Page 41 of Forget Me Not

“Yeah. I…I have to go,” I stammer as my mind spins out of control. I fumble for words and my hand shakes as I push the chair back in against the table. “It was nice meeting you, Heather.” As for Alaric, it’s certainly not a pleasure and if I never see him again, it’ll be too soon.

My legs feel like lead, but I force them to keep moving until I'm out of the room. Once I’m in the living room, and out of eyesight, I press my back to the wall.

What the hell is he up to?

I don’t panic often. For the most part, I can remain levelheaded in intense situations, and I usually come up with a plan to get myself out of them quickly. But this time, I’m not sure what I can possibly do other than run like hell.

Tyler is waiting for me to have dinner with him, but there is just no way I can go to his house and pretend like nothing is wrong.

As I walk back to my room, I retrieve my phone from the pocket of my hoodie.

With a shaky hand, I dial Dex. “Pick up,” I mutter under my breath as I turn the hall to my room. “Come on, Dex.”

Thinking nothing else could come as a surprise tonight, I’m proven wrong when I see Alaric standing at the end of the hall near my room.

“What the hell are you doing?” I bark, not allowing myself to display the level of fear he’s instilled in me.

“It’s nice to see you again, Rhea.”

I walk toward him, shoulders taut as I stick my phone back in my pocket. “Get away from my room.”

“But this is my room.” He nods toward the door beside him. “Looks like we’re going to be neighbors.”

“Have you lost your fucking mind? Why are you even here?” I whisper-yell, putting all of my anger into my words but not wanting anyone to overhear us at the same time.

“Same reason you are. I needed a place to stay.”

I put on a tough facade while my heart is literally trying to flee from my chest. “You had a place to stay at the hotel. I thought you were leaving town.”

“Technically, I did leave town. Besides, I found a reason to stay.”

“Let me guess. That reason is me?”

“Smart and beautiful, I see.” His cocksure grin makes me want to punch him in his perfectly-chiseled jaw.

“Well, enjoy the room.” I go to walk around him to get to my door. To my surprise, he allows it. “I’ll be checking out immediately.”

Suddenly, I’m captured by his hand wrapped around my wrist in a vise. “The hell you are.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” I snort in disbelief, attempting to pull out of his grasp. My voice sharpens when he doesn’t budge. “Let go of me!”

“You’re not going anywhere, Rhea. You stole from me, and now you’re forever in my debt.”

“You’re fucking delusional.”

“Actually,” he sneers. “I’m quite realistic.” He leans in close, his breath hot against my face. “And realistically, I can tell you that if you think you’re going in that room to pack up your bag and run again, you’re sadly mistaken,little girl.” He puts extra emphasis on those two words and they chill me to the core.

“Why would you say that? What makes you think I’ve done this before?”

Saying I’m not going to run makes sense. But he saidagain.

The smirk on his face is telling. He’s a lot smarter than I’m giving him credit for.

“Are you really that naive to think this was a chance encounter, Rhea?”

“Of course not,” I tell him with another jerk of my wrist. “We met the other night. And yes, I stole from you. But you deserved it. You fucking drugged me!”

His grip on me tightens to the point that I can feel the blood draining from my hand. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t going to use that drug on me to rob me blind for the way I treated you. I pride myself on being intellectual, Rhea. I’m not here to play games. When I saw your plan, I merely put you down for a nap, so I could get a peek at what I’ve been missing.”

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