My hand shoots out before I can stop it, grabbing his wrist. “Careful.”
His eyes widen, and I swear he looks excited. I release him and laugh it off. “Unexpected is all.”
“See? You should keep me around. I’m fun and can really liven up these rituals you’re chained to.”
I finish cleaning up my face, embarrassed that I just spewed coffee. “Only if you promise not to make me spit up my coffee. Tasting it on the way down is bad enough.”
He closes his eyes while chuckling, and I notice how long his lashes are. “I can’t make any promises. I love a challenge, and, now that I know you’re here every day, making you laugh might be my new personal mission.”
His saying that shouldn’t make a warm feeling spread in my chest, but it does.
But then that warm feeling sinks to the pit of my stomach.
I’m queasy.
Nervous.
Felix smiles, and I chuckle, trying to stay normal, but that sick feeling consumes me.
“Is everything okay?” he asks.
My throat feels dry, and I start coughing.
Don’t open up. That’s how it starts.
My grip tightens.
He pats me on the back, and I startle.
His hand is on me. Too close.
I scrub my face to shake the feeling off.
My pulse pounds in my ears.
Then I’m calm. Too calm.
I need to leave. Now. “Sorry, we gotta head out. Need to open the shop.” I take Gabe’s hand in mine. “Let’s roll.”
I bolt for the exit and hear Felix say, “Hey! Wait—”
My bike is so close. I just need to get to it and drive away.
Please don’t follow me, Felix.
Felix
The man with dark hair and even darker circles under his eyes runs for the doors, and he and his friend make a beeline to a motorcycle parked out front.
What the hell was that?
I’m flummoxed. One moment, we’re flirting and laughing, and the next, he’s running out the door.
I make grown men run for the exit—exactly the ego boost I needed.
My heart sinks, because we had so much chemistry. There was a connection between us–this link that pulled me closer to him.
And Torren wanted me. I could see it in his eyes. He looked at me like he saw me—like I mattered.
