Stopping in front of the door marked3D.The faded numbers were barely visible in the dim hallway light, and I forced myselfto inhale slowly, the musty scent of old carpet and stale air filling my lungs. This was it.
I was about to find out if I really was that much of a lucky fucking bastard. Before I could second-guess myself, I knocked on the door. My whole body was humming with a restless kind of energy.
The sound echoed loudly through the hallway, followed by silence. Maybe nobody was home.
Anxiously, I shifted from one foot to the other as the door was suddenly yanked open. My mouth felt dry as dust as I stared down at the person in front of me, my heart in my throat.
Holy fucking shit, you’re one lucky motherfucker, Dominic Kincaid.
Sierra,mySierra, was standing in front of me, gaping at me in disbelief, looking slightly frazzled. A grin spread across my face that I couldn’t possibly hold back. Her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide, she seemed at a complete loss for words.
Blood roared in my ears, and my fingers twitched,achingto feel her soft skin again. Restless from weeks of remembering the curve of her waist, the way her skin fit against my palm like it had been made for me.
Every cell in my body buzzed like it had been set to vibrate the second she came into view. Dark blue pools had me spellbound, and I wanted nothing more than to drown in their depths.
“Well, this is a nice surprise,” I drawled, crossing my arms in front of my chest, pleased when her eyes flicked briefly down to my bulging biceps. The silence stretched on. “Not gonna ask me to come inside, Darlin’?”
Her eyes narrowed, which only made my grin grow bigger. I was playing with fire, but I wasn’t afraid of getting burned. I’d been dying for this — forher— for almost two months.
Weeks of radio silence, of going out of my mind wondering if she even thought about me. I’d craved her temper, her sass, the spark in her eyes that made it impossible to stay away.
“Why are you here?” she asked, her features shadowed by suspicion. But this only made her look fiercer and more untouchable. Like a goddess ready to smite.
I’d missed the sharp edge of her voice and the way she didn’t just let me in but made me earn every step closer. I took a step toward her, but she refused to move.
“I just moved here. How do you know where I live?” she demanded.
“I didn’t.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Huh?”God, she was beautiful. That scent hit me like a gut punch — sharp and sweet, just like her. I’d caught it once, and it had branded itself in my brain.
It had taken me a while to figure out that this was what I had smelled on her that night. Took me an even more humiliating amount of time and way too much Googling to figure out it was her shampoo.
But I’ve had plenty of time these past few weeks.
“Had no idea you lived here until you opened the door.” Notentirelytrue, but she didn’t need to know that. “Hence the mention of this being a nice surprise.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Dom?”
“Aren’t you a curious little thing?” I booped her nose, taking advantage of her momentary state of bewilderment to gently push my way into the apartment.
“Dom. I’m serious, what the fuck do you want? This isn’t funny.” I could feel her glare burning into me as I strolled through the still rather bare living room, my eyes scanning the space.
“Not funny, no, but kind of ironic, don’t you think?”
“I canhonestlysay I have absolutelyzeroidea what you’re talking about.” She dragged her hands over her face, then gestured toward the wide-open door. “Can you please just leave? I can’t do this right now.”
I came to a stop in the open kitchen, leaned against the counter, and let my eyes roam over her like I was starving. But then something shifted — something was off.
The way she stood, shoulders drooping like she was holding up the ceiling. The dull glaze in her eyes, like the shine had been scraped off. Even the stubborn crease between her brows looked permanent now.
My grin faltered.
There were bruised shadows under her eyes, the kind that come from too much of everything, not from bad sleep. The weight of it all settled in my gut like a cinder block.
What the hell had happened?
She should’ve been glowing. Laughing. Radiating joy like it was her birthright — because it fuckingwas. Anything less felt like a crime. Like someone had dared to dim her light, and I hadn’t been there to stop it.
