Biggest Threat
Christian got the message that time and sat up abruptly, straightening his clothing as he did so. Cadence pulled her shirt down completely, feeling her heartbeat returning to normal. She glanced down to see that it was still buttoned, thank god.
Christian was staring at her like he wasn’t quite sure where he was or what had happened.
She’d completely led him on, and that wasn’t a good way to make friends….
She was messing everything up that night. She just needed to be alone.
“I’m sorry,” Cadence said quietly. “It’s nothing against you—at all. It’s just been a very long, emotional day.”
“No, I understand,” Christian interjected. “It really wasn’t fair of me to put you in that situation. It’s just… you’re so fucking hot, Cadence. Ever since I met you I’ve been….” He shook his head a moment, and she was glad he stopped. How was she supposed to work with him after that sort of an admission?
Having no idea what to say, she weighed her words carefully. Of course, she found him attractive, too, but saying so wouldn’t help her present cause. She managed to force a smile to her face. “Thank you,” she said quietly. She wanted to say something more, but no fitting words would come to mind. Would he expect more from her? A date? A relationship?
That wasn’t a good idea…. Not now. She hadn’t come here to date, after all.
Christian looked around the room awkwardly, sucking in a breath and shooting it out loudly. Finally, he said, “Well, I should let you get some rest,” slamming his hands down on the knees of his leather pants.
He stood and walked slowly toward the door. Cadence pulled herself up from the floor and followed, still searching for something, anything, to say. She opened her mouth briefly but closed it again. Every sentence that popped into her mind sounded ridiculous. The idea that she should keep her distance drifted to her mind, but she found herself following him right to the door.
Christian paused for a moment in the open doorway and turned back to face her. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?” Cadence nodded, and when his lips came slowly towards hers, she let him brush a soft kiss against her lips before he gave her a tightlipped smile and exited her apartment.
Glad that he was gone, she shut the door and locked it, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. Her life was becoming increasingly more complicated by the second, and in that moment, all she really wanted to do was get some sleep. She resisted the urge to bang her head against the door to try to knock some sense into her skull and instead made her way toward her bedroom, hoping for sleep and the mental clarity morning may bring.
* * *
As Christian made his way back to his own apartment on the sixth floor, he couldn’t help but feel a bit defeated. Though he certainly didn’t wish to take advantage of Cadence’s emotional vulnerability, he had been hopeful that she would confirm his suspicion that she was as physically attracted to him as he was to her. Now, he wasn’t quite so convinced he had been reading her signals correctly.
Where had he gone wrong? In all of his hundreds of years of existence, he had yet to get a firm grasp on the female psyche. Most of the time, women were just good for a quick fuck, and then, he was done with them.
But this… was different.
He liked Cadence. She was beautiful and smart.
And powerful….
And Christian liked power. He stroked his chin, imagining everything that could happen if he could find a way to make Cadence his.
He’d made a mistake somewhere, though, so he’d have to go back and review everything that had happened… step by step.
Thankfully, that would be easy enough because he had come prepared!
While most women would think a guy pretty fucked up who pulled out a video recorder whenever he banged a girl, Christian didn’t have to worry about that.
He had a video recorder in his eye.
The elevator doors opened on his floor, and he headed inside to review his secret footage for some clues.
If there was a way to keep Cadence Findley interested in him, he needed to find it before it was too late and she latched on to someone else….
Christian knew who his biggest threat was. It was always the same person.
“Not this time,” he muttered, opening his apartment door. “Not this time.”
