Perfectly Broken (7 page)

It was ridiculous. He didn’t even know how to
find her. If her refusal to give him her phone number wasn’t a
clear message, then what would be? Yet Tomas couldn’t believe she
didn’t feel more. He was no stranger to women who could fake it.
Susanna wasn’t one of them. The depth of desire he had witnessed
with her in his arms was unmistakable.

So what was the problem? If only he could find
out, pin her down and make her tell him. She was a mystery, and
there was a lot more to her below the surface. It wasn’t all good,
either. He could tell. But Tomas wasn’t put off by a few issues.
Susanna was worth it, whatever it took.

*****

Heading for the door, Susanna nearly ran into
her roommate coming around the corner toward the kitchen. “Ah,
Kiara. I didn’t know you were up.”

Kiara Burke was only a few months older than
Susanna, and she worked as a waitress in town. She had long, curly
blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her heart-shaped face gave her a
cheerful look. In her pale blue sweater and jeans with her hair
tousled from sleep, she yawned.

“Yeah, barely.”

“Is Chace still here?”

Kiara shook her head. “No. He had to go to
work.”

Chace Walsh was three years older, had already
graduated from college, and was working at an investment company.
He made good money, and since he stayed over so much, had started
helping with the rent. Susanna didn’t know him well. Or Kiara
either. Their schedules were often different, and it was common to
have roommates for financial reasons, not because of
friendship.

The arrangement had worked okay. Kiara and Chace
weren’t too noisy. They stayed in their room a lot and didn’t wake
Susanna up, so she was fine with the shared lodgings. She tossed
her hair over her shoulder and adjusted her purse strap. “Well,
that’s where I’m going. Don’t want to be late. See you later.”

Walking was something Susanna enjoyed, even when
it was bitterly cold out. There was little else she did for
exercise, unless sex counted as aerobics. Her apartment wasn’t far
from Trinity College on Dame Street. Keeping a brisk pace, she
walked straight down Dame and followed the road around, passing
Christchurch on the right and leading onto Thomas Street.

She went left on Crane and right on Market. It
was a twenty-minute walk. Susanna liked the feel of the biting air
against her face, and breathed in the icy freshness of the morning.
The day would be a lot better if she didn’t have to go to work, but
that wasn’t an option.

Her finances were tight as it was. Her job was a
necessity, not a luxury. But the confines of the shop were
suffocating sometimes. Though she did find ways to entertain
herself. At least she had the movie with Rowan to look forward to.
That was something.

She didn’t know how others endured life without
alcohol, drugs, and sex, preferably all three. It tended to be
rather dull otherwise. Or maybe it was just her. She wouldn’t doubt
that. Susanna had been different from other women even in school,
and was used to being outcast.

Making an effort to keep her focus on the
workday and away from thoughts of those she missed, Susanna took a
breath. She jogged the last leg of her trip to work. Dwelling on
the negative wouldn’t help. Yet grief called to her, begging her
for attention.

Stepping up to the building, she let the
automatic doors open. Another day. How depressing. Then Tomas came
to mind for no apparent reason. Actually, he had never been far
from her thoughts since she had left him. It felt good to think of
his hard body, his pale green eyes, and of the way he made her
feel.

Being with him was different. Tomas was warm and
real, making Susanna wish she could roll back time and feel his
arms around her again. He smelled so good, so male. And he fit with
her so well. It would be a while before she would forget him.

If she did forget him. That worried her. The
feel of him close to her, the sense of his presence and how he
smiled. Even the way he launched into telling her a fairy tale,
cross-legged on the bed with a pillow on his lap, was
endearing.

What if she had stayed? Should she have? Susanna
knew she had done the only thing possible. Surely once they left
the hotel room and walked straight into real life, it would all
fall apart anyway. It was better to leave with a good feeling, and
leave Tomas with only pleasant memories of her.

