Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
She waits. Patient. Watchful.
I step closer. Close enough to touch her. Close enough that the snow falls between us like a curtain closing out the rest of the world.
“I’ve been watching you.” The words come out rough. Fractured. “For months. Following you, learning your patterns, your routines. Where you go, what you do, who you talk to. I know it’s not normal, and I know what it makes me.” My jaw locks. “But I can’t stop.”
Silence.
The snow keeps falling and the lights keep glowing. Somewhere nearby, a child laughs at something.
Hailey doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. She watches me, and I can’t read what’s behind her eyes.
I’ve destroyed everything.
Then, slowly, she says, “I know.”
My entire body goes rigid. “You know?”
“I’ve known for weeks, maybe longer.” Her lips curve into something that’s not quite a smile. “I let you follow me, Knox. I wanted you to.”
I stare at her. The snow falls around us, and the words don’t make sense. Can’t make sense. I’ve confessed to stalking her, and she’s looking at me like I’ve given her a gift.
“Why?” The word is hardly a sound.
She reaches up, and her fingers brush my jaw. I stop breathing.
“Because I like it,” she says softly. “Because you make me feel protected and exposed at once. Because I’ve never felt more seen.” Her eyes hold mine. “You look at me like I’m the only thing in the world worth watching. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”
“Yes.” My voice cracks on the word. “I know exactly what that feels like.”
Because she’s looking at me the same way right now. Standing in the snow beneath Christmas lights, looking at me like I matter. Like I’m real.
I kiss her.
There’s no decision to it, no conscious choice. One moment we’re standing apart and the next my mouth is on hers, one hand in her hair, the other pressed against the small of her back. She tastes like apples and cinnamon, and when she makes a small sound against my lips, I pull her closer.
She kisses me back hard, her fingers gripping the front of my coat and pulling me in, and there’s nothing gentle about it. This is months of want made physical. Every look across crowded rooms. Every accidental touch. Every night I spent watching her window and wishing I was brave enough to do exactly this.
Her mouth opens under mine and I deepen the kiss, my tongue sliding against hers, and the sound she makes shoots straight to my cock. I’m hardening in my jeans and I don’t care, can’t care, because she’s pressing herself against me like she wants to crawl inside my skin. My hand fists in her hair and she gasps into my mouth, and the small, desperate noise undoes something in me.
I back her up until she’s pressed against one of the stone pillars near the arch, my body covering hers, shielding her from the cold and from anyone who might be watching. She hooks her fingers through my belt loops and pulls my hips flush against hers, and when she feels how hard I am, she doesn’t pull away. She rolls her hips against me, just slightly, and I groan against her mouth.
“Hailey.” Her name comes out like a warning.
“Knox.” Mine comes out like a dare.
I kiss her deeper, one hand braced against the stone beside her head, the other sliding down to grip her hip. She’s making these small, breathy sounds that I want to memorize and replay for the rest of my life. The snow is falling around us and we’re in public and I don’t give a damn about any of it.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard. Her lipstick is smeared, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright with something that makes my dick ache.
“Well,” she manages.
“Yeah.”
“That was . . .”
“Yeah.”
She laughs, breathless. “We should probably do that again.”
“Definitely.”
I kiss her again. Slower this time. Softer. Taking my time with her mouth and learning the shape of her, the way she sighs against my lips. Around us, the snow keeps falling and the city keeps moving, but none of it matters.
There’s only her.
When we pull apart again, I notice she’s shivering. The snow has been falling steadily, and her coat, while stylish, isn’t exactly built for standing outside in a snowstorm.
“You’re cold,” I say.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shivering.”
“That’s not completely from the cold.” She smirks, but her teeth are chattering slightly, and something protective twists inside me.
I step back and scan the street until I spot a cab idling at the corner. I raise my hand and it pulls toward us, and I open the back door for her. She slides into the backseat without protest, and I follow her in, giving the driver her address.
The cab pulls into traffic, and Hailey is still shivering beside me, her teeth chattering despite the heat blasting from the vents. I shrug off my coat and drape it over her like a blanket, then pull her in close, my arm around her shoulders as I rub her arm through the fabric, trying to generate some warmth.