My heart was ready to pound out of my chest. I’m having a heart attack. I have to be.

First, I’d relaxed into that sinfully comfortable couch and offered up an anecdote about my childhood, giving Alex’s radar every goddamn reason to start blipping wildly when it came to his suspicions about me. It was just about television, but what would I admit next?

Then, he touched me. I wasn’t delusional enough to think it was anything more than checking to make sure my brains weren’t falling out of the back of my head, but the way his hands had slid across my shoulders, pulling my hair away from my neck, and the unexpected softness in the way he did it; with such a gentle caress…

It burned within me, from the inside out.

I turned the shower on, letting the small room fill with steam as I undressed. I bunched my clothes into a ball and tucked them in the corner of the room, pulling a plush bath towel from the shelf beside the vanity. Everything was so neat in Alex’s apartment, yet it was lived in. Comfortable. Not a bachelor pad by any means, but it held the ambience of a space decorated by the hands of a man.

A man with a simplistic, yet classic style. I gingerly picked up the bottle of cologne sitting on the vanity counter, pulling the cap off. Held up to my nose, I let the woodsy scent of patchouli and orange flood over me. It was an intoxicating scent, and it mixed with my skin’s remembrance of Alex’s fingertips on my collarbones, making me breathe out uneasily.

I pulled the bottle away, leaning against the counter, and I read the black bottle’s label for the first time.

Guilty by Gucci.

The humor in the name wasn’t lost on me completely, but my mind was still veiled in the dangerous combination of touch and scent, and I just couldn’t focus on anything beyond that at the moment.

“Hailey?”

Three soft knocks rapped on the door, and I flinched, almost dropping the bottle. “Uh, just one sec.” I put the bottle back down and pulled the shower curtain back, climbing in behind it. The hot water hit me in a steaming, aggressive burst and I gasped, stepping away from the spray. The curtain was opaque, in hues of black and gray, and I pulled it closed. “Okay, you can come in.”

I didn’t peek out to see him—I didn’t know if I could handle the look that might be staring back at me—but I heard the door open slowly.

“Are you okay?” His voice seemed shakier somehow, though I wasn’t sure if I was just projecting my own emotions on to him.

I pressed my back against the side of the shower stall, staring at the edge of the curtain. It didn’t move, save for the constant flutter of it as the water droplets beat down against it. “I’m okay.”

I waited for his reply, but didn’t hear it. Or the sound of him moving within the bathroom, either. “All right, your clothes are on the counter,” he said finally. “Just be careful.”

The door closed again with a loud click, and I was left staring at the drain in the bottom of the tub, watching aimlessly as the water spiraled into it.

Careful was all I’d ever tried to be. But, yet, here I was, with a bruised face, stitches in my scalp, and a man who wanted me dead.

And that wasn’t nearly as frightening as the man outside the bathroom door who had me thinking things I had no business thinking. He was a cop, and I was on the run. And if I wasn’t even more careful than I’d already been, Alex Brett was going to destroy me long before Creighton Banks had the chance.

* * *

I emerged from the bathroom wearing my own jeans, but I’d pulled Alex’s hooded sweatshirt over my head—yeah, that had hurt like hell. It was baggy, but not so overly big that I was swimming in it.

“The jogging pants didn’t fit?”

I followed the sound, finally seeing him by the kitchen sink, partially obstructed by the island between us. “Oh, umm, yeah. But I knew if I wore those, they’re so comfy, I’d just pass out again.”

A thin line of a grin formed on his mouth, but he turned back to what he was doing. “That’s not a bad thing. You need your rest.”

The idea of sleeping for the rest of the evening held its own allure, but my anxiety was at the forefront of my mind now, and the regular Tylenol wasn’t nearly as strong as the prescription medications they’d had me on in the hospital, therefore not nearly as potent or able to keep my jumbled nerves at bay. “There are things I should get from my apartment, Alex.”

He turned, staring into me instead of at me. “Like what?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to try and embarrass him by bringing up feminine hygiene products, but I answered truthfully, an edge to my voice. “Like makeup, to help hide the fact that I look like Quasimodo. Unless you have concealer hidden here somewhere.”

“Nah, I only wear that stuff during work hours. It’s in my locker at the precinct.”

“Very funny.”

“The chief doesn’t think so,” he said wryly.

“Alex.” I groaned his name, not in the joking mood. “I get it, I really do. I was attacked, and I got hurt. I don’t have a vehicle, and I don’t have a phone. So, I understand why you think I’m safer here with you. But, c’mon, I can’t hide out here forever.” He stood still, just staring silently, so I continued. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll stay here tonight. I will. But this can’t continue on. How long do you really think it can?”

