Micah:I know.
The bell chimed just minutes later.
Every nerve in my body lit up.
He didn’t look angry when he walked in. Didn’t look rushed or keyed up or dangerous in the obvious ways.
He looked focused.
Alert.
Like a man who had just narrowed his world down to one point and eliminated everything else.
His eyes found me instantly.
I felt it like a hand on my spine.
He didn’t touch me. Didn’t even come around the counter.
He simply stood there, taking in the shop, the customers, Britney’s wide-eyed stare, the way I was holding myself too carefully.
Then his gaze came back to me.
“All right?” he asked, voice low.
“Yes,” I said automatically.
His jaw tightened a fraction.
“Don’t answer me like that,” he said quietly. “Answer me like it matters.”
Heat rushed to my face.
I swallowed. “I’m shaken. Not scared.”
His eyes darkened—not with lust, but with something colder. Sharper.
“Who was she?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “She knew your name. Knew about us.”
Us.
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Micah’s attention snapped to it like a weapon locking on target.
“And?” he prompted.
“She told me to be careful.”
Something in his expression shifted. He stepped closer now—not invading, but undeniably present.
“No one gets to say that to you,” he said.
The certainty in his voice sent a ripple through me.
“Micah,” I said softly. “I don’t need?—”
