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“I like this,” I say. He stops to give me a confused look, so I rush to clarify. “I mean, having dinner on the living room floor and not in that stuffy restaurant with pasta that tastes like paper.”
“You said the pasta would heal my mind and soul.”
“Ugh, you’re right,” I whine. “Their pasta is so good it would definitely send you into another world, but I like this way better. It feels …”
“It does,” Adam agrees. He doesn’t need me to even finish my thought to get what I’m saying. He just gets it. He even declines my help when I ask, instead flashing me a smile as he finishes cleaning up.
I don’t utter a word when he follows me to my room, despite showing him the guest room earlier. I don’t make a single sound of protest when he joins me in bed. It’s hard to protest something I was hoping for so earnestly.
Neither of us says a word when he draws me into his arms, his massive body making me feel protected and safe, for the first time in years. As I fall into the abyss of sleep, I realize that I haven’t once thought about my troubles all evening. Not since Adam walked through my door.
Even now, I can’t think of anything beyond what’s in this room. His presence chases it all away. I sigh sleepily when he leans in and kisses my neck, his hot breath fanning over my skin and luring me deeper to sleep.
I’d kill for you, Yuri.
My eyes snap open and sleep clears from my head in an instant as the words register.
What the hell is wrong with me? I must be going out of my mind. One night with Adam and I am already making up scenarios in my head. Maybe the stress of my would-be kidnapper, Jim, getting out and everything get to me. My therapist says people sometimes do the weirdest things to self-soothe; maybe this is me doing that to help myself feel safer.
I probably need coffee. Yes, coffee will help me think a little more clearly.
I freshen up before heading to the kitchen to brew myself a cup, but stop short when I am met by a wide back. I stop and stare in confusion at the wall of muscle before me, tattoos snaking up from beneath the collar of the t-shirt. Right, Adam’s here. It’s almost like I forgot. From the sizzling noise and the smell permeating the air, he’s cooking, so I walk closer to inspect what he’s doing. But when he turns around, I suddenly forget what it was I was going to do.
“Good morning, Yuri. Did you sleep well?”
Better than I have in months, actually, but I can’t gather my wits long enough to answer him. One would think I’ve never seen a man before. I mean, just a week ago, I covered a story on divers and they’d all been in wet suits. A t-shirt, tight fitting as it may be, isn’t a wet suit.
To be fair, none of them were built like Adam is. None of them made me feel safe like he does.
“Yuri?” My eyes shoot up to his and I blush at being caught staring. I shake my head as if to clear it of my thoughts and step closer to the kitchen counter.
He hands me a mug of coffee, and I thank him before sitting at the counter. He finishes preparing breakfast and serves it before joining me. Adam tucks a loose strand behind my ear, his dark blue eyes digging into mine, watching me like the moon and stars hang over my head … It’s confusing.
“You look beautiful this morning Yuri,” he murmurs. Heat floods my cheeks and he smiles.
“I could say the same about you,” I reply. When I look at the clock, my heart sinks. I have to be at work in—oh shit.
“What?” Adam asks when he notices the panicked look on my face.
“I’m late,” I groan, stuffing my face with eggs that taste so good I wish I could spare the time to savor them. I barely manage to slip a strip of bacon between my lips before I scramble back to my bedroom. I just want to spend my morning with him, but there’s no way I can get out of this shit at work. “So late. I have a meeting at eight and I have to leave in like five minutes. I haven’t even grabbed a shower yet.”
The words come out muffled and from the humored look on Adam’s face, he didn’t make out a word I said. I just urge him to eat while I rush around. A short time after, I rush out the door, barely managing to wave goodbye to Adam before I’m out the door.
It’s a toss-up between time and luck as I tear onto the highway. What are the chances that I’d be pulled over for speeding? To be honest, my boss is far scarier than the traffic police, so I’ll take my odds.
Minutes later, however, I find myself stuck in traffic. I pull out my makeup bag to make use of the downtime. After a moment, I reach up to adjust the rear-view mirror so I can check my lipstick when something catches my eye.
I blink, just to make sure I’m seeing what I think I see. It’s still there.
The black SUV two cars behind mine shouldn’t really matter except I was in that same car just last night. I can’t make out the person behind the wheel, but something doesn’t feel right.
Surely Adam didn’t …
“No way,” I say with a grimace. “You’re going crazy, Yuri.”
Despite my best efforts to convince myself that I’m just being uselessly paranoid, the car follows me closely, but not too close. It follows even when I change lanes in the dense traffic. My heart pounds faster with every mile we cover.
There has to be an explanation for why Adam would be following me, right? Perhaps he forgot to tell me something … but then, he has my phone number. Maybe I forgot something, but then I don’t get why he wouldn’t text me about that either … Maybe I’m just worried about being scared again, like I was ten years ago.
