“If I hadn’t been born into the family I have, this wouldn’t have been such a big media frenzy. For that, it’s my fault. What I did, who I am—all of that created this whole thing. I know the news is starting to focus on you, and they’re asking questions about where you are, et cetera. I just wanted to come and apologize for that, too. They put a romantic spin on it, but now that you’re missing, I’m worried they’re going to turn on you. I hope they don’t.”
I knew what he was saying. I was waiting for it to happen, too, but that was why I was still hiding. I reached out and touched his arm. “If they turn on me and if they find me, I’ll have to deal with it. Until then, thank you, Kian. For what you did, thank you.”
“You’re not scared of me?”
I shook my head. Most of the fear was dissolved. “You saved me.”
“He threw away his future while you got a new one.”
Snark’s words were taunting me. I should’ve paid them more attention, but I couldn’t.
The storm inside of me was for Kian. My brain was telling me to get away as fast as possible. Logic wasn’t winning right now.
My phone starting buzzing, and I pulled it out. Erica was calling me.
“I’m sorry. I should take this. She doesn’t usually call unless the world is ending, or she needs wine ASAP.”
He chuckled. “She sounds fun, whoever it is.”
I started for the stairs, but I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay up here, and I wanted to get to know someone whom I felt like I had known all my life.
I sighed. My phone kept buzzing, and I clicked Answer as I was going down the stairs. “Hey, what’s up?”
“You will never believe what she did.” Erica’s anger was like whiplash.
I kept going down the stairs, but my mind and everything was still on the roof. He’d wanted to make sure I was okay, that I wasn’t scared of him. I had never considered that possibility.
“She’s such a bitch.”
I tuned back in to what Erica was saying as I got to my floor and went through the door. “Who’s a bitch?” Wait, she’d already said that. I had heard it. “Susan. What did she do again?”
“First, she backstabbed the senior reporter. She’s out. Susan got her kicked off the project, and I have no idea how she did it, but she’s trying the same with me. Susan’s trying to scoop me.”
I frowned as I got to our apartment and pulled out my keys. Fumbling through them, I found the right one and unlocked the door. As I did, I stopped. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I didn’t feel fear. I felt him. Slowly, I straightened upright. The phone fell away, and I looked where I’d just come from.
Kian was standing there. He was watching me.
This would’ve been creepy if it were anyone else, but remembering the stark need on his face while on the roof as he’d said he wanted to make sure I wasn’t scared of him pushed everything out of me. I held up a hand to him.
He waved back. “Making sure you got there okay.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Jo?” Erica was calling from my phone.
I held it back to my ear, but I was riveted by Kian. I could see him better now in the hallway. With the lean cut of his body, the jeans he was wearing, the black sneakers on his feet, and even how the whites of his eyes seemed to stand out from how tan his skin was—he was gorgeous.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and I knew he’d caught me checking him out. Ducking my head down, my cheeks got red, and I shoved inside my place. The door swung shut behind me, and I leaned back against it.
I was so stupid, checking him out after everything. I shook my head at myself, but then heard Erica’s voice again.
“Jo! Hello? Jo, where are you?”
“Sorry. There was a guy in the hallway.”
“You weren’t home? I thought you got off work an hour ago. Where were you? Wait.” She paused. “Is he hot? Please tell me he’s a new neighbor.”
“I’m home now, and no, I don’t think he’s a neighbor.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “Wait. How’d you get home?”
I sighed, pulling open the fridge to grab a water. “Jake walked me home.”
“Was that Jake? Please tell me it was because I’d like to rub that in Susan’s face. I swear, she’s just as possessive of him when he’s not Tara’s boyfriend than when he was.”
Sinking down on a chair, I put my water on the table and gripped the phone tighter. “Erica, you called me for a reason. You don’t usually call to vent when you’re working.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m not working. I’m at the Wine Cellar. I was more calling to have you come down here, so I could vent to you in person. Wanker couldn’t come. He said something about throwing up. I don’t know what he meant. He’s never sick, so it couldn’t be because of that, but whatever. Can you come down?”
“To the Wine Cellar?”
Kian was probably leaving the building right now.
Erica kept talking. Venting. Wanker. Wine Cellar. It was all jumbled together.
I turned toward the balcony.
Could I see him?
“Uh-huh,” I murmured to the phone as I stood from the table.
There was no conscious thought. My body moved that way. The light was left on. If he looked up, he would catch me. I didn’t care, and I sank down on one of the chairs. I’d just been there, not even an hour ago, hiding from people who had been chasing after me. I was back, and I was the chaser now.