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He shrugs. “Maybe. I prefer the term pursuing. Sounds less menacing.”

“Can you go and pursue someone else?”

His annoyingly handsome face lights up with amusement. “Seems like you’re in a bit of a predicament here, Angel.”

“Don’t call me Angel.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t know me.”

His eyes take on a darker shade. “No, but I will.”

I lean forward and narrow my eyes, doing my best to look intimidating. “I don’t do well with threats.”

“It’s not a threat, Angel. It’s a promise.”

I recoil at his statement.

“Let me drive you home,” he offers casually.

I let out a sarcastic laugh. “No way.”

“I don’t bite.” He looks me up and down. “Unless you want me to.”

“No, thanks. I’d rather walk.”

“It’s the middle of the night, and your car is”—he looks pointedly towards it—“broken. I’d rather know you’re safe.”

I eye him suspiciously, and he puts both his tattooed hands up.

The truth is, he’s right. I hate walking on my own in the dark. And I hate getting the tube. And apart from watching me, this is the second time we’re interacting. No matter the effect he has on me. He’s my boss; there’s no consequences for him. He could drive me out to the woods and kill me, and no one would be none the wiser.

“I don’t know you.”

All of a sudden, I find myself pressed up against the side of my car, with Xander’s hard body against me, arms caging me in on either side. My pulse jumps at the closeness, and my knees buckle. His musk scent hovers deliciously in my nose.

One of his hands reaches up to my face, and he runs his soft thumb across my bottom lip. I let out a shaky breath, dragging my eyes to his. He traces it down the centre of my chin, to the bottom of my neck, and wraps his large hand around it. The size of his hand easily covers the entire length of my neck, and he squeezes. Not hard, not threatening.

Gentle.

Almost caressing.

His head dips to my ear, hot breath fanning my skin. “Don’t act like your little performance tonight wasn’t for me. I could feel it. The way your skin heated when I was watching you. How your eyes never left mine,” he growls in a whisper, his body slightly shaking. “You may not know me, but your body does.”

I let out a shaky breath as he pushes himself away. Hands shove into his pockets, and he leans against the car next to mine.

“I’ll follow you if you don’t get in my car.”

It takes me a few seconds to regain my senses after getting lost in his allure for the third time tonight.

My brows snap together. “You won’t be following me anywhere.”

He shrugs, eyes dancing with promise. “You don’t trust me yet, but you will, Camila.”

My annoyance heightens as I shift my weight from one foot to the other. Not just at his obnoxiously attractive arrogance, but because I find myself enjoying it. And I know I shouldn’t be.

“What the fuck do you want?” I burst out.