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“You good, hun?”
“Yep.” I nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. “Thank you.”
I hated dropping his hands to reach into my purse to grab some cash. Placing some bills down, I scooted off the stool and grabbed my food bag. The man stood, and I realized just how tall he was. He had to be double my size, my head barely reaching his abs. He watched me, his eyes shielded, his face guarded as he waited to see how I would respond to him. Carefully, he pulled out his wallet, placing some cash for his cake.
Giving him a big smile, I tilted my head as I debated. He lifted an eyebrow in question.
“I was just debating if I could climb you like a tree. Pretty sure I could do it. I have strong leg muscles, and I’m very limber.”
His jaw dropped open, and I giggled, my face blushing as I realized how that sounded.
“I didn’t necessarily mean it like that, but…” I shrugged, my smile turning coy as I fluttered my eyelashes as I attempted to flirt. Something shifted in his gaze, a new part of him waking up.
I turned on my heels, spinning with the bags of food, wanting to get out of the cafe before I spontaneously orgasmed from my quiet giant’s eyes alone.
I didn’t have to look to see if he was following me; I somehow knew he would. Not in a predatory way, but wanting to make sure I was safe. The thought was comical, but I appreciated the sentiment. I hadn’t had anyone to look out for me since Otto.
The sun was setting as I exited, the air cooler as the temperature dropped. My silent stranger fell into step next to me, placing himself on the edge closest to the road. It was a simple gesture, but my lady parts about exploded from it all the same.
That same feeling of not wanting to leave this man filled me, and despite knowing I had somewhere to be, I stopped, turning to him. My mouth opened a few times, words escaping me for once. The door to the bookstore opened, jolting me as I realized we’d paused right in front of it.
“There you are,” a guy said, then stopped.
I didn’t understand his words, so I broke eye contact with my stranger and glanced at the voice. The blond guy from yesterday stared at me with a curious expression, glancing between my cake provider and me.
“Oh, um,” I mumbled, realizing how it might look. We’d had a spark, and then here I was with someone else. “Looks like we did find one another again. Small town perk,” I said. I gave him a soft smile, hoping it said, “Hi, this is, but it isn’t, what it looks like.”
He lifted a brow, frowning. “Do I know you?” he asked, looking back at the tall man.
Shame and embarrassment filled me, my words toppling over one another as I rushed to get out of this awkward situation. The thoughts from earlier that had been stalled with the cake flared to the forefront of my mind.
“Right. Yeah. A momentary lapse of judgment.” I dropped my eyes, not able to meet my silent friend’s gaze, knowing I’d be able to feel the pity emanating from his expressive orbs. “Thanks again,” I said, darting off and running with my bags of food down the sidewalk before he could stop me.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to look back, to see if he chased me, but the fear that he hadn’t was far worse than that of being captured. So I focused ahead, tears streaming down my cheeks as I ran toward the hotel.
This was why I didn’t venture out of my room and lived vicariously throughPhoenix Hospitaland smutty books for all my romance needs. Real life never measured up.
I shoved away the thought that it was a lie. That not only had the past twenty-four hours shown me differently, I knew in my soul that true love existed. Because I had found it when I was six years old.
6
RAVEN
After a shower,I parted my hair into two French braids to keep it out of the way. I shut off my emotions like I’d been taught and focused on the mission. Later when I returned to my room with a new tally to add to my death tracker, I could eat my feelings as I binged on the food I’d shoved into the tiny refrigerator. Yeah, that was a good plan.
Taking my clothes out of my bag, I laid the black leather pants next to the tight-fitting black top and leather jacket. They were so outside my regular clothes that they helped me fall into the Silent Blade. Yeah, that was so much better than the Peppermint Killer.
Wiggling my way into the pants, I zipped them up and fell back to the bed, my body heaving for breath. “And this is why I avoid pants,” I grumbled, rolling over. I slipped on the tank top and placed my leather jacket into the bag designed as a medical kit. It also held my weapon of choice, my hypodermic needle. The bag of peppermints was nestled next to my collection of chemicals disguised as perfume bottles and a few feet of dynamic rope in case I needed to make a quick exit.
Once everything was secure, I pulled on a pair of scrubs over my leather outfit and a curly red wig to leave the hotel. Hitting play on my laptop, the room filled with noises of me entertaining a guest in case anyone stopped by. I’d made the clip from various scenes in Phoenix Hospital, splicing them together for a long night of fun.
“At least invisible me gets laid.” I giggled at my joke, locking the deadbolt after putting the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the front. Slipping through the connecting door, I exited the adjoining room we’d reserved with a different name. I took the stairwell and exited out the back door, avoiding a single soul. I quickly removed the scrubs and wig, swapping them for the long leather coat with a hood.
Now that I was as black as the night, I could sneak through the shadows to my destination. Most of the town was asleep; only a lone bar appeared open this late, giving me ample time and cover to reach my mark’s house unnoticed.
The three-story brick house sat on a corner, with houses on both sides. Across the street was an apartment building and a shoe repair shop. The shop roof was my lookout as I used my night-vision and infrared binoculars to check out the surrounding area.
The house on the left was vacant, with only a few rodents populating it. The one on the right showed two figures sleeping in their upstairs bedroom. The apartment building had seen better days and, therefore, wasn’t full. A few people still lingered in their apartments, but none were directly across from the house, so it was unlikely they would notice anything.
