Page 34 of A Dance With Obsession

First, I turn to SJ. “Can you please put the gun away? I don’t think Alex will kidnap and hold me hostage in a cold, dark, damp room.”

When SJ doesn’t immediately react to my request or my poor attempt at a joke, I turn toward Alex.

“Isn’t that right? You don’t have any plans to run away with me, do you?” My questions finally break this weird ass trance both are in, and Alex’s gaze finally meets mine.

“Of course not, Nora. I would never.”

I nod and turn toward SJ, who still stands unmoving. His gaze is trained on Alex, and his gun still points at the floor. “There’s nothing to worry about here. How about we put the gun away, okay, big guy?”

He blinks once, twice, then three times before placing his gun in the holster attached to his right hip. Both men relax a bit as the tension in the room fades.

“Is there a threat right now?” That’s the first thing I need to know. We can sort out whatever happened between the two of them after.

“No, I don’t believe so.” SJ is the first to answer as Alex moves further into the room and shuts the door. He moves to sit on the small sofa in the corner.

My shoulders drop in relief at his answer, but there’s still anxiety swimming in my gut. The night I thought has gone perfectly is turning out to be a shit show.

SJ doesn’t speak again as he moves to the other side of the room, closer to me and farther away from Alex. His face looks like it’s made of stone, and his deep, soulful eyes are narrowed in accusation. They never leave Alex.

“One of you needs to tell me what happened right now.” My tone has enough bite to get both of their attention.

Alex’s sigh of defeat has me turning my attention to him. “I thought I saw someone. We chased after him, but when we got to the restroom, no one was there.”

“That’s because there wasn’t anyone to begin with.” SJ’s deep timbre is full of assertion.

Alex all but leaps off the sofa with his finger pointed at SJ. “You don’t know that! I swear I saw him!”

“Hey, hey, hey. Let’s calm down. Tell me what happened from the beginning,” I say in a soothing voice. Alex obviously thought he saw something, and he seems pretty upset about it, whereas SJ simply seems pissed.

“There was a man standing in the aisle. I made eye contact, and he suddenly turned and quickly walked up the aisle toward the exit. SJ and I took off after him because something seemed off about it. We made it to the lobby, and I thought I saw him go into the restrooms, but when we got there, he was gone.”

“You never said you made eye contact with this guy.” SJ’s brooding grows worse, but he isn’t the only one agitated here.

I place my hand on SJ’s chest to keep him from moving toward Alex, who glares at my beautiful bodyguard from across the room.

“That’s because we didn’t have time to stop and have a little chitchat, SJ!”

“What did he look like?” My breath catches while waiting to hear his description. SJ and I are the only ones who have a general description from what the hotel cameras captured two nights ago. We haven’t had time to brief anyone else.

SJ remains silent, gently moving my hand off his chest and giving it one gentle squeeze before releasing it down by our sides. We’re standing so close that I could reach out and hook my pinky finger with his if I wanted to. And boy, do I want to because my nerves feel frayed.

What it really was him, and he got that close tonight? What happens when he finally gets the courage to come after me?

“He was tall and lanky. He had hair down to his shoulders. I think it was brown.”

I sag in relief, blowing out a heavy breath as my head falls back, my eyes landing on the ceiling. It wasn’t him. That isn’t who we caught on camera. Our guy is of medium build and height, and he has short hair.

I feel a light touch at my pinky finger as SJ quickly hooks mine with his for a quick moment. It’s there and gone before I can react, and I miss the touch as soon as it’s gone.

“That isn’t him,” SJ simply answers.

“How do you know?” Alex asks in disbelief.

I’m suddenly too exhausted to continue standing here listening to this, so I make my way over to the makeup chair in front of the giant mirror. I sit and begin removing my makeup with wipes.

“Because we got a glimpse of the guy on the hotel security cameras, and that’s not what he looks like.”

Alex throws his hands up in the air and slams them back down on his hips as his angry eyes turn on me. “You mean to tell me you know what he looks like, and you haven’t told me!”

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