Page 2 of Even if It Hurts

I let the man lead me to where another person was waiting for their order, and only then began worrying over the fact that I was very willingly letting a stranger dictate my every move rather than fighting to get away.

“How long does this go on before I scream for help?” I asked under my breath when his arm drifted up to curl around my shoulder, keeping me closer than before. “Because I’m meeting someone, and I promise you, they’ll absolutely know something’s wrong if I’m not here.”

“You need to stay here?” he asked as if confirming.

“And I’d prefer to do it without you,” I murmured, even though the twist of guilt in my gut made me think that wasn’t entirely true.

His chest pitched with amusement, but his dark eyes continued casually taking in the rest of the café before falling to me as he repeated, “Go with it.”

I stilled but didn’t move when his mouth fell to my ear, making it look like he was whispering sweet nothings, when in actuality, his words had icy tendrils wrapping around my spine.

“You’ll meet whoever you’re supposed to, and I’ll hopefully be gone long before they show. But if you scream and try to get away from me, you won’t make it the rest of the day before you’re taken by people you really don’t wanna meet. Understand?”

My breaths came sharper and faster as I digested the blatant threat. “And how do I know that isn’tyou?”

A patronizing sound left him. “Pretending to be involved with strange women is the last thing I ever wanna do with my time. However, making sure people are safeiswhat I do.”

Those tendrils quickly spread throughout my body at the confident way he spoke and had chills raising along my skin. “So, you’re saying I’m not safe...”

“You are now,” he assured me, then dropped his arm back to my waist and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Need you to look like everything’s fine when I let you go.”

But before I had a chance to take a breath or school my expression or figure out if I even believed him, he was releasing me and grabbing the drinks that had just been set on the counter.

“Not convincing,” he murmured when he faced me again. “Turn and go to the table at the far corner.”

I blinked up at him, my lips parting to let him know he couldn’t just expect me to do whatever he demanded all because he’d—successfully—attempted to scare me with some well-delivered lines.

But before I could utter a word, he added, “Now. They’re watching.”

I needed to run. Some voice in the back of my mind was screaming that was what I should’ve done from the beginning—that he was probably some psychopathic murderer who fixated on the blonde at the beginning of the slasher movie.

But there was truly something about his commanding and calming presence that made mewantto believe him. Or maybe I only wanted to believe him because of the erratic way my heart had been pounding ever since he’d kissed me.

Either way, to my horror, I turned and started walking.

Keeping my phone close enough to my body so he couldn’t see, I opened my phone app and dialed 9-1-1 just as I sank into a seat at the nearest empty table, despite his instructions, and watched as irritation passed across his face.

Unfortunately, that was the only crack in his façade, and even that was brief. Within seconds, he had our drinks on the table and settled beside me as if nothing were amiss, even as he snatched my phone from my grasp.

“Wait—”

“Let me finish this, I’ll leave, and you’ll never see me again,” he vowed, and for some asinine reason, I believed him.

“Finish what?” I shot back.

“Trust me.”

I clenched my teeth tightly as I studied him because I hated that some part of medidtrust him. “I don’t know you.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said as my phone was gently placed back in my hands in a shocking display of trust. “All you need to know is, for whatever unfortunate reason, you needed me today.”

“Howfortunatefor me that you just happened to be here when I apparently needed you.”

“I’m here almost every morning,” he countered with a subtle raise of an eyebrow. “I just happened toseethat you needed me.”

“And why did I need you?” I challenged. “You said I’d be?—”

“Not yet.”

---