“Until I know you’re safe,” he advised simply.

That’s never going to happen. “If you seriously believe I can just hide here and that’ll make me safe, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“If you seriously believe you’re not safe with me, you’re sadly mistaken.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, and the cocky smirk that spread across his face at having made me speechless caused a deep blush to creep into my cheeks.

“Cat got your tongue?” he teased, arching a brow.

“Asshole.” It was said under my breath, but I didn’t care if he heard me this time. I turned away from him, my cheeks burning and my pride hurt.

“Aww, Hailey, it was a joke,” Alex called after me, but I was already at the door, attempting to pull my boots on. “Just wait a sec. Hailey!”

His arm came down and pulled me up to my feet, but I batted him away.

“You don’t understand!” I blurted out.

He reached for me again, his hand resting on my arm. “Then, make me understand.”

“I won’t be a prisoner in my own life anymore.” The words erupted from me. “Not by them, and not by you!”

“I’m not trying to keep you—”

“I just want to go home.”

“And I just want you to be safe.”

“And why can’t those two things be one and the same, Alex? Why?” I shifted my weight, throwing my arm away from him, out of his reach.

Alex grabbed ahold of me again, enough to keep me in place and capture my attention. “It can be. But, right now, it’s not the same thing, Hailey. You and I both know it’s not.”

In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to tell him everything. All of it. I wanted to sink into his arms, feel his chest solid under my cheekbone, and let the truths of my past fall from my tongue in a continuous flood until I couldn’t speak anymore. I wanted the hot tears that stung my eyes to abate, and I wanted the hysteria I felt to take its course, incapacitate me, and then move on…so I could, too.

“I’m sorry.” Alex’s voice was only a whisper, and I didn’t know exactly which part he was apologizing for. But it didn’t matter.

The gentle tug of his words pulled my chin up, and my eyes met his. I could only nod, overcome with gratitude for his sincerity.

“On a scale of one to ten, how are you feeling?” His voice stayed low, deep and tender as he spoke.

I scoffed, amused at his doctoring attempts. It was an odd way to ease the tension in the room, but it worked. “I’m fine. It’s a mild headache at best, and I don’t even notice it much.”

“I wasn’t just talking about the headache.”

I let out a steadying breath. “I’m okay, I swear.”

“So, if I offered you an hour or so to go out with me and get your mind off things, with the promise of taking you to get a couple things at your apartment afterward, would you be up for it?”

Alex’s mouth was only inches from mine, and I found my gaze dropping to it every now and again, unwillingly. “To go…out with you…” I didn’t want to flat out ask what the hell he meant by that, but I said it slowly, surprised by his offer and trying to decipher it.

“I usually go out on Thursday nights if I’m not working,” he explained, his hands still on my elbows. It was a tentative touch; no pressure, no grip. But he held me there, just the same, as much with his eyes as his hands. “To the arena.”

I was trying to focus on what he said, I really was, but my mind was playing tricks on me, convincing me that his gaze kept falling to my lips as well. “The arena?”

“Skating.”

“You go skating.”

He nodded. “Every week if I can. It’s good exercise, and it’s fun. You know, mindless entertainment.”

His faint grin was infectious. “Better than that TV show you had on earlier, I’m sure,” I advised. “Better for you, I’m sure.”

“Do you want to come? We’ll stay here if you’re not feeling up to it, that’s okay—”

“Are you asking me to go just so you can keep an eye on me?” The question came out before I could stop it, and my cheeks burned with the underlying meaning of it.

Alex bit down on his bottom lip, amused, his eyes glinting with—what was that? Mischief? “I’m asking you because you said you were fidgety. It’ll make you feel less like a prisoner, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll see I’m not the asshole you think I am.”

My mind wasn’t playing tricks. I watched as his eyes dropped once more to my mouth, and I couldn’t seem to get the breath I’d been holding out. “I never meant—”

“Do you want to go or not?” he chuckled, obviously finding humor in my strangled voice.

Alex was playing with me, I could see that now. Playing with my mind, and having a very good time doing it. I didn’t like that I was letting him, but I was quite enamored by the game itself.

“Skating, then my apartment. You promised.”

His hand came up, his thumb resting below my chin to tilt my face toward his. “I always keep my promises, Hailey.” Then he backed away and was gone to round up his things. But the glint in his eyes was seared into my brain, just as vividly as if he was still in front of me.

Playing games with Alex Brett was enticing, but extremely dangerous. Especially since, deep down, I knew he would win.