Page 24 of What We Bury

To my disappointment, she doesn’t. “You think this is funny?”

I lean in again, hand still braced on the brick behind her. “I think you’re angry, and I think you’re scared, and I think both of those things make you dangerous. But I didn’t come here to flirt, and I didn’t come here to fight.” My voice drops, meant just for her. “I came here to make sure you’re okay.”

She licks her bottom lip. It’s involuntary, a nervous tic, but it makes my cock throb. I ease back enough so she’s not pressed between me and the bricks, and watch her sort through the possibilities—does she run, does she swing, does she scream?

She stays put, breathing hard, the shape of her nipples visible under the thin cotton of her shirt.

I see this attraction isn’t one-sided.

“You were watching me?”

I don’t bother denying it. “Yes.”

She blinks. I watch the realization register, slow at first and then all at once. “You think I’m a threat.”

“No.” I lean in just enough so she can feel my words at her ear. “Iknowyou’re a threat. That’s why I wasted my morning staked out across from your place instead of catching up on casework.”

She presses herself tighter into mortar. Her face is defiance, but her pulse is a strobe against her throat. “Casework? You’re acop?”

“Bingo. And you have two options, Sage,” I tell her, rolling her name in my mouth. “Option one, you let me walk you to Gull’s?—”

“How do you know where I work?”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Same way I know everything about you, Sage Adams, twenty-three, recently relocated from—” I pause,let the silence do the work. “Somewhere up north. You don’t need me to tell you why you moved.”

Her face goes through about six expressions in two seconds, none of them friendly. I want to photograph each one and put them in the spank bank.

“You went through my things.”

“And did a background check and everything. I needed to know what we’re dealing with.”

“What you’redealingwith?” Her voice climbs and I lean in closer, which brings it right back down to a hiss. “I’m not a situation to be dealt with. I’m a person who was—who had a—who—” She stops. Blinks. Presses her lips together so hard they go white. “Just tell me what you want.”

“As I was saying, I’m going to escort you to work, and when you’re done with your shift you come with me and we have a nice, civilized conversation.”

She snorts. “You going to take me to an abandoned house and waterboard me? Or is this like, the entry-level abduction package? Do I get to live afterward or is that reserved for masked assholes?”

“I’d never touch you unless you wanted it.” I reach out, my fingers hovering a hair’s breadth above her pulse point. “And I hope to god you’ll want me too. Soon.”

She hesitates, her skin flushing.

“As tempting as that isn’t, I’ll pass. What’s option two?”

I withdraw my hand. “Option two is you run, in which case this situation gets interesting.” I smile, wanting her to know I wouldn’t mind either way.

She narrows her eyes. “Because you’ll chase me?”

“Because then I find out what you actually do when a professional’s hunting you. Right now I’m just guessing.” I flick the collar of her shirt with two fingers just to see if she’ll flinch.She doesn’t. She glares at me, a little less scared, a little more pissed, which is my favorite trajectory.

Good girl. Fight me.

“Are you threatening me?”

I laugh. “If I wanted to threaten you, wildcat, you’d know. What I am is . . . concerned. Less about you ratting, and more about you blowing up your own life. Which will blow upmylife. And my friends from last night.” I look her over—every detail. She sees me do it and purses her mouth like she’s holding back a snarl.

“So what happens after this talk? Do you leave me be? Keep stalking me forever?”

“Depends,” I say, leaning in for the whisper, “I only get obsessive about the very best people.”