Page 50 of Hunter

“Ryleigh,” he said as if testing it out.

I loved the way my name sounded on his tongue. It sent a shiver of pleasure up and down my spine. I cocked my head to the side, waiting for him to tell me his, and his arrogant smile was back.

“My name’s Xavier,” he said softly, holding out his hand to me.

I grabbed it and let him pull me up. He didn’t let go of my hand as I expected. He gave it a decisive squeeze that I felt down my stomach and further still.

I resisted the urge to squirm.

Xavier.

I tried to match the name to his face, and though it was a strong name—a good name—there was something off about it.

I didn’t think he would lie to me about his name, but I didn’t see him as a Xavier.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ryleigh.”

“You, too,” I said softly.

I pulled away first, even when everything in me said not to.

It was such a strange reaction to this stranger.

I shouldn’t want to be close to him.

Yet I did.

I wanted to crawl inside of him and let him protect me from all that was bad in this world. Surely, he was capable, considering all the muscle I could see outlined through his tight, long-sleeved black shirt.

I swallowed, and his eyes seemed to glow as if he knew what I was thinking.

“I better go,” I said.

He nodded. “See you around, Ryleigh.”

I turned and made my way to the elevator bay in a daze. It wasn’t until I pressed a button that I realized I didn’t answer him, but when I turned around, the man was gone.

I might have thought I imagined the whole thing had my hand not tingled from when he grasped a hold of it before.

That man was trouble.

I knew it.

But I badly wanted to be entrenched in his brand of trouble.

And that was such a bad thing.

The elevator doors opened, and I walked in.

“Wait, hold the door.”

For a brief moment, I thought it was Xavier coming back, and my heart skipped a beat in excitement. But the voice was all wrong. It was not as deep and smooth as caramel—plus, it didn’t send goosebumps up and down my body.

A hand shot out just as the doors were about to close, and the handsome man that had been flirting with the woman on my floor got on.

I smiled a little at him and moved off to the corner as he got in, sneaking in a small glance.

The man was conventionally attractive.

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