Though leaving hadn’t been easy. But there had
been no way around that. Tomas would get over it soon enough. The
maid service would toss the shredded panties she had left behind,
and he would start his new life in Dublin. He would forget about
her, long before he met some nice Irish girl and fell in love. So
why did she keep thinking about him?

* * * * *

Early the following morning, Tomas showed up at
the gym. The facility was equal to any he had been to. It had a
modern style, and good lighting. The tranquil feel made it a haven
from the stresses of the workday.

Though he had lots of relatives in Ireland, he
didn’t have any friends yet. Starting the job would remedy that.
For an hour that morning, he got lost in his workout, pushing heavy
weights. Feeling his muscles ache from the effort was
refreshing.

The process enlivened him, and he pushed harder,
wanting to make up for all the days he had recently missed. Several
others worked out on the machines or in the free-weight room, but
no one was overly social. They were there to concentrate on their
routine, like Tomas was.

When he finished his workout, he stopped to wipe
the sweat off and gulp some water. A dark-haired guy came over to
say hello. “Haven’t seen you here before.” He stuck out his hand.
“I’m Jason Vail.”

The guy was about an inch shorter than Tomas,
who stood at five eleven. But he was nearly as muscular. The guy
was good-looking and about the same age. “I’m Tomas Dempsey.” He
shook hands.

“Did you start with the company?”

Tomas took another swig of water. “Soon. I just
arrived in the city. I’m scheduled for this coming Monday, but
thought I’d get a head start on the workouts.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Jason nodded
toward the expansive gym. “Here, check it out. This is quite a
place they have set up for us. I’ll show you around.”

Tomas tossed his towel over his shoulder and
followed his co-worker.

Jason looked over at him. “And you will want to
make use of these facilities, because the food they give us up
there is good. Plus there is plenty of it.”

“I read that there is a big lunchroom.”

“Yep. You’ll see.”

Jason sauntered around the enormous space,
pointing a few things out. There was a sauna big enough for twenty,
a deck-level lap pool, and a large steam room. Tomas had already
seen the strength-training equipment and free weights. In addition,
there were rows of cardio equipment, including forty
treadmills.

They headed toward the executive locker room to
shower and dress. The size and quality of the gym said a lot about
the company. They could afford to treat their employees well, which
boosted confidence in their profitability and the job’s potential.
Tomas was refreshed from his workout, though his muscles would be
sore by the next day.

“Okay, see you at the office, then.” Jason
headed for the showers.

Tomas fished in his locker for his street wear.
“Yeah. Thanks, man.”

*****

After a day of apartment hunting, Tomas hadn’t
found anything yet. A few things were possibilities, but he still
had time to wait for a place that was more of what he had in mind.
He’d grabbed a late lunch in town. And when he finished seeing all
the places he had on his list, he stopped for some coffee.

Evening approached, and it was getting dark. He
remembered he was supposed to pick up some final paperwork at the
funeral home to deliver to his grandmother. The task was not
appealing. But it was better to just get it over with.

He nursed his coffee for a bit, thinking about
other things he wanted to do in the city while he had the chance.
Then his thoughts drifted back to Susanna. Reaching into his
pocket, feeling only the smooth lining.

Tomas had left her panties in a hotel drawer. He
had started to feel like an idiot carrying them around all the
time. It might be sexy if the item belonged to a woman he was
actually seeing. To keep sniffing the panties of a woman that was
just a memory was kind of weird.

It was only going to get darker, and later. He
didn’t want to miss the funeral director, because that would mean
going back another day. Tomas just wanted to get it over with. He
didn’t mind a visit to his grandmother later in the week to deliver
the documents. But the whole funeral-home thing was a downer.

After finishing his coffee, Tomas left and went
directly to the home. There were still lights on, so it wasn’t
closed yet. That was good. He went inside and looked around. It was
terribly quiet, almost spooky, making him shudder.

Down the hall were the administrative offices,
so Tomas headed that way. Walking over the glossy floor, he
couldn’t help but remember how he’d chased after Susanna. And how
she had vanished. There was still something about that he couldn’t
put together.

