Page 114 of Trick or Stalk

Every muscle in my body tightens.

Come to the window.

Come closer.

Part of me wants her to pull open the front door.

Another part knows if she does, I'll disappear before she can see me.

Presley takes a few steps, coming closer to the glass.

Then she grabs Penny.

I watch her carry the dog back to the couch.

Smart girl.

She settles beneath the blanket again.

Eventually, she starts the movie.

I should leave.

She's okay.

I've seen her.

That's what I came for.

Except the masked man appears on the television again.

I stare at him.

Then at Presley.

Her body tenses. She pulls the blanket higher.

Interesting.

I think about the book she recommended.

I read another hundred pages after I saw her, so I’m close to finishing. The heroine knows someone is watching her. She knows she should hate it. She knows she should be terrified.

Part of her is.

But there's another part she doesn't want to acknowledge.

The part that wonders what it would feel like to be wanted that much. To consume someone's thoughts. To have someone learn every little thing about her simply because he can't stop himself.

I understood the man immediately.

That probably isn't a good sign.

Then I think about Presley.

The flush in her cheeks when I stood too close. The way she looked at me over lunch. The hunger in her eyes that she tried to hide.

Fear and desire aren't the same thing.