Page 20 of Tempting Devil

“Yes, please.”

“You got it.” Spinning, she headed toward the espresso machine, pressing a few buttons to make it whir to life. “It looks like he finally got the nerve to ask you out,” she remarked as she worked.

“What’s that?”

She playfully waggled her brows. “Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious. At least that’s what I named him. I saw him walking Ollie yesterday morning.” She nodded toward the large front windows, my dog looking inside in anticipation of me bringing him a pup cup. “I assume it’s because he finally asked you out.”

“He did.” I forced a smile, in no mood to delve into the details of my current relationship status with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious, as she called him.

“It’s about time,” she exhaled. “That man has been sitting outside every morning just waiting for you to either run by or go surfing.”

“What?” I blinked repeatedly, her statement catching me off guard.

While I saw him out here a few times myself, I thought it was merely a coincidence. Could it have been more than that?

Liam raised his concerns last weekend. Thought it was odd Gideon just so happened to be at the club when I was attacked. And then the body of the man who’d been giving me those necklaces was uncovered on Liam’s boat. Not to mention, Alton used information he’d supposedly seen on Gideon’s desk to make a bunch of bad trades, which cost him millions. And his life. Sure, it was illegal, but did Gideon intentionally leave bogus information out, as Liam insisted?

“Not like a stalker or anything,” she quickly corrected, probably noticing my expression turning pale. “I just thought it was…refreshing. Most people barely look up from their phones. Not him.” She chuckled under her breath as she added hot water to the espresso. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at his phone. Instead, he always bought an actual newspaper instead of reading the news online. You don’t see a lot of that these days.”

“When did you first notice him?” I asked guardedly, my mind reeling.

She pinched her lips together as she tapped her fingernails against the counter. “Probably around the same time you starting coming here.” She shifted her gaze to me. “Come to think of it, I’m almost certain it was the same day.” Her expression brightened. “If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is.”

After adding a bit of steamed milk to my beverage, she handed it to me. I mindlessly gave her some cash, telling her to keep the change, then turned.

Was Liam right? Was there more to Gideon’s interest in me than he’d led me to believe?

Or was I just allowing Liam to manipulate me?

After I lost Samuel, I swore I’d never let him come between me and someone I cared about.

Was I repeating the past all over again?

“Wait!” the barista called out just as I was about to open the door. “Can’t forget about my man out there.” She sprayed some whipped cream into a tiny cup and skirted out from behind the counter to hand it to me.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, then slipped outside, Ollie jumping on me the second he saw the treat in my hands.

The walk back to the townhouse was a complete blur. My mind was consumed with thoughts of Gideon, how he’d been watching me for weeks before I noticed him. Why? What game was he playing? Or maybe it wasn’t a game at all. Maybe it was just a twist of fate, like the barista said. Maybe he noticed me and kept returning in the hopes of seeing me again.

I swooned over that kind of thing in romance novels.

Why was I having trouble believing it could happen in real life?

Because my life had always been more like a psychological thriller than a romantic comedy.

One thing was certain. I needed a break from the constant seesaw my emotions had been on since learning about that damn glass yesterday.

And I knew exactly where to find the clarity I desperately needed.

Chapter Nine

Gideon

“You okay?” Henry asked as he pulled the SUV to a stop a block away from a Victorian house in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.

An uneasy sense of déjà vu filled me as I studied the old building. There was something familiar about the turrets and wrap-around porch. Not to mention the sign out front with Buckhead Funeral Home on it, the elaborate B styled in the same way as the pin Brian McGuire wore in his website photo.

This place made my skin crawl, and Henry knew it.

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