Chapter Eight
I lifted my gaze ever so slightly, so that it was focused on his chest. He was wearing another suit, black with pinstripes, a white shirt and a burgundy tie. I felt myself blush when I realized that the moment I'd dreaded had finally come. I was busted. My fingers around Bruno’s leash tightened painfully.
I was glad for the hood that kept my blush hidden from his view. From the corner of my eye, I saw his familiar cocky smile – his default modus seemed to be cocky – and my face heated even more. I glanced down at Bruno who was busy scratching at a spot in the grass and I wondered briefly if I should just run. Adrian looked fit, and I hadn’t seen a gym in months, so he would probably catch up with me before I’d even rounded the corner. And it would take too much time to bend down and grab Bruno anyway. Maybe I should just leave him here. He was sniffing the ground and wouldn't even notice that I was gone. I could pick him up later – after Adrian was gone. Unless he took Bruno with him. As ransom. Hysterical laughter worked its way up my throat but I swallowed it. I would not lose my shit in front of Adrian.
“Good morning,” Adrian greeted me and it was the first time I heard his voice, and it was heavenly. Soft and manly, and deliciously sexy.
Everything in my body screamed at me to look up into his face, see the expression there, but my cheeks were already burning up as it was. Fuck, why did I have to be such an idiot? I should have never started spying on Adrian having sex.
“Won't you look at me?” he asked, amusement obvious in his voice.
I took a deep breath and raised my head to meet his gaze. My hood fell back and revealed my deep blush for the whole world to see. This close up a question I’d asked myself dozens of times was finally answered. He really had green eyes. Not a brownish-green either; no, his eyes were almost the color of fresh grass. He was clean shaven and his blond hair fell in soft waves around his face. It wasn’t exactly long but a few strands touched his pronounced cheekbones. I wanted to reach out and ran my hands through them to find out if they were as silky as they looked. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t pinpoint why.
I shifted when I realized how long I must have been staring at his face, but he wasn’t exactly talking or moving either.
He stared at me with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape, and I was starting to worry that there was something on my face. This wasn't the reaction that I'd expected. Casually, I lifted a hand and felt the corner of my lips for remains of food, but there was nothing. I didn’t dare touch my nose to see if I had a bogey. If that was the case, I could only hope God would strike me dead right this moment.
He looked as if he had some sort of epiphany and I wished I could take a peek into his head to find out what exactly he was thinking. Of course, his distraction would be the perfect opportunity for an escape. In his current state, he probably wouldn't manage to follow me.
Unfortunately, he used this moment to snap out of his stupor and looked at me in bewilderment. There was tension in his shoulders, as if he was an animal preparing to pounce. “You?” he said, and if I wasn't wrong he sounded almost elated.
I frowned, wondering if I was imagining things. Did he know me? I'd never seen him before I started spying on his bedroom window. Or maybe he just realized now that I was the voyeur?
But he didn't look angry. Not at all.
I was starting to think that I wasn’t the only crazy person around. His gaze focused on my lips and he swallowed, his eyes darkening ever so slightly with an emotion I couldn't quite place. His eyes were so intense. No one had ever looked at me like that – like he wanted to devour me. Most people in the bar never even looked at my face. They were too busy slapping my ass or drowning their sorrows in beer.
But the elation slipped from his face and his green eyes narrowed. “Did she set you up to this?” His voice was hard and cold as if a switch had been turned. That voice gave me a whole different sort of chills.
Okay, I was confused. “Did who set me up to what?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
Anger surged through me. “Excuse me?”
We stared at each other for what felt like forever, then the suspicion disappeared from his face. Whatever he’d seen in my expression must have made it pretty obvious that I had absolutely no clue what the hell he was going on about. He shook his head and gave me a smile. “I’m sorry. I--” His eyes searched my face again. “Never mind.”
I waited for him to say more, to mention the window incident but he seemed perfectly content watching me. I tugged at Bruno’s leash and took a step back. “I have to get going. I’m late.”
I wasn’t actually late for anything, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Wait,” he said quickly and with a certain amount of authority that only someone who was used to ordering people around could possess. I hesitated. I really wanted to get away from him. Well, my brain wanted to get away. My body was a very different matter. I raised my eyebrows, not trusting my voice.
“Let me make it up to you.”
I blinked at him. Wasn’t I the one who should make it up to him? Very inappropriate images of Adrian and I naked on his bed shot through my head and I was almost sure he knew exactly what I was thinking about.
His smile widened. “I was rude. I really want to make it up to you.” His voice was like silk; it held the promise of pleasure and adventure. I wondered if he used that tone often. Panties probably dropped left and right whenever he did. And he certainly knew how to take advantage of it.
I took another step back from him. This was dangerous and I didn’t mean the weirdo, stalker, serial killer, he will kill you when you sleep dangerous. I meant the ‘if you don’t put a stop to it, you’ll have your heart broken’ dangerous. Adrian was so out of my league. I hadn’t even reached third base yet, and Adrian probably had more home runs than Babe Ruth. Oh god, I really had to stop listening to my dad talking baseball. I was going to die a virgin, probably smothered by the stack of unpublished manuscripts in my tiny apartment.
“Go out with me.” It was an order. I wasn’t very experienced in the whole dating area but I was pretty sure you asked someone to go out with you and didn’t tell them to.
“I don’t--”
“I can’t accept a no,” he said smoothly.
Well, tough luck, douche. I wasn’t going to become another one of his conquests. “I really need to go,” I said quickly before I spun around and hurried away.