Page 168 of Texting Dr. Stalker

I chuckled under my breath, forcing myself to stay honest and talk even though it hurt. “Ever get the feeling we’re not just being haunted by our grandmother’s ghosts but that they’re still playing matchmaker?”

She snorted. “I thought it was just me.”

“Nope.” I smiled, fighting the insane urge to brush aside her hair that’d stuck to her bottom lip. “The windchimes in my conservatory started singing when I noticed the dinner you cooked for me.”

“That’s not that strange—”

“All the windows were closed. There wasn’t a breath of wind.”

“Oh. Yes, that’s a little odd.”

Finding courage from the desperate place inside me—the last-ditch attempt at making her like me instead of fear me—I stepped forward and cupped her cheek. I’d touched her far more intimately as X. I knew how she sounded and tasted and what she liked in bed, but being allowed to touch her like this as Zander? Being allowed to be this close without her flinching in panic? It blew anything else apart.

She sucked in a breath.

I froze, second-guessing everything but unable to let her go. “Are you okay, Sails?”

She flinched as I said the nickname I’d heard Lily use. With a soft sigh, she pressed her cheek deeper into my hold instead of away. “I am. Thanks to you.”

“You would’ve won if I hadn’t turned up. You did some serious damage.” I forced a chuckle. “I doubt he’ll be spawning kids anytime soon with the way he hobbled into the police car.”

“Is it wrong that I enjoyed hurting him? I never got to fight back with Milton. It almost felt cathartic to do it now.”

“Not at all.” I ran my thumb over her perfect cheekbone before dropping my hand. “I think you needed to let that out. To be—”

“Violent?”

“Not necessarily. Just…you needed to realise youarestrong enough to protect yourself. You don’t need me or anyone else.”

“Does it make me weak if I admit that Idoneed someone? That Ilikeneeding someone? That I want someone to need me in return?”

Wincing against the answering agony inside me, I headed toward my bike. “I think that just makes you human.” Grabbing the spare helmet that I’d brought just in case, I went to her and gently placed the black protection over her sandy-blonde hair. “We’re not meant to be loners, Lori. Everyone needs someone.”

She froze.

Her eyes danced over my face.

Did I say something wrong? Had I pushed her too far?

I racked my brain, but after the exhaustion from long work hours, the terror I’d felt at her messages, and horror at finding her being hurt…I had nothing left.

Speaking through the gravel in my throat, I asked, “So will you? Come for a ride with me? I can take you home and grab your car tomorrow.”

Her gaze searched mine. Too long. So long.

Finally, she gave a tight little smile and reached up to adjust the helmet. “Okay.”

One little word spoken with bite.

My heart sank.

I’d fucked up.

I didn’t know how, but I’d given her another hint, and I had no idea how to stop all of my lies unravelling.

* 41 *

Sailor

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