Page 15 of ILY
“Nice meeting you, Echo. Let’s pretend this never happened.”
And with that, I rush out of the door and into the waiting car. I’m disappointed I didn’t get off with the sexy dark criminal, but at the same time, my vegetable needs saving.
Michael better not be hiding when I get home.
This ends today.
CHAPTER FOUR
THORNE
Well,that didn’t go as planned. At all. I watch as a frazzled and stressed-out Leaf pushes past me and disappears into the waiting car. How he managed to get one so quickly is beyond me.
But there is no time to lose. I rush to my own car to follow him, even as disappointment ripples through me.
I was looking forward to seeing his dick, as small as he claimed it to be.
I let my car fall back slightly so the driver won’t notice I’m following him. Leaf probably won’t even notice either, too preoccupied with what’s on his phone. Michael is an obsession I obviously can’t compete with. Who is he, really? An ex? A stranger Leaf is stalking?
An actual groundhog?
I shake my head as I follow the car onto the freeway, my heart racing as I try to keep up. As I swerve around a few cars, my mind slips back to the last ten minutes of my life. Everything is a jumbled mess. I walked into the room with the intention of trying to stop a potential madman from committing murder and found myself kissed breathless and wanting something I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted before.
I have no idea why I offered to give Leaf a hand job. I don’t do that. That’s not me. I’m a consummate professional. I never bend the rules, and yet there I was, wanting to see what it would feel like to wrap my fingers around his cock and stroke.
Maybe it’s because he’s cute, in an awkward way. He’s got brown hair and pale skin, though I can tell he’s been working outside from his fresh tan. He’s a twitchy little thing with lean musculature and a cute little quirk to his lips. It’s obvious that ASL is one of his more primary languages because he’s always signing, even when he technically isn’t.
It was mainly those earthy-brown eyes and the way they watched me intently, like he wasn’t judging me for being hard of hearing, for wearing hearing aids, for my voice not being perfect.
But I’m not used to men like him. He was nervous, but sweet in a way I wasn’t expecting. Nothing like the vicious sociopath I thought I was meeting.
He’s obviously a criminal, an unhinged one at that, but there’s something about him that also…well…isn’t.
It doesn’t help that I offered to take his dick in my hand and stroke it. This could be some sort of psychosis, my brain giving up on me because I’m about to retire from the cybercrime division of the FBI, which has been my whole life up to this point…but maybe it isn’t.
Maybe it’s because I don’t think he’s as bad as his online presence has made him out to be. Maybe this is all just a huge misunderstanding.
Well, I’ll find out soon enough. I turn down a dirt road, trailing far enough behind him that he won’t get suspicious. But with the way the driver is speeding, I’m pretty sure Leaf has made it sound dire.
“Fuck,” I murmur. “I’ve lost my damn mind.”
Maybe I’m no better than the maybe-psychopath I’m currently following.
We turn down another gravel road, and I see a house in the distance. A cute little farmhouse with white siding and dark shutters. Something about this place seems familiar, like I’ve seen it in photos before.
Evidence photos.
My brow furrows, but I can’t quite conjure up the case, so I make a note to investigate the address when I get back to my desk.
Lights illuminate the property, and I bring my car to a stop at the end of the long driveway. My headlamps are switched off, and I sit in silence as I watch Leaf rush to the front door, tripping on the last step and falling headfirst against the door.
A wince draws my eyebrows together as he pushes himself upright and rubs at his temple.
That couldn’t have felt good.
But he doesn’t linger outside long. He shakes off the pain, then pushes inside the door and disappears. The driver of the hired car cruises past me, and when he’s completely gone, I step out of my car and walk quietly to the front porch. I try to lighten my weight as much as possible. I have no idea if the steps are creaking, but I shuffle toward the door and hold my breath.
When Leaf doesn’t burst through the door, I press my better ear against it and pull out my other hearing aid so I can focus on that side alone.
