Page 48 of Gunnar

“Catch you later, Alexandria,” he calls, just before the door slams.

I stare at the closed door for a long moment.

Lights. Heat. Not sitting in the dark.

And he’s doing it for me.

11

Alexandria

Istride across the kitchen, irritated with myself.

Gunnar has me completely off balance.

It’s ridiculous.

Twelve hours ago, he was a stranger who turned into a bear and took out a bunch of armed men.

Yet somehow I’m standing here in the middle of his lodge thinking about the way he smiles.

The way he looks at me.

That steady stare. Like he’s studying something he doesn’t quite understand.

The way he stops being all growly and suddenly gets soft.

If he were human, I’d say he was into me… and that’s such a weird, exciting thought.

But he’s not human.

He’s an apex predator, who’s been hired to keep me alive.

I exhale slowly.

However hard I try not to think about that part, it keeps coming back.

I’m not a person in this situation.

I’m evidence.

The cops don’t care about me personally. I’m just the thing that might help put a Russian mafioso behind bars.

And Gunnar…

He’s not feral and furious like Orson. He doesn’t act like everything’s a joke like Torin.

He’s kind. Warm. Thoughtful.

The kind of man who cooks you breakfast and makes sure you get the better plate without even mentioning it.

But that doesn’t mean anything.

He’s not doing it because he likes me.

He’s doing it because I’m the job.

And I need to remember that.