He couldn’t do it. Couldn’t drive away.

Having arrived well before her, Reaper had time to sit and watch the erratic weave of her route, her car’s GPS easy to hack.

She drove like someone who didn’t want to be followed. Then she exited her car and glanced around nervously before entering a shitty building.

And now, she lied to him.

She was not fucking all right, which was why, in the midst of still texting her, he exited his car and entered her complex.

Now, he stood in front of her door.

An assassin who was just a man, in front of a door, knocking for a woman who wouldn’t answer.

“Annie, open up. I know you’re in there.” Which might not have been the most reassuring thing to say.

“Montgomery?” The clicks and snaps of locks tumbling saw her opening the door before she exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

He held up her coat. “I was in the area and thought I should deliver it.”

However, she didn’t grab the coat. Her brows pulled tight. “How did you know where I lived?”

“I’m in real estate.”

“I’m renting.”

“You should think of buying. The market is ripe right now for buyers.”

“I doubt I’ll be staying in this city much longer.”

“Planning a move? I didn’t know your company was branching out.”

“It’s not.” She snagged the coat and went to slam the door shut, only he wouldn’t allow it. He wedged his foot in the gap.

“What’s really going on?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’re scared.”

“Someone shot at us today. I’d say I have good reason.”

He pushed at the door until he could step in. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Says the man who is coming in uninvited.” She backed away from him, eyes wide, panic tensing her body.

“I won’t hurt you. But I am going to stick around until you don’t look like you’re expecting to be murdered.”

“I promise to look that way as soon as the door shuts behind your ass.”

He flopped onto her couch and took note of her apartment. “Nice place. But I could get you something bigger, within walking distance of your office.”

“I told you, I’m probably moving.” She slammed the door shut and stood glaring at him, arms crossed.

Very sexy. It made a man want to snare her close and kiss those pressed lips until they softened.

“Moving, why? You obviously run a very successful business.”

“It’s personal.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to let one little incident scare you away.”

“Little? We could have died today.”

He shrugged. “We could also die slipping in the shower or choking on a pea.”

“I hate peas.”

“So do I, hence the choking part.” He leaned forward and offered her a grin. “The point I’m making is that danger lurks everywhere.”

“Is that meant to be reassuring?”

“Nope. It’s just how the world is. Don’t tell me you’d prefer I mollycoddle you and lie.”

She sighed and finally relaxed enough to take a seat across from him. “No. But sometimes I wish things were different.”

“We all do, Annie.”

“Stop calling me Annie.”

“But it suits you.”

“If you say so, Prince Charming.”

He winced. “Touché. I take it it’s too late to ask you to forget I told you that.”

“Very.”

“I’ve killed people for less.”

She laughed, probably because she thought he was joking.

He wasn’t. And given his violent tendencies as a youth, the advice to change his name to initials made his life a little less deadly.

“If I can’t call you Charming, then what should I call you.”

“My friends call me Reaper.”

Her brow arched. “That’s a tad macabre.”

Yet apt, because, when he appeared, death soon followed. Again, not exactly the kind of thing he could say out loud. “They mostly use it because I make a killing in real estate.”

A shake of her head and the loose smile on her lips eased even more of her tension. “You certainly aren’t modest.”

“Just saying it like it is, honey.”

“Why are you really here?” she asked. “My husband—”

“Are you really going to keep up that lie?” He glanced around. “No man lives here.”

“And you can tell that from the décor?” she asked. “Maybe he likes to give me free rein.”

“Are you really going to keep playing this game? Fine.” He pointed. “Only women’s shoes lined by your front door.”

“He’s tidy.”

“One mug and one plate on your breakfast bar.”

“He likes to grab Starbucks on the way to work.”

“Want to bet if I go into your bathroom and peek there’s only one toothbrush?”

Her lips pressed tightly before she exhaled. “Fine. I’m not married. Are you happy?”

He leaned back and smiled. “Yes.”

“I guess now you’re going to want to go with a different agency.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m a fraud. I don’t know what love is, obviously, or I wouldn’t be single.”

“Or, maybe like me, you haven’t met the right person yet. Imagine that, two people who can’t find someone, sitting in your living room.”

“I am not the person for you.”

“Is that the conclusion of your matchmaking software, or your personal opinion?”

“Mr. Montgomery—”

“Please, call me Reaper.”

“I will not call you that. While I do appreciate your concern in light of the day’s events, I really do think it’s best you leave now.”

“But we never finished our lunch.”

“No need. I know exactly what you require.” She stood, and he had a choice: not budge and freak her out, or leave and get to work digging up her past.

Because she is hiding something.

Reaper stood and followed her to the door. However, when she would have opened it, he blocked her path. Staring down at her, he said, “What do you think I need?”

Annie peeked up at him, and he willed her to say the words, to give him the answer he’d wanted from the moment he walked in.

She didn’t exclaim, “I need you.”

Instead, she said, “I’ll be in touch in a few days with your next date.”

“What if I don’t want to go on a date with yet another stranger?”

“Then I guess we have nothing left to talk about.” Annie wedged past his body, the scent of her womanly and soft.

She yanked at the door to open it and practically shoved him into the hall. He allowed it, mostly because he knew she felt a need to reassert herself.

But he couldn’t help a parting shot. “You and I are not done, Annie.”

She slammed the portal shut, but he still heard her say, “Oh, yes we are.”

Challenge accepted.