Page 101 of The Space Between Heartbeats
She doesn’t turn to me, doesn’t react at all. Maybe she hasn’t seen me? Or is pretending she didn’t, like the stubborn princess she can be. With her, it’s always hard to tell.
I signal the bartender and order a beer that’ll probably be piss warm.
“You’re following me.” She states it as a fact, not even sounding angry or surprised like I expected.
“Just felt like coming out for a beer,” I say.
“Yeah, at the exact bar I’m at. This late at night. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Not like there’s lots of options in the area. Don’t flatter yourself, Thorne.”
She picks up her glass and takes a slow sip, still not looking in my direction. “How long?”
“How long, what?”
“How long have you been keeping tabs on me?”
I contemplate lying to her, but there’s no point. She always sees through me eventually. “I’m not keeping tabs on you. I just…happen to know where you are.”
She scoffs, tracing the lip of her glass. “Same fucking thing, Einstein.”
“Not from my viewpoint,” I say, picking up the beer the bartender just dropped in front of me. And it’s warm, like I figured. “Keeping tabs implies effort. This is more of a passive awareness.”
She finally turns, shooting me a look that makes blood rush to my cock. “A passive awareness?”
“Yup. Like knowing the weather.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re comparing stalking me to walking outside to check the weather.”
“Stalking’s a strong word.”
“It’s the correct word.” She turns back to her drink. “You’re insane.”
“Probably.” I take a sip. “But I’m not the only one.”
She’s quiet again, sipping what I now see is something mixed with cranberry, probably deciding if it’s worth it to keep goading me.
I hope she does.
“Have you really been watching me?”
I sip my beer, shrugging. Heat spreads to her cheeks, turning her fair skin a cute shade of pink.
“Come on, Knox. How long?”
“Does it matter?”
Crossing her arms, she twists on the stool so her whole body faces me. I can’t help but let my gaze drift to her tits. I mean, fuck, with her arms crossed, she’s pushing them together and they’re perfect. Just like the rest of her.
“Yes. To me, it does.”
I drag my gaze back up to meet her eyes. Her blazing eyes, narrowed in contempt. “A while.”
“Define a while.”
I huff. “Probably longer than any reasonable person would.”
She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “You really are fucking crazy. You know that, right? You have a girlfriend. You run a company. You presumably have things to do that aren’t monitoring my location at—” She checks her phone. “—ten-thirty at night.”
