Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #1)(30)

Unease prickles through me and the hair at my nape lifts. The sensation of being watched I’d had walking to the bank earlier is back, and it is powerful. Each step I take seems to magnify the feeling. I speed up more and more, until I am all but running as I cross the main street to the grocery store.

At the door, I glance behind me, searching for the source of my discomfort, but finding no one obvious. If I could flippantly call this paranoia I would gladly do so, but I’ve seen death and heartache. I am not hiding from no one and for no reason. Desperately, I wish for some sign from my handler that I am safe in this new location with this new identity, but even this is troubling. I am blind to the colors around me, trapped in a world that is only black and white.

Run or be caught. Hide or die. My throat thickens. Like everyone else I loved has died.

Inside the store, I begin to shop, and momentarily I am relieved. I am in a public place. I am safe and the sensation of being watched is gone, but I am deeply troubled by the idea of being watched, even by my handler. He saved my life, I remind myself. He is trustworthy. No one else can be trusted. But Liam. I play that idea over and over in my head and in every version of how and I think of all the good ways that might end. And the bad. I think of him being in danger. I think of me being in danger.

Quickly, I fill my basket, grabbing my staple bargain box of popcorn, a few bowls and a cheap can opener before I head to the checkout line. I grimace down at my basket. My popcorn requires a microwave. Craigslist or Walmart here I come and soon, I decide. Popcorn and TV dinners are this single girl’s staples. I’m about to remove the popcorn from my basket to save my pennies for later, when my phone, or rather Liam’s phone, rings.

Steeling myself for the impact of his voice, I answer. “Liam?”

“Damn, woman, I like how you say my name.”

My cheeks heat with the gruffness of his tone that tells me that he means his words. The knowledge that I affect him reaches inside me and tightens my belly. I barely feel like I exist in this world and this rich, famous, and impossibly delicious man makes me feel as if I do. I don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to lie to him.

“I’ll be there in a couple of minutes to pick you up.”

The announcement jerks me back into the moment. “I’m at the store.

I’ll drop off my stuff and meet you at the hotel bar.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“No. No. I want to change clothes anyway.” It’s my turn in line, and I put my items on the belt. “I have to check out. I’ll see you soon.”

“Amy—”

I hang up and cringe. Did I really just hang up on him? I expect him to call back but he doesn’t. Maybe I should call him back but the less I say before “goodbye” the better. I can’t call him back. I’m still telling myself that five minutes later when I walk out of the store with a bag that includes popcorn I cannot even pop. Another brilliant move considering my limited funds.

I’m just full of them. I am less worried about who might be following me than I am who might be waiting at my door when I arrive. Crossing the parking lot, my gaze skitters here and there, watching for the stranger.

Watching for him.

I am about to cross the grass to the stoplight when a fancy black sedan pulls up beside me and stops. My heart lurches and I whirl around as the passenger window rolls down, but I cannot see the driver. Holding my breath, I lean down to discover Liam occupies the driver’s seat, and the man is power and sex in a black suit and a royal blue shirt that brightens his already too blue eyes. He reaches across the car and opens the door. “Hop in, baby.”

My stomach flutters at the endearment that he might use on all women, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Right now, he’s using it on me. Right now, his eyes are on me and even in the playfulness I sense in him, they are as intense as the man. And Liam Stone is as intense as they come.

“Is this your car?” I ask, trying to decide what to do. Certain that getting in the car with him is my ticket to being mindlessly lost in the temptation that is Liam.

“Rental.” He arches a brow at my stillness. “If you’re worried I’ll bite, I promise to tell you first.”

My eyes go wide before I can stop them and he laughs, a sexy, rough sound deep from his chest. The same chest I have touched and want to touch again. I glower at him. “I won’t.” The smart reply earns me another of his sexy laughs, and he’s successfully seduced me right here in the spot I stand.

Caving to the inevitable, I step forward and settle my bags on the floorboard of the obviously expensive car. Discreetly inhaling, I steel myself for the impact of being in a small space with him where I both long to be, but see it for what it is. A mistake. Being near this man is not going to help me say goodbye.

The instant I slide inside the car, expensive leather hugs my bare legs, and Liam’s earthy scent tickles my nostrils, teasing me senseless. It’s official. This was a mistake. A wonderful mistake. I tug the door shut, rotating toward Liam and I am pulled into his arms, one strong hand sliding into my hair. “Miss me?” he asks, and his breath is a hot tease on my lips.

My fingers curl on his jaw, the soft rasp of newly forming whiskers teasing my fingers. I remember that rasp on my skin. Everything fades but the moment and the man. No one has ever done that to me. “Did you miss me?”

“I’ll let you decide.” His mouth slants over mine, his tongue parting my lips, caressing against mine in one lush stroke. “Do I taste like I missed you?”