea. The way her mind kept traveling down these unchartered vistas carried a dangerous aspect to them. She knew it had been a while since she’d had a date but still! She was acting like a fourteen-year-old girl drooling over the high school senior jock.

“No, Joshua. I’m not.”

Common sense sternly told her to take the leap of rationality and take Joshua home.

She ignored its wise call as she took the wok off the stove and set it in the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes. “I’ve already explained why it was better for you to stay here. Nothing has changed.”

“You gotta be kidding me, Ms. Wong.” He blew out a raspberry.

“Come on, let me show you your room.”

“My room?”

“Yes. I’ve a spare bedroom right across from mine.”

A giant hand clamped on her shoulder and spun her around. Joshua towered over her, his brown eyes serious and intent.

“Now, look Ms. Wong. I’ve let you take the lead on all this because ... well ... you’re a woman a guy has a hard time saying no to. But, it’s gotta stop right here and now.”

“What has?” she asked mildly although she understood what he was getting at.

“This!” He gestured wildly. “This!”

Her eyebrow arched. “This being?”

“Oh c’mon, Ms. Wong. Do you really think anything happening right now is normal? Before today, you never gave me the time of day. I didn’t expect ya to. I know my place in the world and it’s on a lower plane than yours.”

Minerva’s heart lurched at those words. “Do you really think that?”

“Think that? I know so.” He emphasized without any hint of resentment in his tone. “But after that explosion, things have been strange. How did we go from ‘Hi, Ms. Wong’ and ‘Goodbye, Joshua’ to you can spend the night at my apartment? Besides me slamming my head into the door frame?”

An awful kind of sense underlined his logic. More than once, her actions were alien from her normal routine. Foreign thoughts she’d never expressed before were all but clamoring about in her head.

Joshua the janitor looked like Joshua the calendar guy.

What was going on?

Did it matter, Minnie? He can’t go back home anyway since we left his car at the VEIL facility.

The fact of the matter was, despite the odd happenings of the day, she wanted Joshua to be here.

Deep down inside, tonight of all nights. She didn’t want to be alone.

“Joshua, I’m going to be honest with you. You’re right. Things have been a little crazy.” She sighed and pushed back her hair. “But I, I guess ... the reason I don’t want you to leave is that I don’t want to be alone tonight. Not after we both saw whatever that thing was that passed us by.”

Reaching out, she rested her hand on his arm. Gosh, the heat from this man could melt an igloo. What would it be like to be wrapped fully into his body and warmed from the inside out?

Dashing away another wayward thought, she pressed on with a little squeeze on his arm. “Please, Joshua? Won’t you stay with me tonight?”

How did women do that? How could they make their faces so pretty and sweet that if they asked you to walk over firesticks, you’d do it?

Joshua gazed down into Ms. Wong’s upturned face. Slight dark hollows rested under her eyes. Little half-moons of exhaustion. Her slim mouth bore the tiredness, too, drooping down on either end. He wanted to cradle her suddenly. Take her in his arms and walk over to the couch in the living room and nestle her against his shoulders. She’d probably moan a little bit, like a sleepy girl, and then she’d melt into his body like a scoop of mint chocolate ice cream.

“Aren’t you afraid of me, Ms. Wong?” he asked, realizing she was still waiting for his answer.

“Should I be?”

“Oh darn, I don’t know, Ms. Wong.”

He didn’t know. He wasn’t worried he’d take advantage of her or do something stupid like kiss that sweet mouth of hers until she begged for air.

The image of doing just that rose in his mind like a mirage in the distance. What would a kiss flavored by Ms. Wong taste like?

Her voice broke in on his fantasy. “If you really wanted to hurt me, Joshua, you could have done it by now. Now, let’s not argue about this anymore. It’s late. We’re both tired and we both need sleep.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the cloud of weariness fell onto his shoulders. “You right about that, Ms. Wong. It’s been a helluava day.”

“Then, you’ll stay with me tonight?”

“Can you not say it like that, Ms. Wong?” he begged. His mind was already flittering misty images of a different sort that he had no wish would come into clarity. “I’m not made of stone and when you say it like, I can’t help but think of ... other things?”

She looked confused for a moment and then a deep, red flush flowed over the contours of her face. “Oh my goodness! I had no idea.”

“No,” Joshua agreed with her. “Most women don’t.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Joshua. I don’t even know you.” Horror filled her face.

He grunted. “You ain’t gotta look like that. I told you I’m not going to take advantage of you. Another fella would be hard pressed not to, but I ain’t of them kind.”

Her head dipped. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Without another word, she led him down a short hall to the door on their right. She opened the door and ushered him in and flicked on the switch.

It was a girly room. No ifs, ands, or buts about that. Pink and white draped in all kinds, from the pillows on the bed to the frilly curtains along the windows. A row of stuffed animals sat on a shelf above the bed.

He shivered. “Uh, Ms. Wong?”

“Yes, Joshua?”

“Would you mind getting rid of those stuffed animals?”

She glanced up over the bed. “Why is that?”

“Now I know I ain’t got the right to ask, but I’m gonna be frank. Stuffed animals scare me. Baby dolls are the worst.”

“Baby dolls?” She gazed at him as if he’d grown a third head.

He nodded, eyeing those vicious inanimate objects that were the stuff of his nightmares. “I saw a movie about dolls once as a kid. Never saw the end of it but the little boy walks into the room and the doll’s eyes followed him.”