Leah kept glancing nervously over at Julian. “Why is he still here?” she’d whispered to Caleb at one point.

He’d shrugged and said, “I guess he’s working? Or hanging out?”

At least today she felt better about their encounter. He’d made her so nervous that she almost forgot his drink, and that was after reciting it to herself all day yesterday just in case the exact scenario that played out today happened. But she had remembered and he seemed happier.

She saw him looking at her. There was one spot she could stand, where the smooth reflective side of the metal coffee warmer was positioned so that she could see him without looking at him. Why was he watching her? Was he going to call her manager? Tell him that she was doing a bad job? This wasn’t her dream job, by any means, but it paid the bills and it kept her close to Caleb all day. She didn’t want to lose it.

Hours after he arrived, he stood and packed up his things. She sagged in relief. But then, he walked toward her. His eyes did that smoldering thing that made her knees go weak. She wished he would just leave already.

He came to her and handed her a business card. She took it without thinking.

“That’s my cell number,” he said. “Use it.”

He wanted her to call him? Was he nuts? She gulped and handed it back. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. And you will.” He set the card down.

“No, really, I… have a boyfriend.” She hoped she wasn’t reading too much into this and taking it wrong. When she said it, she saw Caleb react out of the corner of her eye. He stiffened and moved closer to her.

“That means little to me,” Julian said. He didn’t pick up the card. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

He turned and walked several feet away before she mustered up the courage to call after him, “You won’t.”

At this, Julian glanced back over his shoulder and shot her a cold glare. It chilled her and she felt her heart rate speed as it had the day before when she felt threatened by him.

When he was gone and out of ear shot, she released her breath. “Man, he is such an arrogant jerk.”

“Seriously.” Caleb glared after him. “You will,” he mocked.

“Like I would be interested in someone who talked to me like that. ‘Use it’? Was that supposed to be a pickup line or something? Right, I’m so into that controlling relationship thing. Taking orders from him because he’s rich and hot? I don’t think so.”

“What?”

She pulled her eyebrows together. “What what?”

“You think he’s hot?”

“Well, I mean, he’s good looking, sure. He’s not you, though.” She put her arms around him and kissed him. “You’re hot.”

“I’m not a billionaire.”

“Like that matters to me. He might be rich, but he’s also a huge asshole. I would never want to live like that.”

“Good.”

Caleb moved on to talking about other things, but like yesterday, she couldn’t shake thoughts of Julian. Now, it was fear and curiosity on top of the same anger from yesterday. Would he come after her because she turned him down? That glare looked serious. And he had the money to hire a hitman or do whatever he wanted in order to get to her.

But what could she do? She certainly wasn’t going to jeopardize what she had with Caleb in order to make Julian happy. Calling him would benefit nothing. She put her hand in her pocket and pressed her finger into the sharp corners of the business card. Had Caleb seen her pick it up? Why had she? She should throw it away. But when she went into the bathroom to toss it, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She stared at his name, his number, and put the card back in her pocket.

“We should prank him,” Caleb said later that day. “Where’d his card go?”

She gulped and looked around. “Umm, I think I threw it away.”

“Aww, that sucks. You should keep it next time. We’ll mess with him.”

“Next time? What makes you think there’ll be a next time?”

Caleb shrugged. “Men like him don’t like not getting what they want.”

“Well, he’s not getting me.”

“I know,” Caleb said sharply. “But that doesn’t mean he’ll be happy about it.”

The fear rose in her chest. Caleb confirmed what she’d been afraid of. So, what should she do now? What was a woman to do when a rich, handsome man was after her? It sounded like a ridiculous problem to have.