Page 7 of Stalker

Why?

Yes, he’d stepped in to try to protect me, but I didn’t know him. I’d never seen him before. When David threw me a nasty look, even pointing his finger at me, something deep inside me broke. All the anger I’d felt for the man, the frustration from trying to make something of the ugliness we’d shared flooded through me.

David grinned as if this wasn’t over before walking away. Damn the asshole for getting under my skin.

My unknown hero moved onto the street, unlocking the door of a dark Mercedes. I glanced toward David one last time before another snap in my mind created a wave of need.

A need to enjoy.

To experience new things.

A need to drift far away from my comfort zone.

While the explosive discovery was jarring as hell, I wasn’t the kind of woman to go off halfcocked about anything. I thought everything through, determining both sides of an equation.

Which was why the moment I realized I was heading toward the stranger’s vehicle I almost jerked to a halt.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I threw open his passenger door, jumping inside.

CHAPTER2

Cassandra

The huge godlike creation could crush me easily.

The man was also sin incarnate.

I wasn’t ordinarily in the habit of getting into a stranger’s vehicle, but at this point, I didn’t feel like myself any longer. I was unnerved yet enraged to the point I couldn’t stop shaking.

Maybe David had been right and I needed to indulge in an adventure for a change. Here I’d thought my life had been exciting. I worked with criminals of every type from bikers to members of crime syndicates and wealthy corporate moguls who truly believed they were immune from the law.

Extortionists.

Blackmailers.

Gamblers.

Rapists.

Kidnappers.

Murderers.

What brutal crime hadn’t I tackled and won? That should be exciting enough. Granted, maybe I’d allowed my personal life to suffer while grasping the brass ring, but it wasn’t as if David hadn’t been ambitious.

I realized the handsome man in the ten-thousand-dollar suit was staring at me. I didn’t blame him. “Don’t judge me. I’ve had a shitty day. I came face to face with a devious monster in my job only to learn my now former fiancé was canoodling with his much older boss on the top of the desk I purchased for him. You saw what he did after. Not a banner day and being judged by a stranger isn’t the icing on the cake I need.”

The sexy hero said nothing for what seemed like an eternity.

There was tension between us and if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was derived from a strange yet powerful sexual desire.

“I’ll take you home, little butterfly.”

“No!” My God, I was jumpy as well as untypically exasperated. “I’m not ready to go home yet. Please. I just… I need some air. I need to breathe. I need to feel like me again.”

Why was I telling a stranger with anger issues anything about my personal life? Hadn’t I learned from on the job training I could be dealing with a monster?

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