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much to be desired as a street shoe, I would wager.”
    He led her to the elevator. First things first. He’d need to call for his driver and find her something to keep her warm. Slippers, jeans, and a t-shirt just weren’t going to cut it.
    The elevator doors opened and they entered the small enclosure. “Will you take me to see my sister? The psychic says she’s alive in this world.” She frowned. “Does that mean that the other me has died?”
    “I have no idea, Cherie.” He shrugged. “It could only mean that you no longer exist on this world. Meaning that the other you has traveled to another world as you have traveled here.”
    “That makes sense,” she said with a nod. She wrung her hands. “Do you think my sister is the same? Do you think she’ll know me? Do you think she’ll have her daughter with her?” Tears streamed down her face as she talked about her sister. “She’s gone in my world…”
    He’d gathered that. He’d also guessed that was the reason she chose to believe the psychic so easily. What was it like to love someone so much you would believe anything if you could see them again? It had been so long for him he’d forgotten.
    The doors opened on the sixteenth floor and he led her to his room. Sliding the key through the electronic lock, he opened the door and gestured for her to enter, closing the door behind him as he followed her into the suite.
    He pocketed his room key and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Joseph,” he said when he heard his driver answer. “Please bring the car around to the entrance as soon as possible and call me when you’re ready. Oh, and pick up something to eat on the way, will you? Get enough for two. I won’t be alone.”
    “Sure, boss. I’ll be right there. I’ll get a few things, just in case your companion doesn’t like what I get. It will give him a few things to choose from.”
    “Right. Just get here as soon as possible and plan for a trip to the mall.”
    “Uh… Yes, sir.”
    Hunter smiled at the confused tone of his driver’s voice. He would wonder all the way here and that would get him here all the sooner because he would want to see what companion could get Hunter to go to a mall.
    He stared at Cherie as she stood looking out over the ocean and knew that he would live in a mall if that would give him the right to call her his.
    With a sigh, he faced the fact that he would have to try to control her just to see if he could erase her mind. He couldn’t make her do something she wouldn’t do without a fight. He had to make her do something that was against her personal rules like steal something or—he smiled wickedly—kiss a man she’d just met.

Chapter Nine
    Cherie stood staring out the window at the ocean below. She’d always wanted to see the Atlantic. While the big lakes looked like inland oceans, it just wasn’t the same. She hoped she would get a chance to swim in it before she left. She wanted to know what the saltwater felt like against her skin. Would it feel gritty or would it feel like fresh water?
    The sun, well above the line of the horizon now, shone down onto the sand. Waves rushed over the shore, as children ran screaming playfully from the water. Pain knifed through her when she thought of Nikki and how she would have loved swimming in the ocean.
    Hunter walked up beside her, his arm brushing against hers. Shivers ran up her spine at the contact. She looked up at him, watching as he looked out over the ocean.
    Kiss me.
    Cherie blinked as she looked at his full lips. They were extremely kissable, but she just didn’t kiss men she’d just met.
    Kiss me, Cherie. You know you want to.
    God help her, she did want to kiss him, but why was she hearing his voice in her head telling her to do so?
    You’re hearing my voice because you want to kiss me so badly.
    No. I don’t. I don’t kiss men I have just met, she told the part of her imagination that kept prodding her.
    At that moment, Hunter turned to stare down