Love Me (WITSEC #3)(16)
“Don’t act like you didn’t know you were beautiful,” he grumbled.
“Not as much as you just made me feel.”
He sighed as if exasperated and pulled the cart from my grasp, clearing the obstacle between us. He grabbed my wrist and drew me to him. When his hand went to the back of my neck, I instinctively pushed up on my tiptoes, tilting my head back and offering myself to him.
His lips descended on mine. At first his kiss was slow, but passionate, like he wanted to savor the moment and the taste of my lips. That was, until I tried to kiss him back—to savor him. He stilled the instant I tried and put his hands on my shoulders to pull away. It was such a sudden change in mood, from passionate to closed-off, I found myself stunned and wondering what had just happened. I did my best not to show my disappointment as I waited for him to explain.
But he didn’t. He stepped away from me and grabbed the cart. “Are we almost done here?” he asked over his shoulder, and it seemed as if he didn’t want to look at me.
Maybe it was because we were in the middle of the store. It wasn’t the ideal place to get carried away kissing.
When I didn’t answer him right away, he finally looked at me. I couldn’t read his face. It was too indifferent. “What else do we have to get for dinner?”
“Uh,” I stammered, making myself focus on what he was asking. I did a mental check of what was left on my grocery list. “Cheese, and I need to restock on cinnamon.”
“The spice aisle is next. You head there and I’ll go get the cheese and meet you at the checkout counters,” he suggested and left me with the cart.
I frowned at his back until he turned out of the aisle. I should have asked him what was wrong.
In the middle of the next aisle, I stood before a wall of spices, scanning it for cinnamon. I spotted a small glass jar of it toward the top. Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I reached. Before I was able to grab it, a presence came up behind me and grabbed the jar of spice before I could. Flattening my feet, I turned. I noticed the person’s brown hair first before my eyes dropped to their bruised face. I jerked back quickly. My back slammed into the wall of spices, knocking a handful of containers and jars to the floor.
A dimple appeared to the left of his mouth. A result of the menacing smile that slowly spread across Jacob’s face. It had only been two days since he’d attacked me at the gym and his nose was still slightly swollen. Knox had clearly broken it. By the amount of bruising under his eyes, along his jaw and cheekbones, I’d say Knox had tried to break his whole face.
The fear surging through my veins made me itch to run. I ignored it, choosing to stay calm instead.
“Hello, Shiloh.” He reached for me.
I leapt to the left and away from him. My arm banged into the grocery cart in the process. The pain that zinged up my arm was a good reminder that it was there. Without taking my eyes off Jacob, who was unmoving and watching me, I rolled the cart between us.
He held up the jar of spice. “Didn’t you want this?”
“What do you want?” I forced out.
His hand, still holding the jar of spice, dropped to his side. His eyes began to roam over me, his smile never dropping. I held my breath as they lingered on my breasts, and as they wandered to other areas, I swore I could feel it. It was like dirty and cracked fingernails gliding along my skin.
“Did I mention at our last encounter how much I love your red hair?” he asked.
The flare of anger that hit me was somewhat startling. Not enough for it to show. Just enough to make me aware that it had overshadowed my fear. “And I love what you’ve done to your face.” As if my anger had conjured her, it had been Shayla’s voice that had come out of my mouth. Her strength. Her attitude.
His smile withered and his hand shot out, grabbing the other end of my cart.
As he yanked on it, I blurted, “Why?”
He ignored my question and scowled at me while trying to pull on the cart.
“Why me?” I pushed, doing my best to hold the cart in place. “What the hell did I do to make you so obsessed with me?”
He gave me a pitying look. “Obsessed?” He looked up and down the aisle, seeing that we were alone. “Do you know how many girls I’ve fucked from that gym?” He chuckled arrogantly. “Some of my conquests have been willing. Some weren’t. Like you. It’s because you bitches think you’re too good for me, but you all sound the same when I’m inside you.”
“Disoriented?” I quipped. “Is that how you’ve gotten away with it all this time? The women you’ve raped have been too drugged to remember what you did to them?”
His hand holding the cart squeezed until his knuckles turned white. “I thought you wanted to know why I picked you?” he snarled. My silence was his cue to continue. “The day we met, I noticed the guy next to me stop in the middle of a rep to watch you. You were stretching, oblivious to the many eyes admiring you, including the owner of the gym, Knox Stone.”
I did my best not to react.
“The longer I watched you, the more I knew you’d be easy pickings. You had these sad eyes, begging anyone to come and save you. And when I spoke to you…” He closed his eyes, humming as if he tasted something delicious. “It was obvious you were innocent.” He opened his eyes and his menacing smile returned. “Untouched pussy ripe for the taking.”