Chasing Silhouettes

Prologue

ROSIE

College

“Is this seat taken?” I heard the words, even tried to make sense of them, but how could I with gray eyes that were staring at me, waiting for me to respond.

“Taken?” I mouthed, confused by my own voice.

“Yeah. This seat…” The stranger’s mouth tipped in a small smile, flashing me a glimpse at his teeth.

I never thought I would be infatuated with teeth, but there I was, staring at his mouth and finding myself increasingly intrigued by them.

“Is it taken?” His eyebrows were raised in question.

His curly hair fell over them, almost into his eyes, and I had to fight the urge to brush it away so I could continue to get lost in them.

“No. Uh, sorry. Not at all. Sit. Please,” I told him. I felt the heat creep onto my face, and quickly diverted my gaze toward my notepad and textbook, not wanting to make more of a spectacle of myself.

“Thank you. It’s insanely busy here. Not a seat anywhere.

” I heard the way his backpack fell from his shoulder and landed on the floor.

The chair made a soft noise as it brushed against the carpet.

I heard his exhale as he sat, and I couldn’t help the way I peaked over my glasses at him, trying my best to do it without him noticing.

But he was already looking at me, and a squeak left my throat at being caught.

He laughed, my gaze immediately pulled from his eyes and focused on his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down while he chuckled. I felt my mouth dry. Why was that hot? Is it hot in here? I had to refrain from fanning myself because that would absolutely give me away—if I hadn’t already.

“Last-minute studying?” he inquired while pulling out his own textbooks and laptop from the bag he had placed on the floor. I was acutely aware of his arms as he reached down, and the way they flexed with the weight. “Thanks for letting me crash your table. My name is Wesley.”

“Er…Yeah. You know, finals.” I reverted my gaze back to my own work because I was a little worried I would start drooling if I kept looking at him.

“Yeah, they are killer. Thankfully, this is my senior year. How about you, girl whose name I still don’t know?”

“Rosie,” I managed to croak out.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rosie. Are you a freshman?”

That got a laugh out of me. “Senior also.”

He tilted his head as he took in my words. “I’ve never seen you around campus. What are you studying?”

“Accounting.” Boring old accounting. That’s what everyone said. But it would provide a good, stable future, and I liked numbers.

“Ah, that would be why. I’m an engineering major.”

“So not just a pretty face, then?” I had to refrain from smacking myself on the forehead.

But I felt my mouth pop open in shock at my own words, wishing I could shove them back in.

Willing my body to move, move away from this, and that man before I made even more of an ass of myself.

But Wesley just continued looking at me with an amused expression on his face before he laughed again.

“You’re funny, Rosie. I think I picked the right table to sit at.”