Page 8 of My Guardian Demon

"I'm serious. Can you get a gun or do I need to get one for you?"

I wasn't sure I wanted a gun in my apartment. "I don't have any experience with guns. It would probably do more harm than good."

"Okay. I'll get one for you and we'll go to the practice range so I can teach you what to do."

I shook my head. "You don't have to do that."

"I don't have to. I want to. I'm not leaving you unprotected."

I stared at the ceiling. Was I going to let him boss me around like that? I thought about it for a minute and decided that, yes, Onyx was being pushy but this was really for my benefit. I could do that.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay," he agreed. "I like you, Wynnie. Will you please keep talking to me? Tell me stories from childhood, read me a book, whatever you want to do. I can't be alone in my head right now."

I felt terrible for him. Where his head might go didn't seem like a good place. "Yeah, I can do that. Don't call me Wynnie."

Chapter 5

Wynn

I'd barely added sugar and creamer to my morning coffee brew when someone knocked on my door. Who could that be so early? I was still in my sleep tank and shorts. I hadn't even combed my hair yet.

I drank a quick sip of my magic potion and set the mug on the counter before I went to see who was at the door.

I stood on my tiptoes and looked out the peephole.

Someone I didn't know stood outside my door. Dark hair — long on top and short on the sides — a strong jawline, straight nose, dark eyes, a leather jacket, gray shirt, and form fitting jeans. Whoever it was, he was hot. And intimidating. I could see why women in movies and books always fell for the bad boy.

"Who's there?" I called.

The guy stepped back and smiled at the peephole. Talk about the definition of panty-melting. "Onyx. Let me in, Wynnie."

So this was my mysterious neighbor. I never would've guessed he was so handsome.

I stepped away from the peephole and unlocked the door.

"I've told you. Don't call me Wynnie, Onnie," I said as I opened the door. I leaned against the doorjamb and glared at him.

His eyes settled on me and his smile grew wider. "And there's the glare. Hi, I'm your neighbor Onyx. Wanna let me in?"

His irises were entirely black. How unusual. Contacts maybe?

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'll let you in if you stop calling me Wynnie."

Onyx laughed. "Deal."

I felt like that word meant something special to him. 1 stepped back and let him inside.

Onyx walked through the door. He towered over me — at least a foot taller than me, not that most people didn't tower over my short stature. Heat radiated off him. He glanced around but his attention quickly returned to me. He said, "These apartments really are reverse mirror images of each other. Mine looks exactly like this but everything is in the opposite direction."

"That's what I figured. The apartment building I lived in back home was the same. Want some coffee?"

"Sure."

We walked through the living room to the kitchen. I grabbed a mug out of the cabinet, set it on the coffee machine's cup holder, popped a coffee pod into the machine, and hit the start button.

I walked over to my mug and settled onto a kitchen stool beside it.

---