Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
She continues to stumble, and I figure it’s gonna take us longer than thirty minutes if this continues. Without another thought, I sweep her into my arms and carry her all the way to the fifth floor. She slides one hand along my chest and nuzzles my jaw, causing my muscles to grow taut. Every single touch sends electricity zipping through my body, my nerve endings crackling with sparks.
It’s the longest walk of my life.
By some miracle, we make it to her door even with my cock straining against my zipper, and I let her down slowly, catching her elbow when she almost sprains her ankle. It takes every ounce of my willpower to let her go.
“Oh no.” Katherine’s brows furrow in concentration, her fingers rummaging through the contents of her purse. She takes out her glasses and slips them on, then continues her search.
I lean against the doorframe and cross my arms in front of my chest, biting back a smirk.
She left her keys. Again. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She was always forgetting something. One time, she was already halfway to the office when she realized she left her phone on the bed. Another time, she spent a good thirty minutes looking for her eyeglasses when she had it on top of her head the whole time. I knew because I may have rented the apartment in the building directly across from hers. I spent several hours sitting by the window with my binoculars and watching her.
The copy of her keys burns a hole in my pocket, so I tap her shoulder. “Katherine, move over and let me try something.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What are you gonna do? I hope you don’t break my door. My landlord will kill me.”
“No. I’m just gonna try something I saw on TV.”
She yawns and rubs her eyes, smearing more makeup under her eyes and on her temple. “Fine. Do it.”
Katherine starts to close her eyes, and I take the chance to slide the key and twist, smiling when I hear the faint click. “It’s open. Let’s get you inside.”
I’ve been inside her place so many times that I absentmindedly reach for the light switch by the door without even looking. I only plan to make sure she’s safe, and then I’ll leave, which is why I’m half in, half out of her doorway.
“What are you doing to that poor girl, young man?!”
I turn just in time to dodge something swinging at me, missing me by a few inches. It’s only thanks to my years of vigorous training that my body reacts even before my mind registers what’s happening. Without my lightning-fast reflexes, her wooden cane would have made contact with my temple and forehead and left a bruise.
It’s Katherine’s elderly neighbor. Dina Schwimmer. A seventy-five-year-old widow who has more cats than I can count. Having been in the security business for over a decade, of course, I want to make sure my girl’s safe, that she has no psychotic neighbors … aside from me.
Mrs. Schwimmer shuffles towards me, her gnarled fingers gripping the cane with surprising strength. She widens her eyes at me and throws me a hostile stare. “I’m gonna call the cops on you!”
“I’m not taking advantage of her, ma’am. I’m a security guard working at her office. I saw her at the club. She’s drunk, so I took her home.”
“Show me your ID.”
With a sigh, I take it out of my wallet again and hand it to her. “You can check it, but I have to—”
“You shut up and look here.” Her eyes dart from me to my ID and back. “Let me see if it’s the same face. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t see clearly.”
This is the only human being on the planet who can tell me to shut up and won’t likely end up bloody on the floor. “I am—”
“I tell you to shut your mouth, you shut your mouth. Your name’s Kieran?”
The pounding at the base of my skull at the club comes back with an almost blinding force. This old lady is giving me a headache, and I need to get out of here because my patience is wearing thin. “Yes, ma’am. You can check with the—”
“No need but I’ll come with you. Make sure you don’t do anything funny to that poor girl.”
Realization hits me like a sledgehammer. She’s only looking after Katherine, which is no different from what I’ve been doing. Fine, I’m stalking but same difference. Instead of strangling her in my head, I now want to shower this lady with roses. Maybe even let her berate me all she wants.
We get inside the apartment, and Katherine is slumped on the sofa, her dress riding up her thighs, robbing me of breath.
Mrs. Schwimmer’s cane thuds loudly against the floor, and she whips her head to give me the evil eye above her thick-rimmed glasses. “Leave now. I’ll take care of her. Go.”