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And suddenly, I was in that darkened newsroom with him again, feeling his mouth against my throat and his hands on my ass as his hard cock confidently thrust into me over and over again.
A new kind of heat claimed me, and I had to cross my legs tightly to keep the burst of arousal from growing any higher.
But damn. I’d slept with him to get himoutof my head. Why was he in there now more than ever?
“Yeah. Him,” Jaylani said, snapping her fingers and pointing. “And I’m telling you, O, there’s something off about that guy. He’s way too shifty.”
“Shifty?” I exclaimed in dismay, completely not agreeing.
“He’s got secretsin his eyes,” Jay insisted. “I don’t trust him.Something’sgoing on there.”
I furrowed my brow, instantly wanting to defend poor Damien. “Just because he’s quiet and reserved does not mean—”
“The dude gives off serial killer vibes.”
“What?” I laughed outright. “He does not.”
“Yes, ma’am, he does. The kind of murderer that everyone always says lived down the hall from them.He was just private, they say,always kept to himself…right before they find barrels full of dead bodies in his basement.”
“Oh my God!” I cried. “Damien isnota serial killer. If anything, I would say he’s…haunted.”
Jay wrinkled her nose in total disagreement. “Haunted?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I think he and Thalia share some kind of past trauma together or something. I don’t know.”
I could still remember him saying,I know she didn’t leave because of mewith his sad expression and tortured eyes. That told mebothof them had gone through some kind of hell. She just hadn’t been able to stick around and work through it here in Westport the way Damien had.
“Well, I still don’t trust him,” Jay insisted. “Which is why I followed him.”
I paused. “You didwhat?”
She nodded. “Yep. On campus, when I spotted him with Scarlett the other day. I trailed him for a while to see where he went, and she utterly lost it…just because I was concerned about a friend and wanted to protect her by checking out the creepy, mysterious guy who has unlimited access to her apartment.”
“Hold up,” I said, waving my hands to pause her because there’d been a lot to unpack in that explanation. But when I gaped at my best friend, all I could screech was, “Are you serious right now?”
“I know!” she confirmed with the same disbelief, rolling her eyes and sniffing. “She went totally ballistic about it. I mean, he could just walk in and watch yousleepsome night, if he wanted to. Or worse! But did Scarlett care aboutthat? Hell no, it was all… you’re not worried about her, Jay. You’re jealous. Because you know she’s attracted to him, and you secretly want her for yourself. Can you believe that shit? I mean, the level of her insecurity… To say the least, we had a huge fight, and right now, we’re not currently on speaking terms with each other. She’s even been sleeping on the couch for the past few days.”
Mouth falling open, I gaped at her, not sure what to say. If I didn’t know her as well as I did, I might’ve agreed with Scarlett and also thought she’d been acting as if she had a thing for me. But Ididknow her, and since I was sure thatwasn’tthe case, I remained caught on another glaringly crazy detail.
“I can’t believe youfollowedhim!” I accused. “I mean, what the hell?”
“What?” she screeched, lifting her hands in question. “Even you have to admit that there’s something off with his story. How can you think you’re renting from one person, only for—surprise—some other guy to end up being your landlord instead? I mean, you know absolutely nothing about him, but he can now get into your private sanctum any time he wants? That’s like…well, it’s like some kind of hinky, bait-and-switch maneuver.”
“Good Lord, it wasn’t that underhanded,” I argued. “Thalia even mentioned her brother, said his name, and flat-out admitted that I would be paying him. Everything is fine.”
If anything,Thaliawas the one who came off shady. She’d made him sound too young to be directly involved in the apartment rental, and she almost always evaded direct questions.
“I still feel suspicious about the whole thing,” Jay insisted. “So please… Promise me you’ll be careful. And that you won’t let this guy’s good looks distract you from any more of his red flags.”
I swallowed uneasily, not about to let her know it was entirely too late for that. His looks had already distracted me straight into dropping my panties for him.
And then letting him keep them.
But I would like to think I was more intuitive than that. It wasnotthe masculine shape of his calves or the sensual curve of his lips, or even the whiskey-brown hue of his eyes that made me want to trust him. It had been the vulnerable moment he’d shown me after coming off as the aloof, closed-off person he projected at first. It was the achy hope in his gaze when he looked at me as if he neededsomeoneto understand him.
Something deep in my bones knew I was safe with him. And it wasn’t just my hormones, although—damn—they really liked him too.
“O?” Jaylani snapped her fingers in front of my face to gain my attention.
