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I wince, knowing this was coming. “Listen, you seem nice, but I’m really busy with my last semester of school and work, I just don’t have time.”
His perfect lips twist, and my thoughts turn dirty. What they’d feel like against my body. Tasting me. I shake the inappropriate thoughts from my mind. Holy shit, I’m getting delirious.
“You still with me?” He snaps his fingers in front of my face.
My face heats. “Sorry, I’m exhausted,” I say, trying to hide my embarrassment. “I’m certain I’ll be seeing you around.” I manage a soft smile and then walk to my car. My apartment is only three blocks away, but walking home at two in the morning is out of the question.
“Oh, it’s possible,” he calls out.
I pinch my brows together and look at him, gripping the car door so I don’t fall down. He smiles wide but holds a fist to his chest. “You’re killing me, Ellie.”
I shake my head, sliding into my car. “You’ll live, Cowboy.” He fills my rearview mirror when I pull out, watching me. He’s not going to give up.
I’m not sure if I want him to.
Chapter Nine
Kase
“It’s her,” I say, adamantly.
“At least that explains why you were acting like a tool last night. There are millions of people in the US. Everyone has a doppelganger. She didn’t recognize you when she rejected you.” Stone slaps me on the chest, amusing only himself by his dig.
I stare at the wall of monitors flashing different areas we’re running surveillance on. The feed’s out of focus because my mind is too busy replaying last night. I'm certain it’s her. I figured my subconscious was messing with me again. But when she came over to the table and spoke, her hand in mine, the scar that ran up her arm, there wasn’t a question. Her eyes no longer shine with innocence, rather determination from a woman who’s been through a tragedy. She’s even more beautiful today than when we were teenagers.
“She has amnesia, asshole.”
“You told me she saw you after the accident and I’m sure she had to have seen pictures of you after you left.”
“Do you remember someone you met once, ten years ago? And I've changed. A lot.”
It still hurts to say. She doesn’t remember me.
Those four words became my motto during trainings. It pushed me to survive hell, I swore to myself that no one would ever forget me again. I was young and stupid then, but it worked. Thinking back, it’s such an oxymoron because they train SEALs to be ghosts.
“So, ask her.”
Running my hand across my unshaven jaw, I grunt. “I can’t. I can’t have her look at me like she did years ago. She changed her name, so she must not want her old identity for a reason. If I tell her I’m from her past, she might push me away again.” I sense his eyes on me, so I glance over to him.
“Dude. She already pushed you away.”
I flip him off. “I made her fall in love with me once, I’ll do it again.”
“If it’s her. If you don’t ask her, you’re presuming it’s Everly, and that’s going to be a jacked-up situation if it’s not.”
“That’s where I need you.” I pull out a shot glass and hold it up, the light from the monitors shining through the prints.
“You didn’t?”
“I sure as hell did. Run her prints for me?”
He stares at me, rolling his tongue in his cheek. “I’ve known Ell for years. I’ve known you for five seconds. Invading her personal life is not on my to-do list today.”
The shot glass makes a ting noise as I slam it on the desk and push up from the chair, pacing the empty space in the dark room. “Come on, man, I need to find out if it’s her. I tell myself that I’m over her, but something inside me woke up the second we locked eyes. If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone else.” We had to collect DNA samples on terrorists to verify we had our target. I know people. This will happen whether he helps me or not.
He grumbles, “You’re a pain in the ass.” More like determined. Opening a drawer, he pulls out a latex glove and shoves his large hand inside it and picks up the glass. “Be right back.”
My heart beats against my chest. Hard. A reality only dreamt about, is slapping me in the face. I could have Everly back. I curse under my breath. Ellie. If I slip, it won't matter if I know it's her. She'll run. The chair slides forward to a stop against the table as I grip the cushion between my fingers and drop my head.
