“Hi,” she said, her voice raspy from sleep. The husky tone went straight to my cock, and I took a breath to suppress my lust.
A crooked smile curved my lips, and I tucked a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear, caressing her face as though I had every right to touch her so casually. “Hi. Sleep well?”
She breathed out a happy sigh and pressed her cheek against my chest. “Wonderfully, thanks.” She wrapped her arms around me and snuggled in, as though she couldn’t stop clinging to me.
I knew the feeling. I held her closer, relishing her soft, floral scent.
She curved her leg over my hip, and my cock throbbed. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to pull away from her.
“I have to go,” I told her, pain roughening each forced word.
Her eyes clouded, confusion and a touch of hurt darkening their blue depths.
“Oh. Will I see you later?” Some of her shyness returned, softening her tone to little more than a whisper.
“Of course,” I heard myself say before I could stop the promise from leaving my lips. When she looked at me like that—needy and achingly vulnerable—I couldn’t refuse her. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.
And truthfully, I didn’t want to bear the pain of leaving her.
I pressed a kiss against her forehead. If I couldn’t do the honorable thing and leave her alone, I’d at least treat her like she deserved. “I’ll take you out to dinner. I’ll pick you up tonight.”
After a few more lingering kisses, I managed to pry myself away from her so she could get ready for class.
Although guilt twisted my gut, the unpleasant sensation couldn’t dull the warm, hopeful glow in my chest. Maybe I could lead a normal life here. Maybe Ashlyn could be mine.
Chapter Four
Joseph
The late afternoon shift at the bar was predictably slow. I didn’t understand why the managers bothered opening before ten PM. That was when the students started arriving.
As it was, I’d spent the last four hours deep cleaning the place, since there weren’t any customers in sight. After I’d abandoned my shift last night to be with Ashlyn, my coworker Sara hadn’t done the best job at cleanup.
I didn’t blame her. I’d kind of fucked her over, leaving without so much as an apology.
So, I scrubbed the bar, grateful for the distraction from my conflicted thoughts about pulling Ashlyn into my life.
Before I’d escaped to Cambridge, I’d never so much as wiped down a counter in my own home. We’d had half a dozen household staff who handled mundane chores.
But now, I didn’t mind the work. I’d scrub floors for the rest of my life and live in a shitty studio apartment if it meant that I could be free from my old life, my family.
When my short, solo shift ended, Sara arrived to take over. She glared at me, but she didn’t rip me a new one for abandoning her. She accepted my apology with a tight nod and a dismissive wave for me to leave. Grateful that she seemed willing to move past it, I left the bar without trying harder to make amends. I got the feeling Sara would rather not have me in her space today. At least she hadn’t called our manager to get me fired. If I wasn’t going to leave town, I needed this job.
When I stepped out of the bar into the twilight, my senses immediately went on high alert. The parking lot was empty except for my Corolla and Sara’s Buick, but I wasn’t alone out here. I’d spent years stalking people, intimidating them. I knew what it felt like to be watched, hunted.
If my family had tracked me down—or worse, my family’s enemies—I had to get out of town and get away from Ashlyn.
But I wasn’t going to leave her unless I was sure.
I decided she was worth the risk.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cheap burner phone I’d bought when I first arrived in Cambridge. I’d keep the call short, and then I’d ditch the phone.
I entered the number I knew by heart and connected the call. It rang three times before the familiar, clipped voice sounded through the line.
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Are you following me?” I asked immediately, not willing to spend a second longer on the phone than necessary.
A beat of stunned silence passed. “Joseph?”
“I asked you a question, Marco,” I growled. “Are you following me? Do you have people looking for me?”
“Of course I have people looking for you. Where the fuck are you?”
I cursed and ended the call. Marco wouldn’t lie to me. I wasn’t surprised that my best friend had people searching for me, but if he truly hadn’t discovered my location, then that meant someone else was watching me. And they weren’t part of my own family. While I didn’t want anyone to find me, allies would have been preferable to enemies.