Page 9 of Return to Me Always

He sighed. "I heard him yell at you after I almost hit you. Something about how he'd find you."

My breath started coming fast again. "Wait, how doyouknow I'm staying in a hotel?"

"It's pretty obvious you're American."

I rolled my eyes. Was being an American really that bad?

"Did you know that man?" he asked.

"Yes. No. I mean, I only met him yesterday and he seemed nice."

"So what happened then?"

I told him the story about the strange gut feeling and how he had somehow known what hotel I was staying at without me ever telling him.

He interrupted me toward the end. "He grabbed your arm?"

"Hard." I rubbed my bicep as I remembered the awful feeling.

"And what?"

"Tried to force me into the car."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." I couldn't help but shudder.

"How did you get away?"

"I kneed him in the groin." I had never had to do that before, and I was beyond relieved that it had bought me a few seconds to run.

"Good. And you say he's a police officer?"

"Yeah." I nodded quickly. "That's what makes it all so weird."

He raised one brow at me. "Well, thereissuch a thing as a dirty cop."

"Yeah. I know." I matched his sarcasm with my own.

Sighing, he said, "I guess we better find you another hotel. You have your wallet on you?"

"Yeah, my wallet and passport too." Saying that out loud made me realize something. "Do you think that's what he was after?"

Dream man shook his head. "I don't think so. It seemed like more than that to me. Especially with that whole bit about how you can't hide from him. That doesn't seem very random."

A chill racked my body. "That's so scary."

For what felt like the first time, dream man reallylookedat me. Turning in his seat, he seemed to notice me and take me all in.

"What?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

He seemed like he was debating something in his head but finally said, "Nothing. Let's find you a new hotel."

As he dug out his phone from his pocket, I did the same. Within minutes, we found one nearby that had rooms available, and we took off again. I wanted to ask him a million questions while we were driving, but he was oddly silent. So I stayed quiet too.

What was he thinking? And why did I even care?

After he dropped me off at the hotel, I'd probably never see him again anyway. Besides, I had more important things to worry about, like the small matter of a crooked cop hunting me.

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