It wasn’t an imagination I could snap out of, nor a dream I could wake up from. I couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t here either because he was here with me. This was real. Aaron Hart stood closer to me than ever. I could feel his heated gaze watching my every move, wanting to see my next reaction.
I turned from the elevator to face him and found a look on his face that I couldn’t understand.
“Zera Adams.” His deep, hoarse voice called out like we had scores to settle, and shivers ran down my spine. His voice had been my downfall in the past, and even now, it still is.
“You look amazing,” he said, and his eyes dragged over my body like it was on full display for him. “Indeed, the years have been kind.”
I swallowed.
I left him in my past five years ago, and ever since then, I have avoided anything and everything that would bring him back into my life. Now here he was, standing before me and staring me dead in the face, like he could see my very soul.
I needed to gather my courage and face the reality before me. There was no other choice. I’ve hidden away for too long.
“Mr Aaron Hart.”
“It’s nice to know that after five long years, you still remember my name,” he said, and I could hear the pride in his voice.
I mean, I screamed the name all day during that faithful weekend, so it would be hard to forget.
My cheeks heated, not at what he just said but at the profane thought in my head, “What do you want?” I asked, not loving the idea of him calling the shots and messing with my mind. “You should be back in the hall with the others.”
He ignored my words and asked, “Is he your boyfriend?”
I knew who the “he” was. I had stepped out of the hall with Daniel. He probably had his eyes on me the whole time while wondering who the man who led me out was.
I scoffed at his audacity because I didn’t see how that concerned him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business. What do you want?” I asked again, my patience growing thin. I needed to know his business. I needed to know what he knew to choose my battles wisely.
“You’re already on the attack.” He pointed out, taking a step forward and bringing himself closer to me, “but I have done nothing to trigger that.”
“You have done nothing?” My eyes widened. “How about stalking me? I saw you last week, watching me. I thought I had hallucinated then, but now I know I hadn’t. Yet you can’t seem to understand why I am on the attack.”
“It’s not stalking. It was a harmless attempt to rekindle with an old frien-”
“I am not your friend.” I didn’t let him finish. “We were two people who had heated moments over the weekend. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.”
“It was more, and you know that,” he argued, taking another step forward, and my heart skipped a beat. “I saw it in your eyes, Zera.”
I moved past the events of that week a long time ago, but his words just forced the memory back into my head. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remembered how he had me on my back, on my hands and knees, moaning, crying, reaping excess, and writhing from too much pleasure.
I pulled myself back to reality and cleared my throat, not failing to notice the smirk lingering on his face. My body seemed to be on fire, and reactions surged through me. “That’s in the past, and I’ve moved on from it.”
“It doesn’t seem like you have. Your nipples are rock hard, pressing against the fabric of your clothes, and your heart is skipping at an alarming rate. Your blood is rushing through your veins at a pace you never expected, and shivers are surging down south just at the very thought of the weekend we had. So no, I don’t think it’s in the past.”
I bit down on my lips. He shouldn’t know what he knows, but somehow he did, and it terrified me.
The only good news was that he didn’t know about Zion. At least, if he did, he would have asked who the child I was holding onto at the restaurant was. But so far, he hasn’t, which tells me he has no clue.
“We can leave now,” Daniel said, walking towards me. He only slowed down when he noticed Aaron standing close to me.
I turned my attention to Daniel and smiled at him. “Good, then let’s go,” I said and turned to the elevator, uttering no other word to Aaron, who stood silently watching me go.
I gave the men no time to meet and greet because I couldn’t afford that.
I was grateful that Daniel had walked in when he did because Aaron’s words had me backed up against the wall. I had no response to escape. He had the upper hand, and he knew it, too. Daniel’s interruption was the saving grace I needed.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked as we entered the car and fastened the seat belts.
I had uttered no words since we left Aaron in the hallway, and I knew it was only a matter of time before that sparked Daniel’s curiosity.
I shook my head and said, “I’m fine.”
His eyes lingered on me, and I knew he didn’t buy my answer. “Are you sure?”
I flashed him a small, genuine smile. “Yes, I am fine.” Forging my way ahead had been the thought that had clouded my mind since I left Aaron over five minutes ago, and I still hadn’t found a way forward.
That was not the last of him. I knew that this was the very beginning. This man seemed to be on a mission, and I was somehow entwined in it.