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“I’ll be waiting.”
After shoving the ice cream I bought into the freezer along with the chicken breasts and ground beef I purchased into the fridge, I decide everything else can wait until I get home. I dig through the closet in my office where we’ve stowed our camping gear and find the bear spray.
But surely, he’s not a psycho, right? He’s a businessman from one of the most prominent families in the state. This has got to be a misunderstanding. I’ll remind him I want nothing to do with him, let him apologize if that’s all he wants to do, and then walk away.
I’m sitting on the couch facing the door when it opens.
She takes me in, looking concerned.
While I’m in a relaxed pose with my feet on the coffee table, my arms resting across the back of the couch on both sides, I’m shirtless, shoeless, in just a pair of jeans with the button undone.
“Close the door and come here,” I say.
She backs up. “This was a mistake.”
“Chloe, stop,” I order. “Come here.”
She backs away.
She’s halfway down the hall when I get to her, walking backwards, clumsily fumbling to pull the bottle of bear spray from her pocket.
She drops it before she hurriedly squats to grab it and then points it at me. “Don’t come any closer or this will burn your eyes badly. It might even blind you permanently.”
I stop two feet away. She’s full of it, but I need to calm her down.
“Why does my fingerprint get me in here, Derek? How do you know where Adam is? How did you know about the jam and the rye toast? You’re kind of freaking me out with this creepy shit, but I’m giving you a chance here to give me a reasonable explanation why I shouldn’t report you to the police. And before you make another move toward me, someone I know knows I’m here right now and the cops will be called if they don’t hear from me in fifteen minutes.”
“Creepy?” I ask.
“Yes, creepy!” she cries out, her pitch now soprano. “Why the fuck did my fingerprint open your doors, Derek?”
“You shouldn’t have called your friend. Pass me your phone.”
She jolts in surprise.
“Send the blonde a text message and tell her you’re good. That everything’s cool, you overreacted and misunderstood the threat, and you’ll call her later. You don’t want her or that lawyer buddy digging into me. I’ll forgive you this time for making that call, but don’t disobey me again, Chloe. And if you use the word totally in your text message I’ll have to act fast to do damage control and believe me, you don’t want that.”
Her body trembles. Her eyes widen. My cock hardens.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you,” I assure.
“I don’t understand why you’re doing whatever you’re doing,” she whispers, eyes filled with fear. She begins to back up again.
“Do what I’ve said, little bunny. I’m about to make another of your fantasies come true,” I tell her.
“Derek, you’re freaking me out. Let’s be rational here.”
“I’m as rational as I can be, believe me. Give me your phone. Here.” I reach out and snatch the spray and scoop her up into my arms.
She pulls in breath and I’m sure she’s about to scream, so I cup her mouth with a hand.
“Shh. Don’t be afraid. You’re okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Grace’s car was outside when I got back, and I don’t need to run into her in this hall.
She tries to struggle in my grip, but I rush into my place, placating, “Don’t be afraid. This isn’t like that,” I tell her. “I’d never harm you, Chloe. Never.” I sit, tossing the spray to the other side of the couch while keeping her on my lap and reaching into her coat pocket, fetching her phone myself.
She watches me stop and erase the recording she’s been making of our conversation. I open up a message to Alannah and begin typing a reply while she stares at the screen.
