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“I’m sorry I lit up the candles and that I almost burnt down my apartment. I’m sorry I called you a prick, but please, that is not enough reason for you to suddenly follow me to my workplace!” I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes as I struggled to maintain a confident posture.
I was not going to be intimidated by a man who lived next door me.
“Are you following her, man?” Chris asked as he moved in front of me, hiding me from the gaze of the stalker who looked calm, without a speck of reaction in his expression.
Was this something he did regularly? Come to think of it, his expressions were always so stoic, as if he were some kind of robot.
“I asked you a question, man,” Chris took a step toward him, and if they were to get into a fight, it did not look good for soft Chris compared to the brick wall of a man in front of him.
The stalker took his cap off, and I held my breath. Was he going to fight?
“My name is Asher Stone; I’m here for my appointment. I called beforehand, and I was told to come today.”
“Oh!” Chris took a step back, and I looked at them as they spoke amongst each other regarding his appointment. Asher Stone, what a pretty name. “I’ll get things prepared for you; Brooke will help you.”
Huh?
“Thank you,” Asher nodded, and Chris patted my back before disappearing, and I stood there, not knowing what to do. “I wasn’t following you, Brooke.” His voice was strangely calm as he said my name. He entered the center and stared down at me, and I held in my breath, but it was too late.
The proximity only led to the scent being stronger.
“I-I.” No words would follow after my stutter, and he passed by me as he whispered something.
“You’re not worth it.”
Ouch.
Chapter 4
Brooke
I don’t want to do this!
I nervously wiped my hands on my skirt as I glanced at Asher who walked beside me, taking in the center quietly while I waited for him to insult me or something, but he said nothing, and that only made me anxious.
His silence finally made sense to me; he was a veteran. I thanked him mentally for his service but also mentally had both my middle fingers up because his attitude stank big time! If only he could see what was happening in my head.
I licked my lips as I looked at the floor, counting each tile as we walked together in silence; I had no idea why I was suddenly so mute, but dammit, I had embarrassed myself badly.
A man like him, follow me? How ridiculous!
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and he was already staring at me, scaring the life out of me. I took a step backward and cleared my throat as I pushed my locks behind my ear. How long had he been looking at me?
“Uhm, so do you have any questions?” I spoke softly as I stood up straight and pushed my hands behind my back as I looked at him.
“How long have you been working here?” he asked, and his soft yet low-in-pitch voice surprised me. I was way too busy getting agitated by him and focusing on how hot he was that I hadn’t noticed he had such a soothing voice.
If he wasn’t such a terrible man, I would’ve loved to listen to him talk every single day! However, I had hoped that today would be our last interaction ever and that we would soon become those neighbors who didn’t talk to each other or even knew each other existed.
Please!
“Here?” I asked, and he slightly tilted his head to the side. Gosh, why did I say that? “It’s been three years.”
“What do you know about K9s?” he asked, obviously trying to antagonize me even further, and I plastered a professional smile on my face as I subtly shrugged my shoulders.
“Just about three years’ worth of knowledge; do you want to test me?”
“No. You probably practice this script every single day.” He started walking again, drawing distance between us because of his long legs, and I had to scurry like a little penguin just to keep up.
