Page 17 of Stalked By the Recruiter

I tried to remember a lull in the conversation that first night where maybe he would have had time to grab it and set it up but couldn’t think of any. Not when the conversation had flowed easily. Even the silent moments were easy.

Too easy.I shook my head.Is that even a thing? Too easy? Getting along with a man too well. A man who makes me hot and ache for things I didn’t think I’d ever want from a man again? A man I couldn’t stop thinking about? A man I was falling in love with?

I walked the perimeter of his yard while my heart pounded against my ribcage. Part of me was terrified I’d turn a corner and find something. Maybe the man himself standing right there waiting and knowing. He always seemed to know where I was. Or maybe a lover. A girlfriend or wife I’d somehow missed. My fingers skimmed the fence line. Had he done this? Touched the fence like I did? Had his fingers been where mine were? Why was the thought so tantalizing to me? I shook it away and focused on the space.

It was tidy and manicured nicely.

A tree off to the side the old owners had put in. A dwarf palm tree in a huge ceramic planter painted the school’s signature blue shade off to the other. That’s when it hit me, and I froze.What if he has some of those Ring cameras everyone seems to love?I squinted and looked at the walls of the house and the covered porch line. It didn’t seem like he had anything like that. When I made my way closer to the patio area, I noticed small differences in the yard compared to mine. He had a big outdoor ceiling fan, the blades shaped like huge tropical leaves. I smiled. I liked that. Instead of the French doors I had that looked out to my yard, he had a slider door, one that by the looks of it was unlocked.

Don’t do it!a voice perked up. The temptation to enter his place and snoop prickled at every one of my nerve endings.No! Do not go in there! It’s one thing to go into his yard; it’s another to invade his space! Go back the other way and…Shit! How the hell was I going to climb back over? I’d hopped down from the other side.

“Crap,” I mumbled and chewed on my bottom lip, and I came up with a couple of plans.

My options were limited. It was obvious I hadn’t thought this out. Which, that alone was unlike me. I could set his folded chair to the edge and hope it was strong enough to hold my weight and high enough for me to be able to lunge myself back up and over. But all I could see was me landing on my cactus like some kind ofLooney Tunescharacter, my body filled with a bunch of stickers. If that happened, how would I explain it?

I glanced to the side of the yard. There would be a gate. One that would hopefully open easily. But what if I walked out from the side and someone saw me? My gaze skated right back to the slider door. It was unlocked. I could leave through the front door. Leaving from there would be less suspicious, right? Less burglar-ish?

No one would suspect a woman leaving a man like Andres’ home of breaking and entering. His neighbors would expect it. He probably had a slew of them coming and going for all I knew.We know that’s a lie,the cynical voice that was usually on my side chimed in. I had no idea how I knew that, but I did. For some reason, I trusted my gut when it came to Andres Montoya. For however hot and sexy he was, I was positive he wasn’t talking to anyone. I knew that like I knew the sun would rise tomorrow.

My gaze bounced from the side gate to the slider door. “Just go in and walk out the front door.”Who cares if a professor or two or their spouses see you?

“You’re a woman. A healthy red-blooded woman who could have easily been seduced by the recruiter slash new athletics whatever,” I muttered under my breath. It wasn’t a lie. I’d been seduced and was somehow semi-stalking him now.

Too bad whatever interest he had in me seemed to have disappeared the moment he realized I had issues.That’s not true either, that voice perked up again.If he wasn’t interested, would he have talked with you all night this whole week? Or bring you breakfast on your workdays?That voice was annoying.

I slowly opened the slider door and stepped inside. The air was cool, like he had left his AC running, and I appreciated it. I’d been sweating outside. I froze for a moment.What if he has a dog?He never mentioned having a pet, but he never mentioned not having one either. I braced, waiting for an animal to attack, but nothing happened.

Nothing but silence filled the small but tidy home that had pretty much the same floorplan as my own. My eyes were pinned on the front door. All I had to do was walk right out, leave the door locked behind me.

Or…that voice perked up.Look around. See what you can find out and then walk out. Two birds, one stone?

“That would make an interesting defense if I get tossed in jail! I was already in his house, officer…” I rolled my eyes at myself but didn’t move toward the front door like I should have.

Instead, my feet had a mind of their own, and I walked around his kitchen. Checked out his pantry and fridge. Nothing seemed to be too weird or crazy. Other than the fact the man had like three tubs of different-flavored protein drinks and didn’t seem to have anything that had more than five grams of sugar in it. Who didn’t have ice cream waiting for them in the freezer? A couple of dishes sat dirty in his sink. All very normal.

“Of course, it’s normal,” I muttered to myself. “I’m the one who’s not normal.”

I made my way down the hall and peeked into the bathroom.You’re going through a man’s space, a man who has been nothing but nice to you!I kept talking to myself. His bathroom smelled like whatever body wash he used. Like pine mixed with man and spice. His towel hung on a hook, and again, nothing looked out of the ordinary. He wasn’t your typical guy, though, and I grinned as I took in how many different products he kept on the vanity and in the actual shower.

“If we lived together, I think I’d have less toiletries than him.” I giggled. Oddly enough, the idea of living with him, sharing space, didn’t scare me. Not like it would have just a week or two ago.

I picked up a bottle of moisturizer off the countertop and brought it to my nose. With a dreamy sigh after a long inhale, I set it down. The thing smelled so good. Everything did. I wasn’t sure why it surprised me. He always smelled good. No matter how hot or long the day was, every time he walked me home, a light breeze picked up his scent and made my mouth water. I lifted the designer cologne to my nose and moaned softly. All the other products I’d smelled had hinted at his scent, but the cologne was it.It’s him.Without thinking, I spritzed it on my wrist then set the bottle down.

I moved through his place and what looked like a spare room. A bed made with a frame on a nightstand. A guestroom, Iassumed. Probably a space he’d set up in case his sister wanted to visit. It was sweet if you thought about it. The little things he’d thought about I was almost positive she had no clue about because knowing him, he wouldn’t share. I walked out leaving the door slightly ajar as I’d found it and stared at the other door down the hall.

His room.The door was shut. My hand hovered over the doorknob. I’d already crossed lines of inappropriate behavior, but if I walked into his bedroom, there would be no explaining it or even trying to justify it. I’d have gone into the deep end and probably right into calling me a stalker.

My teeth bit down on my lower lip.

Stalker.That’s what I was. Leaving work when I knew he wouldn’t be home to look through his place. It might not have been my intent at the beginning but… who was I kidding? Of course I’d planned on coming in here. I might have not realized it when I’d left work, but what was I going to find out in his backyard? Subconsciously, I had to know what I had been about to do.

What would it be like for him to watch me?I wondered. To creep around my empty room and touch my things? What would it be like if he needed to know more about me like I felt the need to know about him?A simple curiosity that grew out of control.

Like a small brushfire that turned wild, I had a feeling this thing inside me, this unsatiable hunger, would only grow, not caring about the consequences or the fact it was burning down the world around it. My hand tightened around the knob. The thoughts were supposed to talk me out of wanting to go inside.

Why didn’t it help? Why did the thought of his eyes on me when I didn’t know he was around, going through my things, make me want to press my thighs together? My hand turned around the knob, and when I looked inside, I knew I’d made a choice I could never turn back from.

Wet heat pooled between my thighs as a need grew with every step I took inside his bedroom. I shut the door behind me and looked around. On bated breath, I took in his space. It was tidy, even with his bed unmade. I breathed in, and my eyes fluttered shut. His scent, so potent and real in his room, filled my lungs in a way I knew it was engraved into my memory.

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