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Hunter’s lips curled up into a grin, but rather than friendly, it looked downright smug. I fought the urge to smack it off his face.
I waited for him to continue, but he just stepped closer to me—too close for comfort, in fact. I took a step back but found myself against the banister, and behind that, a very steep drop.
“Can you please take a step back?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
He took the smallest of steps back, but the threat of him coming closer, of closing the distance between us, was imminent. I felt cornered, and maybe all my bad feelings about Hunter were valid after all.
“Bia–I mean, Snow, I just wanted to apologize if it feels like I’m following you.” He paused for a long moment.
I raised an eyebrow. “It more than feels like that, Hunter. I can’t seem to escape in this very large resort, because wherever I go, you show up moments later.”
“I promise, it’s not anything creepy, I just want to take this time to get to know you better.”
“Well I can assure you, following me around isn’t the best way to make that happen.”
“I thought that’s what females wanted?”
“Excuse me, females?” Red flag right there.
He ignored my question and continued with what he was saying. “We get such mixed signals, you know? We are told that females love it when we chase them, that they enjoy playing hard to get and when we close in and conquer our prey—”
“Women are not prey, Hunter,” I said through clenched teeth.
Again, he didn’t seem to hear me, or he simply didn’t care. “All I’m doing is chasing you, Snow. I have always gone above and beyond at the office, giving you time off when you requested it—”
“That is literally your job.”
“Do you remember those flowers you got last Valentine’s Day, from your secret admirer? That was me. I know that tulips are your favorite flower, and I picked out that bouquet just for you. But you never even asked me if I was the one who had sent them.”
“Because I was a little creeped out, to be honest.”How could he know tulips were my favorite flower, I wondered to myself.
“Why? I wrote in the note that you didn’t have to be worried, that I expected nothing in return for the gift.”
“And that is exactly why it was creepy,” I said. I had Rosie accompany me everywhere at the office for a month after that and had been worried any time there was a knock at my door. I finally had my answer as to who sent them, and it didn’t make me feel any better.
“And whenever we order in for meetings, I order from your favorite restaurant and make sure to get your favorite dish. Every time.”
“How do you know my favorite restaurant?” I never talked to Hunter about any of this.
He, as usual, ignored my question. It was like I wasn’t really there, nothing I said mattered in the conversation. “When Petey was sick, I brought in your favorite cookies, hoping to make you feel better.”
A chill ran down my spine. I never talked to him about my cat or my favorite cookies. None of it was common knowledge that I shared with anyone except for Rosie. I didn’t talk to anyone else at the office.
“I just don’t get it, Bianca. I’ve been nothing but nice to you, and you won’t even get a drink with me.”
“And there it is, youdoexpect something in return for being nice to me, even though you claim you don’t.” My voice was shaky as I tried to wrap my head around this new and frightening information. How did he know everything about me?
I didn’t correct him about my name. I didn’t see the point since the conversation was going to come to an end sooner rather than later if I had my way.
I moved around him and headed back toward the walkway, but Hunter grabbed my wrist.
“Let me go,” I said, yanking at my wrist. “This conversation is over.”
He held me like that for a second, his eyes boring into mine. I had always been a little creeped out by Hunter, but for the first time, I felt legit fear from the look in his eyes. He had used the correct terminology earlier—he saw me as prey.
I managed to slip my wrist from his grasp and turned on my heels just as more footsteps rounded the corner. Someone was running toward us.
Bash turned the corner and I nearly ran into his chest. He steadied my stance with his strong hands and looked down at me, his eyes soft and gentle. “You okay?” he asked, breathless. Did he run all the way from the library? And if so, how did he know?
