Fate can’t be that cruel.
“Hello, Lauren.”
CHAPTERTWO
Lauren
“Oh, hello, little guy.”
I kneel and stroke Buster behind the ear. I’d met him at the dog park with Dad and Silas once, but I don’t think Silas even noticed me.
But as I stroke his dog, I can feel him staring at me from the desk, across the wide office, like he’s pissed at me for being here.
He sits up, his silver hair catching the light, his tattooed arms stretching the seams of that sports polo. The top button is undone, showing a glimpse of his inked chest too.
I tell myself I don’t want him, that he isn’t looking temptingly, obsession-provokinghotright now.
I tell myself my insides aren’t spinning around in raves of crazed heat, my fingernails tingling as I imagine digging them into his solid back.
And he’s on top of me, his breath warm against my ear.“You’re mine. You’re mine. You’re mine.”
With each declaration, he’d thrust into me.
I have to stop. Now.
This isn’t the place for thoughts of Silas Stone.
Notthosekinds of thoughts.
Silas stands, his hands behind his back. His full height makes me feel so small, like I could collapse against him and experience safety like I never have.
I don’t need protecting, I tell myself.
And yet Silas makes me want it.
But it doesn’t matter.
I’ve felt these swirling unfair thoughts ever since my sixteenth birthday, when I looked up, and he was there, his intense blue eyes aimed right at me.
For a second, I dreamed about our future…then he looked away, hardly even noticing me.
Notnoticing me. Obviously not. I was a kid.
But I’m not a kid anymore.
Could he notice me? Would he ever want me?
I remind myself again. It doesn’t matter.
Even if the impossible was possible, it would ruin Dad.
“So, what do you think?” Silas asks, standing so close I’m sure I can smell his musky scent.
I look over the city, so vivid and real it makes me think of hyper-realistic graphic novels.
But that’s getting it backward.
This is real, standing inches from a man who’s been driving me crazy for almost three years. Suddenly my heart is thudding rapidly in my chest, flutters making me want to do insane things like reach across and touch him.