Page 90 of The Unknown

“It’s Marin,” I say.

He lets out a relieved sigh and comes closer. “Sorry,” he says, although it’s unclear if the apology is for thinking I was his dead girlfriend or for standing there wearing next to nothing. “I could have sworn I—”

“Smelled her perfume?”

“Yeah.” Ronan looks to Violet’s closed door at the far end of thehallway. A strip of golden lamplight peeks out from beneath it, making it likely that she, too, is still awake. “Maybe I was wrong about delaying that séance. Maybe we should just do it now.”

I fear it’s a little too late for that, not just in terms of the hour but our mental states. If Ronan and Violet are, like me, delirious from exhaustion, then trying to contact the dead seems like a bad idea. It’ll be hard to tell what’s real and what’s sleep deprivation.

“I just needed to get out of that room for a bit,” I say. “After what happened with Julianne, it’s not exactly comfortable.”

“Yeah, I get it. If you want, you can sleep in my room.” Ronan’s cheeks turn red enough to be seen in the lamplight as he tries to correct himself. “I didn’t meanwithme.Insteadof me. And I’ll take your room.”

The blush has now spread down his neck to his bare chest, another reminder that he’s practically naked. Normally, I wouldn’t really care. In a different time and place, I’d probably take a moment to admire the view. But the way he has yet to acknowledge it—coupled with the fact that we are an actress and a director unwillingly thrown into the same space—makes me want to remove myself from the situation.

It’s not purposefully inappropriate. Just awkward. Especially when I’m only wearing my nightgown, feeling as exposed as Ronan should be.

“I’m good where I am,” I say, backing away a step. “Just rattled a bit.”

“Me, too.” Ronan takes a hesitant step toward me. “Listen, I don’t want to be alone right now. And I don’t think you do, either. I see no reason why we have to be. I mean, there’s plenty of room in my bed.”

I tell myself I’ve misunderstood. Ronan certainly didn’t just suggest we sleep together. That can’t possibly be what happened. Because that would be wrong, for a dozen different reasons. Yet Ronan makes no attempt to correct himself, and I don’t ask him to.

Instead, I pretend I didn’t hear him.

Because to show that I had means I’d need to respond.

And saying no could have ramifications, up to and including being fired from the movie.

So I stay quiet, head down, about to turn back to my room. Ronan swoops in before I can get there, his lips upon mine, a hand against my back. The feel of both turns my insides to ice, even as my brain’s a conflagration of thoughts.

This isn’t happening.

It can’t be.

This isn’t real. It doesn’t exist. Please be gone.

But Ronan remains there, his open lips pressing against my closed ones, his hand sliding ever so slightly to the base of my spine. I push him away, backing against the wall as Ronan stands there, hard in his boxers, his eyes stirring with both lust and annoyance.

“I thought you wanted this,” he says.

I thought I did, too.

Sort of.

Ronan is ridiculously hot and, yes, I had a crush on him that Violet, in a roundabout way, warned me not to dwell on. But it was nice to imagine something could possibly, eventually happen. At some point when Ronan wasn’t technically my boss and we weren’t about to make a movie together and stuck on an island that might also contain a literal demon. But right now, all I feel is…violated.

“I’m sorry,” I finally mutter, shame melting all that internal ice as I hurry into my room. There, I lock the door behind me and lean against it, ear pressed to the wood, listening to Ronan lingering in the hallway, the floorboards creaking beneath his shifting feet. I worry that he’s about to knock on my door, kiss me again, force me to actually tell him to stop. And when I do, I’ll be booted from the movie.

If there’s even a movie left to be made. More than half of the cast is suddenly, mysteriously, unfathomably gone.

Still, I keep my ear against the door, hearing the floorboards buckle as Ronan returns to his room. Good. Hopefully we won’t cross paths until tomorrow, although I have no clue what to do or say when we do.I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. Yet I also can’t let him think I’m upset by it. Even though I am. So much that tears spring from my eyes, which is ridiculous. All Ronan did was kiss me. Sure, it was weird and unwanted, but not worth crying over.

Right?

I have no idea. But Violet might. The same thing maybe, probably, unfortunately has happened to her. Based on the lamplight under her door, she might have even heard what happened. In fact, she might this very second be waiting for me to come to her and talk about it.

After checking to make sure Ronan is still in his room, I slip into the hallway and scurry on my tiptoes to Violet’s. When I knock on her door, it creaks open beneath my fist.