Chapter 2 #2
“Okaaay,” I drag out. “I don’t plan on leaving for the evening, but why exactly are you making sure all of my windows are locked?”
Alec makes a face at me like I should know better. And yes, I have an idea of why he’s doing this, but I’d rather not think about it. I don’t want to imagine that it’s possible someone outside might actually come in.
“I haven’t known Teddy for long. He contacted us not too long ago, and I need to make sure your apartment is secure.”
“My apartment is secure? This isn’t some military operation. I’m trying to go to bed. You burst in here. I think you and the guy across the street can both just go.”
He glares at me, his eyebrow cocking upward, and he folds his arms across his chest as he stands in the hallway between all the rooms.
We’re trapped there in the small space together, and I’m intimately aware of how close he is. How large he is. How much space he takes up in this apartment with just his presence.
He is one of the most intimidating people I’ve ever met, but I still can’t help feeling something warm stirring inside of me whenever I look at him.
My gaze catches on his hands—large, rough-looking, with veins that trail up his forearms and disappear beneath the rolled sleeves of his dark shirt. Hands that could hurt. Hands that could hold.
Stop it. Just stop.
Alec said something about not letting Teddy get away with this, about helping me. But this is so weird, and I don’t know how to handle this situation.
“I’m not leaving you alone in a shitty apartment where the windows are single pane and you’re on the ground floor when there’s someone outside keeping an eye on you.”
“Isn’t that what you were just doing? What if he’s just trying to intimidate me? Just go over there and tell him that you got the job done.”
“If I were hired to intimidate you, that guy outside is hired for more, and I don’t like it. I’m not letting some asshole get into your apartment when I’m here.”
Mirroring his arm cross, I face off with this random man I’ve just met. “So what, you’re just going to spend the night with me in my apartment until that guy leaves? ‘Cause that won’t be suspicious.”
“I don’t give a fuck if whoever’s outside realizes that I’m not intimidating you anymore. I’m not scared of Teddy. If anything, he should be scared of me.”
Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “Everybody is afraid of you. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?”
Chuckling lightly, Alec eyes me. It’s a few moments of silence before I drop my head and sigh again.
“Are you seriously trying to stay in my apartment all night?”
Alec doesn’t say another word. He just stands there with his arms folded across his chest, meeting my eye contact hard. He doesn’t move a single inch.
After a moment of a standoff, I sigh, throwing my hands up in the air before I head back toward the kitchen.
“Fine.”
I go to my fridge and pull open the flimsy door. It rattles, the condiments moving this way and that as I reach inside and snag one of the two remaining beers that I have.
I twist the lid off and take a long swig. The cold liquid running down the back of my throat helps me feel a hair better.
When I walk back to the hallway, Alec is still there, but he’s moved things around. Now there’s a chair pushed up against the wall in my living room, and the doors to the bathroom and bedroom are sitting open.
“What did you do?”
“I need a place where I can sit and keep an eye on the entire apartment.”
“You know what? I’m not going to argue. I’m too fucking tired. It’s been a long day, and I’m going to bed.”
I stomp past him and straight into my bedroom, trying to close the door, but as soon as he hears it squeak, Alec calls out from the other room.
“Keep it open. I need to be able to see everywhere.”
I gawk at him, my eyebrows at my hairline. “Are you serious? I need to change. I’m not going to bed in this.”
He runs his eyes up and down, looking me over. “Those aren’t pajamas? Could’ve fooled me.”
That has a scoff bursting out of me, and I hurry off toward my closet, closing the door. Thank god it has one.
Still, I know he’s in that other room as I strip off my clothes and toss them into the hamper. I know he’s just around the corner, listening to everything I’m doing.
My thoughts spin into inappropriate territory, imagining what would happen if he got up from that chair and walked in here right now.
I must be losing my mind. I never think like this.
I know that I’ve put a vast distance between me and everyone else around me, but I’ve never been interested in getting laid or dating.
Growing up with my mother showed me just how horrible all that stuff could be, and I’ve made it a point to keep myself away from everybody.
Yes, that has meant giving up some specific experiences that people seem to prize very highly—a la sex. But I’m completely fine with being uneducated in that department.
It means I’m safe.
Except right now... Well, I can’t deny the heat that fills me when Alec stares at me, and that’s a fucking problem.
I throw on a pair of fresh shorts made from cotton that’s so worn it feels like silk, pulling on one of my oversized T-shirts.
I’ve ditched the bra, and it’s a little bit chilly in here right now, so I’m nervous to go back out in the other room. But I need to make sure that he really is just going to sit there.
I don’t want to worry about him while I’m sleeping.
Padding out to the other room, I stand in front of Alec, where he’s sitting with his arms balanced on the chair, his fingers gripping tightly.
“I’m going to bed, and as much as I appreciate that you are apparently trying to help me, if you come in there while I’m sleeping, I will scream bloody murder.”
He chuckles under his breath, rolling his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, darling. I don’t intend on sneaking into your bedroom. Got a couple of phone calls I need to make, and I’m just going to be here keeping an eye on things.”
I hold his gaze, studying him for some look of betrayal or dishonesty. I don’t find it.
“Fine.”
But my feet aren’t moving, and I notice just then that Alec’s stare is running up and down my body. He lands at the center of my chest, and his eyes flare before he quickly darts them away.
Heat floods my cheeks. I know exactly what that was about before I even look down.
Sure enough, I’m nipping out through my shirt. The thin cotton hides absolutely nothing.
Did he like what he saw? Why do I care? Why does part of me hope he noticed?
The thought makes my stomach flip in a way that has nothing to do with fear.
Throwing my arms over myself, I scurry back to my bedroom and dive underneath the covers of my bed, my heart pounding for reasons I refuse to examine.
“Get some sleep, Claire,” he says quietly. “I’ll be right out here.”
I nod, not trusting my voice, and pull the covers up to my chin.
I’m not getting out of here for anything in the world at this point.