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As the minutes passed by, a chill ran up my spine. I was being watched. I cracked my eyes and turned my head to the tree line, but didn’t see anyone. That was the third time this week I’d had that sensation. It was hard to shake. When I’d told Ryzen, he said it was probably paparazzi poking around and to just be on my best behavior. Pfft. Let me catch one of those jerks taking pictures of me again and see what happens.
Well, nothing, because I had promised Ryzen I would be a saint in public. But if I hadn’t promised, boy, would they be in trouble.
After twenty minutes of sunbathing, I slipped on my shoes and walked back toward my office towards the coffee shop. The coffee at Stan’s was the best of the best. Ask any caffeine addict in Chicago, and they would point you to his shop. I waited at a table for them to bring me my three coffees, something gnawing at me. I put my phone in my purse and looked around, and that was when I saw him.
Cian Blackwood.
He was sitting at a table along the wall, coffee cup in one hand, phone in the other. I stared daggers at him, willing him to look up. But he didn’t. Not once. He sipped his coffee, pressed a few buttons on his phone, then stood and walked out the door, acting as if I didn’t exist. I watched him cross the parking lot and head in the opposite direction from my office.
Was it a pure coincidence he got coffee here? Possibly. But deep down, I didn’t believe it. Was he trying to scare me to get to Ryzen? Well, joke was on him, because I would not let some big buffoon, no matter how sexy, intimidate me. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
I am a lioness.
Stan dropped off my coffees in a cupholder, along with a bag of pastries I hadn’t ordered, God love him. I took a sip and contemplated sitting in the shop a little longer. I waited another few minutes and then went out the side door and walked toward my office. Cherry filling oozed out of the pastry as I took a bite, the red staining down my white hoodie as I hustled across the park. I placed the tray of coffees on the grass and yanked my hoodie over my head.See, this is what happens when you have no self-control when it comes to pastries,I reminded myself as I rolled the hoodie in a ball and stuck it in my tote. I reached down to pick up the tray of coffees, a shadow falling over me as I did so.
“Are you following me, little mouse?” Cian’s voice was velvety and inviting, and the butterflies in my stomach did a somersault at the realization that he was standing in front of me.
I jerked up, the cups of coffee overflowing from the lids as I gripped the tray tightly. Damn, he looked good. Better up close than he did from afar. He wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt that conformed to his chest and biceps, showing off exactly how built he was. He took a drink of his coffee, his eyes twinkling.
“Following you?” I hated how my voice squeaked. “I’m pretty sure you are the one following me, you stalker.” I held my head up high, my voice stronger this time.
He let out a hearty laugh and threw his coffee into the trash bin next to us. “Now why would I follow you, Nova? Do you think you’re worthy of my attention?”
“Yes.” Wait. What? What kind of a Jedi mind trick was this? I shook my head. “I mean no—I mean… What exactly do you want?”
My whole body froze as he reached up and touched the side of my mouth. He brought his finger to his face, a smear of red from the cherry pastry on it, and he licked it off. I involuntarily squeezed my thighs together at the gesture and my mouth parted, suddenly very dry.
“Delicious,” he said softly, his eyes holding mine.
I licked my lips, my tongue tasting the remnants of the cherry flavor on them. I didn’t know what kind of game he was playing, but damn, he was good at it. “I—” I took a step backward. “If you’re trying to use me to get to Ryzen, it’s not going to work.”
His face darkened, and his eyes darted down to the engagement ring on my finger. He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off.
“I know you slept with his ex-fiancée and tried to ruin him, and I won’t let you hurt him again.” I thought back to what Ryzen had said, how he had walked in on Cian and his ex-fiancée and all the other terrible things Cian had done to him. My pulse sped up and heat flushed through my body. “And I won’t be a pawn in whatever game you’re trying to play.”
Cian’s nostrils flared, and he narrowed his eyes. “That’s what he told you?” His voice was soft, but the playful edge was gone. I nodded, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles straining against the fabric. “You believe everything he tells you?”
I threw one hand up in the air while the other held onto the coffee tray. “Why would he lie?”
“Exactly, Nova.”
I looked down at my feet, then back up to meet Cian’s eyes. He was trying to mess with my head. Of course he was. Because why would Ryzen lie about something so embarrassing for him? No, Cian was trying to make me doubt Ryzen, and if I wasn’t careful, I would play right into his hands. When I was growing up, I had seen my father use the same tactics to get people to side with him and to get his way, and it seemed like Cian was taking a page from his book. But I wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Look, just leave me alone.” My voice was firm, although the tray of coffees shaking in my hand proved otherwise.
I am a nervous, tiny lioness.
I stepped around him and walked in the direction of my office, not turning around until I reached my building. I let out the breath I had been holding in and locked the door behind me.
********
Over a week went by with no sign of Cian, and I was more than happy about it. I hadn’t told Ryzen yet about my suspicion that Cian had been the one following me, partly because I didn’t know how he would react. Would he go after Cian, or tell Covington? Surely there must have been some type of businessman-slash-cowboy moral code they followed. I didn’t want to be the cause of any problems, though. These men and their drama. Being in a relationship, even a fake one, was so overrated.
I had replayed our run-in over and over again in my head, the guilt giving me a non-stop stomachache. I know. Iknow. There was nothing to really feel guilty about. So what if I was attracted to Cian and he was Ryzen’s archnemesis? It wasn’t like I could control the way my body responded to him.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I had two hours to finish packing before Ryzen picked me up. This was it. This was what we had been preparing for the last few weeks. Five whole days at Covington’s estate in Dallas. Five long-ass days of pretending to be the fiancé of one of the sexiest men in Chicago. I could do this. Just a few dinners, a few fundraising events. A little smooch here, a little smooch there. Ryzen would win his bid to buy the hotels, I’d get my warehouse. Easy-peasy. What could possibly go wrong?
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I folded a pair of pajama shorts and placed them on my bed next to Juliet. “You could probably fit in my suitcase easy enough.”
