The stranger suddenly says, “A kiss … for a kiss.”
Did he just … ?
My eyes widen.
He knows.
“How?” I mutter.
“Make a choice,” he says. Grabbing my hand, he pulls it to his lips, pressing a sweet, sinful kiss on top. “Him … or me.”
Why would he ask me this?
His hand rises to meet my face, and he pushes aside my hair only to pause. His brows furrow as he homes in on the side of my neck.
I gasp.
The bruises.
I try to cover them up, but it’s too late, and a blush spreads on my cheek.
My lips part, but he presses his finger against my mouth, stopping me from speaking. “Who did this to you?”
Panic sweeps through me once again. It’s too dangerous to tell a man like him.
“I … I …”
His eyes rage with a fire I’ve never seen before. “It was him, wasn’t it?” He blinks and lets go of my wrist, and for some reason, I suddenly feel cold. “It will end.”
Before I can reply, he swirls around and walks off, leaving me breathless and completely untethered from this world.
Chapter 4
Amelia
After he left the club, I didn’t want to go home and face Chris, so I asked my coworker Jamie if I could stay with her for the night. It was easier to run than to pretend everything was okay. Of course, Jamie asked about it, but I didn’t feel like airing all my personal problems, let alone the fact that Chris was cheating on me. No, I shoved that into a corner of my mind and promised myself I wouldn’t look at it again until I was ready, and she respected that.
Now I’m at work, slurping coffee like there’s no tomorrow just to stay awake.
Jamie picks up a whole bunch of books and shoves them into my arms. “Can you help me sort this stack?”
It’s so damn heavy my knees almost buckle.
“Uh, sure,” I reply, trying to keep them from tumbling down onto the floor.
Still, one of them falls, and I try to bend over to pick it up, but then the rest of the stack almost falls too, so I stop just in time.
“Oh, stop!” Jamie says, pushing some books back onto the stack. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” She bends over and picks up the book from the floor, only to pause near my legs.
“Hey …” she murmurs, pointing at my knee. “You’ve got a nasty bruise there.”
My eyes widen, and I quickly hide my leg behind the other one. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just … fell down the stairs yesterday,” I say, laughing it off. “It’s fine.”
She frowns at me as she puts the book on top of the stack in my arms. “You sure do fall a lot, don’t you?”
“I bruise easily.” I shrug, winking because we’re both thinking of that same song now.
“Ha-ha …” She rolls her eyes. “I swear to God, Amelia, you’re like a textbook bookworm, complete with the whole clumsiness.”
“I know. That’s why this job is so perfect for me,” I reply.
“Exactly, so go, go, go!” She nudges me forward, so I take the hint and walk off before she asks any more questions that I don’t want to answer.
I carry the books to the bookcase with an empty shelf that needs to be filled. I put most of them down on a table behind me so I can arrange them in the right order.
Right then, my phone buzzes, and I almost jolt from the scare. I fish it out of my pocket and see it’s my own calendar reminding me it’s my birthday. And I didn’t get a present or any kind of happy birthday wish.
I sigh and think about Chris, wondering if he’s with that woman or if he’s making up ways to fix our broken relationship. Maybe he has something planned tonight. A big apology and a candlelight dinner while he grovels for forgiveness, along with a big gift for my birthday. Or maybe … nothing at all.
Maybe I prefer nothing.
Maybe nothing is better for me in the long run.
I tuck my phone back into my pocket and tell myself I’m going to celebrate it tonight, regardless if he’s there or not. I don’t care anymore. It’s my birthday, and I’m gonna celebrate it just like I deserve, even if I have to do it all by myself.
I grab a few books off the table and turn around to place them on the shelf. I push one of them a bit too far ahead, and it tumbles off on the other side of the bookcase.
That’s when a familiar set of eyes appears from behind the case. Two emerald green eyes hidden between the books, looking straight at me.
My eyes widen in shock as I cover my mouth with my hand to prevent the squeal from spilling out.
“Shh … Don’t make a sound. It’s a library, after all.”