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"I hate you," I pouted.
But this only had him smirking. "No, love. You don't."
Gaaah.
I quickly looked away and turned my attention to the window, not wanting him to see how his lazy confidence was making me all wet and horny again.
I watched the car drive around the corner, and as the Lamborghini smoothly coasted past a fifties-styled theater, I saw a familiar face—-
Joaquin!
I waved without thinking, and the handsome Spaniard waved back, his expression one of unmistakable interest as he took in the fact that my companion was an actual human being for a change.
"Who are you waving to?"
Shit.
I had forgotten all about Hadrian, and when I looked back at the theater, I realized that there was only Joaquin, whom Hadrian obviously wouldn't be able to see. In fact, the only one that would be visible to Hadrian was...
"The cat," I said lamely while pointing to the gray-colored feline licking its paw next to the door. "It's a stray that I've...known for some time?"
"That's one handsome stray."
I shot him a dubious glance. "Really?" It had looked rather scraggly, but then again, beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
"How long have you...known it?"
"A few months." Gaaah. It was so hard to lie like this.
"Since you left the hospital then..."
Astonished, I turned in my seat to face him, asking warily, "Who told you about that?"
"The other tenants..."
I made a face.
"You're very well-liked," Hadrian assured me. "They only had the nicest things to say about you..."
"But?" That pause had to mean something.
"But they only had the opposite to say about your ex."
I groaned. It was one thing for Hadrian to learn about me from my well-meaning but gossipy neighbors, but seriously. Did they have to tell him about Jason, too?
"He was the biggest mistake of my life," I told him.
"Does he know that, too?"
I couldn't help sending him a teasing look. "Jealous?"
"Over you?" Hadrian was unsmiling. "Always."
DR. HARRIS WAS IN A hurry to leave as soon as I arrived at the clinic. My doctors want to talk to me. Please reschedule today's patients, and you can close at ten.
The calls took only ninety minutes to complete, and with the rest of the day all to myself, I naturally opted to spend most of it on thoughts and fantasies about Mr. 13A.
Since I only had his first name to go with, looking Hadrian up on the Internet was no different from searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. In the end, all I could do was examine and re-examine my assumptions.
Was he younger or older? He just seemed so mature that his actual age no longer seemed that big of a deal. Plus, I loved how easy it was for him to admit to being possessive and jealous. I knew it wasn't good to compare, but I couldn't help it. Jason, too, had also been the possessive type, but his pride had rarely allowed him to admit jealousy.
Hadrian, on the other hand...
I remembered the look on his all-too-gorgeous face when he told me he'd 'always' be jealous, and butterfly wings fluttered inside of me. Other women might not approve of Hadrian's possessiveness, but I personally found it thrilling. I could be wrong here, but I had a feeling his possessiveness would never cross the line. He was simply the old-fashioned type who liked his woman to be his and his alone, and I couldn't exactly complain about that since I was the same. No effing way was I going to share—-
What the hell?
The TV on the console had suddenly turned itself on, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I watched the display show one channel after another, almost as if someone had taken hold of the remote control.
Game show.
Baseball match.
Tiny House Nation.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer rerun.
The channel surfing only stopped once the TV started showing a local news program, and the volume went up...and up...and up...until I felt like I was about to go deaf.
"SIXTH CORPSE FOUND..."
A photo of the most recent victim, Melanie Pelham, flashed on the screen, and before I could even blink, the woman in the photo started to move.
What in the world?
Her neck suddenly made a snapping sound, and I jumped in my seat when the woman's eyes turned completely white as her gaze settled on me.
Her lips parted, her mouth opening wide...and wider...and wider...
Until it covered her entire face—-
And then she screamed.
Chapter Seven
There are simply some things you don't tell someone you've just started dating. Things like how much more money you're making (Jason), the last time you had paid for sex (also Jason)...or things that would only make other people think you're crazy, like the fact that a ghost had successfully infiltrated your workplace.
So when Hadrian came to pick me up at the clinic, took one look at my face, and asked what was wrong—-
