Page 96 of Bound By Temptation

I yawned loudly. “Okay.”

“Love you, Indie.” My heart filled so much.

“Love you…” I said, and I must’ve fallen back to sleep.

* * *

Gizmo’sconstant barking woke me. She was worse than a damn alarm. Then I heard the knock. The movie was over, and just the black screen was staring back at me.

I must’ve been sleeping hard because I knew I’d talked to Ax, and with the phone laying next to me I didn’t remember telling him bye.

But I did remember the love you part. I think. Was it a dream? Shit, was everything a dream? It felt so real.

The doorbell rang.Ugh.Thought Ax could get into the house. He’d done it every other night. Why the hell did he have to wake me up tonight.? Too much had happened, and I really needed sleep.

Rolling out of bed, I walked through the house. Considering the lights were on, it was weird Ax was ringing the damn bell.

Looking through the peephole, because I wasn’t a stupid woman, my breath stopped and I looked back at the clock. It was eleven forty-three. Why was he here at this time of night?

First, I picked up Gizmo and put her in the bedroom, then closed the door. Her running out the door would not be a good thing at this point, and she would. That I was sure of.

I left the chain on, unlocked the door, and opened it as far as the chain would go. “Blaine. What are you doin’ here?”

He looked the same as he always did. Well put together in khaki pants and a polo shirt, hair styled like it wasn’t the middle of the night and he hadn’t made a surprise appearance. Especially after how we’d left things with him calling me a ‘biker whore’ and getting frog marched out of the bakery.

“Was thinking about you and wanted to see you.”

Um … what?

“That’s nice and all, but I was sleeping. Is there something you wanted to see me about?”

“Will you let me in?” he asked, ignoring me.

“No. I’m goin’ to bed, Blaine.”

“I know he’s not here,” he said low, making my spine snap straight. Something was wrong here.

“Good night, Blaine.” I started to shut the door and his foot came between the open space, causing the door to stop. My pulse ran faster, and panic hit me.

“I want to talk to you, Indie.”

I tried taking in a deep breath, but it got lodged in my throat. “Then talk, Blaine.”

“Not through the door,” he charged back, and something started swirling in his eyes. Something wrong, and I’d never seen it before.

“Why don’t you come to the bakery in the morning? We’ll have coffee together and talk.”

His smile wasn’t the cute one I liked before. This time it was sinister. “Sure, we can do that. But your gonna let me in right now.”

“I’m not doing that.” Gizmo was going crazy in the bedroom, and I used it. “Gizmo’s really upset. I need to go to her.”

“Sure. You go ahead.”

Relief flooded me. Thank you God.

“Okay. Take your foot out, and we’ll meet tomorrow.”

“You got it,” Blaine said, taking a step back. My hand shook as I pushed the door closed and went to the lock.

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