Page 9 of Hard To Stay

She was wearing a pale blue sundress with a white belt around her waist. My eyes traveled down the length of her long, tanned legs landing on the white-strapped sandals she was wearing. Her natural beauty was completely disarming. She looked like she had just been kissed by the morning sun.

I forced myself to smile and ignored the strain that grew in my slacks. The look of surprise in her eyes when she noticed me caused me to tense.

“Brad?” she said, slowly making her way down the sidewalk towards me. “What are you doing here?” She asked, blinking her long lashes at me with curiosity. It was obvious by her expression that she wasn’t expecting me, but she didn’t seem too disappointed either.

I swallowed hard and returned her greeting. “I wanted to make sure everything went okay after I left you last night.”

She glanced around the busy street then tilted her head to the side. “That’s awfully nice of you.” Even though she looked amazing, I couldn’t help but notice the dark circles underneath her eyes. It appeared that I wasn’t the only one who had trouble sleeping last night.

“No biggie.” I played it off like it was nothing. “Black, or cream and sugar?” I asked holding out both cups of coffee.

She stared at my outreached hands. “Either is fine.”

I angled my head at her. “Lexi, how do you take your coffee?”

“Cream and sugar usually, but I’m not picky. I can drink it black. You pick.” She answered sheepishly.

This girl was going to kill me with kindness. If she got any sweeter, I might have to go on a diet. She was so nonchalant; I wasn’t sure how to act around her. The woman fascinated me on so many different levels. So much for trying to keep things professional between us.

I stepped into her, getting a whiff of her floral perfume and handed her the coffee. “Here you go, cream and sugar.”

“You’re sure?” She asked before taking it.

“Positive,” I said, placing the cup in her hands. As soon as our fingers lightly brushed up against each other, I felt a zap zip through my system causing my thoughts to stall in my head. I decided to chalk up this strange sense of awareness to her beauty, and to my lack of sleep last night.

“Thank you. I really needed this.” She said blowing into her hot cup before she took a sip. “I have to admit, I was relieved to find you standing outside waiting for me, instead of Colton.” She glanced around before turning her gaze back to me. “I don’t think he knows where I live yet.”

I silently thought that was a bit naïve on her part, given what we already knew about him. But I decided to keep that thought to myself.

“How did he find you last night? You think he followed you from work yesterday?”

My jaw clenched with frustration just thinking about it.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. I’ve been very careful since I came to NY. I pay my rent with cash every month, figuring it would be harder for him to track me down that way. Unfortunately, I had to give my employer my social security number. Nothing I could really do about that.” She shrugged while I tried to ignore the feelings stirring inside me. He sounded like a real piece of work.

As we made our way through the streets of Manhattan, I tried to convince myself that I was only doing my job.

“Listen, I called a friend of mine this morning. His name is Brett Sawyer. I told him you would be getting in touch with him in regards to obtaining a restraining order.”

Lexi stopped immediately and looked at me. “Do you really think that will stop him?”

I tried not to appear irritated by her comment. “Probably not, but at least it’s documented and allows us to act legally next time.” I answered her, truthfully. We both knew that a restraining order wasn’t going to do shit with keeping him away from her. But it was a step in the right direction.

Sighing loudly, she resumed walking. “I just hate thinking I’m wasting your time. You’ve gone to so much trouble already to help someone you just met.”

“Stop!” My response startled her. I was irritated thinking that she wasn’t comfortable with me helping her. “First, you’re not wasting my time. Second, I want to help. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You have my word, I’ll do whatever I can to get him to back off and leave you alone.”

She continued to stare at me. “Why do you care so much?”

She had a point. Why did I care so much? I tore my eyes away from her hoping she couldn’t see the truth in them. “Call it an occupational hazard. It’s in my blood.” I told her in a half-truth. I couldn’t tell her the other half was simply because I was too drawn to her and unable to stay away.

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to sound ungrateful. I’m just not used to trusting people, and for some reason I already trust you.”

I struggled with the bullshit thought that this was just about me helping someone who needed it. I could only imagine what it took for her to trust someone. Her words had my chest expanding with warmth. I’d gone a long time without feeling anything for another woman, but something inside of me had woken up and forced me to take notice. It was freaking me out.

I tried to focus on what she had just said and tried to shut down any more unwelcome thoughts. “I don’t take that comment lightly. You have my word, I’ll do whatever I can to protect you.”

“You’re a good man, Brad Morgan.” She cracked a smile then blew into her hot coffee before bringing it to her lips again.

---