Your biggest fan,
Chris
“Hey, Ali,” Carly says, laying her hand on my shoulder, and I jump, my heart pounding in my chest. I look up at her with wide eyes as I try to catch my breath, and a worried expression crosses her face. “What’s wrong?”
“God, Carly, you scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you saw me walk in.”
I shake my head and hold up the letter. “No, I was reading this and freaking out a little.”
She grabs the letter from me and begins reading through it before glancing up at me again. “Why did this freak you out?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I talked to the guy yesterday at the radio show and felt a little weird there, too.”
She looks down and reads it again. When she’s done, she tosses it down on the desk. “It seems innocent enough to me. Your column went viral, Ali. You’re bound to have a couple of letters like these come in.”
I nod and shake off the lingering fear before smiling at my own ridiculousness. “You’re right. I’m making way too big of a deal about this.”
“You’ve got fans now, girl. Remember us little people when you become a big superstar,” she teases, and I wrinkle my nose up at her.
“Yeah, right. Did you come in here just to harass me?”
“Oh, no, actually. I wanted to talk about your sexy neighbor some more.”
I point to the chair across from me, and she slips around my desk and plops down in the seat. I begin telling her everything – hoping that she can help me figure out what to do about Storm and whatever this is between us.
Chapter Fourteen
Chris
4:35 p.m.
She’s usually out here by now.
Where is she?
I check my watch again and make sure I got the time right because she’s always out of the office by four-thirty at the latest.
4:36 p.m.
I scan the street around the entrance to the building where she works, making sure that I didn’t miss her before laughing at my own stupidity. I would never miss her. Never. My knee bounces, and I check my watch again, sighing loudly when I realize that the minute hand hasn’t moved at all. I feel like I’m suffocating, a burning sensation burrowing into my chest, and I know it won’t ease up until I see her again. Glancing over in the passenger seat, I run my fingers over the picture of her that I always keep with me but it’s not enough.
Where the hell is she?
This situation kills me. I know why she wanted to keep our relationship private for a little while with her new job, but right now, I despise the fact that I can’t march over there and find her. My fingers tap against the steering wheel, and I look back to her building. I wish I wasn’t so far away but my usual spot right in front of the doors was taken today so I had to park all the way across the street. It pains me to be this far away from her. I need just one little peek to get me through the rest of my day until I can be with her again.
I shouldn’t have let her talk me into this. When she suggested that we not tell anyone about us, I should have put my foot down and told her no way in hell, but God, I love her, and I just couldn’t say no. I would cut off my right arm if that’s what she asked me to do or she gave any indication that it would make her happy. I live to see her smile.
4:40 p.m.
Jesus Christ, where is she?
What if she’s hurt?
What if she’s in danger?
Panic claws at me as that possibility twists in my mind, and anger bubbles down deep inside me. The thought of someone putting their hands on her makes me fucking homicidal. She’s my goddamn world, and I would die before I’d ever allow someone to take her from me or tarnish her beauty. I’ll tear this entire goddamn city apart to find her. There isn’t anywhere that they can hide her, nowhere that they’ll be able to keep her from me.
She’s mine.
MINE.
The moment we met, her soul was marked, and she’ll never be free of me again. I dare someone to try and steal her away from me. I’ll destroy them.
Just as I’m reaching for the door handle, ready to say screw it to her request to keep our relationship private, a flash of blonde hair catches my eye across the street. There she is. My angel. Air rushes into my lungs, unhindered by my need no longer, and I smile as she stops in front of her building and digs through her purse.
She’s absolute perfection – everything I’ve ever wanted, and I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on her. I’ll never get tired of running my hands down her generous curves or pressing my lips to hers. There isn’t a single flaw on my woman, and I can’t wait until I can finally show her off in front of everyone. Someday, she’ll walk down the aisle to me in a white dress, and everyone will know that she’s mine.
Mine.
The word rings through my head as I watch her pull her phone out of her bag and smile down at the screen. I run my fingers down the window, wishing I could just touch her for a second before I have to go back to work. Someone bumps into her, and she stumbles forward a little. My body lurches forward, and my hand is already on the door handle, one hundred percent ready to march across the street and bury this fucker for even thinking about touching what’s mine. I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.
She stands up straight and runs her hands down her skirt, smoothing it as she smiles up at the man and seeing her at ease is the only thing that keeps me in the car, keeping my promise to her. If she had been upset, I’d be burying a body instead of going back to finish my shift. She slips the phone into the front pocket of her purse and lays her hand on the man’s arm, and I see red. Oh, fuck no. We’re going to have a conversation later about her touching other men. Not gonna fucking happen.
I grind my teeth as the man walks off, and Ali turns toward the parking garage, smiling at everyone as she passes them. She looks like she had a good day at work, and that makes me breathe a little easier. I wonder if she got my letter today. Maybe it was stupid but I just thought it would be a fun little game since I can’t really talk to her during the day. That way, she’ll know that I’m thinking about her.
She disappears into the parking garage but I stay rooted in my spot to make sure she gets out of there okay. A few minutes later, her car pulls out, and I glance at my watch, cursing the fact that I don’t have enough time to follow her home to make sure she’s safe. Taking a deep breath, I remind myself that I’ll be seeing her soon enough as she disappears in my rearview mirror.
Chapter Fifteen
Alison
As I pull up in front of my house, I throw the car in park and lean back in the seat, unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face. I’m totally in love with my new job, and not even Storm’s weirdness this morning or the letter I got today can dampen my mood. Just the thought of him pulls my gaze over to his house. His bike is parked out front, and I really want to see him again but nerves twist in my stomach, and I turn toward the house instead. I still don’t know what the deal is between us, and I know I won’t figure it out until he decides to talk to me – if he ever does. Maybe I read into this too much and mistook the constant texting for more than it was. No, that’s not possible. I’ve seen the way he looks at me and the way he can’t seem to stay away. A woman knows when a man wants her. But something is making him pull away.