“You shouldn’t be the last one here,” he repeated, voice softening in a way that made it worse.“Ever.”
Her throat clenched.He didn’t move aside.She had to circle wide around him, pretending she wasn’t doing exactly that.
When she reached the stairs, the back of her neck tingled.She glanced over her shoulder.He was still standing there.Watching.Expression unreadable.
She practically flew down the steps.When she hit the first floor, her lungs burned from holding her breath.He hadn’t followed.Everything was fine except for resentment rising alongside fear.She didn’t want to be scared in her own building, didn’t want to feel small.And she certainly didn’t need Kayne’s voice in her head whispering,you’re not overreacting.
Maybe it was nothing, and she was simply exhausted.Or maybe Kayne’s hypervigilance had infected her.
And yet, the hair on her arms refused to settle.
She power-walked toward her car, forcing a laugh that sounded unconvincing even to her own ears.“Get it together, Chloe,” she muttered.“You’re fine.Everything is fine—”
A shadow flickered in her peripheral vision.
Chloe spun, fist cocked, ready to strike because apparently this was who she was now.
Kayne caught her wrist mid-swing.“Whoa,cher,” he said, low and firm.“Easy.”
Her heart catapulted into her throat.“Kayne!You scared the life out of me!”
“I noticed.”He lowered her arm gently, as if she might shatter if he wasn’t careful.“You always greet people with a right hook?”
“Only men who sneak up on me in dark parking lots,” she snapped.
The encounter upstairs crashed back into her mind like a runaway freight train.
Kayne’s expression sharpened instantly.“Did something happen?”
“No,” she blurted, too fast and entirely too defensive.“I’m tired and apparently jumpy.And you can’t just materialize behind people like a ninja.”
His jaw flexed.Not with irritation but resolve.“You can’t go anywhere alone.”
“Kayne—”
“No debates, Chloe.”He stepped closer, his gaze unwavering.“That’s why I’m here.”
Her breath caught.“I still think you’re overreacting.”
His voice dropped, quiet but unyielding.“Let me decide what’s overreacting.”
Chloe swallowed, the last of her bravado draining away.For the first time since the encounter upstairs, the world steadied beneath her feet because she wasn’t alone.
And because Kayne looked at her as if he’d burn the whole damn city down before letting anything touch her.
#
Kayne could read peoplepretty well.Chloe was practically glowing neon withI am hiding something from you, please ignore it.He didn’t know her, not really, but he’d seen enough to recognize a woman who didn’t share her vulnerability easily.
He didn’t buy her “I’m fine.”Not with the way her pulse jumped under his fingers when he caught her wrist.Or the rigid line of her shoulders.Not with the quick shutter in her eyes when he asked if anything had happened inside.It was fear sharp enough to cut, buried fast enough to deny.
But he didn’t push.Not yet.
“Come on,” he said quietly, keeping his hand at the small of her back, firm but gentle.“I’ll follow you home.”
“I don’t need an escort,” she retorted.
“Not a debate.”
