Page 38 of One Wild Ride

He looked ridiculous—like a bear trying to hide behind a folding chair. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alex, is that you?” I called.

His breathtaking gray eyes popped up, widening in surprise. He shook his head.

Evaleen and I stood. We walked over to him, cornering him.

“Yes, it is you. Why are you here?”

My smile faded as he stretched to his full height. Warmth bloomed between my legs and I couldn’t remember anything about our fight. It was something about sex. Why would I fight him on sex?

His eyes flipped between me and Evaleen. “You were right, Aria. I need to stand up to my mother.”

Memories were coming back to me as he spoke.

“I’m glad. But that doesn’t explain why you are spying on me at Chuck’s Sausage Shack.”

His eyes landed on Evaleen before turning back toward me. “Can we talk . . . privately?”

I glanced around the small restaurant and the only private rooms were the bathrooms and a broom closet. I wasn’t about to go back into a broom closet with him, and a bathroom at lunch hour wasn’t private.

Turning to Evaleen I leaned into her. “Do you think we could use your office or an empty room at Mimir to talk?”

Her eyes widened. “With Hoodie? Are you sure that’s safe?”

“His name is Alex. Alexander Hawthorne.” I took a breath before continuing, “He’s the guy trapped in the tower on top of a mountain.”

Evaleen’s lips thinned. “I know who he is, I just like calling him Hoodie.” She bit her lip and eyed Alexander for a moment before she said, “Okay. You can use Payne’s old office since he isn’t there.”

I waved Alex to follow us toward the front of the restaurant. However, he stopped just before we pushed through the door to the sidewalk.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He seemed tense and pushed his hands into his navy hoodie. “Um, it’s the outside. I don’t do well in the daylight.”

Evaleen snorted. “What are you a vampire?”

He shook his head and I placed my hand on his arm. “It’s okay, we’re here. Are you allergic to the sun?”

Based on his tan, I didn’t think that could be a problem.

“No, it’s my mother. She never took me out during the day. I’m sure it was more of her lies, but she warned me of bad people waiting to find me and kidnap me for money. So, I never went out during the day.”

“But you’re here now. How did you get here?” Evaleen said.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you, Aria. I knew you wouldn’t take my call so I forced myself to come out and find you.”

He’s right, I had been ignoring all of his phone calls.

I nodded. “Okay, let’s get you inside the Mimir building. Evaleen, can you take his arm and I’ll grab his other arm. We’ll be on either side of you. That might help put you at ease.” I smiled up at him.

Luckily, the Mimir building was right next door and we were outside for less than a minute.

Once we were inside, I could feel Alex melt in my grip. I hadn’t realized how tense he was until we walked through the turnabout glass door.

When the elevator opened, there was only one person inside and she stared at Alex with wide, doe-eyes.

“Hello, Jenson,” Evaleen said to the woman.

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