side, his hair and clothing blending perfectly into the darkness while his silver-grey eyes catch mine. He grins, just the slightest crook at the corners of his mouth. I wonder if he ever fully smiles.
A flicker of memory...
Staring at him, I have the weirdest sensation that we’ve been here before. Obviously, it’s impossible, but still, the feeling is there, like a dream just out of reach, the effects of it lingering.
But then anger slams down, and I wrench the door open, the cool evening air rushing in, carrying his scent with it. My knees weaken to breathe it in. He smells like a fantasy come to life.
His voice is a deep purr of sound, soft like velvet. “I thought you were asleep.”
Mine, however, is a streak of fury that slices through the spell he can so easily weave.
“How long were you standing there? And why are you standing there? The front door is on the other side of the house.”
Clearly amused, he leans a shoulder against the doorjamb. “You should pay better attention to your surroundings.”
Another flicker of memory...
My eyes snap to his, the collision of our gazes sending a shudder down my body that I try to ignore. Grant is a beautiful man, but standard and boring compared to Ari.
While Grant represents power, responsibility, precision and reliability, the space around Ari whispers of danger, of secrets, of hidden agendas and desires that are so utterly wrong they’re not spoken about by respectable people.
“Why would you say that to me?”
He searches my face, his expression so enigmatic that it drives me insane. He isn’t someone you can glance at and know what they’re thinking. I envy that mystery, find myself wishing to unravel it to discover all there is to know.
But then, that has always been my problem. I’m not controlled enough to leave well enough alone.
Before Grant, I was Poor Little Adeline, the girl who always ran in the wrong direction, who never made decisions that were good for her.
I was wild then.
And maybe the mistake I made with this man in the cemetery was a momentary backlash against how Grant continues to tame me. A step backward that needs to be corrected now.
Moving closer, Ari’s cheek brushes mine as he lowers his voice and whispers against my ear. “Twice now, I’ve been able to sneak up on you. The cemetery and here. Why do you never see the person standing right in front of you?”
I back off, placing enough distance between us that he can slip inside and shut the door behind him. He leans against it and crosses his arms over his chest, the bulge of his biceps fighting against the sleeves.
Still in black on black, he’s lost the suit jacket, but wears the pants that do little to disguise his strong thighs, and a button up shirt that showcases the breadth of his shoulders and chest that taper down to a toned waist.
Mimicking his posture, I reach for the rage I was feeling earlier, scrabble for it because, in the end, this man threatens the balance in my life. He threatens everything I’ve fought to achieve.
“Whatever. You’re the one who keeps sneaking up on me. If anything, that makes you a stalker and has no bearing on what I’m paying attention to or not.”
His lips curl, but beyond that he doesn’t react.
“Let’s get to the point of why we’re here. I want you gone. What happened between us won’t happen again, so I’d appreciate you leaving both Grant and me alone.”
“So eager,” he teases, the tone of his voice a sexual pulse blended with sensual cruelty. “But then, I think you’ve always been that way, even if you’re trying to hide it now.”
“You know nothing about me.”
Another twitch of a set of lips that promise exquisite pain.
“I know you’re allowing your husband to treat you like a dog. How often does he snap his fingers in your face, Adeline? Do you fetch his newspaper and slippers each time he demands it?”
It was a slap to the face, a vein of truth that untangles inside me to hear another person mention it. I was already struggling with Grant’s treatment, but to hear Ari point it out only drives the simmering doubt inside me to a boil.
“I would have thought you’d be stronger than to allow a man to dictate what you do.”
My eyes meet his, wide and defiant. “It’s none of your damn business. How do I get rid of you?”
“You don’t,” he answers without a second’s