sia'

d out of my apartment, I didn't feel like goin

hout care-but my body was tense, alert in a way I couldn't explain. Every instinct I

magining i

m last night confirmed it but I just d

close behind me. My shoulders were tight, my jaw clenched. I barely recognized myself-this wary version of the girl who once w

adn't frig

out someone who seemed so dangerous, the w

ter he disappeared, the trails of his cologne after leaving, and how his words made my nipple

rounded me as I slipped behind the counter. I focused on routine-counting change, wiping

dn't

bove the d

d snap

lief rushed

. Just normal people going round their daily routi

d, and my gaze kept drifting back to

s the

ack

iberately, as if it had alway

caught in

engine was silent, but the presence of

on my own legs, my heart was pounding so loudly

ic, I tol

vibrated

wn nu

pt down

despite mys

le

d breathing on the o

d. "If this is s

ing it," a familia

mach d

that

idn't realize I had los

e said. "And the man who c

nearly

nded, lowering my voice, trying not dr

he replied. "And because...." He didn't

t to make me feel uncomfortable just because

chuckle. Low. Da

. "But I get to decide

wo

e street. The black car'

mething else-somethi

t me,"

m n

ess

straight through me. He said it

tinct, I moved cl

as t

n the

e sid

essed in black, posture relaxed, his eyes already lift

slo

a look at his face... he looked too goo

ence felt deliberate, controlled-with hungry-lookin

htly, acknowledging the

to be alone,"

n to you," I shot back,

eed. "But yo

the café door

art s

he lamppost and

he moment he cros

, as if they knew him. My entire world narrowed to the space between us as h

was dangerous

und me-dark and masculine. For some weir

people," I said, shaki

e to you, I'm sure you don

back to my lips and straight to my eyes. The

ed, trying to gain c

felt his breath, "I'm the man who watches. The man who calls.

tingle again, I wanted his hands on them so

a threat," I said,

a pr

even as his presence remained overwhelming. I felt a

d calmly, looking at my nipples that ga

spond, Sofia burs

ess

e slowed down her pace and looked a

, then back at me, his

he murmured. "It'

alked out, leaving b

ealization that I was

ut I was left without a hint o