Chapter 4
ELOISE
I feel my body tumbling through the air, then when I hit the ground, I wake up with a start, and sit bolt upright.
I have no idea how, but I’m in my bed, and when I get the sense that I’m not alone, my eyes move sideways and I see the stranger who’s in my apartment.
“ Aggghhhhh! ” I scream at the top of my voice when I see a guy sitting topless on my dressing table stool.
“Calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He stands up and holds out his hand as I scurry up the bed, hitting the headboard with my shoulders and panicking that I have nowhere left to go.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?” I look around me for something I could defend myself with.
“I was passing by when I saw you hit your head last night. I made sure you got home safe, then I stuck around to watch you sleep in case you were concussed,” he explains as I touch my hand to the back of my head, where I can feel it throbbing.
Suddenly, everything rushes back to me: the drinking, me leaving the apartment, throwing up… what was I thinking?
“You want me to get you something for that headache?” He smirks at me as his arms cross over his muscular chest, and it strikes me that there's something familiar about him.
He undeniably works out, and his arms, shoulders, and neck are covered in tattoos.
Knowing that he found me in a dark alley should probably terrify me, and yet that initial fear I woke up with seems to have vanished.
“Sure.” I stare back at him in confusion as I watch him push his ass off the dressing table where it’s been resting then head toward my bathroom.
He moves so fluidly around my home, coming out of the bathroom, then walking over to the kitchen to pick a glass from the cupboard so he can fill it with water without having to search for one.
“Here.” He waits for me to open up my hand before he drops two pills from his palm into mine and hands me the water.
“Thanks.” I narrow my eyes, still waiting for fear to take hold. But nothing kicks in.
“You're welcome,” he whispers, returning to the dresser and retaking his spot. Then, saying nothing, he stares at me intensely as I swallow the Advil and wait for his next move. At least, I think they were Advil…I didn’t even check.
I’ve just woken up with a six-foot-three, tattoo-covered stranger in my apartment and taken the two pills he gave me without question…
this has serious true crime documentary potential.
How have I become the girl people scream at their TV screens at for being so dumb… How hard did I hit my head?
“What's wrong?” he asks, looking concerned when my eyes start darting side to side.
“I’m just…do I know you from somewhere?” I study the guy harder. I’m sure I’ve seen him before, I just can’t figure out where.
“You don’t know me,” he assures me, but the sinister grin on his face suggests there's something he’s keeping from me.
“Oh, my god! Did I…Did we?” I quickly lift the covers to check that I’m still dressed, and thankfully, I’m still wearing the dress I went out in.
“I much prefer to fuck my women while they’re concious,” he assures me, tilting his head while he waits for my response. The way his voice sounded when he said ‘fuck’ sets my clit pulsing and I almost choke in shock.
“I’m sorry. I just…I’m. I’m not used to having guys in my apartment.” I throw back the covers and go to stand up.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He races toward me, just managing to catch me when I stumble.
“You should take things slowly, you drank a lot of tequila last night, and you drank it fast.” He takes my arm and eases me back down onto the bed, and I stare at the hand he’s holding with me when I notice that it didn’t make me flinch. How is this guy touching me, without making me scared?
“Wait…how do you know that?” I look up at him when I suddenly notice something else. “How do you know what I was drinking?”
“I…I don’t, for sure, I just figured.” He suddenly looks less confident, like he knows he just fucked up.
“And how did you know my address? Who are you?” I pierce him with my eyes as he starts to move further away, and I rack my brains trying to think where I know him from.
“I should leave. Drink plenty of water; if your headache gets worse, call a doctor, and please stay away from dark alleys, you never know who’s lurking.” He continues backing away toward the door, and something desperate inside me has me calling out.
“Wait…don’t go.”
He stops immediately, looking just as shocked by my outburst as I am.
“What's your name?” I slowly get out of bed, ignoring the spinning in my head as I make my way toward him.
“That doesn't matter.” His head shakes, and when I stand toe to toe with him, he swallows as if he’s become the nervous one.
“It matters to me,” I whisper, looking up at his dark blue eyes and feeling something awaken inside me.
He seems to find his confidence again when he smiles and lowers his head to whisper in my ear.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare.” He promises, making my skin tingle, and a shiver creep up my spine.
He slowly steps back, stroking his index finger across his bottom lip and lingering those dark, dangerous eyes on me.
Then, just before I find the courage to ask what he means by that, he turns to open the door and leaves.
I wait for it to slam before I start searching around for my phone.
I see my purse on the bedside table, and sigh in relief when I open it and see that my phone is still inside it.
It’s already nine am. I only have a few hours before I’m due to meet Katelyn, and I can’t wait to tell her about the encounter I just had with the handsome, but deadly-looking stranger who was right here inside my apartment.
“So let me get this straight.” Katelyn stares across the table at me as if I need to be sectioned. “You got yourself drunk, and you were heading to a club by yourself? ”
“And that's not even the crazy part of the story.” I hold up my hands guiltily and rest back in my chair. I’m high on adrenaline and feeling pretty proud of myself.
This is exactly the kind of breakthrough I've been waiting for.
I may not have invited Lance up after our date, but I did have a guy in my apartment last night.
“The crazy part of the story is the fact that you were so careless. Eloise, you are the most cautious person I’ve ever met.”
“For good reason.” I point my finger at her. I may be in good spirits, but I won’t have her make out that my anxieties aren’t justified.
“Granted,” she agrees, taking a sip of her cocktail. I’ve decided to stick with iced water, my head's still a little fuzzy from last night.
“The key part of all this, Katelyn, is that I wasn’t scared. I was intrigued, maybe even a little excited.”
“You date a cop five times, he takes you to the best restaurants in town, and you get excited by the half-naked creep who pulled you out of an alley.”
“What can I say, I’m complicated.” I shrug my shoulders, still feeling that rush of thrill when I think about his solitary face and the way he stared at me.
I’ve spent years trying to avoid male attention, yet having all of his made me feel kind of special.
“I just hope that I get to see the guy again. I have no way of contacting him, but he knows where I live. I guess the ball’s in his court. ” I shrug
“You’re actually being fucking serious, aren’t you?” My best friend looks concerned.
“Katelyn, you weren’t there; you didn’t see him. He was… beautiful, and the feeling I had in my stomach wasn't nerves, it was something else, kinda like what I felt for Lucas befor—” I cut myself off because I refuse to go there on a day like today. Today is all about moving forward.
“So did he actually answer any of your questions? Did he tell you how he found out where you lived?” she asks, moving us on from the Lucas subject before I have time to dwell on it.
“No.” I shake my head in frustration. I wish I’d been more forceful in getting answers, I was just too mesmerised by him to think straight.
“But this is good, right? This is a huge step.” I start to feel that fizzing in my stomach again.
“It’s pretty huge.” Katelyn agrees. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to you, but be careful. Stay vigilant, and for heaven's sake, next time you wanna go to the club, you call me.” She loosens up and laughs before taking another sip of her cocktail.