Page 14 of Midnight Kiss

But reading it had been truly fascinating.

“Come on in,” I said, moving to the kitchen. “What can I get you to drink? I have coffee, tea, water, some soda in the—” I turned and found Alex standing outside my apartment in the hall, just on the edge of stepping over the threshold. “You can come in.”

Alex stared past me at the counter and then around the room, his hands grasping the door jamb so hard that his knuckles turned white.

“Alex?”

His gaze lifted to mine, and I sucked in a breath at the intensity in his eyes. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, his voice sounding strained. “I think … It’s late. You’ve had a scare, and you should probably lock your doors tonight and stay inside.”

“Huh?” He was going to leave? A silly part of me wondered if I’d done something wrong. Something to chase him off, which was ridiculous. This guy was just … a guy. What did I care what he thought of me?

“I’d like to see you again,” he said.

“You would.”

“If that’s something you’d be interested in, yes,” he said, “I would like to see you again.”

I stared at him, my hand moving to the counter and touching the top of the book. “See me again. Sure,” I said. “Sure, I would like that. It would give me a chance to thank you for saving my life.”

“Forget that,” he said. “It was nothing.”

“Oh.”

His gaze landed on the book then moved to my face. “I’d like to go on a date with you.” The word “date” sounded foreign in his mouth.

“A date.” It came out as a squeak. “I don’t usually, I mean, I haven’t dated anyone in a long time. A really long time. I?—”

“Then we can go as friends,” he said, sounding urgent now.

I moved toward the door. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in for coffee?”

“I’m sure,” he said, glancing off back down the hall. “I realized that I have an appointment to get to. It would be … best if we met up another time. Would you like to go out tomorrow evening?”

“Sure,” I said. “Go where?”

“For dinner. A walk.”

“Yes. That sounds good.” He was so close, his breath brushed over my skin, and goosebumps rose on my arms and spread over my body. It was crazy, but I almost wanted to pull him into my apartment.

Alex stepped back as if he’d heard my thoughts. “Tomorrow. Eight?”

“Eight is good. I should be home by then.”

“Yes.” And then he started off down the hall.

“Wait, Alex, I didn’t get your—” But he was gone. The hall was completely empty, and I stared at it, blinking repeatedly.

Was I crazy? How on earth had he managed to get to the stairs that fast? And why had he changed his mind about coming into the apartment? Had I done something to spook him?

But no, that was impossible. He’d saved me. It wasn’t like he was afraid of me or something.

I shut the door and locked it then returned to the kitchen and placed my hand on the book, drawing comfort from the sensation of the leather under my fingertips.

6

ALEXANDER

Ipaced down the hallway at two minutes to eight the following evening, my focus solely on seeing Emily’s face. I had watched her all day, once again invisible to her eyes, toying with the idea of stepping close to her, watching her reaction to my presence even though she didn’t know I was there.