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Silence once again weaves between us, and as I wrestle for a way to fill it, Aden moves toward me.
My heart pounds hard enough that if it were glass, it would shatter. I back up, pressing myself against the wall.
But Aden isn’t coming towardme. He’s heading toward the door.
Shit, Saige, pull it together. He doesn’t want to hurt you. That isn’t why he brought you up here.
“I need to deal with an issue at the bar,” he says, voice calm and steady, as if he doesn’t know I wasn’t half a second away from having a heart attack. “But for now, you can stay up here. Relax.”
Relax? What’s that?
“Sure.”
He halts at the living room door and turns to face me. “I’ll leave the key in the front door. You can lock it when I’m gone.”
My fingers clench tight around the plastic bag handle, hard enough that I must be cutting off the circulation to my fingers. It’s the only reason they suddenly feel so cold. “Why would I need to lock the door?”
Because this is a bar, Saige, and bars are full of drunk guys who don’t know the meaning of no. Or they’re too drunk to care. It’s not as if people didn’t see Aden bring you up here. When he goes back down, they’ll know you’re up here.
Alone.
Easy prey.
“I figure you’ll be more comfortable up here than down at the bar. I’ll be back in an hour.”
His words confuse me enough that I stop holding so tightly onto my fear, or maybe it stops grabbing so tight to me. “I don’t understand.”
“This apartment gets pretty loud. My apartment is quieter.”
My mouth goes dry. And if I hadn’t already pressed myself so close to the wall you couldn’t slip a sheet of paper between it and me, I’d be doing it now. “Your apartment?”
I’ve seen the inside of too many men’s apartments. I don’t want to see inside another. Not ever again.
He nods. “It’s small. Just a one bed, but I think you’ll like it better there, and Greg won’t mind if I crash here while he’s away.”
What?
Aden continues as if I’d spoken aloud. “Makes more sense for me to be here, anyway, since I’m a little more hands-on at the bar than usual.”
He wants me to stay in his apartment. Alone. While he stays here.
Is that what he’s saying? Did I hear him right?
“I don’t—”
For the first time since Aden led me up the set of stairs to this apartment, the humor in his gaze fades and he’s serious. Fully serious. “You can trust me, Lily.”
Lily?
My brow creases in confusion. “My name isn’t Lily.” Why would he think it was?
He turns to leave. “I know. But until you’re ready to tell me what it is, I like the name.” A cheeky smile turns an already handsome man into an unforgettable one. “I’ll let you work out why. The kitchen is down the hall and it’s fully stocked. Help yourself to anything you want. All the rest of us do when we’re up here. The bathroom as well, if you need to use it. I’ll see you in an hour.”
When he disappears down the hallway, I don’t move: I just listen to the heavy treads of his steps as he moves further and further away from me.
A door opens and then closes again, a jingle of keys ringing out.
I edge out of the living room, sticking my nose down the thickly black carpeted hallway. My eyes lock on a set of silver keys swinging gently in the same narrow doorway we entered minutes before.
