I stood up and walked over to her. I shut the door behind her and bent to pick up her stuff. Remy remained standing in shock as I placed the files on the rickety tray next to the front door.
Eyes still wide, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Why do you live in this neighborhood?” I asked, ignoring her question. “And don’t lie to me.”
She blinked a few times, trying to get a grasp on what was going on. “What?”
“Why do you live here when you can afford better?”
“Uh, because…uhm, I’m a social worker. The children I’ve placed in foster care…I pay for their monthly checkups out of my own money,” she answered. “Almost half my pay goes to their care.”
She sacrificed her safety and comfort for children who weren’t hers.
“Same with your car?”
She nodded, then her face blushed. “Uhm, thank you for fixing it…uh, last night,” she mumbled.
I took a step forward, and she took a step back. We danced to the same tune we did last night until her back was up against the door. I reached up and took her face in my hand and ran my thumb across her lower lip.
I wasn’t going to kill her.
There was no way I was going to kill this woman. Not when she made me feel things I’ve never felt before. “I have to go,” I told her. “But I’ll be seeing you soon, Remy Christian.”
I leaned down and placed a small kiss below her jaw, and then walked out.
Chapter 8
Remy~
Luca Benetti was messing with my head, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
That stunt he pulled last night had my mind spinning all night long. At this rate, I’ll be a walking zombie, mindless due to lack of sleep.
And that kiss.
Jesus Christ.
What was up with that?
Was it just the equivalent of a cat playing with the mouse before he devoured it? Was he getting off on turning me into a nutcase? Because, right now, I was more rattled than I was scared. If he was going to kill me, I’d rather he just get on with it. The waiting was making me crazy. Every stranger was a threat and every unfamiliar noise felt like the end of my life.
And, then, there was that horrible, horrible attraction the man was dragging out of me. If I wasn’t fearing for my life, I was thinking of that stupid little peck. It was a peck for crying out loud. Was I so hard up that I actually got excited over a peck?
Apparently so.
And, now, sitting at Jeu Café for lunch, my appetite was even messing with me. I’d been sitting here for a half hour already, and my salad has been more picked at than eaten. The past couple of days just ran on a loop-over, and over again. I had no idea what Luca Benetti was doing with me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with him.
I had even contemplated running home to Nebraska.
And if I was being completely honest in my madness, my attraction to Luca Benetti bothered me more than anything else. I mean, who in their right mind would get involved with Luca Benetti? And I wanted to be in my right mind. I really, really did.
I was so goddamn confused, I was tempted to just hunt the man down and beg him to put me out of my misery. Only I wasn’t sure if I’d be asking for a bullet to the head or for him to take me to bed.
I was two seconds away from banging my head on the table like a crazy person when a shadow crossed over and blocked out the sun for a second. When I looked up, a man I’d never seen before sat down across from me.
Uninvited.
He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he regarded me with a smirk on his face. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes. He seemed of average height, but it was hard to tell with him seated. He could be described as non-descriptive, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. There was something about him, but whatever it was, it wasn’t obvious. Maybe it was just simply the way he sat there, uninvited but confident.
I finally found my voice. “May I help you?”
His hazel gaze roamed over my face, and his eyes hadn’t stopped there. They traveled down