It had been too darn coincidental that she had
appeared over and over that day. Yet she didn’t seem to be part of
the family. Tomas had casually asked a few of his relatives, but no
one seemed to know a strawberry blonde. Not a young woman of that
age. “Maybe a family friend,” they had said.

But no one could pin it down for him. In a
family as close-knit as his, people didn’t go unnoticed. Every
relative was known to every other, and in detail, including many
specifics of their private life that each probably wished no one
else knew.

The idea that there was a distant relative or
friend attending the funeral who was unknown to any of the family
was impossible. Yet Susanna had been there. And she had
effortlessly fit into the crowd without drawing attention, or
causing any commotion.

It was puzzling.

Tomas entered the offices and found the director
finishing up for the day. His somber look and pale complexion fit
with the establishment.
What a job
. There was no way that
Tomas would entertain the prospect of dealing with the families of
those who had passed on. Not every day of the week.

The director pulled the packet out of his desk
drawer and handed it to Tomas. Once again, he relayed his
sympathies. Shaking his limp hand, Tomas took the envelope and
thanked him, anxious to be away.

He turned and went back to the hall, walking
faster than he had upon entering. Tomas needed fresh air, and he
needed to put the sadness behind him. He had loved his grandfather,
but there was nothing more he could do for him.

Tomas tucked the square envelope under his arm
and headed for the front door. Then his eyes seemed to play tricks
on him. He swore he saw a woman exit swiftly just as he rounded the
corner. And she had shimmery reddish-blond hair.

Had he thought of her so much that he was
conjuring her up? Was he really losing his mind over a petite
red-headed woman? Maybe so. But his pulse raced, and his quick
reaction time kicked in. Tomas bolted for the front door.

There she was, just down the walkway in the
semi-darkness. The outside lights of the building cast an amber
glow, making her look more like a ghost than ever. Tomas froze,
unsure what was happening, or how to react. Then he came to life,
and determination surged.

“Susanna!” He shouted loud enough for the whole
block to hear.

She stopped, but didn’t turn around.

Tomas jogged over, and stepped in front of her
to block her path. He looked into her big blue eyes, and his heart
skipped a beat.

“What are you doing here?”

The silence was aggravating.

This time she wore a row of tiny silver rings
along the curve of her left ear, and her lovely eyes were rimmed
with the thick black makeup like before. Her dark wool coat was
buttoned tight, and her collar was turned up, with her long hair
flowing over her shoulders. Tomas couldn’t help imagining how she
looked under the thick coat.

He frowned. “You thought you’d do your
disappearing act again?”

She bit her lower lip. “I didn’t expect to see
you.”

He stared at her. “Clearly.”

“I’m sorry, Tomas. I have to go.”

He drank in her beauty in the fraction of a
second before he spoke. “No.”

She raised her brows.

“If you think I’m letting you walk away before
getting some answers, think again.”

She lifted her chin. “You can’t boss me around.
We met once, all right? Leave it.”

“I think
met
is understating it.”
Reflection on what they had shared made his loins ache.

Susanna shook her head. “Please, let me
pass.”

Tomas hesitated.

“Let’s start over,” he said. “I didn’t mean to
scare you. I’m not challenging you. I just…like you. And I’d like
to get to know you.”

She made no move to leave.

“So, will you have dinner with me?”

Tomas fully expected her to refuse, and to flee
from him. Already he had learned to expect it. So he was shocked
when she smiled and said, “Okay.”

“Okay?” He shouldn’t have questioned her
response. It was what he wanted. But she didn’t make any sense,
leaving him unable to predict what she would do.

“Okay, I’ll have dinner with you.”

Tomas grinned and offered his arm.

She placed her arm in his. “But just
dinner.”

“Just dinner,” he said.

*****

He took her to a restaurant that served Spanish
cuisine. It could have been anything. Susanna was so flustered
being with him again that she didn’t even notice the name of the
place. She figured it was his choice because it was the closest
establishment, and he wanted to make sure she didn’t back out of
the dinner deal.