Chapter 187
SIERRA.
I walk away from Adrian with a smile on my face… but the moment I’m away from him, my smile slips and my heart starts pounding again.
Not from fear. Not from what happened. But from the possibility that he might look back and see the car waiting for me, sleek and black and unmistakably expensive. A car that doesn’t fit with the version of me that he knows.
I’m only a researcher, and sure, I earn well. But well is not the same as stinking rich. And Noah’s car?
Yeah… his car screams “stinking rich” in every possible language. The thing practically glows and looks like it costs more than my entire annual salary. Maybe even two years. Hell, maybe three. Researchers don’t drive cars like that, not unless they own the research company… or invented a cure for death.
I quicken my steps, praying he walked away the moment I did.
The car rolls closer when the driver sees me. I open the door and slip inside faster than I ever have in my life and only then do I breathe.
My spine sags against the seat, and a long tremor runs through me. I press a hand to my chest, trying to slow the thudding and the panic.
I like Adrian a lot, but I’m in an impossible situation.
How the hell am I supposed to explain staying with my baby daddy when I literally told Adrian he wasn’t in the picture? How do I say there’s nothing going on between us when I’m living under the same roof as him? Even I wouldn’t believe that.
My mind races but I force myself to breathe. Things aren’t serious with Adrian… not yet. And if they ever do get serious, I’ll be long gone from Noah’s house by then.
The moment that’s settled, my mind moves to the attack. It replays in my head like a freaking broken record I can’t turn off. My hand starts to tremble before I catch myself.
I can’t stop imagining what would have happened if Adrian hadn’t shown up when he did. Where would the man have taken me? Was I kidnapped for ransom or to be killed? But given that someone wants me dead, I doubt it was a ransom kidnapping.
Is it all a coincidence, really? I mean, just yesterday I pushed Brook and today someone tried to kidnap me. Is this her way of getting revenge for yesterday or is it her way of trying to get rid of me permanently?
So many questions and yet, I have no fucking answers. My soul is convinced it’s Brook, but I have no solid proof to back my suspicions.
Sighing, I close my eyes and the moment I do, I see Adrian. I see the way he launched forward without hesitation, the way he shielded me even with the man throwing punches, and the way his presence felt like a guardian angel’s.
My throat tightens and I swallow hard, fighting the nausea that threatens to rise.
He held my hands when they wouldn’t stop shaking. He sat beside me and didn’t push or judge or interrogate. He just stayed, and heavens… I can’t stop thinking about him.
The softness in his eyes as he watched me sip my drink. The roughness of his hands over mine. How close he sat, close enough for his warmth to touch my skin but not make me uncomfortable. How he joked and teased until I forgot what happened.
Why does that make my stomach flutter? Why am I still so jittery? Is it the adrenaline… or him? I don’t know, but I can take a guess and my guess? It’s all about the hot guy who has made my heart beat in a way no man has ever done since Noah.
The car turns into the long driveway, stopping in front of the mansion’s entrance. I thank the driver softly and step out slowly, my feet reluctant to enter the house.
I don’t know, but part of me feels like being here, being around Noah, will ruin whatever peace I’d found with Adrian.