Bewitching You(5)

“Grayson,” the woman whispered, “it wasn’t her fault.”

No, not my fault I’m in love with a man I’m only just meeting, Sofia thought, before Gray’s rough finger under her chin stole her attention. He guided her to look up at him.

“This was entirely her fault. She’s intrusive and clumsy. What else do you have up to, Sofia? Are you trying to ruin my dinner date?” He sneered down at her. He actually sneered. His lips curled wickedly, as if she didn’t mean anything to him and never would.

Her chest squeezed as she choked on a breath. Seriously? In all the scenarios that had filled her fantasies, she’d never thought her first meeting with Gray would go like this. Heck, she’d never dreamed he’d act like an arrogant, rude bully.

And for the first time in her life, rage filled her.

Not heartbreak. No, he didn’t deserve that. Not with the way he was acting. The woman had called him Grayson, but the man from her dreams would never treat Sofia this way.

“Look,” he said, and tapped his finger on her chin. “She can’t speak either. Is she even really here?”

That was it. A person could only take so much ridicule. She swiped his hand from her chin with one hand and slammed the tray against his abdomen with the other.

It wasn’t enough. He deserved more pain, so she stomped one of her Mary Jane’s down on his foot as hard as she could.

“Fuck,” he yelled, and inhaled sharply.

Good. Now maybe he’d wise up.

“Sofia,” André shouted from behind her. Oh, shoot. Sofia twirled around to face the angry Frenchman.

"He started it,” she said, and immediately wanted to kick herself for sounding like such a child.

“You’re fired, Sofia. Clock out and leave.”

“But—”

“There’s no excuse for harming a customer. Leave. Now.”

Gray’s date stepped forward. “She’s not to blame, sir. My fiancé is, I think, having a bad day.”

“Fiancé?” Sofia spun back around at the word. She looked up at Gray. “You’re engaged?”

He didn't answer, but the rigid expression on his face was enough of a reply.

Okay, now it was time for the heartbreak.

Sofia cheeks blazed. How could she have gotten it so wrong this time? The man she was in love with wasn’t a jerk…and he certainly wasn’t engaged to a beautiful woman.

“Of course not,” she whispered, feeling defeated. “Only in my dreams.”

“Your what?” He grabbed her forearm.

An extraordinary surge of heat rose through her body, and Sofia wondered if he’d felt it too. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them halfway, staring at her with a strange intensity.

“Grayson,” his fiancée said, “what is wrong with you? Let her go.”

Sofia wasn’t afraid of him. She met his stare with an angry one of her own…which melted quickly when he leaned in and brushed his lips against her ear.

Her skin prickled at the mere touch, how his breath warmed her ear. Maybe he realized what a jerk he’d been and was going to apologize. She breathed in his familiar scent and reached her hand up to caress his cheek. Welcome him home.

He grasped tighter to her arm, pulling her hand back down to her side. “Get out of my head,” he said in a low growl, and released her.

Before she could gather her wits and her pride to respond, he threw a bill on the table and guided his fiancée out of the restaurant.

~ * ~

Rachel stared out the window, apparently giving Gray the silent treatment for behaving so poorly. He’d been an *, he knew, but how else was he supposed to react when the woman from his dreams showed up as their server? When she stared at him with those striking blue eyes that dug into his very soul? When she dared him to kiss that silly, lovesick expression off her face?

She wasn’t supposed to be real. She was a dream, and dreams couldn’t threaten your future. They couldn’t materialize in front of you and your fiancée and make you second-guess every decision you’d ever made.

But that was exactly what she’d done in a matter of seconds.

He gritted his teeth and clenched tight to the steering wheel. Shit. The mirage, the hallucination…the whatever you wanted to call her, named Sofia was not a part of his plan. No, not a woman who haunted him, stalking his dreams and making him want her more than he’d wanted any other woman.

To know she existed blew his mind. How could it be possible?

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to sound like he meant it. He reached for Rachel’s limp hand and gripped her palm.

Sure, he was sorry for causing a scene, and even more regretful for being the reason Sofia lost her job. Not for a second did he like knowing he’d hurt her in any way, but he hoped it had worked. He hoped the woman hated him enough to make her stop torturing his mind. How she did it, he didn’t know, but maybe now the dreams would end.

“Do you know her?” Rachel asked.

The question surprised Gray. Had he been that obvious? “I’ve never met her before,” he said.

Even though he’d made love to the woman every night for the past month, kissed every inch of her sweet skin, he’d never actually met her in real life.

“Why do you ask?”

“The way she looked at you. It was odd. I see women staring at you all the time when we’re walking down the street or eating out, but never like that.”

“She was definitely a whack job.” Gray cringed at his own words. When had he become such an ass?

“You looked at her the same way.” Rachel wriggled her hand from his grasp and shifted a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Don’t be silly, Rache.” He didn’t bother arguing with her. He knew the look. He’d seen it on Sofia’s face. But he refused to believe he’d been giving it back. “She’s no one to me.”





Chapter Three



The oxygen masks hung above their lifeless heads.

How many?

Sofia walked down the aisle, counting the slumping bodies. Just counting. That was all she could do. They were already dead.

She was able to hold back her sobs until she saw the child. A little girl. Maybe three years old, bent over a woman’s lap. Sofia assumed the woman was her mother. They both had long black hair and pale skin. Blue lips.

God help me.

Air gushed from her lungs and a tight knot formed in her belly. Be strong, she told herself.

She needed to find out more if she wanted to stop this tragedy from happening.

It didn’t happen yet. Not yet. There was still time.

She kept going. Tears slid down her face as she continued counting bodies, some of them blurry, some vivid.

Twenty, twenty-one...

One seat empty. Sofia glanced up and searched for the seat number, but there wasn’t one. Anywhere. Maybe that detail wasn’t important. Her goal was to try to remember every tiny clue. No telling when one item or element would connect with another after she woke. Her mind was clearer then. Not as foggy.

Confused.

Shoot.

She woke from the dream and stared up at the ceiling. Frustrated, she swiped the tears from her cheeks. Why couldn’t she figure it out? How was she to save these people if she didn’t even know who they were or where they were going?

So far, she’d gathered that the aircraft was a small commercial plane. Two seats on each side. How many people were there again?

Thirty-five maybe, plus the crew. She closed her eyes and envisioned it. The pilot had been dead, too, but the plane still flew. The whirring of the engines buzzed in her ears. That was all she was able to remember this time. Next time she’d have to try harder. She had to.

Just like she’d thought Gray had to pull her into his arms and instantly fall in love with her when they met.

Wow. She’d really fooled herself there, hadn’t she?

How was the man she’d met at the restaurant the same person from her dreams? Her stomach turned painfully as she thought of how he’d treated her. Like she was a pest. Intrusive and clumsy, huh? Ergh. She fisted her hand and punched her pillow.

Sure, he was gorgeous. If Sofia hadn’t dreamed of a man of his caliber loving her, she’d never have considered the possibility. But never had she guessed he’d act like a rude bully at their first meeting.

Get out of my head. The whispered, angry words were still fresh in her ear. But what had he meant?

Did he also have the gift?

Impossible. If he knew of their imminent love, he wouldn’t have been cruel.

Not her Gray.

~ * ~

Gray sunk his toes into the cold sand and watched as she walked up the shore toward him, her white top illuminated by the moon. As she got closer, he could see her staring intently, sensually, seeming anything but innocent. Her rosy glossed lips peaked at the corners.